Conditions

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 …

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

Lynda Hoffman

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 …

The journey to internal balance and self-fulfillment

Faust Ruggiero

Conditions

January 23, 2024

An excerpt from The Fix Your Depression Handbook.

Most of us strive to be happy loving people. Our tendency to look outside ourselves to find acceptance, safety, love, and completion can misdirect our energies, and have us searching for the pathway to meaning in our lives in places where it cannot exist. It is so important to understand that we were born with everything we need to be happy and …

From Bollywood dreams to bipolar reality: a doctor’s journey

Anonymous

Conditions

January 22, 2024

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
– Maya Angelou

Since my teenage years, I have been watching Bollywood movies of all sorts. Maybe people from the subcontinent like them because no one can relate to these movies other than them.

My favorite hero was Sushant Singh Rajput. I liked him for his personality, his sweet smile, and the genuine look he had in his eyes. When he …

Caring at a cost: workplace violence and my exit from nursing

Kate Morin, BSN

Conditions

January 21, 2024

In 2013, I graduated with a BSN, drawn to nursing by a love for science and a passion for helping others. The promise of good pay, job security, and growth opportunities was a marketing pitch so convincing I never thought to question it. Before my first clinical experience, I vividly recall having to attend a self-defense class. At the time, it struck me as both odd and somewhat amusing that …

Prostate cancer privacy vs. public right to know: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s dilemma

Catherine Diamond, MD

Conditions

January 18, 2024

First, a disclaimer. I do not know Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and I am not involved in his medical care. As an academic infectious disease physician, I am ignorant of the internecine hierarchy of the Defense Department. However, I listen to the news and thus am aware of his recent prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. On National Public Radio, reporters were discussing why the secretary of defense did not …

Chicken farming undergoes a radical shift: the rise of cell-cultivated meat

R. Jason Newsom, MD, MPH

Conditions

January 16, 2024

Following in his father’s footsteps, my son is a third-year medical student and by the time he completes his training, cell-cultivated chicken meat may be replacing meat from slaughtered birds. My home state of Alabama is one of the top chicken-producing states, but in the future, poultry production may take place in stainless steel tanks, rather than chicken coops.

Federal regulators Read more…

Chicken farming undergoes a radical shift: the rise of cell-cultivated meat

Medical aid in dying: time for evidence-based legislation

Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD

Conditions

January 16, 2024

Medical aid in dying (MAID) is poised to be one of the hottest political health care issues of 2024. As in 2023, more than a dozen states will hold both impassioned hearings in legislative chambers and equally fervent debates in the community. Already, nearly twenty states have introduced bills to authorize MAID this year. They seek to join the eleven states that already authorize MAID for 73 million Americans (California, …

The body positivity movement: Has it become toxic?

Alexis Gopal, MD

Conditions

January 15, 2024

Delving into the topic of the body positivity movement requires the unpacking of many other issues facing society today. This topic cannot be looked at in a vacuum.

We live in an era where diversity and inclusion have become core values in many aspects of American life, and body positivity is a subset of that. The body positivity movement actually started in the late 1960s when women were rebelling against other …

The “Ozempic body” phenomenon

Osmund Agbo, MD

Conditions

January 15, 2024

In a serendipitous encounter, I crossed paths with an old schoolmate of mine whimsically dubbed Fluffy Carol during our shared medical residency. Famous for her arresting charm and infectious smile, she was, in many ways, the life of the party if we ever had one.

Despite her endearing qualities, one mischievous fellow in our group had bestowed upon her a less-than-ideal nickname that stuck, though it was seldom uttered in her …

Read more…

The “Ozempic body” phenomenon

A revolutionary new understanding of the mind/body connection

Samuel J. Mann, MD

Conditions

January 14, 2024

There is a widespread belief that the emotional distress we feel causes or contributes to many common medical conditions. However, decades of mind/body research performed by research psychologists who strongly believed this failed to confirm these beliefs. Worse, studies also could not confirm any benefit of stress reduction techniques in the management of common medical conditions.

Then, is there a mind/body connection?

