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.

Vaccinating the entire U.S population: Health information technologies are positioned to help

Betty Rabinowitz, MD

December 13, 2020

The mammoth task of vaccinating most of the world’s human population against COVID-19 is before us. Several viable, highly effective vaccines have been developed at record speed. The pharmaceutical industry will now be called upon to meet the next challenge of producing the vaccine at scale by manufacturing the billions of required doses. A distribution and logistics challenge follows: how to equitably coordinate and execute the widespread distribution and administration …

COVID-19 and The Queen’s Gambit: What will be the pandemic’s endgame?

Robert Pearl, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 13, 2020

The Queen’s Gambit, a seven-part Netflix series, has been the darling of streaming television during the coronavirus pandemic. Seen by more than 60 million people, the story chronicles the life of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon, who grows up in a Kentucky orphanage and goes on to win a world championship.

With its three-dimensional characters and fresh spin on the coming-of-age plotline, the series has captivated the …

As COVID worsens, don’t forget about the opioid crisis

Vishal Khetpal, MD and Nishant Shah, MD, MPH

Conditions and Diseases

December 13, 2020

For the past seven months, an epidemic in our country has spiraled out of control, claiming thousands of lives that could have been saved. It has been met by an inadequate, meandering national response that has often lacked urgency. It has disrupted families, and at times has overburdened our health care system grappling with limited resources.

This assessment undoubtedly describes the COVID-19 pandemic that is now resurging in many communities across …

Social connectedness, volunteerism, and the remedy for COVID fatigue

Ashten Duncan, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 11, 2020

The screen of my laptop brightened up as the next patient appeared in time for her telemedicine visit. The attending physician and I smiled and greeted this typically genial 73-year-old woman—let’s call her “Mariana”—as she forced a reciprocal grin. Mariana’s husband passed away from pneumonia three months prior, shortly after recovering from COVID-19. She spoke about how difficult it was not having him in her life and how her home …

A successful COVID vaccine requires more than Warp Speed

David Galinsky, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 11, 2020

“Warp Speed” is a name that does not inspire confidence. It is a politically inspired slogan, not a serious name for a campaign to save lives. It suggests speed, not carefulness. It suggests politics, not science. The success of Warp Speed is going to depend on the American public accepting the vaccine and believing that it is both safe and effective. We must not let politics interfere with this process. …

A tale of 2 COVID-19 trials: compassionate use vs. EUA

G. Luke Larkin, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 10, 2020

We all need hope this holiday season, but as an experienced physician, biostatistician, and research methodologist, it is my duty to share why the encouraging vaccine results reported by pharma companies in the last month must be applauded but interpreted with caution.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are both to be commended for successfully recruiting tens of thousands of subjects in a remarkably narrow window of time. As a clinical trialist who has …

The family super-spreader event: thoughts on a COVID-19 Thanksgiving

Anonymous

Conditions and Diseases

December 10, 2020

It was Black Friday, and as I held her hand, I knew that she would be dead within the hour.

My breath was stale inside my N95. The yellow isolation gown was moist and clingy, and the fogged-up goggles gave me that feeling that I was on an extended deep-sea expedition. Mrs. Carson was still occupying her bed, but really she was already gone. I had watched the respiratory rate creep …

Persistent stressors and resilience: a new way forward for health care communities

Pennie Sempell, JD and James Monroe, PhD

Conditions and Diseases

December 10, 2020

A rustling of leaves was heard in the deep underbrush. The hunter froze in place, his fingers stiffening around his bow, poised for attack or flight. He bolted, leaping across the rocks as the cougar emerged, just missing its prey. Not stopping until he reached his destination, the hunter collapsed by the fire and fell asleep. This analogy showcases the survival response and a natural, rapid recovery.

The sharpening of the …

6 ways to help children navigate the challenges of 2020

Anjani Amladi, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 9, 2020

One thing we all need right now, especially for our kids, is optimism. Anxiety and uncertainty are part of daily life. Still, there are ways to help children navigate the challenges 2020 has brought us, whether in our own household or our professional practice as health care providers.

