A 90-year-old gentleman has been admitted to our ward under the care of a neurologist. He was diagnosed with an ischemic stroke after experiencing weakness in his left upper limb and slurred speech. His mental status is fluctuating, and the stroke has impacted his memory. However, it has not affected his ability to walk and move around.
He and his wife had been living independently for the past 20 years. They …
In 2019, a mother in the U.S. stood in a hospital, clutching her feverish toddler, tears streaming down her face. Just months earlier, she had declined the routine vaccination after reading an article claiming it was “full of toxins” and linked to developmental disorders. That article, shared widely on social media, was based on no credible evidence. Now, her child was fighting for their life against a disease that vaccines …
As I navigate this world, I often feel overwhelmed by its harshness, making peace and harmony seem elusive.
Today, the atmosphere feels particularly heavy with distrust and anger, leaving me caught in a constant “me” versus “you” mindset. At times, it feels as though a corrosive glue has enveloped the workings of my heart, preventing me from experiencing emotions and diminishing my willingness to seek the truth or ensure my story …
It’s getting close to that time of the school year. Your teenage patient with chronic headache/migraine is finishing up their high school education, either through the traditional or non-traditional pathway. They have chosen their next step—going to college. As their provider, you are so proud of them. Perhaps high school has been really hard for them academically, socially, and/or emotionally. They needed and used accommodations around schoolwork and attendance. They …
If you have followed my blogs for the past few years, you know that I have focused on practice management, the business of a medical practice, and recently AI. This blog will depart from those topics and discuss a clinical topic, the orgasm gap, that I have written with a colleague, Dr. David Mobley, a urologist at Weill-Cornell Medicine.
Everyone, both men and women, deserves to experience an orgasm or the …
Breast cancer recovery is about more than survival—it’s about reclaiming a vibrant, fulfilling life. Instead of focusing solely on survivorship, we need to embrace what I call “livingship”: the journey of truly thriving after treatment. This approach focuses on ensuring patients not only survive but thrive in their cancer-free lives.
A personal journey in medicine
My path to becoming a breast cancer specialist was shaped by early aspirations and personal experiences with …
Diagnostic error is a difficult issue to track in the emergency department (ED). For a good reason, too: The patient population is so transient it’s difficult to detect a “missed” diagnosis. It’s less readily apparent than medication errors, falls, and other commonly reported incidents.
But that’s precisely what makes diagnostic error such an insidious problem.
Recent research into malpractice claims over a five-year period suggests that 28 percent of all diagnostic error …
Dear new nurse graduate,
Welcome to a world unlike any other—a world brimming with happiness, sadness, confusion, self-doubt, defeat, and heroism. You’ve just stepped onto the first rung of a ladder that reaches into the unknown. Nursing is not easy, and there will be countless moments when you ask yourself, “What was I thinking?” or “Why did I choose this path?”
But nursing isn’t just a job; it’s a lifelong journey, a …
Age should not define a person or diminish respect from others. There is a generation of people overlooked every day, and little attention is paid to this growing problem.
As people age, they may become less visible within their communities. It can seem like people who once smiled as they walked by begin passing without a glance. Seniors may feel like unwanted outsiders in society. Sadly, many participate in their own …
On a seemingly ordinary Sunday evening, a casual conversation with my mother took a terrifying turn. She mentioned a sudden, excruciating headache that had woken her from a nap. My medical training immediately raised red flags. Despite no prior history of such severe headaches, I recalled an isolated incident of elevated blood pressure. Instinctively, I insisted on checking her blood pressure again. Within 15 minutes, the readings soared from 182/120 …
Food allergies are a serious, life-threatening medical condition that remains widely misunderstood. For millions of travelers with food allergies, navigating airline policies is an unpredictable challenge, where inconsistent accommodations and societal skepticism create unnecessary risks.
Those living with food allergies must often navigate a world that does not always recognize the severity of their condition. Although we teach those with food allergies how to live in a world with …
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic in health care, capturing headlines for its ability to solve diagnostic mysteries and even outperform trained physicians in specific tasks. While we are still far from going to your local AI “doctor” for diagnosis and treatment, generative AI is already capable of intervening in meaningful ways—particularly in cardiovascular education for patients. This potential remains underutilized despite the significant public health need for …
Gambling as a recreational activity is on the rise. This is Super Bowl weekend, and it is expected to be one of the largest sports betting events in U.S. history, with tens of millions of Americans predicted to wager billions of dollars on this event. Gambling disorder is also now a recognized part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Gambling as a medical condition …
Once upon a time, anxiety was anxiety. Maybe you were going for a root canal, taking a flight when you were a nervous flier, or meeting your in-laws for the first time, so you had “nerves.”
That was then. Sensing an untapped market, drugmakers who funded writers of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or “DSM” (the Bible for mental conditions) recast anxiety as “really depression,” and suddenly everyone …
The sun was out, casting a warm glow over the world as the snow melted into slush. The air was crisp, invigorating, as I leashed up my pups for their morning half-mile walk. Today, I had an extra companion, another pup I was babysitting, turning my duo into a trio.
As we strolled, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. My health—both physical and …
It is a Tuesday morning in the city of Pune, India. The incessant rain has taken a short break. The first floor of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute is alive with a group of students. In a quiet corner, B.K.S. Iyengar is practicing yoga. His skin ripples as he settles into postures, pushing his body to unimaginable limits, but with beauty and grace—poetry, almost. Mr. Iyengar slips into his …
Sometimes the most honest conversations about health don’t take place in a doctor’s office, but in the waiting room of a Jiffy Lube instead. While trying to pass time as I waited for my oil change, I eavesdropped on a conversation between two strangers. What started as lighthearted banter quickly turned into a candid discussion about their struggles with blood pressure and cholesterol. One man admitted he never takes his …
Introduction
Long COVID has emerged as a silent health crisis, lingering long after the acute phase of the pandemic has faded. For countless lives, the battle with COVID-19 did not end with recovery from the virus. Instead, it transformed into an enduring struggle with debilitating symptoms, including depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, PTSD, cognitive dysfunction, and post-COVID fatigue. This psychiatric landscape demands more than incremental solutions; it calls for bold, transformative approaches …
When I was a general surgery intern, I was doing my very early morning pre-rounds on a frail female patient in her late 70s with significant cardio- and peripheral vascular disease. She’d been in the hospital for weeks and wasted away to no more than 85-90 pounds. She was not able to get out of bed unassisted. I don’t even remember why she was in the hospital, but what I …
As a board-certified pediatric endocrinologist, the field medical director for type 1 diabetes immunology (T1D) at Sanofi, and someone who was diagnosed with T1D as a child, it’s fair to say that much of my life has revolved around the disease.
I could recite the risk factors for T1D in my sleep; I’ve seen first-hand the perils of an unexpected T1D diagnosis—including diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA); I’m keenly aware that those with …
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