By Andrius Giedraitis, MD
Pain Management, Blanchard Valley Pain Management
Chronic pain: A persistent challenge
Chronic pain is a complex and often debilitating condition that affects more than 50 million Americans nationwide. Unlike acute pain, which serves as your body’s alarm system responding to injury or illness and then typically subsides as the underlying issue heals, chronic pain lingers for an extended period, often lasting for months or years. It can manifest from head to toe, including persistent headaches and neck pain to neuropathic pain in your feet and anywhere in between. If left unchecked, chronic pain significantly impacts a person’s quality of life. It is important to understand that chronic pain is not merely a symptom but a distinct medical condition that requires comprehensive management.
Root causes and complex cases
Chronic pain can result from a myriad of underlying causes, including injury, illness, or conditions like arthritis and neuropathy. The complexity arises from the fact that often, people with chronic pain have multiple other health ailments that must be navigated and considered.
Chicken pox virus survives to often emerge decades later as shingles
By Isaac Schmiesing, ONU student pharmacist With Karen L. Kier, Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU Healthwise Team
As the official rock song of Ohio and with an association to The Ohio State University, Hang on Sloopy is one of the most well-known songs in Ohio. Interestingly, the version most fans and people have come to know, and love is not considered to be the original song.
In 1964, this song was originally written by the Vibrations, a rhythm and blues group, titled My Girl Sloopy where it reached 26 on the Billboard chart. It is thought the inspiration came from Dorothy Sloop, an Ohio University jazz singer from Steubenville, Ohio.
By Missy Moore, APRN-CNM, APRN-CNP
Midwifery, Blanchard Valley Obstetrics & Gynecology
Although midwives have been around for hundreds of years, the term midwife is one that not many are able to clearly define. There is often confusion surrounding the many types of midwives and the span of roles a midwife might play.
Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM) are highly trained providers who first are educated and trained as registered nurses, then choose to attend accredited universities, followed by passing a midwifery board-certified examination. CNMs also must maintain their licensures every five years by completing a number of continuing education requirements. In Ohio, CNMs work in collaboration with physicians and deliver babies in hospitals and birth centers. In contrast, lay midwives learn their skills through apprenticeship and are not legally recognized by the state they practice in and deliver babies in homes.
By Karen Kier
Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team
In 1959, Peter Seeger wrote To Everything There is a Season, which was released by the folk group the Limeliters. Seeger then released the song himself a few months later. Neither version had much success until Roger McGuinn (aka Jim McGuinn) of the Limeliters formed the Byrds.
The Byrds released their version on October 23, 1965 and it hit number one in December. The title changed to Turn! Turn! Turn! for the release. The song holds the record for the oldest written lyrics because the verses are from Ecclesiastes in the Bible.
The Byrds formed in 1964 in Los Angeles with five members. Some music critics consider the band one of the most influential of its time. Several of the original members left to form other groups or have solo careers. One of the more famous members of the original group was David Crosby, who we lost in 2023. The last time the original group played together was in 1991 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As the leaves are changing, so do our seasons including issues related to politics and health.
By Aaron Bain, MS
Medical Physicist, The Armes Family Cancer Care Center
You may have heard of an astrophysicist, nuclear physicist or theoretical physicist. Scientists like Einstein, Schrödinger and Newton revolutionized our understanding of the universe. But have you ever heard of a medical physicist? It is likely that you haven’t since there are only approximately 13,000 medical physicists in the United States. You may ask yourself, what role could someone who studies the physics of subatomic particles and planetary motions play in the medical field?
