Conditions

The myth of endless availability in medicine

Conditions

November 15, 2025

For years, I believed that the best clinicians were the ones who never stopped. We covered extra shifts, skipped meals, charted past midnight, and proudly wore exhaustion as a badge of honor. My patients were happy, my colleagues admired my work ethic, and I was quietly unraveling.

The slow slide into burnout

Burnout didn’t arrive like a crisis; it crept in as a constant background hum. I began to dread the pager’s …

A new autism care model in Idaho

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

Conditions

November 15, 2025

Idaho has become the first state to end Medicaid funding for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. This marks a shift away from concerns about inflated billing and variable outcome metrics toward a model focused on measurable and inclusive care. As a pediatrician who participated in NIMH-RUPP trials and has observed the clinical evolution of ABA, I recognize the significance of Idaho’s decision. The state acted proactively rather than awaiting federal …

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A new autism care model in Idaho

What an FFR-CT score means for your heart

Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed

Conditions

November 15, 2025

He came to my office holding the results of his coronary CT scan. His eyes went immediately to the numbers, his voice tense: “Doctor, my FFR is 0.86. Do I need a stent?”

This is not an unusual question anymore. Coronary CT angiography with fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT) is rapidly becoming a common tool in cardiology. It gives us noninvasive insight into whether a coronary lesion is functionally significant. In plain …

Advance directives not honored: a wife’s story

Susan Hatch

Conditions

November 14, 2025

For nearly a decade, almost every time my husband, Teddy, went into the hospital, they asked if he had an advance directive. And he did: It was notarized and given to any doctor he saw and any hospital he visited, including the one he died in.

But on the last day of Teddy’s life, the interventions he received were explicitly against his wishes as documented in his advance directive: no resuscitation, …

The therapy memory recall crisis

Ronke Lawal

Conditions

November 14, 2025

During a casual conversation about mental health, a friend admitted something striking: “I stopped going to therapy because I’d leave feeling great, but by the time I actually needed what we talked about, like in the middle of an argument or a panic attack, I couldn’t remember any of it. It felt like throwing money away.”

This confession revealed a silent challenge in mental health care. The issue isn’t finding the …

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The therapy memory recall crisis

A urologist explains premature ejaculation

Martina Ambardjieva, MD

Conditions

November 14, 2025

Most men have heard jokes about finishing too soon, but few talk about it seriously, even when it causes anxiety, frustration, or distance in their relationships. Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most common male sexual health concerns, yet it remains buried under stigma and silence.

As a urologist, I often meet men who have struggled quietly for years, wondering whether what they experience is “normal,” if it can be …

The hidden epidemic of orthorexia nervosa

Sally Daganzo, MD

Conditions

November 14, 2025

She had recently gone gluten-free and dairy-free to address persistent bloating and fatigue. She skipped breakfast to support her circadian rhythm, and she was careful to avoid sugar and processed foods. She was proud of her discipline, and her lab work looked fine, but over time, her meals had become more stressful than nourishing. Dining out made her anxious, and she had begun to worry about even small deviations from …

Why early diagnosis of memory loss is crucial

Scott Tzorfas, MD

Conditions

November 13, 2025

Memory loss is one of the most common and anxiety-provoking complaints in medicine. Over the past five years, the evaluation of cognitive decline has become remarkably refined. No longer is memory loss assessed solely to “rule out dementia.” Today, clinicians have tools to detect the beginnings of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative conditions before major symptoms appear, allowing patients to make informed decisions about their work, life, and health.

The first …

Why young people need to care about bone health now

Surgical Fitness Research Pod & Yoshihiro Katsuura, MD

Conditions

November 13, 2025

We all know high blood pressure and cholesterol can kill, but what about low bone mineral density? Bones are composed of calcium and phosphate, which is their mineral content. Bones low in calcium are said to have low bone mineral density, which can result in a condition known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis develops over a lifetime and is impacted by your peak bone mass as a youth. Thus, most osteoporotic problems …

Why health care needs empathy, not just algorithms

Muhammad Abdullah Khan

Conditions

November 12, 2025

The algorithm flagged a potential drug interaction in milliseconds. It suggested an optimal dosing regimen based on kidney function, weight, and genetic markers. It even generated patient education materials in the right language and reading level. But the patient sat there, hands trembling, unable to ask the question that mattered most: “Am I going to die?”

That’s where artificial intelligence ends and where health care truly begins.

The seduction of technological solutionism

Health …

A doctor’s story of IV ketamine for depression

Dee Bonney, MD

Conditions

November 11, 2025

I used to whisper it into the dark, lying awake, watching the clock creep past 2 a.m. My body was exhausted, but my mind refused to stop sprinting, running a veritable marathon most of the night. When the sun finally pushed through the curtains, it didn’t feel like morning. It felt like failure, another day to muscle through on fumes.

