Patient

What patients with heart disease need to learn from cancer patients

Carolyn Thomas

Patient

November 15, 2011

Cardiologist Dr. Richard Fogoros has issued this blunt warning to those at risk for developing heart disease: “You need to change your life. If you don’t, you will suffer the consequences – possibly decades earlier than is necessary.”

In his Heart Health Center column, he observed that most high-risk people end up making only half-hearted efforts to modify their heart attack risk. And he blamed doctors for enabling this …

Life expectancy is a simple number with immense ramifications

Reflex Hammer

Patient

November 11, 2011

The milestone of the world’s population reaching 7 billion is a fitting time to reflect upon life expectancy. Life expectancy is a rough marker of humanity and medicine’s progress in the age-old battle to attain old age.

Those born in the US this year are expected to live until 78.37 years of age if current mortality rates persist. This puts us at a sobering 50th in the world.

How long is someone …

Why patients with irritable bowel syndrome are angry at their doctors

Sophie Lee

Patient

November 10, 2011

I’ve had irritable bowel syndrome for 20 years, and I’m angry. About the pain, and the suffering, and the limited diet, and the huge impact that it has had on my life. But mostly, I’m angry at my doctors. No, they didn’t misdiagnose me. No, they didn’t harm me. No, they didn’t treat me like dirt. But they still made me angry.

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: I know …

Lives focused through the lens of medicine will burn your eyes

Vernon Rowe, MD

Patient

November 10, 2011

I am a writer as well as a doctor. My heroes are Keats, Chekhov, Williams, Coulehan, Coles, and other physician writers. And those greats of medicine too, known and unknown, who have spent their lives caring for people.

My writing is short. Really short. If it isn’t poetry, it scans like poetry. And one act plays. As in The Ride, my latest collection. Someone said if you can’t write poetry, you …

No act of kindness is ever wasted

Jackie Fox

Patient

November 8, 2011

I see my oncologist for my twice-yearly checkup tomorrow, and while my visits have been blissfully mundane over the last three years, this time I actually have a list of questions and a couple of concerns over the lab results from my latest physical. It’s probably nothing, but once you’ve had cancer you can’t help but wonder which “nothing” is actually the edge of trouble’s long shadow. My family doctor sees no cause for …

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No act of kindness is ever wasted

Embarrassment is one reason why men don’t see the doctor

Joel Sherman, MD

Patient

November 7, 2011

It is well known that men see doctors much less frequently than women. The reasons are multifactorial and not all that well studied. It’s certainly not because men are healthier than women as they die on the average seven years before women. Clearly women are accustomed to seeing doctors at an earlier age than men for reasons relating to childbirth and birth control. Most accept the recommendations to get an …

The ability to quantify empathy

Norman Silverman, MD

Patient

November 5, 2011

The public gets much of its health-related news from lay-oriented synopses of scientific papers published in refereed medical journals or presentations at major medical conventions. Longer, more detailed commentary is published in the print media, but the majority are short pieces posted on many websites or blogs. I try to familiarize myself with information pertaining to cardiovascular disease as well as predisposing conditions such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia with the …

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The ability to quantify empathy

Why you should cancel your doctor’s appointment

Rajka Milanovic Galbraith, MD

Patient

November 3, 2011

You heard me correctly. Do not go to your next doctor’s appointment. I repeat, do not go. Do not pass go or collect money.

Now that I have your attention, you may be thinking what is this crazy doctor saying? If I had a dollar every time a patient came in and asked for my advice but didn’t follow it, I would have been retired long ago.

Why is this?

Change takes time. …

Patients and physicians in the digital age

Kent Bottles, MD

Patient

November 1, 2011

The digital age has had a deep and likely permanent effect on the patient-physician relationship. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had physicians beg me to provide them with a way to stop their patients from Googling their symptoms and diagnosing themselves before their first office visit and much to their chagrin, my answer is always the same, “You can’t stop them. Get over it.”

The Internet acts …

Doctor, I’m better: What does that really mean?

Stewart Segal, MD

Patient

October 30, 2011

“Better” is another one of the difficult words I have to deal with on a daily basis.

