Conditions

Health care worker appreciation: When the thought doesn’t count

Conditions
June 14, 2022

Maybe we need to educate upper management — those multi-million-dollar hospitals with multi-million dollars per year salaried CEOs and board members with their financial perks — that health care professionals and nurses during “Health Care Worker/Nurse Week” in May of each year are no longer in the second grade.

Maybe we need to remind “them” that we are college-educated health care professionals with degrees, like ADNs, BSN, MSNs, RNs, LPNs, educators, …

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Help stop health care burnout

Conditions
June 13, 2022

The landscape of medicine and health care is constantly changing. With the integration of electronic medical records (EMR) and other technological advances, physicians and health care providers must be much more adaptable than ever before and possess unprecedented levels of technical literacy in the field.

The modernization of health care has been a driver of burnout, defined as “the constellation of symptoms that occur when your energy account …

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10 suggestions for a smoother high school experience

Conditions
June 13, 2022

I used to spend most of my day listening.

As a high school counselor, I encouraged teenagers to talk. Feeling stressed, they said, is their automatic response to demanding teachers, parents’ high expectations, and the drama of shifting friendship alliances.

Daily dilemmas and problems affect everyone: the terrified boy who just heard rumors he was going to be jumped after school, the teary-eyed girl whose teacher embarrassed her in front of the …

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The cost of cosmetic procedures resulting in short-term disabilities

Conditions
June 11, 2022

In a viral video shared on Twitter in 2021, we see a line of women waiting to board a flight from Santo Domingo to Atlanta. Airline staff in safety vests stand around the women, all of whom are sitting—in wheelchairs. These women had recently undergone the popular Brazilian butt lift or “BBL” surgery, where fat is transferred from one part of the body to the buttocks, despite …

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Simple solutions for social connections

Conditions
June 11, 2022

When Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa acquired the company that makes Lovot,  a pet-sized robot for emotional support, it spoke about more than a financial investment in robotics. The news was tied to love, companionship, and healing. It also revealed the global loneliness and social isolation pandemic. The use of assistive robots is gaining popularity in Japan and China to deal with the caregiver shortage because social isolation is …

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The conundrum of feeding our minds and our babies

Conditions
June 8, 2022

In 2022, you might have never envisioned that the United States of America would be among other countries struggling to feed its babies. As of the first week of May, more than 40 percent of formula brands are out of stock, and many families are desperately searching high and low, near and far, to find substitute options. In the background of this chaos, I cannot help but consider how we …

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The past, present, and future of fitness

Conditions
June 8, 2022

Before the contemporary context of spandex and exercise trends, physical activity and exercise were integral to daily life for most human beings across historical contexts. In this piece, we explore the historical roots of physical fitness born out of necessity for combat and survival.

Ancient fitness

The earliest evidence of fitness training dates back over three thousand years before the rise of the Greek Olympics, in 4000 BCE. Ancient civilizations residing in …

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Distrust in science is a cancer to public safety

Conditions
June 7, 2022

When a congressional candidate was recently cheered on after demanding the execution of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, it was another reminder that civil discourse and trust in science are continuing to dwindle.

A controversial household name in the sciences, Dr. Fauci was the first scientist to make the cover of Time Magazine in its 100-year history. Well-established scientists can easily recognize Fauci’s important contributions to …

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When it comes to feeding infants, support is best

Conditions
June 6, 2022

Breast is best.

Fed is best

Informed is best.

Fed is first.

What really is best and first when it comes to infant feeding: support. Support is best. Whether we are talking about infant feeding or frankly anything else related to postpartum or the fourth trimester, support is critical.

The other slogans just fall short.

Breast is best. Breastmilk is the most ideal nutrition for infants. Milk is created specifically for infants …

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How patient education can save lives

Conditions
June 4, 2022

A patient undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer was diagnosed on April 20th with profound secondary adrenal insufficiency (hypophysitis: ACTH undetectable, cortisol 0.2) caused by immunotherapy (pembrolizumab). She was started on corticosteroids and sent home from the hospital on April 24th with a prescription for only five days of prednisone. After completing the five days of prednisone, she predictably began to feel profoundly weak and nauseous. She continued losing weight …

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What you need to know about monkeypox

Conditions
June 4, 2022

Recently, several European countries have reported outbreaks of monkeypox following the first case (index case) reported in the United Kingdom on May 7, 2022, linked to a traveler from Nigeria. Monkeypox belongs to a family of other pox-like viruses and is a rare viral disease characterized by flu-like symptoms and a blistering rash that typically begins on the face and spreads to other areas of the body. …

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The CT contrast shortage is a learning opportunity

Conditions
June 3, 2022

There is currently a pandemic-related shortage of iodinated contrast used for CT scans, predicted to last for several months. While the industry is addressing its own lessons on the supply side of production and distribution, those of us in clinical medicine may use this shortage as an educational opportunity to address contrast demand.

There are multiple ways to perform a CT scan of the same body part, depending on the patient’s …

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Want your skin to look better? Then consider your mental health. 

Conditions
June 3, 2022

Despite a popular embrace of self-care and the growing awareness of trauma-like symptoms stemming from COVID, one facet of mental health remains widely overlooked: the way our emotional state affects our skin.

Although most of us don’t think about it regularly, our mental state impacts our bodies from head to toe, and the skin—the largest, most visible organ of the human body—is not an exception.

Over the last …

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Fibromyalgia is not a trash can diagnosis

Conditions
June 2, 2022

Yet again, while reading an article about fibromyalgia, I was hit with another pejorative term in the first few lines. The authors describe the usual characteristics of fibromyalgia and then say, “and a high level of catastrophizing related to pain.”

If you do a Google search for “catastrophizing,” it tells you that it is “a way of thinking that assumes things are worse than they are or will have a far …

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These wounds will never heal

Conditions
May 28, 2022

May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and I want to share my story of my dad’s journey after his strokes.

Doors open and shut during the early morning hours. I hear the drip dispensing the next dose and some muffled chatter outside the room. Several phones are ringing in all directions, and I listen to alarms going off next door. This means the heart rate is too high.

Snoring beside me, I …

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Combating antimicrobial resistance during COVID: What clinicians need to know

Conditions
May 28, 2022

While the world has spent the last two years laser-focused on the COVID pandemic, another public health threat is still lurking in the shadows: the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized since the early 1900s, yet rigorous research over the past decade has illuminated the magnitude of the threat and its implications for future infection control. More than 35 thousand patients die from antibacterial resistance every …

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Depp v. Heard and uncovering the truth about intimate partner violence

Conditions
May 27, 2022

On April 12, 2022, Day One of the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard civil defamation trial began. In the days that have ensued, more than 330 million viewers from the United States, Canada, and the U.K. watched the televised trial. At the core of the trial is the issue of intimate partner violence and its aftermath. Depp and Heard have each claimed to be victims of intimate …

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Shortening the diagnostic odyssey for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a primer for the primary care physician

Conditions
May 27, 2022

Joint pain, nausea, dizziness, bloating, palpitations, urticaria, headache, and fatigue. Surely this must be a list of the chief concerns for each of your first eight patients for the day.

No, these chief concerns all belong to your very first patient of the day. A new patient is scheduled for a 20-minute slot.

How will you possibly get out of the room in time? How can you ever help this young woman? …

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