| KevinMD.com

Aggressive care at the end of life continues to grow

Physician

October 24, 2011

There are important medical studies, and then there are landmark studies–the kind of science that disrupts the entire medical community. The most recent game-changer was published recently in the Lancet.

Well known surgeon and author, Dr. Atul Gawande and colleagues published this important look-back study on the intensity and variation of surgical care of 1.8 million elderly patients in the US. They put numbers to the well-known and ever-expanding problem of …

Physicians who cash in on a woman’s desire to be beautiful

Linda Burke, MD

Physician

October 24, 2011

Three young mothers under the age of 40 are dead because they wanted to be beautiful. Kellee Lee-Howard wanted a slimmer body. Ditto Maria Shortall and Rohie Kah-Orukatan. Shortall worked as a housekeeper; Lee-Howard was the mother of six kids and Kah-Orukotan died at the same place where she received manicures. What do these women have in common besides being minorities? They had liposuction procedures performed by men who offered …

Waiting is the bane of the medical system

Lisa Gualtieri, PhD

Patient

October 24, 2011

“By the time you see the doctor, you’re either dead or you’re better,” my mother-in-law told me. She had to have multiple tests, all with long waits to get the appointments and the results, before her health insurer would allow her to make an appointment with a specialist.

“Waiting is the bane of the medical system,” a former student, an R.N., concurred. Advances in medicine and technology have improved medical outcomes, …

How to protect baby skin during summer

Jeff Benabio, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 23, 2011

Everyone wishes they had baby skin. It feels so soft and smooth; it’s perfectly adapted to induce us adults to want to clean their diaper, no matter how many times they dirty them. Like their big eyes and cute noses, baby skin it part of the whole package of being adorable. But like their eyes, their skin, however beautiful, is immature. Baby skin is thinner, has less natural moisturizers and …

Read more…

How to protect baby skin during summer

What if the individual mandate was unconstitutional?

Roger Collier

Health Policy

October 23, 2011

An alarming article in Politico.com looks at what could happen if the Supreme Court determines that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate provision is unconstitutional—something that the current conservative leaning of the Court seems to indicate is somewhat more likely than not.

Assuming that such a possible decision by the Court follows that of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in ruling that the mandate is unconstitutional but …

How a medical student uses an iPad for patient care and education

Alex Chamessian

Health Technology

October 23, 2011

iPads have been introduced into medical education mostly during the pre-clinical years. I’d like to share my experience using an iPad during my clinical year. I’ve found it to be exceedingly useful and versatile.

I have an entire medical library in my pocket. With the touch of a button I can pull up essential texts such as Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine or William’s Endocrinology. I get these books and …

Sugar matters when reading food labels

Jeffrey Gladd, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 23, 2011

I was thinking about food labels recently as I scanned yet another new food product at the grocery store. It’s become something of a hobby. “Oh, second ingredient evaporated cane juice (AKA sugar) and then at the end ‘natural’ (my quotation marks) flavors.” The verdict: processed food. I don’t need to know any more than that. Don’t care about calories or fat grams or the other things we have been …

Read more…

Sugar matters when reading food labels

What patients actually say to their physicians is largely unknown

David B. Nash, MD, MBA

Patient

October 22, 2011

Every once in a while, I come across a new concept or technology application that really captures my imagination.

This was the case when I became aware of an enterprise whose core business is patient-physician communication.

What patients actually say to their physicians — and what physicians actually say to their patients — is largely unknown.

A company called Verilogue ventured into this previously uncharted territory and began to audio record patient-physician interactions.

To …

I do what I know is harmful for my body

Matthew Gibson, MD

Physician

October 22, 2011

For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been working as a sub-intern on the family practice inpatient service in one of the local hospitals. It’s been quite a time! I’ve sure been kept busy, but learning a lot and seeing a lot. With a moment of downtime, I wanted to share a reflection I had yesterday.

We’re all familiar with the glamorous “saves” in medicine. It’s the car accident victim that undergoes …

Read more…

I do what I know is harmful for my body

What does your personal image of medicine look like?

