This essay is part satire. The trouble is, I don’t know which part.
As far as I know, time travel is fodder for science fiction thrillers and movies. It doesn’t actually exist on Earth. However, I can time travel in my mind, and I do it frequently, reminiscing about the 40 years between the time I completed my psychiatric residency (in 1984) and now. What has changed in my specialty in …
A few weeks back, a young male from Afghanistan visited us in the oncology clinic. He was in his late 20s and came with a translator to facilitate his consultation. He was not very fluent in either Urdu or English but could still understand most of it. He seemed very anxious and perplexed in the initial assessment room. I observed him closely and noticed that there was no family member …
An excerpt from of Paint and Pancakes.
The epicenter of Jane’s cancer occupied some very expensive real estate between Broca’s area and the motor strip. Her ability to speak and form coherent words resided in Broca’s. A little further back was the Motor Strip, which controlled the movement of the right side of her body.
It all looks the same … so damned normal. Mike cleared his throat. High-price …
Do masks prevent COVID-19 infections? You might be thinking that it is a bit late to ponder these questions. But better late than never! As shown in the following graph provided by the CDC, COVID is here to stay with us, at least for the time being. Even though nothing compared to the 140,000 hospitalizations per week during the early 2022 wave, there were still about 40,000 weekly hospitalizations a …
These days, everybody is coughing. The resurgence of COVID, RSV, and flu has overwhelmed emergency rooms and hospitals this early winter. But not all coughs are viral. If you recently visited a family member for the holidays and noticed a persistent cough after dinner, you may have witnessed not a viral illness but what’s known as an aspiration event.
As primary care providers, we frequently take care of people who are …
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible prion disease seen in the deer family – including mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, and moose – in countries throughout the world. The prion affects nervous system tissue in infected animals. Eventually leading to erratic behavior and certain death. Currently, there is no evidence of direct transmission of CWD to humans. However, given the biological plausibility for transmission, equity/ecological concerns, and the …
It’s been said that the challenges neurodiverse people face are the ones that neurotypical people view as easy, and vice versa. It speaks to the hard-wired diversity of cognitive styles and perspectives among different individuals.
Neurotypical people, who generally fit within the societal norms of cognitive functioning, might find certain tasks or social situations easier due to their alignment with mainstream expectations. On the other hand, neurodivergent individuals, who have variations …
Cavities in kids are common, and many children are unable to complete dental work without sedation. Dental anxiety must be balanced with safe and expedient dental treatment. Further information about early childhood caries can be found here. The prevalence of dental decay in children varies in different groups but is as high as 85 percent in some populations.
Sedation is recommended for the completion of dental work in children with …
I’m sitting in a windowless room in the hospital’s urology department waiting for my second prostate biopsy, feeling surprisingly calm and relaxed.
It’s a surveillance biopsy. Two years ago, the first one revealed “a few scattered cancer cells” while zeroing in on what turned out to be a harmless nodule. I’d learned then that a prostate biopsy will never make anyone’s list of fun things to do. In addition to being, …
My first post-op night after my nephrectomy was a mix of fantastical and almost devastating.
I woke up in the PACU after my surgery, extremely confused and disoriented. I felt like I was trapped inside a video game, desperately trying to escape.
Upon entering my new post-op room on a medical-surgical unit, it had that brand-new, hotel-like decor – shiny and pristine. The nurses, techs, and NPs greeted me with words of …
“Do you have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?”
It wasn’t a question I expected during an ophthalmology appointment. It was, however, one I’d been asked before. Two other specialists had suggested I might have connective tissue issues, but nothing had ever come of it. All I could tell my ophthalmologist, then, was what I’d said before when it had come up: “No, not as far as I know, but I’ll ask about it.”
The face of health care in today’s world is unfamiliar to me in many ways. When I was growing up, the family doctor was a well-known and respected member of the community. Patients trusted their doctor to help them navigate life’s challenges – the loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, a complicated pregnancy, or depression caused by life’s stresses.
The physician knew their patients, and the patients knew them …
As Dry January gains popularity and inspires millions of people to abstain from alcohol for a month, its focus appears to be geared towards young adults. A demographic that is often overlooked, but is likely to benefit significantly from this movement, is older adults. The National Survey on Drug Use and Heavy Drinking found that nearly 39 percent of adults aged 65 or older drink …
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I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, which is generally associated with a diet of all fried food. Prior to medical school, I thought many adults around me would eventually succumb to a diagnosis of hypertension and diabetes since they didn’t appear to think either was a big deal. However, my medical education quickly revealed that these co-morbidities were not merely inconveniences but were linked to some of the leading causes …
Dr. Shaun Murphy (played by Freddie Highmore) stars in ABC’s The Good Doctor, a television drama that centers around an autistic surgeon whose job at the hospital was frequently threatened and would be lost if it were not for the practical and emotional support from the hospital president.
I don’t know how many “Doctor Murphys” practice medicine in real life – autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevails in about 1% to 2% …
You hear it in conversations with friends when returning to work. Maybe in clinic visits with your patients. Definitely among celebrities and on mainstream media. And maybe you’ve even said it yourself. ”
“My sister suffered with postpartum.”
“I was just diagnosed with postpartum.”
“My wife had to seek help after we realized she was experiencing severe postpartum.”
Yet the word postpartum simply means: the time after childbirth. In the medical community, “postpartum” most often …
I started my day today (ironically, Martin Luther King Day) reading another tragic story about a young Black mother who hemorrhaged to death after giving birth in a large public hospital in Brooklyn.
Statistics tell a shocking story. The maternal death rate increased by 79 percent from 2018 to 2021. Women of color had even worse numbers, with the maternal mortality rate among Black women increasing from 37 per 100,000 in …
Skin and mental health are intertwined. This is evident embryologically, as we know that the skin and brain are derived from ectoderm, forming a skin-brain axis. Furthermore, scientific pathophysiology has shown that conditions such as acne, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis are directly influenced by mood.
Whether you are a patient, a provider, or an aesthetics professional, be aware that treating skin should also include treating mental health when needed. Ignoring that …
In its annual cancer statistics report released this week, the American Cancer Society (ACS) predicted over 2 million new cancer cases and over 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States in 2024. The ACS cites decreased smoking rates, earlier detection, and improved treatments as the primary reasons for decreased death rates from cancer in recent decades. Missing from the report, however, is the fundamental recommendation to shift from the traditional …
I read about a psychiatrist whose interests are in medical ethics and the improvement of medical care for youth coping with the complexities related to neurodivergence and significant mental health conditions. Additionally, she specializes in work with twice-exceptional (2e) individuals – those with exceptional talents and abilities who also navigate challenges related to disabilities or psychiatric illness.
Neurodivergence and 2e individuals are fairly new concepts for me. Back in the day, …
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