The Rx Bricks Podcast
Your High-Yield Med Content on the Go
Build your foundation of medical knowledge and close your learning gaps brick by brick. We’re turning our high-yield multimedia learning library, Rx Bricks, into an immersive audio experience—so you can turn downtime into high-yield learning time.
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Latest Episodes
Cushing syndrome is a cluster of clinical features resulting from exposure to excess glucocorticoids (hypercortisolism). Most of the abnormalities in Cushing syndrome are caused by high levels of cortisol itself, but an accompanying excess of androgens and mineralocorticoids like aldosterone may also add to the syndrome. Cortisol is produced continuously in the adrenal gland. It…
Listen »Getting the air to our lungs in the first place can be challenging enough. How do we get the oxygen out of the air once we have it in our lungs? This huge job comes down to one tiny unit: the alveoli-capillary unit. In this brick, we take a look at how the exchange of…
Listen »Type 1 diabetes mellitus, previously known as juvenile diabetes, is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood. The pathophysiology of type 1 diabetes begins with autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing β cells in the islets of Langerhans, thus leading to insulin deficiency. A crucial role of insulin is to increase glucose uptake into…
Listen »The ovaries are a pair of reproductive organs located deep in the pelvis of the female body; they contain the female gametes, the ova. As in many other organs, cancerous and benign tumors (neoplasms) can arise there, but most are malignant. Such tumors are distinct from ovarian cysts, although some ovarian neoplasms may have cystic…
Listen »The central nervous system (CNS) comprising the brain and spinal cord is an incredibly complex part of the human body, so it is no surprise that sometimes things go awry during development. The various anatomic anomalies that result can be so severe as to be incompatible with life, such as when most or all of…
Listen »A neoplasm is the abnormal growth of new cells, sometimes called a tumor. A variety of tumors can grow in our bones, and luckily more of them are benign (noncancerous) than malignant (cancerous). What causes these tumors? We usually don’t know, though we do know that most malignant bone tumors are secondary, with cancer spreading…
Listen »Every movement we make is caused by the contraction of different muscles, which are themselves controlled by the neurons that innervate them. However, one long nerve fiber does not run from the brain all the way down the spinal cord to reach our muscles. Instead, our bodies use a two-neuron system. After listening to this…
Listen »Bile is a greenish-yellow fluid produced by the liver. It is stored in the gallbladder and released into the small intestine, where it aids digestion by breaking down fats into fatty acids. Water is the main component of bile (about 95%). Bile also contains bile salts (the salt form of bile acids), cholesterol, phospholipids, bilirubin…
Listen »Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of obstructive lung disease, an umbrella diagnosis that also includes asthma. The two types of COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The general underlying cause of obstructive lung disease is a narrowing of airways that results in decreased airflow and difficulty with respiration. Pharmacologic approaches to obstructive…
Listen »For the most part, the brain relies on glucose as its main energy source. In fact, we say the brain preferentially uses glucose. In times of low glucose levels such as fasting or starvation, the brain can use ketones, lactate, and amino acids (worth noting: the brain does not use fatty acids to generate energy).…
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