The Rx Bricks Podcast USMLE-Rx

Substance use disorder (SUD) refers to a pattern of substance use—be it nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, or something else—that causes significant impairment or distress to the user. SUD is prevalent and growing in the United States and around the world. People of any age may be at risk for developing a substance use disorder. But exposure to and experimentation with alcohol and drugs usually begins in early adolescence. Many adolescents experiment with substances and then taper down or stop using them. Others continue to advance their drug use, leading to a diagnosable substance use disorder with negative health and social consequences.


The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition; DSM-5) is the widely accepted and respected guide to diagnosing psychiatric disorders in the United States. Substance abuse has been recognized in the DSM-5 as a mental health disorder for many years. The manual no longer describes substance abuse and dependence separately but instead globally uses substance use disorder with specifiers to determine the severity of the use.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Define and explain the essential features of substance use disorders.
Describe the epidemiology of substance use disorders.
Explain how the reward pathway in the brain is involved in the development of substance use disorders, and describe how the brain changes during active use and recovery.
Describe the evidence-based assessments and treatment approaches for substance use disorders.

You can also check out the original brick on Substance Use Disorders from our Psychiatry collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/

Megaloblast. Now there’s a word you don’t hear every day. The root -blast (from the Greek blastos, meaning germ or bud) may be somewhat familiar since we talk about blast cells (very young hematopoietic precursor cells) in hematology. And megalo- (from the Greek megas, meaning large or great) is also used fairly frequently, as in splenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen). So does “megaloblast” just mean a large, immature cell? We’ll answer this question, and many more, in this discussion of megaloblastic anemia.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Describe the pathogenesis of megaloblastic anemia.
List common causes of B12 and folate deficiency and associated nonhematologic symptoms of each.
List and understand the characteristic complete blood count values in megaloblastic anemia.
Describe and identify the morphologic changes present in the blood and bone marrow in a patient with megaloblastic anemia.
Describe the treatment of megaloblastic anemia.

You can also check out the original brick on Megaloblastic Anemia from our Hematology collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/

Blood glucose is proof that you can have too much of a good thing. While glucose serves a critical role as fuel for many of our bodily functions, it must remain in a very tightly controlled range. If the level goes too low, you can fall into a coma. If glucose is too high, damage to tissues throughout the body can occur. When blood glucose is consistently too high and the mechanisms that return it to the normal range fail, this is called diabetes mellitus. Nearly 10% of the US population has a form of diabetes, so it is critical that physicians understand the disease and be prepared to care for patients with the diagnosis.


Diabetes mellitus is a condition characterized by a lack of insulin-mediated blood glucose control. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreatic β cells in the islets of Langerhans, which make up the endocrine portion of the pancreas.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Define type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Compare and contrast the pathophysiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Compare and contrast the clinical presentation of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Compare and contrast diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar nonketotic syndrome as complications of diabetes mellitus.
Describe laboratory tests that help distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Compare and contrast management principles for type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

You can also check out the original brick on Diabetes Mellitus: Foundations and Frameworks from our Endocrine collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/

Gallstones are the hardened precipitates—“stones”—of the substrates found in bile. The liver makes bile to help digest fats, and the bile is stored in the gallbladder. When there is an excess of a particular substance in the bile (eg, cholesterol or unconjugated bilirubin), gallstones form in the gallbladder.


Gallstones can be as small as a grain of sand, as large as a golf ball, or any size in between. Gallstones are very common and usually do not cause any symptoms. But not all gallstones stay in the gallbladder.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Define, compare, and contrast cholelithiasis, cholangitis, choledocholithiasis, and cholecystitis, listing the most common causes of each.
Describe the structure and pathogenesis of cholesterol and pigment gallstones.
List the major risk factors for development of gallstones, describe the typical clinical course, and list the potential complications.
Distinguish acute and chronic cholecystitis, and describe the clinical presentation, signs, and lab abnormalities.
Describe the treatment of gallstones and acute cholecystitis.

You can also check out the original brick on Cholelithiasis and Cholecystitis from our Gastrointestinal collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/

Normal blood pressure keeps us alive. It’s the force that moves blood throughout our circulatory system, ensuring that oxygen and nutrients reach our organs and tissues and that waste products are eliminated. When we hear the word hypertension—high blood pressure—we know this describes the blood flow exerting too much force against blood vessel walls. Pulmonary hypertension describes high blood pressure in the vessels of the lung. Specifically, pulmonary hypertension is an elevated mean arterial pressure (≥20 mm Hg at rest) of the vessels between the heart and the lung.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Define pulmonary hypertension and compare with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Describe the clinical presentation and diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, including results from electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and heart catheterization. Explain how pulmonary hypertension leads to right-sided heart failure.
Describe how pulmonary vascular resistance affects pulmonary arterial pressure. List common etiologies of pulmonary hypertension, differentiating between cardiac and pulmonary causes. List the most common cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Describe the treatment of pulmonary hypertension.

You can also check out the original brick on Pulmonary Hypertension from our Respiratory collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/

Macroscopic Skin Lesions
A thorough skin examination should be performed annually to assess for new or changing macroscopic skin lesions. It is critically important to be able to identify and describe normal and abnormal skin and to note your findings carefully, because a change in an existing skin lesion is the most common sign of skin cancer, including deadly ones like melanoma. In this discussion, we will describe the specific ways in which you document skin lesions, using a vocabulary that other clinicians will understand.
After listening to this AudioBrick, you should be able to:

Explain the importance of physical examination of the skin.
Describe skin lesions, explaining and illustrating each of the following: size, type (eg, vesicle, bulla), color, configuration (eg, annular, targetoid, discoid), arrangement (eg, solitary, grouped, linear, reticular), and distribution and location.

You can also check out the original brick on Macroscopic Skin Lesions from our Musculoskeletal, Skin, and Connective Tissue collection, which is available for free.
Learn more about Rx Bricks by signing up for a free USMLE-Rx account: www.usmle-rx.com.
You will get 5 days of full access to our Rx360+ program, including Step 1 Qmax, Flash Facts, Express Videos, a digital version of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, and nearly 800 Rx Bricks.  After the 5-day period, you will still be able to access over 150 free bricks, including the entire collections for General Microbiology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
***
If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.
Follow USMLE-Rx at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/usmlerx
Blog: www.firstaidteam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firstaidteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstaidteam/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/USMLERX
Learn how you can access over 150 of our bricks for FREE: https://usmlerx.wpengine.com/free-bricks/