The answer is yes, but it is very different from …

How comprehensive data documentation holds the power to transform maternal mortality rates

Melissa Clarke, MD

Conditions

January 14, 2024

The United States is a global medical care leader in many aspects, including the development of new pharmaceuticals, acute stroke care, and cancer screening. Yet, despite our advances and wealth, we lead peer nations in maternal mortality and morbidity.

While the vast majority of the nearly four million women who give birth in America every year do so without complications, maternal deaths have more than doubled over the past two decades.

In …

Being defensive: Evolutionary healthy or modernly inconvenient?

Maryna Mammoliti, MD

Conditions

January 12, 2024

In the world of medicine, we often encounter the term “defensive” used in various contexts – from patient interactions to professional evaluations. However, it’s crucial to reevaluate our understanding of this term and its implications on our practice and relationships.

Labeling a reaction as “defensive” carries a subjective judgment, often seen as problematic or negative. “Defensive” is often equated to a “bad” and “problematic” reaction or behavior. “Defensive” is a judgment, …

From devastation to inspiration: my journey through 3 cancers

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions

January 3, 2024

A solid mass silently grew on my kidney. An unwelcome addition. Asymptomatic. Discovered haphazardly during a CT scan of my lungs … And it revealed itself.

At first, I was devastated. Will cancer ever leave me alone? It has already visited me twice before. First, breast cancer, also asymptomatic, detected during my very first mammogram at the age of 42, and then a troublesome mole that tested positive for melanoma.

I seemed …

Conquering childhood trauma: the power of EMDR therapy

Michael Baldwin

Conditions

January 2, 2024

I sat at my desk in my 6th-grade classroom, my anxiety mounting. I counted down the minutes until the big hand on the clock above the chalkboard finally reached noon. As my classmates emptied out of the room, headed to the cafeteria for lunch, my palms got cold and clammy, and I felt a growing sense of panic. I had to use the bathroom, but the prospect of entering a …

Collaboration between local oncologists and academia is crucial to closing the cancer care gap

Todd Sachs, MD

Conditions

January 1, 2024

There is undeniable hope and optimism when looking at the future of cancer care. Cancer survival rates are steadily rising as oncologists continue to learn more about the 100+ unique types of cancer—and emerging variants—that exist. Thanks to new targeted therapies and remarkable improvements in genomics, cancer care physicians and researchers are finding better ways to treat each cancer type and improve health outcomes.

Despite this knowledge, however, there are still …

Healing the mind and body

Dustin Grinnell

Conditions

December 31, 2023

An excerpt from The Healing Book.

When Allie’s canoe tapped the dock in Iquitos, Peru, she didn’t know which was greater: her exhaustion or her anticipation. After hours on the Amazon River, she was sticky with sweat, and her arms and legs itched and ached in the wake of countless mosquito bites. However, their arrival meant she was that much closer …

Read more…

Healing the mind and body

My battle with atrial fibrillation

Martin C. Young, MD

Conditions

December 31, 2023

A while ago, I wrote about my experience during an attack of atrial fibrillation (afib), lamenting the fact that my management never included a proper physical exam. Nevertheless, chemical cardioversion was successful, and my hospital stay was brief.

The episode was precipitated by a small pulmonary embolus acquired during sinus surgery the day before. I had experienced an episode of afib some 15 years previously and had remained free, I think …

Read more…

My battle with atrial fibrillation

Revolutionizing health care: Rethinking burnout and resilience

Vickie Leff, LCSW

Conditions

December 30, 2023

I read all the time about the strategies and measures physicians and other health care professionals take to mitigate, reduce, or immunize themselves against burnout, moral distress, and empathic strain. We have been talking about this for decades, with an increase in “burnout” as a result. It seems time to shift the paradigm to allow for more productive discussions, acceptance, and strategies. Instead of talking about burnout, resilience, and self-care …

Debunking sensational euthanasia myths in the Netherlands

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

December 28, 2023

While surfing cellphone news headlines, my attention was caught by one from the New York Post that blared: “Dutch are Euthanizing Autistic People.” The Post aims for sensationalism, and the headline implied mass slaughter, akin to the Nazi gassing of individuals with mental disabilities. As euthanasia is of academic interest to me, I felt compelled to read the story.

The article’s basis was a study conducted at Kingston University, London. …