1. Model it. Children will look to their caregivers for cues on how to respond to life stresses. As parents, it is important …

Alone and frightened is the way COVID patients die

Constantine Ioannou, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 9, 2020

I began my career in psychiatry with the desire to work with dying patients. This is an odd way to begin, but I had begun my career with interest in oncology and eventually discovered the field of psycho-oncology. After graduating, the first population I worked with was HIV infected individuals when an HIV diagnosis was a certain death sentence. The work centered on helping the individual accept their impending death …

COVID-19 and the cruel death of my mother

Christine King, CRNA

Conditions and Diseases

December 8, 2020

I am very happy to hear that the CDC decided to prioritize health care workers and long-term care residents to be the first to receive the vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccine. It is very personal to me as a health care worker and a daughter.

My mom was admitted to an assisted living/personal care home as the lockdown was hitting this past March.

Her health had been declining since September of 2019 …

The truth about Baron Von Munchausen, Munchausen’s Syndrome, and Munchausen’s by proxy

Michael Hefferon, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 7, 2020

An excerpt from Medical Myths: A Sceptic’s Journey.

The German Baron Karl Friedrich Von Munchausen (1720-1797) was famous for his tall tales. Returning from the war, he described himself riding on a cannonball and even reaching the moon. Stories were compiled …

COVID-19 stands on the shoulders of giants

Martin Lustick, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 7, 2020

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to assimilate the global transformation that has taken place in just a few short months. As we each struggle to make sense of this life-altering event, it might help to reflect on pandemics’ history in general.

In his book, Epidemics and Society, published last year, Frank Snowden does just that.Exhibiting diligence and deep knowledge, Snowden demonstrates how pandemics have shaped history …

Dear families: We are strong, but we are tired

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions and Diseases

December 6, 2020

After 33 years as an ICU RN, I had finally decided I couldn’t do this anymore. It was my last nightshift. The last shift convinced me I had made the right decision.

The CNA and I went door to door to turn each ICU patient that was not capable of turning themselves.

ICU-06: Mrs. Thelma was 86 years old. She laid in her bed, slightly restless. Restrained. On a ventilator. NG tube …

The potential for violence against health care workers during COVID-19

Gregory Jasani, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 3, 2020

Recently, the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap the governor of Michigan. The entire story reads like a Tom Clancy novel: a group of disgruntled strangers meets and organizes through chat rooms online. They conduct tactical training in the woods, do surveillance runs of the governor’s house, and even make plans to target law enforcement personnel and blow up a bridge to hamper any response to their attack. The individuals …

The myth of object permanence

Kellie Lease Stecher, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 3, 2020

I remember the sound of pure joy and laughter when playing peek-a-boo with my daughter. She would look at me with her big blue eyes and giggle loudly. One of the reasons this game is interesting to children is the psychological concept of object permanence. In the abstract, object permanence is the realization that things exist, even when an object or person is out of sight. Over the years, there …

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The myth of object permanence

The coronavirus football double standard

Barbara Lazio, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 2, 2020

It is Thanksgiving and, while many are counting their blessings, others are mourning the loss of family time, routine, turkey, big family gatherings, and football. The Baltimore Ravens had to cancel their game today because of too many positive COVID-19 tests. My logical question as a surgeon was, “So I guess they reschedule for 14 days when they all come off quarantine and isolation?” My daughter, a college student, is …

What you need to know about cold and flu season in the time of COVID-19

Jerome A. Leis and Allan Grill

Conditions and Diseases

November 29, 2020

The cold and flu season looks very different this year with the COVID-19 pandemic. When a person has a fever, sore throat, aches, and chills, they need to consider when to self isolate, when to be tested for COVID-19, when to be assessed in person and when antibiotics should be considered.

Is it a common cold, the flu, a bacterial infection, or the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)?

In a recent article in the British …

A society that values evidence is more resilient in the face of health crises

Anca Matei, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 28, 2020

In a world of unprecedented access to information and incredible connectedness, everyone is an expert. Public health has been one of the many victims of this phenomenon, yet it is the single most important strategy for managing the global crisis we are in.

The problem with public health is that it is not particularly likable. That has not always been so. Public health used to be really sexy. As the germ …

Normalizing infertility conversations in the workplace

Kate Hoppock, DO

Conditions and Diseases

November 28, 2020

I am a medical doctor—a hospitalist working in an environment with many talented professionals. We share our knowledge and our approach to medicine with one another in ways that profoundly affect our patients and other personnel in the hospital.

At our best, we are a community whose foundation is a willingness and openness to discuss hard facts and make difficult decisions.

So why is it that when I was first diagnosed with …