Conditions

Would you accept obesity advice from a fat doctor?

Joyce Ho, MD

Conditions

September 7, 2012

Something that has been on my mind recently is obesity, specifically obesity in doctors. This may be because we cover obesity in a high percentage of our stories (1 in 3 Americans is obese, after all) or because I recently discovered that I gained ten pounds since moving to New York City. Either way, after watching Dr. Snyderman speak her mind on national television about how obese leaders are unfit …

Hospice care and palliative care: What’s the difference?

James Cooper, MD

Conditions

August 29, 2012

I’ve talked to hundreds of people about the health care options and decisions they face at the end of life. It’s a challenging time and understandably many have little knowledge, while others have misconceptions, and some have bitter disagreements.

Here’s a basic primer for two common approaches: hospice and palliative care.

Hospice care

Two myths about hospice care are prevalent. First, many people believe hospice is provided in a place like a hospital. …

6 tips for choosing the right water drink

Mary Ellen Herndon, MPH, RD

Conditions

August 25, 2012

Flavored water. Water with electrolytes. Tonic water. Sparkling water. Seltzer.

Grocery shelves are packed with so-called water options. But not every drink that bills itself as water is the real deal.

Many drinks labeled as water are loaded with sugar and empty calories. Even though these drinks have ‘water’ in their name, drinking them regularly may cause weight gain and may increase your risk of obesity.

And, that’s bad news because maintaining a …

How to think like a doctor: Start with differential diagnosis

Suzanne Koven, MD

Conditions

August 17, 2012

“What would you do if you were your doctor?” Mary asked me. Mary is my physical therapist and she was trying to figure out why the rehab after my shoulder surgery was progressing so slowly. A month after my operation I was still in pain and still not moving the joint well.

Without hesitation I replied: “I’d come up with a differential diagnosis.”

Differential diagnosis is a two word summary of how …

Should I get a spray tan? A doctor discusses whether it’s safe

Bobby Ghaheri, MD

Conditions

August 12, 2012

We all know that the use of baby oils and baking in the sun for hours on end is probably not a good idea. We know that increased sun exposure correlates with increasing skin cancer rates. We know that it can cause accelerated skin damage in the form of pigmentation changes, wrinkles, and increased skin laxity. Don’t believe me? Check out this picture! Truck drivers tend to get increased sun …

How to avoid Zumba injuries: 10 physician tips

Orly Avitzur, MD

Conditions

July 29, 2012

Zumba, the Latin dance-inspired fitness craze, is a great way to burn calories, up to 500 per hour. It also gives you a good cardiovascular workout without making you feel like you’re exercising. This increasingly popular workout attracts a diverse crowd at dance studios and health clubs, including a sizable number of those 50 and up.

But for people who are out of shape, taking the first classes can be like …

The role of IVs and central lines in critical care

Mark E. Nunnally

Conditions

July 22, 2012

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

As a critical care anesthesiologist, I care for patients when they are most vulnerable. Critical care patients require intravenous (I.V.) fluids and medications, frequently through central venous access. These are catheters inserted into larger veins with a special procedure. I believe managing I.V. lines requires procedural skills, …

10 topics to discuss with your teen this summer

Natasha Burgert, MD

Conditions

June 27, 2012

In a pediatrician’s office, summertime is teen check-up time.

And, I love it.

Annual checkups are a time for me to catch up on the school year, brag about amazing extra-curricular accomplishments, and swoon over summer vacation plans. It is also a time for anticipatory guidance, private conversations, and facing the often sobering reality of teen life.

Throughout this past year, I have had the privilege of being involved in the lives of many …

Lesser known symptoms of seasonal allergies

Sakina Shikari Bajowala, MD

Conditions

June 26, 2012

My boys and I suffer from tree pollen allergies. More than birds chirping or flowers blooming, I have come to associate boogery sleeves and sneezing with the onset of spring. But these are the typical symptoms, which are easily recognizable as allergy-induced.

What I’d like to address in this post are some lesser known symptoms of seasonal allergies, which may also be rearing their ugly heads this spring. Red eyes and …

What can be done for children with migraine headaches?

Mark W. Green, MD

Conditions

June 9, 2012

Recently, as I finished up a visit with one of my patients who has migraine, she asked me the following: “My 10 year old daughter gets headaches. Is it possible that she has migraines too? I had headaches as a child and was always told it was nothing to worry about, but now I have headaches several times a month. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from …

Is the daily blood draw in the hospital truly necessary?

