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
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…
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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…
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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…
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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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Before we jump into the details of essential thrombocythemia (ET), let’s back up for a little perspective. ET is one of a group of disorders called chronic myeloproliferative disorders. These disorders share a lot of similarities: they occur in adults, they have a relatively good prognosis, and they’re caused by mutations in proteins involved in…
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Antibiotics work by halting essential cellular processes to kill bacteria. Broken down into its roots, the word antibiotic is interpreted as “opposing life.” This trait can be beneficial against such living things as pathogenic bacteria, which endanger us. Like our own cells, bacteria synthesize protein using ribosomes, which are located in the cytoplasm. Prokaryotes have…
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Early in fetal development, the precursors of the major systems in the body are outlined. The three germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm) are formed during the third week of development. We’ll focus on the ectoderm, from which the entire nervous system (central and peripheral) forms. But first, let’s back up to review the anatomy of…
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What are bullous skin disorders? Bullae are fluid-filled blisters >1 cm in diameter. They can be caused by infection, mechanical stress, or a malfunctioning immune system. In this discussion, we tackle the latter, focusing on the most common autoimmune bullous (blistering) disorders: pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid, and dermatitis herpetiformis. Distinctly, the blisters in each of…
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Epithelium is one of the four basic tissue types (the other three are muscle tissue, nerve tissue, and connective tissue). It is found throughout the body—covering it; lining organs, vessels, and cavities; and forming glands. It absorbs nutrients, transports electrolytes, secretes hormones, and regulates body temperature by producing sweat. We begin with some general principles…
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What do you know about prokaryote structure and the gram stain? Bacteria are members of a unique taxonomic kingdom consisting of prokaryotic unicellular organisms. Prokaryote is a term from ancient Greek meaning “before the kernel.” The kernel in this case is a nucleus, which prokaryotes lack. Prokaryotes also do not have any membrane-bound organelles. In…
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