Castigliano Bhamidipati, D.O., Ph.D., says methamphetamine use can decrease the heart muscle’s ability to pump and recommends a multidisciplinary approach to helping patients who have both substance use disorder and heart issues.

In a story about a Portland Fire & Rescue pilot program to offer medications to people experiencing an overdose, Laurel Hallock-Koppelman, D.N.P., explains how the drugs work: “The way Narcan works, where it’s an immediate action, all of the opioids get pushed off right away. People feel really, really sick. When you give buprenorphine after they have received Narcan, that buprenorphine is an opioid, it does travel to the opioid receptors in the brain, and then helps with some of the withdrawal symptoms.”

Carl Eriksson, M.D., led a study that found 60% of U.S. children receiving emergency medical services for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest experienced at least one severe adverse safety event.

As part of a statewide OHSU nursing student competition to collect socks and underwear for those in need, Annika Timm and other La Grande-based students collected more than 700 items. Timm says, “There is an amazing sense of community here. Everyone wants to give back.”

In a story about a mother’s struggle to help her 15-year-old son before he died of a fentanyl overdose, Todd Korthuis, M.D., describes how substance use affects teenagers: “Teenage drug and alcohol use during this period of rapid brain development can change how their brains process risk and reward.”

An op-ed by Marguerita Lightfoot, Ph.D., calls for better serving youth experiencing homelessness, saying, “Because estimates of the unhoused youth population are low, not enough resources are directed at addressing their needs.”

Amber Pearson is first patient in the world to benefit from a single stimulator implanted in the brain that effectively controls both epileptic seizures and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Pearson says, “I’m actually present in my daily life and that’s incredible. Before, I was just constantly in my head worrying about my compulsions.” Ahmed Raslan, M.D., says, “It was her idea to say: ‘Well, you’re going into my brain and putting this wire, and I have OCD, so can you just put a wire for OCD?’ And you know, luckily, we took that suggestion seriously.”

In honor of World Cancer Day, The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief publishes a previous interview with Flavio Rocha, M.D., in which he discusses advancements in cancer research and treatment. Rocha says: “I am absolutely encouraged and positive, and this is what keeps us going. We are making progress. We’d like to be moving at a more rapid pace but as new technology is being developed, we keep marching on.”

A story about an advocacy organization developing an app to help people with substance use disorder find treatment mentions an OHSU study that found Oregon only has about half of the infrastructure and resources it needs to end the addiction crisis.

An OHSU study finds that access to U.S. residential addiction treatment centers for adolescents is limited and costly.