Ioana Baiu, MD

Conditions

June 5, 2012

One of the most memorable discussions regarding the cost of care was at 4:45AM during surgical morning rounds.

As usual, the interns would present the overnight events of their patients to the chief resident and a plan for the day would be agreed upon. These morning rounds were particularly intense: in addition to the 30 patients that an intern had to manage solo over night, the brutal hours that the surgical …

Where you have your mammogram, and who reads it, matter

Stacey Vitiello, MD

Conditions

May 15, 2012

I’ve received several inquiries from women living in various regions of the country, asking how they should choose where to go for their mammogram, and if it really matters. I cannot emphasize this enough: It matters! Here are a few tips to help your search:

The most basic requirement is whether a facility is accredited under the MQSA (Mammography Quality Standards Act). The accrediting body for most states is the ACR …

Are smokers to blame for the damage they do to their bodies?

James C. Salwitz, MD

Conditions

May 12, 2012

He had yellow nails, leather neck, stained teeth and a deep cough. He wheezed slightly, breathed too quickly and occasionally sprinkled the white handkerchief red. No surprise his ticket to my office was a lung mass to match. We talked about tests, treatment and prognosis. About the future, probably short. Devastated, he was not surprised. He was reaping the reward of 30 smoking years. He sadly admitted, “I knew better, …

Tips for successful home blood pressure monitoring

Erin Marcus, MD

Conditions

April 18, 2012

Sometimes, the simplest tools in medicine are the ones that give us the most useful information.

Take the humble blood pressure machine, for example. It’s been around for years, and it’s cheap, compared with a lot of other medical devices. It’s simple to use, and it doesn’t require a medical or a nursing degree to operate. But the numbers it reports are valuable in helping predict a person’s risk of a …

MKSAP: 32-year-old man is disoriented, combative, and agitated

mksap

Conditions

March 25, 2012

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

A 32-year-old man is brought to the emergency department after becoming disoriented, combative, and agitated earlier that day. He is accompanied by a friend, who states that the patient has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, including inhalants.

On physical examination, the patient is uncooperative and …

Will Peyton Manning ever fully recover from his spinal nerve injury?

Edward Pullen, MD

Conditions

March 15, 2012

Does muscle weakness improve after disc surgery?

For an NFL fan arguably the best thing that could happen to your team is to sign Peyton Manning and have him perform at or near his pre-injury level. The corollary is that one of the worst things to happen to your team would be to take a huge salary cap hit to get a Peyton Manning with such weak throwing arm that even …

How to prep for a successful colonoscopy

Gottumukkala S. Raju, MD

Conditions

March 9, 2012

If you really want to know what’s going on inside your colon, don’t show-up for a colonoscopy without a clean colon.

Many say that preparing for the colonoscopy is the worst part of the entire exam. But, it just so happens that it’s also the most important part.

If the prep is done right, it’s easier for your doctor to see not only big polyps but also flat polyps, which can be …

A Grammy artist with Tourette Syndrome

Michele R. Berman, MD

Conditions

February 17, 2012

Would you consider a career as a singer if you had involuntary tics from Tourette Syndrome?

Well, it apparently didn’t stop 20-year-old Contemporary Christian musician Jamie Grace.

In fact, Grace attributes singing with helping her cope with her disease.

And now she is being rewarded with a Grammy nomination for best contemporary Christian music song, Hold Me. The song features TobyMac, who is a Grammy winning Christian recording and hip/hop artist. He …

Read more…

A Grammy artist with Tourette Syndrome

Why we need truth in labeling of medical conditions

Toni Bernhard, JD

Conditions

February 16, 2012

Labels matter. We quickly form judgments based on them. If we hear someone called lazy, the label “lazy person” attaches in our mind even though we may not have even met the person. The same is true for labels given to various medical conditions. If the label for an illness uses language such as “fatigue,” we abstract from our experience and think we know what it’s like to suffer from …

The psychological basis of Morgellons disease

Dominic A. Carone, PhD

Conditions

February 15, 2012

If you are like most people, you have probably never heard of Morgellons disease or Morgellons. The first reason you have likely never heard if it is because it is so bizarre and uncommon. Most of what is known about it is based on rare case reports or anecdotal stories. The second reason is because it is not recognized in the medical community as a legitimate medical disease. It is …

Conditions

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