What We’re Reading: 10/04/19

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A few highlights from around the web that made it into our feeds this week.

Many Vaping Illnesses Linked To Black Market 'Dank Vapes' Or Other THC Products

The mystery behind the outbreak in vaping-related lung illnesses is still unfolding, but the CDC has made a few important discoveries. Investigators in Illinois and Wisconsin interviewed 86 patients, and 66 percent said they had vaped THC products labeled as Dank Vapes. (THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis)

"Dank Vapes appears to be the most prominent in a class of largely counterfeit brands, with common packaging that is easily available online and that is used by distributors to market THC-containing cartridges," the CDC report states. Young consumers are often buying these products ‘off the street’ or online and assume the products are commercial grade, but the packaging can be very deceiving. (From npr.org)

The Beating Heart

“A tragic crime. A medical breakthrough. A last chance at life.”

It’s not every day you get to read a thrilling story centered around a surgical procedure, and this one has it all. The riveting true saga begins with a heart leaving the scene of a horrific crime in 1986 and follows its journey to save the life of Eva Bailey.

The story is rich in surgical history and paints a beautiful picture of early open-heart surgery in the United States. Eva’s surgeon Edward LeFrak, MD, still stays in touch and calls every December on her transplant anniversary. At 33 years, Eva is now one of the longest-living heart transplant recipients on the planet. (From washingtonpost.com)

When Music is the Best Medicine

“Music therapy can make the difference between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain and comfort — between demoralization and dignity.”
—Barbara Crowe, former president of the National Association for Music Therapy

Music is a stress reliever, it's used to recover speech, improve walking, and assist in the retrieval of memories—lighting up neurons between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Programs in music therapy do not use a one-size-fits-all approach. For some, it’s therapeutic to create music, for others, listening can be transformative. This uplifting article explores the ways in which music therapists help people heal. (From nytimes.com)

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