Conditions and Diseases

Physicians writing on KevinMD about the diseases they treat and the people who have them: cancer and its screening arguments, pain and the drugs that treat it, diabetes and the obesity argument, mental illness and who gets treated for it, and the decisions at the end of a life. Five maintained records draw on this archive: Cancer: what physicians say, in their own words, Opioids: what physicians and pain patients say, in their own words, End of life: what physicians say, in their own words, Diabetes and obesity: what physicians say, in their own words, and Mental health: what psychiatrists and physicians say, in their own words.

The impact of COVID-19 on those with disabilities and mental illness

Martin Lustick, MD

March 4, 2021

As early as April 6, 2020, the New York Times (NYT) published an article revealing early pandemic statistics that showed the death rate for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) who received residential services in New York State (NYS) was double that for the general population. As difficult as the pandemic has been for all of us, it was clear from the beginning that some were more vulnerable than …

COVID-19: Looking into the future and healing

Christine Lau, MD and Collette Williams, PhD, RN

Conditions and Diseases

March 4, 2021

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has taken a toll on its health care workers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 340,000 cases of COVID-19 among health care personnel have been reported, and it is estimated that these numbers are grossly underreported. It is estimated that more than 1,700 health care providers have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 200 being nurses. With …

The COVID-19 vaccine from the South African frontlines

Dr. Basil Stathoulis

Conditions and Diseases

March 3, 2021

I have been distracting myself since the second wave. Our hospital has quietened down as far as COVID-19 cases go, and we started doing limited planned surgeries. After my last post, which detailed the overwhelming and horrific difficulties we faced during the second wave, a friend of mine suggested my next post should be about some good news.

So I thought of telling you about a touching …

A beloved COVID ICU patient turns to comfort care

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions and Diseases

March 2, 2021

Everyone loved Mrs. Maria. She was everyone’s mom, grandma, teacher.

Maria grew up in poverty. Though her family was poor, she knew her parents and siblings loved her and loved each other. But the one thing she knew her passion was at was school. Every morning she couldn’t wait to go to school and learn more. And she knew one day she would be a teacher.

Throughout the years, Maria excelled in …

A neurosurgeon explains why visualization works

Marc Arginteanu, MD

Conditions and Diseases

March 1, 2021

Brain science explains why visualization improves performance in the real world, helps make better decisions, and minimizes errors.

Before performing surgery, let’s say for a herniated disc, I stand in front of a white porcelain sink. Antiseptic bubbles cover my hands and drip from my forearms. The surgery takes place in my mind, playing like a movie on the inside of my eyelids: The setting of retractors, …

Going to the molecular level to think big about cancer

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Conditions and Diseases

February 28, 2021

In the next few years, the biggest advancements in cancer care may occur at the smallest level, the level of individual molecules.

By imaging individual molecules on cancer cells, malignancies can be detected when they are smaller and more easily treated. Targeting individual molecules has also allowed groundbreaking new therapies with great precision, increasing the efficacy of treatment and minimizing side effects.

This effort sounds like something out of “science fiction,” but …

Responding to the COVID pandemic: a lesson in coalescence

Nate Link, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 28, 2021

On March 13, 2020, almost exactly one year ago, hospitals in New York City shared an uneasy feeling that the enemy was all around us, growing in force and stealthily approaching, but still invisible. Then, over the next three weeks, the COVID tidal wave washed over us in full fury, as desperately ill patients flooded our emergency rooms. So as not to drown in that wave, Bellevue Hospital needed to …

How a death prepared me for a pandemic

Jill Fleming

Conditions and Diseases

February 27, 2021

Since last March, every day has been filled with news of COVID-19 statistics: surges, declines, the myriad of symptoms, and the staggering number of deaths. As a 23-year-old pre-med post-bacc student, I was suddenly moving home — with my apartment’s meager supply of toilet paper and Clorox wipes — to spend the unforeseeable future with my parents.

Like many, the first few weeks were filled with uncertainty, worry, and a naïve …

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How a death prepared me for a pandemic

Why health care professionals must call for splitting the autism spectrum

Irene Tanzman

Conditions and Diseases

February 27, 2021

In a February 2021 Facebook Live presentation sponsored by Seattle Children’s Hospital, Jill Escher, the president of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA), called for splitting the autism spectrum.

In some individuals, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents as a serious developmental disability affecting communication, learning, motivation, and all aspects of daily living. These individuals require 24/7 level care. Others on the spectrum have mild differences in …

These 2 Canadian provinces are getting it right in the COVID-19 pandemic

Sarah Fraser, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 26, 2021

I recently returned from Northwest Territories, where I’d been working as a physician for six months. Now, back in Nova Scotia, I’m reflecting on what it’s been like to have worked in areas of Canada with relatively few cases of COVID-19.

