The Orangetheory Workout

An emergency department clinical pharmacist at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian gives frequent lectures to the hospital's staff members, and provides other education to nurses to ensure quality patient care. Passionate about fitness, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian keeps himself in good shape through Orangetheory Fitness.

A total-body workout designed for groups, Orangetheory blends scientific knowledge with coaching experience to improve metabolism, health, and vitality. Each class involves three different sets of workout types: rowing to enhance strength and endurance; a cardio workout on the treadmill or exercise bike; and strength training through rotating exercises to build different muscles.

The classes take place under the direction of experienced coaches who seek to inspire each person while pushing them to greater achievement. They also guide participants through an awareness of five levels of heart rate, from resting to all out, or The Orange Zone, helping them learn when to keep pushing and when to back off and relax. Goals for the workout include burning fat and boosting metabolism without putting too much stress on the body.

A Brief Overview of Pharmacokinetics in Older Patients

A graduate of the University of Michigan with a PharmD, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian serves as the lead emergency department clinical pharmacist at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego. In this position, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian works with hospital staff to manage and optimize pharmacokinetics, or how the human body reacts to a drug.

The way a drug is absorbed, metabolized, and excreted from the body depends on many factors, among them genetic makeup, sex, and age. The half-life of some drugs, particularly those that require both metabolism and excretion, is very long in elderly patients. As the general population ages and more medications become available, it’s vital that a clinical pharmacist predicts how multiple medications may interact with each other, and whether such interactions are contributing to a patient’s symptoms when they present in the hospital.

The ultimate goal of clinical pharmacokinetics is to enhance efficacy and decrease toxicity in a patient’s drug therapy. In elderly patients, this usually requires that the dosage of certain drugs be decreased, especially for patients who take more than one daily medication. A good thing to remember when dosing medication in the geriatric population is to "start low & go slow", meaning start on lower end of the dose range and titrate up slower than you typically would. Particularly with medications that are of fall risk.

What Is Pharmacokinetics?

The recipient of a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan, Ashkan Khabazian has served as an emergency department clinical pharmacist at Sharp HealthCare since 2009. In this role, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian draws upon his knowledge of therapeutic options to provide the right medicine to patients in critical condition. He is also versed in pharmacokinetics.

Pharmacokinetics informs the optimal dose regimen chosen and administered by clinical pharmacists. Put simply, it's the study of how the body reacts to a particular drug, and includes the relationship between plasma drug concentration and time; how the drugs are removed from the body; and the rate of drug absorption, and how it's distributed to body tissues.

The four primary processes in pharmacokinetics are absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, the latter two of which are critical as routes of drug elimination. Drugs that aren't absorbed intravenously must cross tissue membranes like the capillary wall and gut endothelium to enter the blood. Absorption via the administration of an oral dosage is often incomplete due to a variety of hazards.

These four pharmacokinetic processes determine the frequency of prescribed doses, the duration of the drug in a patient's blood, and how long before repeated doses reach a plateau.

Economic Impact of the Fashion Week

Remi Landau of Scarsdale, New York is one of the city’s clothing designers. Remi Landau is creating a nightwear line for her present employer. In addition to creating her own line, she attends fashion week.

Fashion Week has become the hub where art and fashion converge to create trends for the next seasons. Established as Press Week during WWII, Fashion Week has expanded to include events in Milan, Paris, China, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil. However, for each of these locations, Fashion Week has done more for these cities and fashion than create buzz.

The amount of money the event generates has grown over the years, some believing that it significantly contributes to the city’s economy. In 2015, New York’s famed semi-annual Fashion Week was reported to have contributed $887 million to the city’s economy, drawing 232,000 attendees to more than 500 shows. Today, according to NYCEDC, this figure has moved closer to $900 million a year.

More than just a glitzy event attended by the country’s celebrities and well-heeled, New York’s Fashion Week is a part of an industry that contributes to 5.5 percent of the city’s workforce. In total, the fashion industry pays $11 billion in wages and contributes to $2 billion in tax revenue, and that was in 2015.

For other countries, Fashion Weeks events do a lot for the area. In many cases, Fashion Week is the opportunity to showcase local designers while generating revenue for the city. In Shanghai, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, and Tokyo, Fashion Week is the chance to change the image of these cities from being primarily textile producers, and more importantly, invite investment to the areas.

Gorilla Mindset - Building a Better You

Dr. Ashkan Khabazian is an avid reader when not serving Sharp HealthCare of San Diego as an emergency department clinical pharmacist. One of Dr. Ashkan Khabazian's favorite books is Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich, a self-help expert and political commentator.

The idea behind Gorilla Mindset is that all elements of a healthy lifestyle, such as finance, fitness, and body language, form a cohesive whole, and one must focus on uplifting all of them to create a better life. One's mindset, or baseline assumptions and methods, informs one's approach to every aspect of life, and changing the mindset can change the life as a whole. Conversely, small changes in one area can feed back into the whole, building a new mindset that then affects other areas of life as well.

