Conditions

Prioritizing mental health for doctors and families

Conditions
February 8, 2024

In 2022, the World Health Organization released the World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All, which recognizes the critical importance of mental health to everyone, everywhere – including doctors and their families.

The consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and other major issues such as climate change, global conflict, and economic downturns are continuing to have a big impact on the mental well-being of many parents …

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Do parasites predispose to dangerous behaviors in humans?

Conditions
February 8, 2024

Those of you who have followed the game or series The Last of Us will recognize the name Cordyceps. This is the fungus that causes a global pandemic of zombies to break out and start attacking their fellow humans. The writers, in this case, did a good job by using this infection in their story.

Cordyceps is a genus of over 600 fungal species spread around the world called endoparasitoids, meaning …

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Haunted by sleep: the chilling reality of hypnagogic hallucinations

Conditions
February 8, 2024

“What did you see?” I asked her, as she sat across from me, wide-eyed and obviously unnerved even thinking back about the episode.

“It was horrible,” she said, “just horrible. I was lying on my back, and I saw it in the doorway, a big, dark, shadowy figure, blocking the door to my bedroom. I tried to scream, and nothing came out. I tried to raise my hands, to shield my …

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The surprising truth on how to avoid postpartum depression

Conditions
February 7, 2024

The current popular notion is that postpartum depression (PPD) cannot be prevented. Rather, it can only be diagnosed with an Edinburgh test once the patient has PPD. Often PPD is considered to be both surprising and mysterious. In reality, it is neither. PPD is nothing new. We’ve known about it for years. My first experience with postpartum depression goes back to 1976, when I was a third-year medical student.

I listened …

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A people-first approach to cardiac rehabilitation

Conditions
February 7, 2024

How do you change the paradigm in a rigid system? When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, my team and I didn’t have a choice. We had built our hospital’s in-person cardiac rehabilitation program from the ground up, but this was a moment of reckoning. Our program would need to incorporate virtual care.

Completing cardiac rehabilitation can increase a patient’s life expectancy by up to five years, Read more…

Treating inflammation provides hope in the fight against Parkinson’s

Conditions
February 5, 2024

The acceleration of new Parkinson’s disease cases outpaces other age-related conditions, and as a result, the patient population is growing quickly. In 2022 there were about 90,000 new diagnoses in the U.S., versus the previous prevailing estimate of 60,000. While some of the increase can doubtless be attributed to improved diagnostics and improved access to health care, those factors affect the statistics of other diseases and cannot explain why …

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NICU tragedy: How new nurses’ nail choices led to a newborn’s heartbreaking fate

Conditions
February 5, 2024

A small, cliquish bevy of nurses was working their way through orientation in the NICU straight out of nursing school. They were happy and thrilled to be accepted into this specialized nursing unit: the NICU.

Practicing good hygiene, washing hands up to the elbows with soap each time one entered a baby’s cubicle, and gowning and gloving was a standard and mandatory protocol before touching the babies.

These were preemies in the …

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The opioid addiction epidemic and its impact on health care costs

Conditions
February 5, 2024

The opioid addiction crisis has escalated into a formidable challenge within the U.S. health care system, causing widespread devastation. The opioid epidemic has not only devastated communities and individual lives but has also inflicted a substantial economic toll on the health care system. The opioid epidemic has led to a surge in health care costs, stemming from the increased demand for addiction treatment, including psychiatric and psychological evaluations, emergency room …

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A dementia patient’s poignant return to childhood

Conditions
February 2, 2024

I recently watched an Indian movie called The Three of Us, which revolves around a woman named Shelujah. She is in her late 30s, very charming, traditional, and intelligent. She works as a marriage counselor, leading a happy married life with one son studying abroad. Shelujah diligently maintains a diary, documenting even her minor daily chores. Often, she becomes engrossed in her thoughts, even failing to respond when called by …

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Unlocking emotional healing: the power of EMDR therapy