“Doc, I’m better” can mean a lot of things and can lead to both misdiagnosis and poor treatment. Does “I’m better” mean you are well? If not, are you really better or is it just wishful thinking? How much better are you?

On a busy, stressful day, even the most skilled physician can fall for, …

When patient advocacy leads to patient enabling

Dominic A. Carone, PhD

Patient

October 30, 2011

Physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, and a whole host of other health care professionals entered their respective professions to help people. One part of being an effective health care provider is to advocate for your patient when they need it. For example, if your patient (who is a mechanic) broke his arm and needs a note for the employer for a few weeks off, you provide it. If …

Non-judgmental regard can show the best of humanity

Reflex Hammer

Patient

October 28, 2011

On July 24, 1998, a psychotic schizophrenic gunman entered a side entrance at the U.S. Capitol. As he approached Rep. John DeLay’s office, he exchanged fire with two Capitol Police officers who later died of their wounds. The gunman was badly wounded as well.

Senator Bill Frist, a cardiologist, was leaving the Capitol when Congressional aides informed him that some men needed urgent medical assistance.

A New York Times article tells …

Why hospitals and physicians should get serious about patient-centered care

Steve Wilkins, MPH

Patient

October 28, 2011

Health care professionals are a cynical lot. We joke about the “fad or buzzword of the month,” usually some vague concept heralded by the powers on high. Our job is to promote the idea, knowing full well that the “next big thing” is probably right around the corner.

Take “patient-centered.” It sure feels like a buzz word. I suspect most hospital and physician executives, and their ad agency partners, …

Compassionate care is a crucial component of care

Joyce Hyam, RN

Patient

October 27, 2011

I remember when my best friend was in the hospital thirty years ago and I brought her 3 year old daughter to visit. My friend could not speak. She could only blink one eye and was paralyzed on one side. How she was able to communicate was through the blink of her one eye. I felt her energy of wanting to spend time with those she loved. It was Christmastime …

I wish House, MD was here

Dr. Ashley Jacobs

Patient

October 26, 2011

The wards had an odd sanguine feeling that day. The large glass pane doors were streaming a glow from the summer outside, and all was right because I had actually managed to have a lunch break. The High Care Ward is where the most intense monitoring is done so that we doctors can observe suffering in slow motion. I can’t remember what brought me there but in the first bed …

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I wish House, MD was here

Discussing end of life issues with a teenager

Jim deMaine, MD

Patient

October 26, 2011

Marcie transitioned to my care when she turned sixteen. She felt too grown up now to be in the same waiting room with “kids” at the children’s clinic. But she wasn’t doing well.

Her pediatrician had suspected the problem shortly after birth. She wasn’t growing normally, had nasal congestion, and more respiratory infections than usual. A sweat chloride test was ordered which was positive. The diagnosis was cystic fibrosis (CF). The …

5 tips to evaluate medical websites

Jill of All Trades, MD

Patient

October 25, 2011

During my transition from public to private health, I have indeed noticed some interesting differences that have forced me to practice medicine a perhaps a tad differently. One big surprise: in private health, I have to admit that I have been pretty astounded to see that my patients quite heavily rely on the Internet before they even come to see me for their given ailments.

In public health, some of my …

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5 tips to evaluate medical websites

The challenges of living with invisible pain or illness

Toni Bernhard, JD

Patient

October 25, 2011

In May of 2001, I got sick with what the doctors thought was an acute viral infection. But I didn’t recover. As the months went by and I didn’t get better, I felt as if I’d entered a parallel universe that I didn’t know existed. One reason this universe is largely invisible is that many people living with chronic pain or illness don’t look any different from those around …

Waiting is the bane of the medical system

Lisa Gualtieri, PhD

Patient

October 24, 2011

“By the time you see the doctor, you’re either dead or you’re better,” my mother-in-law told me. She had to have multiple tests, all with long waits to get the appointments and the results, before her health insurer would allow her to make an appointment with a specialist.

“Waiting is the bane of the medical system,” a former student, an R.N., concurred. Advances in medicine and technology have improved medical outcomes, …