Anonymous

Physician

October 22, 2011

“I don’t need no doctor ’cause I know what’s ailing me.
He gave me a medicated lotion
But it didn’t soothe my emotion.”
-John Mayer

If someone asked you to draw your image of medicine, what would you sketch? Would it be a person wearing a long white coat with a stethoscope? Would your picture be set in a hospital room, the ER, or the office setting? Would there be any patients in your …

MKSAP: 68-year-old man with a sensation of dryness in his eyes

mksap

Conditions and Diseases

October 22, 2011

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.

A 68-year-old man is evaluated for a 6-month history of a sensation of dryness in his eyes. He notes that it feels as though there is sand in his eyes.

On physical examination, the eyes are red, and trichiasis (ingrown eyelashes) and symblepharon (adhesions of the eyelid …

The safety of approved drugs needs to be closely watched

Naomi Freundlich

Medications

October 21, 2011

Over the past decade or so, there have been at least 20 prescription drugs removed from the market, including several cases of high-profile blockbuster drugs that were found to be harmful only after millions of patients had taken them. Vioxx, the pain reliever sold by Merck is one example; taken by an estimated 20 million Americans, it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients. The company …

Dear future practicing physician, choose primary care

Chris Lillis, MD

Physician

October 21, 2011

Dear future practicing physician,

Choose primary care. I know all around you there are pressures to choose to become a specialist. I remember those pressures well. In medical school, one of my favorite mentors was predicting that after I got a taste of primary care, I would “come crawling back” to him. I still chuckle about that conversation to this day. In residency, I remember several seminars for us built …

The problem with round the clock hospitalist coverage

Bradley Flansbaum, DO

Physician

October 21, 2011

Two recent articles, one from the New York Times, the other from The Hospitalist, initiated some 24/7 staffing issue rumination on my behalf. It stems originally from a recent op-ed by Lucian Leape: “Given the accrediting council’s reluctance to act, the federal government needs to get tougher. If we are serious about curbing the tide of injuries stemming from medical errors, Medicare should make its funding of graduate medical education …

Makes you want to pull your hair out: Treating trichotillomania

Edwin Suddleson, MD

Conditions and Diseases

October 21, 2011

One of the saddest, but more treatable, causes of hair loss in patients is trichotillomania, the impulse control disorder in which a person repeatedly pulls out hair from their body for non-cosmetic reasons. While some people have never even heard of trichotillomania, according to the Trichotillomania Learning Center, as many as ten million Americans (or 4% of the U.S. population) suffer from the disorder.

According to the Diagnositic and Statistical Manual …

How can pharma earn the trust of patients?

Richard Meyer

Medications

October 20, 2011

Never in recorded history have Americans been more distrustful of how the U.S. government spends its money. According to Gallup poll, Americans on average say that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every tax dollar, the highest level ever recorded since the poll was first taken in 1979. DTC marketers should understand that this mistrust is also leading to mistrust of marketing and advertising as well as big …

Physicians should embrace patient engagement

Kent Bottles, MD

Patient

October 20, 2011

The doctor/patient relationship is certainly changing and evolving. A term I hear a lot today is: “patient engagement/activation.” Why is this concept so important and what does it mean? What can physician executives do to make it easier for our patients to become engaged and activated?

Judith Hibbard has pioneered the study of patient engagement, and she noted that one needs knowledge, skills, and emotional support to actively engage in one’s …

Why haven’t surgeons been on the front line of public health?

Andrew M. Ibrahim, MD

Physician

October 20, 2011

Public health has often focused on prevention tools that impact an entire community or population. Before Henry Bigelow MD described the use of Ether in 1846 to mitigate pain during surgery or Joseph Lister MD discovered the value of sterile technique, surgical candidates were few. Even if one were convinced tolerate the pain of surgery, more than half would die from the risk of infection. For most of surgical …

The difference between male and female patients

Fizzy, MD

Patient

October 19, 2011

It’s never so obvious to me that there’s a big essential difference between men and women as when we take a family trip to Target.

First, when you’re holding a small baby or even an older baby or even a preschooler, you get a lot of attention. People love to look at small babies. And by “people,” I mean “women” only. When I walk around with the baby, women are constantly …

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Most Popular

Past Week

Past 6 Months

Recent Posts