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Autism comorbidities: the hidden link between POTS, GI issues, and hypermobility

Conditions

February 10, 2026

Autism is typically framed as a neurodevelopmental condition defined by differences in social communication, sensory processing, and behavior. This framing is incomplete. In clinical practice, autistic individuals frequently present with a striking burden of systemic symptoms involving the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular regulation, immune signaling, connective tissue, and stress physiology. These are not side notes. They reflect the fact that autism lives within a nervous system that innervates the entire body.

The …

The impact of CDC’s new childhood immunization guidance

Umayr R. Shaikh, MPH

Conditions

February 10, 2026

For most of my life, preventable infectious diseases existed at the margins of medicine. Influenza was seasonal but manageable. Hepatitis outbreaks were contained. Childhood hospitalizations from rotavirus or meningococcal disease were rare enough to be notable. COVID-19 may have shattered predictability, but even then, many of us believed the lessons we learned would be followed by renewed investment in prevention.

Instead, we now stand at a crossroads.

A crossroads in prevention

Recent guideline …

Remote nursing for burnout: How changing environments saved my career

Michele Abbott, RN

Conditions

February 10, 2026

For most of my nursing career, my instinct when work felt overwhelming was always the same: Look inward, fix myself, and try harder.

If a shift felt chaotic, I assumed I needed to manage my time better. If an interaction went poorly, I replayed it in my mind, wondering what I could have said differently. If I came home exhausted and irritable, I told myself I needed thicker skin. I believed …

Doctors often struggle to separate professional advice from family love [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 9, 2026

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Board-certified pediatrician, certified coach, and mindfulness and yoga teacher Jessie Mahoney discusses her article “Pediatrician vs. grandmother: Choosing love over medical advice.” Jessie explores the internal conflict she faced between her medical …

Beyond weight loss: the expanding benefits of GLP-1 receptor agonists

Zehra Haider, MD

Meds

February 9, 2026

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) were introduced to help manage type 2 diabetes. They improve glycemic control and promote weight loss, which we all know are essential for long-term outcomes. In practice, I’ve seen that their impact goes beyond these traditional targets. Patients often benefit from cardiovascular protection and kidney improvements, and emerging data show advantages in areas we did not initially anticipate, such as sleep apnea, joint health, …

Medical misinformation: Navigating vaccine hesitancy with empathy

Christine J. Ko, MD

Physician

February 9, 2026

Medical misinformation is rampant but should not be overstated. Vaccination remains a good barometer of the range of opinions on a subject directly related to individual as well as population health. 82 percent of Americans received at least one shot of the COVID vaccine by December 2023. However, more recently, population vaccination rates of children are decreasing.

Perspectives on safety and immunity

The increasing distrust in vaccines may be …

AI-assisted therapy: Why supervision makes the difference

Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD

Conditions

February 9, 2026

Artificial intelligence in mental health has become an easy target. Headlines warn of hallucinating chatbots, reckless advice, and sensational claims that AI therapy is pushing vulnerable patients toward self-harm or suicide. The implication is clear: AI is dangerous, irresponsible, and incompatible with serious clinical care.

That conclusion is too simple and, in many cases, wrong.

The uncomfortable truth is that many patients are already receiving something far riskier than supervised AI therapy. …

When language becomes the barrier: IMGs and autism diagnoses

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

Conditions

February 9, 2026

I once left grand rounds with a donut and a fake pager buzz because I couldn’t understand the speaker, who often was a natural Mandarin or Arabic speaker. Humor aside, this was not just my problem; it was a systemic failure.

I have spent decades in developmental-behavioral pediatrics, and one truth has never changed: Communication is the currency of medicine. Without it, trust collapses.

International medical graduates (IMGs) are vital to our …

Simple choices prevent chronic disease [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 8, 2026

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Internal medicine physician Shirisha Kamidi discusses her article “Small habits, big impact on health.” Shirisha explains why prevention is often more powerful than treatment when addressing conditions like diabetes and hypertension. She …

The American Board of Internal Medicine maintenance of certification lawsuit: What physicians need to know

Brian Hudes, MD

Physician

February 8, 2026

The tension between physicians and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has simmered for a decade. What began as a professional debate over maintenance of certification (MOC) has evolved into a broader question of fairness, autonomy, and accountability. Now, the courts are involved, and the legal battles are revealing as much about the profession’s frustration as they are about the structure of American medicine.

