BURRRRRRR!!! Will Old Man Winter ever lose his grip? With single digit temperatures in the Midwest, 10 feet of snow in upstate New York and snow as far South as the Carolina’s it’s difficult to imagine that there will ever be another Spring. I’m fairly confident there will be, since many clients are already requesting coverage for this Spring and Summer. Now is the time to call to receive the best selection of assignments!

This issue of the National News contains several articles that may be of interest to you. Although it may be too late, you will learn how the “Super Bowl Can Cause Super Belly” and how “Anesthesia May Work By Blocking Oxygen.” Finally you can read about a controversial topic in the article “North Carolina Residents Collectively Against Legislation to License Anesthesia Assistants.”

The most effective way in which to view our open assignments is by simply signing up for National’s “Job Alerts!” at

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where the jobs come to you! Look for continued improvement to this important area of our website.

Once again, thank you for allowing us to “Connect” with you through our Newsletter and I hope you will enjoy this issue.

Let’s Stay Connected!

Stephen Read, President
National Anesthesia Services, Inc.

RALEIGH, NC -- North Carolina residents are opposed to the concept of licensing Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAs) in the state and have even greater discomfort with the concept of having to use an AA personally to receive care, according to a survey conducted by the Glengariff Group of Chicago.

A 600-person random telephone survey found that 82% of North Carolinians oppose legislation allowing trained assistants to administer anesthesia under the supervision of a doctor, with 70% of the state declaring themselves strongly opposed to the legislation. Opposition was higher among the senior citizens and women, with 89% of the residents over 65 years of age in opposition, along with 87% of women.

When facts addressing AA training and supervision were provided, opposition to their licensure grew an alarming 91%. AAs have significantly less stringent education and experience requirements than Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists or anesthesiologists, the two groups currently licensed to provide anesthesia in North Carolina.

Survey results also found that 86% of North Carolina residents would be uncomfortable allowing someone rather than a registered nurse or a licensed doctor administer their anesthesia, with 72% listing themselves as very uncomfortable.

"In an era where polls often find the state split on important issues, to have more than 8 out of 10 North Carolinians opposed to this bill is really saying something," said Sherry Owens, president of the North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NCANA), which sponsored the research. "It is clear that the idea of having a lesser trained individual in charge of something as important as anesthesia care just didn't resonate in our state. When you're 'going under' for surgery, it's only natural that you would want well trained people caring for you."

The Glengariff Group, Inc. conducted the survey on June 21-22, 2006. The sample is based on North Carolina population and is stratified by region, gender, ethnicity and age. The survey has margin of error of - 4%.

The North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists is a statewide organization representing the more than 2,800 licensed Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists in the state. More information is available at www.ncana.com.

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2006 Business Wire

Biophysicists in New York may be close to solving the riddle of how general anesthetics actually work.

Researchers Maoxin Wu and Huping Hu suggest anesthetics act as barriers to oxygen transport in both membranes and proteins, reducing oxygen availability to the brain. Their mechanism may lead to better, safer anesthetics, a revolution in the treatment of pain and a more complete understanding of the effects of alcohol on brain function.

Wu and Hu, both pathologists, are with Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, and Biophysics Consulting Group, Old Bethpage, New York, respectively.

Although more than 150 years have passed since the discovery of general anesthetics, how they precisely work remains a mystery. While scientists know general anesthetics affect a variety of neurotransmitter receptors, a universally accepted mechanism of anesthesia remains elusive.

Two schools of thought have existed until now:

---The "lipid theory" proposes that anesthetics interact directly with cell membranes that are involved in brain functions.
---The "protein theory" suggests that anesthetics directly interact with cell proteins such as the ion channels and receptors that are involved in neurotransmission.

Neither concept is supported by direct experimental evidence, however. Wu and Hu, on the other hand, speculate that general anesthetics perturb the pathways of oxygen, the most essential component of brain function, in both cellular membranes and cellular proteins.

When the brain detects oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia, it immediately reduces its workload. Part of this workload is sensing pain. Wu and Hu claim that anesthesia, then, is a byproduct of the brain's own self-preservation mechanism.

Wu and Hu predict further research could formulate better anesthetics that more effectively block oxygen pathways by enhancing their ability to be absorbed by the fatty membranes that serve as oxygen gateways. For example, anesthetics with shorter hydrocarbon chains would be more effective than anesthetics with longer-chain hydrocarbons because the membranes that control oxygen uptake in the brain more easily absorb them.

Additionally, alcohol's intoxicating effects may result from disruption of oxygen pathways in the brain, and many side effects of general anesthetics, including some well-known but poorly understood toxicities, may be explained by the proposed mechanism. Short-chain hydrocarbon anesthetics, for instance, have fewer and less toxic side effects and they are better oxygen blocks.

Dr. Judith Tharp, a chief clinician with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, expressed fascination with the results. "There's no question that a mechanism such as the one proposed by Drs. Wu and Hu could result in the formulation of better anesthetics, simply by defining their exact targets more precisely," she said. "It is true -- we still don't know exactly what we are aiming for with general anesthesia."

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Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

Whatever advice you give , be brief.---Horace

Super Bowl Sunday is the second-biggest food- consumption day of the year among Americans, but a diet book author says you can eat well without overdoing.

Charles Stuart Platkin -- who wrote "The Diet Detective's Countdown" -- urges people to think about "splurgeworthy" foods during, and before, the big game. The book lists 7,500 foods and how much activity is needed to burn calories from each food.

Platkin says he teaches people "how to relate to a calorie."

For example, to burn off two handfuls of potato chips, one must run the length of 45 football fields. Four beers equal 64 minutes of stair-climbing, and you'd have to march for 138 ½ minutes to burn off part of a giant Italian sub.

Big game day is not all doom and gloom, Platkin said.

Light beer means fewer calories, but he says try different varieties before game day to see which taste best. For sub enthusiasts, low fat cheese and skipping the mayo decreases caloric penalties.

Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of DietDetective.com.

For the record, Thanksgiving is the biggest day of the year for food consumption.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.

General Disclaimer: The materials have been compiled by National Anesthesia Services. Inc. from internal and external sources. However, while we have attempted to provide accurate information in this publication, no representation is made or warranty given as to the completeness or accuracy of the Materials. In particular, you should be aware that the Materials may be incomplete, may contain errors, or may have become out of date. You should therefore verify information obtained from this publication before you take any action upon it.