A large part of my work is hospital medicine. As the name implies, a hospitalist is a doctor who cares for patients admitted to the hospital. Often, we work …

How do we address the heterogeneity in vaccine hesitancy?

Cullen M. Lilley and Kamran M. Mirza, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 25, 2021

There is light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, but public trust in national and global public health institutions is at an all-time low. What happens if folks don’t want to travel to the light?

As the pandemic drags on, the banality of persistent distancing measures and continued calls for social distancing are falling on deaf ears. Cases and fatalities continue to set records. In an attempt to regain …

How do we treat the unvaccinated? And how can they treat us?

Nina Shapiro, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 24, 2021

As the challenges to get an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine get harder and not easier, and as the pressure for schools to open their doors for in-person learning, as long as teachers will get vaccinated, rises, the question remains: What about those who choose not to?

In the midst of so many individuals clamoring to get vaccinated, there remain many who will not get vaccinated. Not this week, not next …

6 ways to build trust with communities of color when distributing the COVID-19 vaccine

Susan Lopez, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 24, 2021

As a Latina physician on the frontlines of COVID-19, it feels like a race against time to get as many vaccines as possible to the communities of color that are more likely to be infected, hospitalized, and die from the virus. A lot of effort right now is focused on the logistics of managing vaccines that need to be manufactured, stored, allocated, …

What happens to your child’s brain when you nag

Marc Arginteanu, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 24, 2021

Part of your job as a parent is to teach your children, and there’s no way for a child to learn anything without making a few mistakes. Actually, a lot of mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes can be infuriating. They might be self-destructive mistakes. They might be mistakes that can cause harm to their siblings or classmates. They might be mistakes that happen over and over again. They might …

The eradication of polio in the U.S. is truly a testament to vaccination’s extraordinary power

Sarah C. Smith, DO

Conditions and Diseases

February 23, 2021

I opened the exam room door and hit something. Peeking around the door, I saw an elderly woman wearing a pink sequined hat who was perched in a motorized scooter parked awkwardly in front of the door. I slinked around her to my stool and sat down as I introduced myself. I was running behind, but for some reason, I simply said, “tell me about yourself.”

The woman looked directly at …

Why healthy aging must be the upshot of the COVID-19 pandemic

John Muscedere, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 23, 2021

Last month, while the world was distracted by political turmoil and the pandemic’s roaring second wave, a very significant proclamation came and went with little fanfare. The United Nations General Assembly launched 2020-2030 as the Decade of Healthy Ageing, calling for a decade of concerted global action to extend the health and well-being horizons of the world’s one billion people over the age of …

In the emergency department: Patients ravaged by mental illness

Anonymous

Conditions and Diseases

February 22, 2021

The emergency department is fast-paced. Full of chaos. Incredible suffering. Frustration. Disappointment. Screams, tears, smiles. Reassurance. Good news. Bad news. Diagnoses. Failure to find a diagnosis. Getting a last-minute cardiac arrest coming in at 650 a.m., ten minutes before the end of your 12-hour, overnight shift – you have the energy and wherewithal to do the task, but to process the life that was lost? To truly realize the dead …

Not recognizing sex and gender differences can adversely affect patients

Connie Newman, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 21, 2021

As a young medical doctor in academia in the early 1980s, most of my research was conducted in male rats. I was told that the estrus cycle in female rats would interfere with data interpretation. Investigators were reluctant to test medications in women of reproductive age, because of the concern about pregnancy. Older women were enrolled in clinical trials, but men and women’s imbalance favored men. Medical schools were teaching …

I have strong reservations regarding medication advertising to the public

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions and Diseases

February 21, 2021

Recently, there have been several TV advertisements on cancer treatments that may extend life. They report survival data that can mislead cancer victims to the extent of possible longevity. Additionally, they present a false picture of how life can be spent.

I have strong reservations regarding medication advertising to the public. Its purpose is to increase profits, not medical education. I know that businesses gamble significant amounts of money on drug …

What’s in your grief toolkit?

Debra A. Shute

Conditions and Diseases

February 20, 2021

Loss is incurable, but grief is metamorphic. The end of another human life is a fluid experience for those left behind. For most of us, grief legitimizes the range of human emotion and, at least temporarily, erases the idea of being too sensitive.

There are many ways in which this paradigm is unequal, particularly for individuals who frequently confront death. It seems that when a challenge moves into the …

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What’s in your grief toolkit?