The Pm&r Podcast

Our guest today is Gregory Carter, MD, MS. Dr. Carter is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and neuromuscular medicine. He is the medical director of St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane, Washington and serves on the faculties of the medical schools at the University of California, Davis and the University of Washington.  Dr. Carter has been awarded with numerous distinctions for his clinical and research activities including the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine's 2012 Distinguished Researcher Award which recognized him as the first investigator to report the effectiveness of cannabis in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and noted the quality of the more than 150 peer-reviewed publications he has co-authored. Dr. Carter will speak with us today about his clinical approach to treating patients with cannabis. 

Our guest today is David Cifu, MD. Dr. Cifu is Chairman and the Herman J. Flax, MD Professor of the Department of PM&R at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine in Richmond, Virginia, the Chief of PM&R Services of the VCU Health System, the Executive Director of the VCU-Center for Rehabilitation Sciences and Engineering, and National Director of the PM&R Program Office and a member of the Senior Executive Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has been funded on 30 research grants and is PI or Co-PI on 8 current research grants totaling more than $25 million. In his 20 years as an academic physiatrist, he has delivered more than 425 regional, national and international lectures, published more than 165 articles and 65 abstracts, and co-authored 20 books and book chapters. He is also the Past President of the American Academy of PM&R. Dr. Cifu will discuss traumatic brain injury with us today.

Our guest today is Dr. David Berbrayer, a specialist in physiatry, Physical Medicine and Rehabiliation, certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Medical Specialties. Dr. Berbrayer completed his Master of Teaching program at the University of Toronto and the Harvard Macy Program. He has held numerous leadership positions both past and present: past vice president and chief of staff Lyndhurst-The Spinal Cord Centre; past president of the medical staff of Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation, the largest pediatric facility in Canada; division head, Section of Physiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (fully affiliated with University of Toronto); chairman section of Physiatry Ontario Medical Association; editor for Knowledge Now and member of the performance metrics committee for the AAPM&R; member of the education committee AAP and past chair of the membership committee of AAP; current chair of the education committee of the Canadian Association of Physical Medic

Our guest today is Renzo Lanfranco, LPsy, MSc. Dr. Lanfrano is trained in clinical psychology and obtained a Masters of Science in neuroscience from the University of Chile, where he is currently adjunct professor. He is an associate investigator in the Laboratory of Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the Center of Investigation UDP- Foundation INECO for the Neurosciences. Dr. Lanfranco will discuss hypnoanalgesia with us today and his recently published article, Hypnoanalgesia and the study of pain experience: from Cajal to modern neuroscience.    Discussed article citation: Lanfranco, Renzo C., Andrés Canales-Johnson, and David Huepe. "Hypnoanalgesia and the study of pain experience: from Cajal to modern neuroscience." Frontiers in psychology 5 (2014).

Our guest today is Michael D. Stubblefield, MD, a cancer rehabilitation physiatrist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dr. Stubblefield has numerous publications, including original research on the neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, and functional complications that patients sometimes develop as a result of cancer and cancer treatments. He is the author of the most authoritative textbook on the field entitled Cancer Rehabilitation: Principles and Practice and will speak with us today about the medical and clinical aspects of cancer rehabilitation.

Our guest is Joshua Hare, MD who is Chief Sciences Officer, Senior Associate Dean for Experimental and Cellular Therapeutics, Director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, and Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Hare has published original research on regenerative medicine and the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells.  Featured article citation: Bashir, Jamil, et al. "Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapies in the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Diseases." PM&R 6.1 (2014): 61-69.

We discuss nutrition after traumatic brain injury with Angus Scrimgeour, PhD. Dr. Scrimgeour is currently serving as a nutritional biochemist at the United States Research Institute of Environmental Medicine where he investigates evidenced-based applications of nutrition for traumatic brain injury. His review, cited below, serves as the focal point of our interview and describes four nutrients demonstrating potential benefit: omega-3, zinc, vitamin-D, and glutamine. Featured article citation: Scrimgeour, Angus G., and Michelle L. Condlin. "Nutritional Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury." Journal of neurotrauma 31.11 (2014): 989-999.      

We discuss carpal tunnel syndrome with Dr. Nigel Ashworth, a physiatrist on the faculty of the University of Alberta in Canada. Dr. Ashworth has over thirty publications, among them original peer-reviewed research on carpal tunnel syndrome. Our conversation covers diagnostic (and electrodiagnostic) considerations and management strategies, including the evidence for bracing, corticosteroid injection and carpal tunnel release.    References:  Amirjani, Nasim, et al. "Corticosteroid iontophoresis to treat carpal tunnel syndrome: A double‐blind randomized controlled trial." Muscle & nerve 39.5 (2009): 627-633. Marshall, S., Gaetan Tardif, and N. Ashworth. "Local corticosteroid injection for carpal tunnel syndrome." Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2 (2007). Ashworth, Nigel L., and Jeremy DP Bland. "Effectiveness of second corticosteroid injections for carpal tunnel syndrome." Muscle & nerve 48.1 (2013): 122-126.   Disclaimer: The PM&R Podcast is an independent project aimed at providing informational inter

In our third episode, we interview Dr. Scott-Wyard on congenital lower limb deficiencies. Dr. Scott-Wyard, who completed her combined PM&R/pediatric residency at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is a pediatric physiatrist at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Los Angeles where she heads the Children's Amputee Prosthetics Project. Disclaimer: The PM&R Podcast is an independent project aimed at providing informational interviews with authorities in the field. As such, the views expressed on the podcast do not represent the views of any institution. Views expressed by our guests are not necessarily shared by The PM&R Podcast. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use the content as medical advice to treat any medical condition in yourself or others, including but not limited to patients under your care. Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you are having. This entire disclaimer applies to any hosts, guests and contributors; we are not responsible for damages a

In the second episode, co-hosts Lysander Jim, MD and Mauro Zappaterra, MD, PhD  discuss the medicinal use of cannabis in physiatry with Sunil K. Aggarwal, MD, PhD. In addition to conducting his dissertation research on the medical geography of cannabis, Dr. Aggarwal has published original research articles in numerous peer-reviewed journals on the medicinal properties of cannabis. His website can be found at cannabinologist.org. Dr. Aggrawal is completing his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at New York University Langone Medical Center and will soon begin a clinical fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He will be discussing an article he co-authored entitled Medical marijuana for failed back surgical syndrome: a viable option for pain control or an uncontrolled narcotic?   Cited article: Aggarwal, Sunil K., et al. "Medical marijuana for failed back surgical syndrome: a viable option for pain control or an uncontrolled narcotic?."

In our first episode, we discuss a review article The Use of Ketamine in Neuropathic Pain with co-author Dr. Sanjog Pangarkar. Dr. Pangarkar is the director of the West Los Angeles VA pain medicine service and is board certified in internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine. Learn about ketamine's history, mechanism of action, clinical applications, economic considerations, and a first-hand account of how it is administered.  Citations include the primary article and a case report that we co-authored with Dr. Pangarkar that is referenced during the interview.  Primary article:  O’Brien, Sarah Lee, Sanjog Pangarkar, and Joshua Prager. "The Use of Ketamine in Neuropathic Pain." Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports 2.2 (2014): 128-145. Case report:  Zappaterra, Mauro, Lysander Jim, and Sanjog Pangarkar. "Chronic pain resolution after a lucid dream: A case for neural plasticity?." Medical hypotheses(2013).