A landscape of lawsuits

Since 2018, multiple …

Charles Bonnet syndrome: Why the blind see hallucinations

Ceres Alhelí Otero Peniche

Conditions

February 8, 2026

Today I awoke feeling hopeless, disconnected from my body and my thoughts. All I could sense was the void that my vision loss represented. I kept thinking how beautiful it would be to see clearly, as I opened my eyes to a world submerged in gray fog. Suddenly, the room began to distort. The shadows slowly transformed into figures, men and women trying to pull off my legs were manifesting …

Physician weight loss strategy: Why willpower isn’t enough in 2026

Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD

Physician

February 8, 2026

Shortly after Halloween, I hid my daughter’s candy haul.

Not because candy is evil nor because I’m trying to ban sugar from our house. But because I kept finding candy wrappers in random trash cans, and I realized that having a giant bag of candy sitting out was just too tempting for my family.

We have a similar rule with ice cream. We don’t buy it at the grocery store. If we …

The health insurance crisis 2026: What Kentuckians need to know

Susan G. Bornstein, MD, MPH

Policy

February 8, 2026

The health insurance crisis has finally entered the public consciousness. 200,000 to 350,000 Kentuckians are expected to lose their coverage as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Commercial insurance carriers have already substantially increased premiums in response to market uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Congress failed to act before the end of the year to extend the expiring enhanced premium tax credits that help millions of Americans afford health insurance …

Weaponizing food allergies in entertainment endangers lives [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 7, 2026

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Leading advocate for airline safety measures to protect food-allergic passengers Lianne Mandelbaum discusses her article “When TV shows use food allergy as murder.” Lianne examines the dangerous trend in popular media where …

Geriatric diabetes management: Why strict A1c targets can harm seniors

George James

Conditions

February 7, 2026

According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 3 Americans over age 65 live with diabetes. However, our health care system treats diabetes as if all adults are metabolically and functionally the same. In their attempt to maximize glycemic control, it’s not uncommon for elderly patients to experience hypoglycemic episodes, resulting in falls and confusion among other issues, exacerbating other health conditions while taking a mental and emotional toll on …

Why progression independent of relapse activity is the silent driver of disability in multiple sclerosis

Andreas Muehler, MD, MBA

Conditions

February 7, 2026

For too long, multiple sclerosis (MS) has been described with an air of quiet fatalism, a chronic, debilitating disease managed primarily by reducing relapses, but not fully addressed in terms of its continuous, underlying disability progression. This smoldering process often is not easily visible because of its progressive nature. Patients are told to manage expectations, while clinicians are taught to define success by the absence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) …

Why medical school DEI mission statements matter for future physicians

Aditi Mahajan, MEd, Laura Malmut, MD, MEd, Jared Stowers, MD, and Khaleel Atkinson

Education

February 7, 2026

When you were applying to medical school, how did you decide which programs to consider? After filtering by stats and geography, you likely browsed school websites. Which ones stood out to you? Did any reflect your identity, align with your values, or feel like a place where you’d truly belong?

Mission statements, particularly those focused on diversity, are often the first indication to applicants that a school values them not just …

A physician’s quiet reflection on January 1, 2026

Dr. Damane Zehra

Conditions

February 7, 2026

Over the past few days, I have read numerous articles reflecting on 2025: what people achieved, what they lost, how many books they read, and how they touched the lives around them. I found myself lingering on them, thinking, reflecting. But today, I want to pause on something closer to home: my first day of this new year, January 1, 2026.

I am sitting in the library, one of my favorite …

AI censorship threatens the lifeline of caregiver support [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

February 6, 2026

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Certified coach and medical educator Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article “AI moderation of online health communities.” Kathleen shares the harrowing personal story of having her social media account disabled when an algorithm …

Demedicalize dying: Why end-of-life care needs a spiritual reset

Kevin Haselhorst, MD

Physician

February 6, 2026

If life is what we make it, then the end of life can be understood as a spiritual journey rather than a medical pursuit. We demedicalize dying by distancing ourselves from practices that use hope as consent (prolonging life through reflexive hospitalizations, procedures, or antibiotics that offer little dignity to those already living with serious illness).

Every medical decision poses a fundamental question: Is this the beginning of the end, or …