One major thread through the book, and one which some readers consider a major takeaway, is the idea of self-talk. Cernovich argues that it's unreasonable to abuse oneself with negative self-talk, and that most wouldn't consider someone who talked to them the way they talk to themselves a friend. This in turn leads into Cernovich's argument in favor of affirmations, which can create a new, healthier mental frame.

St. Jude’s Influenza Center of Excellence and WHO Collaborating Center

A leader in the medical field, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian holds a doctor of pharmacy from the University of Michigan and a completed a general practice pharmacy residency at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. He went on to serve as a Scripps clinical pharmacist before assuming his current position as lead clinical pharmacist in the emergency department of San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital. Outside of the professional environment, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian supports multiple charitable organizations including the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital provides free treatment to critically ill children from around the world. The organization also engages in hundreds of ongoing medical research initiatives that span multiple fields. In the area of influenza research, it collaborates with both the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

St. Jude is one of only six Collaborating Centers that operate within the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). The Hospital’s WHO/GISRS center works to eliminate the human threat posed by the influenza viruses of animals.

Recognized as one of six Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, St. Jude also spearheads a range of basic and clinical research initiatives that attempt to advance general scientific understanding of influenza. This general understanding allows scientists to strengthen their responses to the disease.

Why Pharmacists Monitor Drug Interactions

An experienced pharmacy professional, Ashkan Khabazian works as emergency department clinical pharmacist with Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California. Ashkan Khabazian monitors drug interactions when supporting emergency care teams.

Pharmacists use their knowledge to improve the safety of patients who are taking multiple medications that may interact in ways detrimental to their health. This situation can arise in situations when different physicians prescribe medicine independently, without knowing what other treating physicians have prescribed. Drug interactions can make therapies less effective, result in active harm, or lead to the manifestation of unusual side effects.

In the United States alone, Americans who are 55 and older take roughly six to nine drugs on a daily basis. According to research, harmful drug interactions cause just over 0.5 percent of hospitalizations. However, when examining hospitalization among patients who are elderly, the percentage increases to nearly 5 percent. Some of the common symptoms caused by drug interactions include high blood pressure and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Preventing Weight Lifting Injuries

The lead emergency room clinical pharmacist for Sharp HealthCare, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian spends a portion of his free time working out. Dr. Ashkan Khabazian has been lifting weights his entire life.

Weight lifting boosts muscle mass, promotes weight loss, and increases metabolism. A few suggestions for preventing weight lifting injuries include:

- Don’t compare. Many weight lifters compare their weights to others while at the gym. While this can serve as motivation, it may also result in individuals pushing themselves too much. Instead of trying to out-lift another person, individuals should increase their weight amount gradually. Trying to rapidly move to heavier weights dramatically increases the risk of injury.

- Check your equipment. Weight lifting equipment is a common culprit when an injury occurs. However, it still goes unchecked by many weight lifters. Before starting a set, individuals should carefully check all the equipment they plan on using. This includes everything from lifting platforms and bars to shoes and clothing items.

- Lift regularly. Packing an entire week’s worth of weight lifting into a couple days places unnecessary strain on the body and frequently results in injury. Serious weight lifting must be a regular activity that is done throughout the week.

Wolverine’s Basketball Player Receives Dual Honors

A experienced clinical pharmacist in San Diego, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian assists physicians in the care of patients admitted to the emergency room at Sharp Memorial Hospital. Before beginning his career, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian graduated with a doctor of pharmacy from the University of Michigan, and he continues to cheer on the school’s basketball team.

In the first week of February, Michigan Wolverines senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. received honors as Co-Big Ten Player of the Week for his part in leading his team to victories over the Michigan State Spartans and the Indiana Hoosiers.

Over the two games, the senior averaged 22.5 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. He also shot 60.9 percent overall and 83.3 percent from three-point range, along with making 12 of 12 free throws. With his performance against Michigan State, Walton became only the third player in Wolverines history to record career totals of 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 400 assists. 

The honors as Co-Big Ten Player of the Week follow Walton being recognized in early January as one of 30 men’s basketball players from across the country nominated for the Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award. CLASS honors NCAA Division I senior student-athletes who demonstrate excellence in competition, character, classroom, and community.

HIIT Improves Heart Health and Is an Affordable Way to Keep Fit

Ashkan Khabazian, PharmD, is the emergency department clinical pharmacist for Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, California. Through his work, he provides assistance to doctors and other medical personnel in emergency situations. Outside of his profession, Dr. Ashkan Khabazian enjoys taking part in physical fitness, particularly HIIT.

HIIT is short for high intensity interval training. It is a form of cardio exercise that features quick, short bursts of activity, followed by longer periods of less strenuous work. Making HIIT a regular part of one’s workout routine comes with many benefits, including saving money and working toward a healthier heart.

HIIT can save individuals money, since there is no special equipment required. That means there is no need to join a gym, buy dumbbells, or even a bike. Jumping rope, jumping jacks, and even running combined with power walking can all make for a successful HIIT routine. It is also ideal for the heart, since the training can have a positive effect on building stamina. Studies found that individuals were able to work twice as long on an activity, such as biking, than they could before starting HIIT.

Ashkan Khabazian & Family