All news from Anaesthesiology

Device Implanted To Control High Blood Pressure

A Long Island patient has become the first in the Northeast to have a small, experimental device implanted in the upper thigh to control aggressively high blood pressure, doctors at the Northwell Health system said.

The novel treatment involves a tiny experimental device called the ROX Coupler, which is slightly smaller than a paper clip but is designed to take on the titanic task of controlling a form of hypertension that defies attempts to lower blood pressure by using drugs, diet, and exercise.

Microdosing Psychedelic Might Ease Anxiety

Researchers reveal fascinating insights into how people use small doses of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic effects. Microdosing is the practice of taking drugs like LSD or psilocybin (the key ingredient in "magic mushrooms") in amounts too small to produce a "high" but are anecdotally reported to quell anxiety, boost mood, or improve focus and creativity.

Because the drugs are illegal in many jurisdictions, microdosing remains an underground practice and, until recently, was not subject to close scientific investigation. That has changed with a new study that examines how and why people microdose and the reported effects of the practice. According to study co-author Thomas Anderson, it is the first study of its kind.