The following resources, websites, and journal articles have been published by others (journalists, teachers, physicians, and scientists) and are included here because Dr. BuAbbud found them interesting & applicable to patient care.
learning from experts
Struggling to process helpful information from misinformation or disinformation? Check out the following:
first, stay logged out of YouTube (use only as a “guest”) because YouTube is a social media site and search engine designed to amplify outrage and disinformation to coerce your attention and behavior
Professors Chris Kavanagh (anthropologist) and Matthew Browne (psychologist) on Decoding the Gurus
Drs. Jessica Steier (public health) and Sarah Scheinman (neurobiology) on Unbiased Science
Paul Offit, MD, Professor of pediatrics, author and co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine on Substack
Take a course or tutor a student from pre-K through 12th grade advanced placement courses for free at Khan Academy.
Take courses from MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, Tennessee and other universities for free at EdX.
Review peer reviewed published literature in the National Library of Medicine and with Google Scholar
Listen to or watch the latest episode of This Week in Virology, and read along with links to the latest journal articles. Or tune in to any of Microbe.TV’s “Science Shows by Scientists” to learn about your immune and nervous systems, evolution, microbiology, parasitism, agriculture, engineering, public health and more!
Take a free virology course.
Search COVID 19 randomized controlled trials by medication or therapy
Follow the latest evidence about managing long COVID (PASC or post-acute sequelae of COVID)
Journal articles of interest
Clinical comments: this randomized controlled trial (RTC) shows a very specific gut microbe, Limosilactobacillus (L.) reuteri (formerly Lactobacillus reuteri) improves social behavior & function in people with autism but does not affect the severity of autism.
Clinical comments: several different phenotypes of PASC exist and benefit from tailored management. FDA approved therapeutics like nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) and vaccines (even after infection) can prevent and reduce symptoms of long COVID.
Clinical comments: As medical doctors, psychiatrists often diagnose and treat medical illnesses outside our areas of expertise (like diabetes & hypertension) and refer patients to primary care and specialists to fine-tune the diagnosis and treatment plan. In herpes simplex virus (HSV), a virus that more than half of us carry, brain infection (HSV encephalitis) is associated with one of the many pathways that lead to Alzheimer Disease (AD), namely phosphorylation of the tau protein. As psychiatrists, let us diagnose, treat, and refer our patients for infectious diseases when indicated (e.g. treating recurrent HSV infections with an FDA approved medication like valacyclovir).
Clinical comments: Shingles vaccination is associated with 20% lower risk of dementia. This is an impressive risk reduction - larger than the measured effect of any medication approved for dementia. This vaccine may prevent progression to dementia by preventing episodes infection associated with central nervous system inflammation.