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.

Unmasking the faces of COVID: pages from a neurologist’s diary

Ayushi Chugh, MD

February 20, 2021

“Please don’t go just yet. Promise you will come to see me again?” she asked, with a frail quiver in her voice.

“But of course, see you on my rounds tomorrow!” I replied, trying to sound cheery, as I turned to leave her negative pressure ICU room. I was doubtful if she would even remember my masked-gowned presence by the next day or even the next moment. For COVID with its …

A story of a gruesome farm accident

Ron Whitchurch, CRNA

Conditions and Diseases

February 18, 2021

An excerpt from 50 Years in the OR: True Stories of Life, Loss, and Laughter While Giving Anesthesia.

We were notified one cold winter’s afternoon in February that a farm accident victim with a bad leg injury was coming in from a small town twenty-five miles west …

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A story of a gruesome farm accident

The shadow pandemic of intimate partner violence

Garrett Rossi, MD and Kristen Mazoki, DO

Conditions and Diseases

February 17, 2021

As COVID-19 cases surge across the country, we appear to have another long winter ahead of us in 2021. In March of 2020, stay-at-home orders were put in place, schools closed, and many people were spending more time at home than ever before. While being home has offered benefits to some, others have been trapped in terrifying circumstances with no escape.

In March of 2020, domestic-violence hotlines prepared for increased call …

Dementia: Everything has changed, nothing has changed

Dr. Sube Banerjee and Carole A. Estabrooks, PhD

Conditions and Diseases

February 17, 2021

Everything seemed to have changed in dementia care. It had become a policy priority and public and professional attitudes and understanding were improving, as were services and care. And then COVID-19 happened — a profound shock to the system that showed underneath, especially for the particularly vulnerable population living in long-term care homes, little had really changed.

Seventy percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Canada have …

The truth about Alzheimer’s

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions and Diseases

February 16, 2021

Her son went to visit her at her house of 52 years. The sound in the bathroom indicated that the faucet in the tub was running and overflowing onto the floor. A series of events piled one on top of the other. A totaled car, candles burning in the house haphazardly, repetitive questions mentioned five minutes apart. The same questions over and over again. Hugging her granddaughter but not remembering …

Read more…

The truth about Alzheimer’s

LGBTQ people living with HIV: considerations during COVID-19

Kimberly Levitt, MPH and Connie Ticho

Conditions and Diseases

February 16, 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world since the first reports from China in 2019, and the outbreak was characterized as a pandemic. COVID-19 does not affect everyone equally. COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted LGBTQ Americans and may continue to. Prior studies have noted significant health disadvantages experienced by LGBTQ populations in the U.S. Some of the biggest health care …

7 lifestyle modifications to minimize the adverse effects of COVID-19

Thomas Holland, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 15, 2021

As the number of people infected with and dying from COVID-19 continues to climb, many Americans may be wondering what steps they can take to mitigate the potential for infection or, if infected, what modifications can keep them healthy and lower the likelihood of severe symptoms and worse while they wait to be vaccinated.

For those who do contract the disease, 99.5 percent will …

COVID: I can see the suffering in your eyes

Kelly Lisciandro, DO

Conditions and Diseases

February 12, 2021

As our surge approaches many more lives lost and overcrowded critically ill in the hospitals, I can see the pain in their eyes. No matter where you go on social media or who you run into, I can see the pain. I can see the helplessness. I can see the tears being held back. How can one be trained to save lives and not be able to? Not …

Changing the national conversation on wound care

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Conditions and Diseases

February 12, 2021

We all think we know what a bruise looks like. Black and blue, brownish around the edges. But depending on the circumstances, the same bruise can look different from one person to another.

