Author Archives: Francisco Fernandez, MD

Despite their questionable efficacy for chronic pain, prescription opioid analgesics have been a mainstay in clinical pain over the last 3 decades. The severity and scale of the North American opioid overdose epidemic has highlighted the genuine risk of physical dependence and overdose with prescription opioids and these risks have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 […]

Regular physical (PA) activity is strongly associated with risk reductions of noncommunicable diseases and mortality. The 2020 World Health Organization Physical Activity Guidelines recommend adults to perform at least 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity PA, or 75 minutes/week of vigorous intensity PA, or an equivalent combination of the 2.  Data from the general population indicate […]

A new study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that people who ate more saturated fats from red meat and butter were more likely to develop heart disease and the opposite was true for those who ate more saturated fats from cheese, yoghurt and fish, which were actually linked to […]

Shigella is a gram-negative, facultative intracellular bacteria that causes dysentery. Shigella flexneri is a gram-negative bacteria of medical importance. Fecal-oral propagation of these bacteria is the predominant mode of transmission and usually occurs via contaminated drinking water.  This type of bacteria rapidly transverse the gastrointestinal tract to invade colonic epithelial cells and upon invasion it […]

Antihistamines are medications commonly used to treat allergies, such as hay fever, hives, conjunctivitis and reactions to insect bites or stings. They are also sometimes used to prevent motion sickness and as a short-term treatment for insomnia.  Most antihistamines can be bought from pharmacies and shops, but some are only available on prescription.  What is […]