Conditions
February 1, 2024

The therapeutic modality developed by Francine Shapiro and referred to as eye movement desensitization reprocessing or EMDR, when embedded in the context of a wider lens, focuses on specific events and feelings with a view to overarching goals. We become who we are in a relationship, and specifically in our earliest relationship with a primary caregiver who shapes our worldview before we can give this active consideration. Subsequently, we develop …

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EMDR therapy: From walk to wonder, unmasking trauma’s secrets

Conditions
January 31, 2024

In 1987, Francine Shapiro went for a walk and discovered eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) as a therapeutic technique for traumatic experiences with lasting impact. Some thirty years later, with a substantial body of research confirming its efficacy, the mechanism of action remains a mystery. However, the treatment has expanded to focus on chronic pain, addictions, attachment trauma, among other areas. So, what is EMDR exactly? First and foremost, like …

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Clinicians and management at odds in health care

Conditions
January 31, 2024

In a survey conducted by a University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing team led by Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, of 21,050 physicians and nurses at 60 hospitals, it was found that more than 40 percent of clinicians were not confident that hospital management would act to resolve problems that clinicians identify in patient care. Close to one-third of clinicians said their values were not aligned with those of their hospital’s …

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Urogynecologists tackle the stigma of incontinence

Conditions
January 30, 2024

As a urogynecologist, my clinic is full of women with bothersome bladder issues. And while this likely does not appeal to you, curing incontinence is my favorite clinical endeavor.

Urinary incontinence seems like a minor medical problem. After all, it isn’t heart disease or cancer. However, urinary incontinence has a dramatic and negative impact on the quality of life. On any given day, I talk to women who have stopped exercising …

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Women’s intuition in health and healing

Conditions
January 30, 2024

There’s much to be said about women’s intuition. The instinct a woman has can be so intense that nothing anyone says or does will change her beliefs or feelings. For some women, maybe over time, the intuition has been acquired, but for others, it’s been a gift she naturally has had her entire life. Because of this, we not only know better when something is off or doesn’t seem right, …

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Ketones may be the key to unlocking a healthier brain

Conditions
January 29, 2024

You’ve undoubtedly heard the buzzwords: ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting. I don’t have much of an opinion about what that all does for your waistline, but I venture to say that ketones may benefit your brain.

Some doctors have recommended, with rock-solid evidence, diets that increase brain ketone levels as part of the regimen to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children. Others claim that high ketone levels are like a magic bullet and …

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What’s trying to start the next pandemic? AI drug discovery and the quest for a pan-antiviral drug

Conditions
January 28, 2024

As the world continues to navigate the challenges posed by respiratory viruses, recent developments have highlighted the urgency of advancing our therapeutic arsenal, particularly in the realm of broad-spectrum antivirals.

1. Winter is here. It is winter again in the northern hemisphere, and with it come the known respiratory viruses like flu, RSV, and COVID-19. Recent reports have also identified a wave of childhood pneumonia in China, not entirely attributable to …

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Beyond the myths: ADHD explained in powerful comics

Conditions
January 28, 2024

An illustrated overview of ADHD, addressing common misconceptions and illustrating the real challenges faced by those with the condition. Through comic strips, the narrative explains the impact of ADHD on executive function and daily life, debunking the myth that symptoms are a choice or the result of not trying hard enough. It also touches on the less visible inattentive symptoms, aiming to …

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Uncovering the real story behind opioid prescriptions and deaths

Conditions
January 25, 2024

As a non-clinician patient advocate and health care writer, I am frequently reminded of a quotation attributed to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain): “Figures don’t lie. But liars figure.” I am also aware of a second quotation from economist Ronald H Coase: “If you torture the data for long enough, it will confess to anything.”

I find that both quotations apply directly to the U.S. Centers for …

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Unlocking the mystery of the “wanting mind”: Transform your yearnings into fulfillment

Conditions
January 24, 2024

I remember Christmas Eve as a child. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to be awake every second until the morning came. I didn’t want to miss anything! But inevitably, I’d arrive at the Christmas tree the next morning, bleary-eyed and still feeling like I’d missed something important. My wanting mind had taken over and robbed me of being fully awake when it counted. And every …

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