To a well-loved child who skinned her knee, a bruise might look like a bad memory of an epic tree-climb attempt. To a patient with diabetes, a similar bruise might look like the onset of a life-threatening emergency. …

Beyond vaccines: Rethinking testing in long-term care

Jennifer Zelmer, PhD and Dr. David Mowat

Conditions and Diseases

February 12, 2021

COVID-19 has affected us all, but a great deal of the impact has been on older adults, and especially those living in long-term care homes. Eight in 10 deaths from COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic in Canada came from long-term care residences. Spread of COVID-19 in these settings has proven challenging to control. Vaccines offer hope for the future and are beginning …

What the PlayStation 5 can teach the vaccine rollout

Zane Kaleem, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 10, 2021

It’s no surprise that the PlayStation 5 (PS5) has been extremely popular since its launch in November, with over four million consoles sold since launch. However, what is surprising is that the PS5 has broken all launch month gaming hardware sales records ever, despite its steep prices at $500 for the full console and $400 for the digital edition, not to mention its launch in the …

The United States earns a D+ on the vaccine effort

Chris Moag, PA-C

Conditions and Diseases

February 9, 2021

The United States has, so far, earned a solid D+ on the vaccine effort. The high mark is not an F because people are actually being vaccinated. There are a multitude of factors that are making this already incredibly complex situation unnecessarily convoluted. From my research, which has been motivated by my company’s development of a digital tool that prioritizes and schedules vaccinations in multiple states, it has become apparent …

Nursing home workers at catastrophic levels of burnout and trauma

Carole A. Estabrooks, PhD and Yuting Song

Conditions and Diseases

February 9, 2021

It’s been almost a year since nursing home workers began fighting on the front lines of COVID-19. They’ve witnessed and experienced extreme trauma. They’ve seen seniors they care for suffer in fear and loneliness during prolonged and repeated lockdowns. They’ve seen residents fall catastrophically ill and too many of them die.

More than 17,000 seniors are dead from COVID-19 in Canada; Read more…

Nursing home workers at catastrophic levels of burnout and trauma

The pandemic has reminded me of the physician-patient relationship’s precious nature

John DeGuardi, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 9, 2021

“How is she? What happened?” – a family member asks me anxiously over the phone. I pause and proceed cautiously. “What is your understanding – “ I am cut off. “Just tell me what happened.” Again, I pause. “I am very sorry sir, and I am sad to say that your wife has unfortunately passed away.” A long silence ensues … he mutters an expletive.

As a physician, delivering bad news …

How a physician breaks bad news is just as important as the bad news itself

Rizwana Khan, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 7, 2021

Medicine is an art. One can learn about symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment plans for various diseases, from textbooks and journal articles. It is harder to study empathy, compassion, and human connection from conventional academic resources. The art of medicine is discovered, acquired, and absorbed on the job by interacting and connecting with patients and their families, by partnering with them in their journey through sickness to health or even the …

Pressure to breastfeed: from inside or out?

Cindy Rubin, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 7, 2021

I had very difficult experiences breastfeeding both of my children. I had constant pain, recurrent plugged ducts, and a lot of latch problems. There were many times when I considered quitting, but I persevered because it meant a lot to me, and I would have felt like I was failing had I stopped. Does this sound familiar?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There has been a huge pushback …

A story of esophageal variceal rupture

Ron Whitchurch, CRNA

Conditions and Diseases

February 7, 2021

An excerpt from 50 Years in the OR: True Stories of Life, Loss, and Laughter While Giving Anesthesia.

Chronic long-term alcoholism causes many health problems, not the least of which is cirrhosis of the liver. In advanced cases of cirrhosis, the liver becomes full of …

Read more…

A story of esophageal variceal rupture

The ideal elective surgery during a pandemic

David A. Silver, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 6, 2021

Back in April 2020, it was all hands on deck in caring for COVID-19 patients at our medical center in Brooklyn, NY, where the number of severe COVID-19 cases was even higher than in neighboring Manhattan.

The 710-bed teaching hospital had been entirely transformed into a COVID-19 care facility, increasing to more than 1,400 beds, including 400 ICU beds. Apart from trauma, the only patients we were seeing in the ER …

Vaccination and trust in science and patience is the only way out of this pandemic

Linda Silas, RN

Conditions and Diseases

February 6, 2021

A COVID-free future is within our reach – a future where it’s safe to hug again and where our smiles no longer need to be hidden behind a mask. To get there, we will need a robust vaccination drive. We will need Canadians to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. But we will also need to be patient. Immunizing the country won’t happen overnight. It will be …

Stop chasing the eternal search for happiness

Sanj Katyal, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 5, 2021

I have been searching for something all of my life. Some would call it happiness; others call it success. No matter what I achieve, the goalposts seem to keep moving.

Perhaps this sounds familiar.

Maybe you realize that it is all an endless chase.

Maybe you are tired of: