Conditions

Building the future of African plastic surgery: Igniting passion in medical students

Conditions
June 22, 2024

Recently, I completed a rotation at the plastic surgery department of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Reflecting on this experience, I realized a few things. My perception of plastic surgery practice was naive and uninformed. This experience has been an eye-opener as it has challenged preconceived notions and revealed the multifaceted nature of this wonderful specialty. However, I recognize that most African students do not have the same opportunity. Only a …

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Lewy body dementia: a journey through hallucinations and imagination

Conditions
June 20, 2024

An excerpt from The Sea Glass Epidemic.

… It was at this time the mouse asked Beth if he could bring over some friends. Naturally, Beth assumed the mouse was talking about other mice. Much to her surprise, the mouse ran into the kitchen, walked under the doorway into the laundry room, and disappeared behind the water heater.

“Be right back,” he called over his shoulder. A few minutes later, the …

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My fear of pharmaceuticals stole a decade from me

Conditions
June 20, 2024

I have a cat.

That’s my go-to answer when people ask me if I have children. It’s just easier than saying my refusal to take FDA-approved medications for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) stole a decade of what could have been normal life from me.

Studies show it takes an average of 17 years for patients with OCD to receive adequate therapy. Thankfully, in the past ten years, this duration is starting …

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Medical misinformation: How to find clarity in a sea of contradictory advice

Conditions
June 20, 2024

I read an array of medical literature, both technical and public. But despite my education, experience, and reasonable intelligence, I find myself bewildered by the overwhelming deluge of information and recommendations: frequently contradictory, at times inaccurate, and often meaningless, that presently inundates individuals. If I can be befuddled, what about the average person with a high school diploma or a bachelor’s degree and little medical experience?

Perhaps there is so much …

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How neurologists can repair the home of broken promises

Conditions
June 19, 2024

“I broke our only promise,” swelling with guilt, Sarah wept as she stumbled out of the front door. Two years ago, her father asked her to never leave him in a nursing home. They pinky promised.

But how could anyone have predicted what would follow in the upcoming years? His dementia progressively worsened, complicated by falls every three months. Despite balancing his growing needs while also providing for her family, there …

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Let’s help grow more intergenerational connections

Conditions
June 18, 2024

There are few things more satisfying than seeing young people and older adults interacting with each other and building an effortless sense of community and belonging. Robust communities include all ages. But such spaces need help to develop and thrive.

Global Intergenerational Week, a celebration of the power of bringing together younger and older people for the benefit of all, has completed its third year. Started in Scotland, this positive initiative …

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A physician’s reflection: Is it time to pass the torch?

Conditions
June 17, 2024

I was at a meeting discussing issues concerning upcoming audits by various regulatory agencies and noticed a change that made me aware of the fact that many years have come and gone since I started this journey in administrative and public psychiatry. I was the only man in leadership at this table. I was the second oldest person at this table. Surrounded by a group of younger, intelligent, and energetic …

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Understanding obesity beyond lifestyle choices

Conditions
June 17, 2024

Recently, media outlets and social media influencers have been on fire with stories about new “miracle” obesity drugs that promise a quick fix for people wanting to lose weight. Lost in this chatter are the life stories of millions of Americans struggling with obesity and its physical and emotional effects. A vital question is being ignored: how can we continue to allow money to determine access to treatment when many …

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Addressing obesity: Is there a role for us as specialists?

Conditions
June 15, 2024

I was in rheumatology private practice for just under four years as my first few years out of fellowship. During that time, too many of my patients were coming with obesity complicating a facet of their rheumatic disease. The most common example might be osteoarthritis, where excess weight directly applies force to joints like the lower back, hips, and knees, accelerating the disease and worsening outcomes. A less obvious example …

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A lesson in generosity: How one woman helped a stranger afford insulin

Conditions
June 14, 2024

I waited in line at the pharmacy, a familiar chain store. The man in front of me waited patiently for the technician to ring up his meds. I overheard her say to him, “$125.00. That includes your insulin.”

The man bowed his head and smiled politely, showing many missing teeth. He was dressed modestly. I did not know his name. I did not know him. I had never met him before. …

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Health care’s breaking point: patients and physicians abandoned

Conditions
June 13, 2024

I know you are wounded, as I am also injured.

It is as if we have been battered and bruised and kicked to the side of the road, left there alone to suffer. An ignored problem will soon be forgotten; at least, that is their contention.

We have screamed out our maladies and concerns to those in closed, cold rooms, those with mechanical minds that churn out debits and credits but cannot …

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How one patient’s death transformed my approach to mental health care

Conditions
June 12, 2024

Prior to working as a nurse practitioner, I worked as a psychiatric registered nurse in an inpatient behavioral health setting, caring for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with SMI die ten to twenty years earlier than the general population due to comorbid medical conditions. I had been aware of this statistic for some time but only understood the devastation after I had an encounter with a patient in …

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CRISPR and eEVs in the fight against chronic diseases

Conditions
June 11, 2024

In one of my favorite movies, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the original crew of the Enterprise has traveled through time, back to the, to them ancient, city of San Francisco circa the 1980s. It’s all about Earth whales and alien cetaceans being none too pleased that we killed them all … And Klingons, of course. There must be Klingons. But what stuck in my young mind at the …

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Debunking the top myths about schizophrenia

Conditions
June 11, 2024

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness often misunderstood. Stereotypical portrayals in movies and TV perpetuate false narratives, leading to inaccurate conclusions. Here are five common myths about schizophrenia and the truth behind them.

Myth: People living in poverty are more likely to get schizophrenia.

We tend to pair schizophrenia with assumptions of low income or poverty, but that’s not accurate. Sometimes, due to their illness and its effects, patients with schizophrenia may …

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It’s time for more genomics education in nursing

Conditions
June 10, 2024

Genetic testing is now the standard of care for common diseases such as cancer and heart disease, predicting risk and enabling earlier and more effective patient care. It’s an exciting revolution in patient care that has far-reaching potential and continues to grow and expand. But in Canada, we are not using all of our health human resources to take advantage of this important transformation in health care.

What’s missing are …

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Why we shouldn’t trust sleep-deprived doctors: a wake-up call

Conditions
June 10, 2024

I wouldn’t trust my Uber driver to drive me after they’ve been awake for over 24 hours. Why would I trust my doctor?

Since starting medical school and hearing about the dreadful 24-hour shifts, I’ve constantly wondered why they are standard of practice, let alone legally allowed. Why would a hospital want the liability of a sleep-deprived doctor?

I first saw the effects of a 24-hour shift during my general surgery rotation. …

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Unveiling the unseen: the hidden costs of health care-associated infections

Conditions
June 9, 2024

Many aspects of health care-associated infections are unseen. The bacteria that cause infections like C. difficile or catheter-associated urinary tract infections are invisible to the naked eye. Beyond the financial burdens of additional treatment and longer hospital stays, less obvious costs often fall below the radar in the form of suffering, distress, and shattered trust in the health care system when patients fall victim to preventable infections.

And, often low profile …

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The adverse labor and delivery experiences faced by Black women

Conditions
June 8, 2024

Women of color, particularly Black women, encounter distinct challenges during pregnancy and childbirth. This results in disproportionately adverse outcomes such as invasive treatments, infant mortality, severe complications, and even death experienced by these women. The role of racism and discrimination are highlighted even when controlling for certain underlying social and economic factors. For example, education and income are not protective of poor outcomes, and inequity in health care persists …

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Black maternal mortality crisis: Preventable deaths demand action

Conditions
June 7, 2024

The racial and ethnic divide within health care remains largely unaddressed. One aspect I wish to highlight is the impact of mortality rates after childbirth, particularly among African American women. They face the highest mortality rates postpartum, presenting a concerning health disparity that verges on a public health crisis. According to the CDC, black women are two to three times more likely to succumb to pregnancy-related complications compared to other …

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