As Americans, we live in one of the most affluent countries in the world. Outwardly, many of our citizens seem to possess the necessities of life: shelter, food, job employment, and world-class health care. But what happens when we take a closer look? Do we see cracks in the foundation?
If we are honest, the answer is a resounding yes. When one looks at the area of health care, there is …
Patients running rampant- unmasked, hand unwashed, undistanced. You stand in the nurse’s workstation, watching the chaos ensue while holding the positive COVID test results in your hands. The world slows as you think, “How am I ever going to control this one?”
This scene is unfortunately ever present in our current health system. Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has put constant pressure on the medical system, uniquely affecting health care …
Sometimes hiding things can work to our advantage: an early pregnancy, a disfiguring scar, public speaking anxiety … Easter eggs! But, more often, they are just temporarily hidden from public view, and, in the grand scheme of things, it can actually be a relief when they are “found.”
Enter the world of chronic disease, and things rapidly become much more complex. Chronic disease can often become manifest without any external visual …
“I just moved here from Portland two weeks ago,” said Ms. Shelly in a weak voice.
When I walked into the room, I immediately noticed her blood pressure was 224/108. The patient was mostly sleeping, but when I started speaking with her, it was apparent to me something was wrong.
“Do you have a history of any heart problems?” I asked Ms. Shelly.
“I had aorta surgery two times…” she murmured before falling …
In my first bioethics class, the components of health education (HE) were just being developed, and despite the passage of time, full understanding remains elusive as HE proved far more complex than originally conceived. We learned, simplistically, by present standards, that the provider (MD, DO, PA, NP) only needed to deliver information at a patient’s level of understanding, and the patient would provide a reasoned response. The constant over the …
As physicians, we equate terms like “disorder” and “syndrome” with pathology. If a diagnosis is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, it’s considered a “problem.” In the case of neurodevelopmental diagnoses, I am becoming increasingly aware that this may not be the case. As a neurodiverse individual with many neurodiverse family members and friends, I believe there is nothing “wrong” with our brains. Different …
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of spouting the same old worsening childhood obesity statistics, applying the same dilute and sometimes broken strategy, not getting anywhere, judging myself as a doctor, then shifting the blame to my patient and their parents, then feeling powerless and defeated.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
It’s a cycle we’re stuck in, and it’s not serving anyone, especially our patients.
I’m not going to go over the impact …
Well, I am that family physician and geriatrician who is now almost 70 years old. And I cannot believe it because, in some ways, I am still like 27 years old!
First of all, I’m very healthy, and I’m lucky that nobody in my family had colon cancer or any cancer. Most of my relatives lived into the late 80s, and my grandmother and my grand grandfather lived to the ripe …
An excerpt from Azazel’s Public House.
Pete tried to invade Tommy’s brain and force an oops moment. But the ramparts of the neurosurgeon’s mind were unassailable.
Clancy, unaware he was battling on two fronts, tried to spare any brain that had a …
In Australia recently, a woman successfully sued a hospital for $2.4 million for a series of misdiagnoses that left her quadriplegic. A London woman was recently misdiagnosed four times before doctors discovered she had cervical cancer.
A Canadian woman recently filed a $3.5 million lawsuit claiming she was misdiagnosed and ignored when relaying her symptoms to doctors; she could have died. A 26-year-old woman nearly died after a …
“Arriving at an acceptance of one’s mortality is a process, not an epiphany.”
– Atul Gawande
Imagine a group of old (mature) friends gathered for a “girls” weekend in balmy Florida. The friendships started in grammar school and have continued for the better part of 50 years. These women have met at least once a year for more than 25 years and shared life’s ups and downs. On this trip, one of …
An excerpt from How to Lose Weight for the Last Time: Brain-Based Solutions for Permanent Weight Loss. Copyright © 2022 by Katrina Ubell. Reprinted with permission of Balance Publishing. All rights reserved.
“I just really like food.”
“Eating at a beautiful restaurant or tasting something different and special while traveling is one …
It’s not that I hate football; truly I don’t. I try hard to get into it. I scan the sports page to become familiar with names, rivalries, predictions, and opinions. I tune in to Sports Extra on Sunday nights for the weekend analysis and wrap-up. I watch the introduction to televised games for the opening excitement and colorful background of the teams. I’ve enjoyed a few episodes of Hard Knocks.
Why …
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The CDC has updated its COVID masking and quarantine guidelines as children return to school and more adults return to work at the end of summer.
Unfortunately, the new, less restrictive guidelines are premature.
As most people know, the current COVID variant is extremely contagious. Many argue that since a majority of the public has already been exposed to COVID either by vaccination or infection, we can relax into less vigilance.
However, it …
In medical practice today, we have all types of providers in charge of birth control counseling and treatment: medical doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and even medical assistants who report to their licensed providers. Having a standardized questionnaire that all providers can easily use and incorporate into their practice would help safeguard against regretful avoidable mistakes. Taking a good history is cheap. Health care costs for strokes …
Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and their allies will rally in DC, London, and Edinburgh this September to “demand bold, urgent governmental action” for the millions of people living with ME, long COVID, and other infection-associated, chronic diseases.
As researchers continue to find many similarities between ME and long COVID, the history of ME offers crucial lessons for approaching long COVID and some pathways toward more effective research …
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Medical school, residency, and fellowship taught me pathophysiology, diagnosis, and the most advanced treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As an attending physician, seeing my own patients, I noticed that targeted therapy is not able to control the disease in all patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results varied. I could not stop asking myself, why is it so different?
In my previous article, I wrote about one of my patient’s …
Boom! Crash! Ow!
That was the feeling of many pediatricians nationwide as we were hit in the face with the bomb of the COVID pandemic and all of the challenges it would bring, notably in the demands for mental health care. This skyrocketing demand led to the declaration of a state of emergency by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2021 and a call for pediatricians to do more to address …
The six to ten percent of women in the U.S. who are living with endometriosis have to deal with not only the pain and complications the disease causes, but often also with exceptionally long delays before receiving a diagnosis—an average of 8.5 years from first seeking care to diagnosis. One study revealed that more than 75 percent of the women who participated in the study were first …
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Maternal health has been a trending topic in the news due to increased maternal mortality rates due to challenges in accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is deepening concerns surrounding this issue. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of undeveloped countries, with an alarming 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. My wife, Parissa, could have been part …
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