Sometimes that was the hardest moment of the day. Little sleep …

Why you should get your Lp(a) tested

Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed

Conditions

November 10, 2025

For decades, cholesterol (LDL, HDL, triglycerides) has been the central focus of cardiovascular prevention. But in recent years, another player has emerged: lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a).

Many patients have never heard of it, yet research shows it may be one of the most important genetic risk factors for heart disease.

What is lipoprotein(a)?

Lipoprotein(a) is a particle in the blood similar to LDL cholesterol, but with an added protein called apolipoprotein(a). This structure makes …

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Why you should get your Lp(a) tested

Is modern medicine losing its soul?

Michele Luckenbaugh

Conditions

November 10, 2025

They tell me the physician’s art lies in the stitching of skin,
the analysis of shadows on X-rays,
and interpreting numbers in a medical chart.
Yes, there is skill involved.
a steady hand, a quick eye,
and a good memory for pathways and procedures.

But I wonder.
where, in the span of 20-25 minutes,
is the art that cannot be quantified
or coded?

It’s found in the stillness of listening,
in the weight of one person’s story
resting in another’s hands.

A doctor …

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Is modern medicine losing its soul?

The opioid crisis’s other victims

Kayvan Haddadan, MD

Conditions

November 9, 2025

Introduction: a crisis of pain

The opioid crisis is one of the most significant public health emergencies of our time, defined by staggering rates of addiction and overdose. Yet, behind the headlines is a story of profound and often overlooked human suffering. In an effort to save lives, public health policies were enacted to aggressively reduce opioid prescriptions. While well-intentioned, these policies have inadvertently precipitated a parallel crisis of iatrogenic harm, …

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The opioid crisis’s other victims

The need for pediatric respite care

Kathleen Muldoon, PhD

Conditions

November 8, 2025

My son Gideon is almost 12 years old. He is funny in that sharp, unexpected way that catches you off-guard. He is deeply expressive and full of life. He gives love and joy more freely than most kids his age. He is curious and social. He is healthy, and I am grateful for it. We are endlessly proud of who he is.

And, our family constantly walks the edge of breaking …

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The need for pediatric respite care

A better way to talk about kids’ nutrition

V. Sushma Chamarthi, MD

Conditions

November 8, 2025

When parents bring their children to the clinic, they often expect quick advice: “Eat healthy. Exercise more.” But after years in practice, I’ve learned those generic prescriptions rarely work. Families leave feeling uncertain, children feel pressured, and real changes at home are hard to sustain.

That’s why I focus on a family-centered, personalized approach. Nutrition is not just about a child; it’s about routines, traditions, and stresses that affect the whole …

Many seizures don’t look like the movies

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Conditions

November 8, 2025

When most people think of seizures, they picture someone falling to the ground with violent shaking, the dramatic scenes we’ve seen in movies and television. While these tonic-clonic seizures (previously known as grand mal seizures) do occur, the reality is that many seizures look nothing like what Hollywood portrays. They are often subtle, easily missed, and can be mistaken for daydreaming or unusual behavior.

More than 3 million Americans have active …

Breast cancer in teenagers is rare but real

Callia Georgoulis

Conditions

November 8, 2025

When people think about breast cancer, they picture middle-aged or older women. The pink ribbons, awareness campaigns, and even clinical guidelines overwhelmingly focus on adults. What’s almost never discussed is that, though rare, breast cancer can occur in teenagers. And when it does, the diagnosis is often delayed, with consequences that change a young life forever.

Breast cancer in adolescents is extremely uncommon, accounting for less than 1 percent …

Opioid prescribing guidelines ignore metabolism

Richard A. Lawhern, PhD

Conditions

November 7, 2025

My primary focus is on U.S. and international public health policy for treatment of severe chronic pain. I have been active for over 28 years as a health care writer and educator, with over 300 papers authored or co-authored in a mix of peer-reviewed journals and mass media.

I am a particular critic of what I believe to be the proven misdirection (a.k.a. “fraud“) committed by Federal and State …

Is Lp(a) testing the new messiah?

Larry Kaskel, MD

Conditions

November 6, 2025

I just read yet another article praising the new messiah of cardiology (Lipoprotein(a)) and urging every physician in America to start testing for it. The tone was familiar: solemn, scientific, and a little evangelical.

The message? “Measure Lp(a) once in every patient.”

The subtext? “Because we finally found the missing piece.”

If this feels like déjà vu, that’s because it is. We’ve been here before: first with total cholesterol, then LDL, then HDL …

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Is Lp(a) testing the new messiah?