Patient

10 health dangers that your teen may face

Patient

March 3, 2011

It’s not easy being a parent of teens these days. Previously rational children transform into moody, unreasonable creatures whose need to shock is only surpassed by their efforts to fit in.

Add a measure of impulsiveness and experimentalism, and it’s no wonder risky behavior skyrockets during these years. What a parent can do is to keep the lines of communication open, stay informed of the health dangers of some of the …

The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect [VIDEO]

Kevin

Patient

March 1, 2011

Daniel Keogh, ABC Science Show reporter in Australia, takes us on a visual tour on the strange powers of the placebo effect.

The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect [VIDEO]

Patients are not to blame for the miscommunication about cardiac stents

Carolyn Thomas

Patient

March 1, 2011

When I had a heart attack two years ago, I was taken immediately from the E.R. to the O.R. for emergency treatment, including cardiac catheterization and a stainless steel stent implanted in a major coronary artery that was 99% blocked. But, overwhelmed and terrified, I knew nothing about what was about to happen, even though I have a vague memory of the cardiologist explaining something to me before I was whisked …

Reference Range, a poem by Veneta Masson [VIDEO]

Kevin

Patient

February 28, 2011

Veneta Masson, a nurse who wrote in Health Affairs about why she doesn’t get mammograms, created a YouTube animation visualizing her poem, Reference Range.

Enjoy.

(via Gary Schwitzer)

Reference Range, a poem by Veneta Masson [VIDEO]

Patients are closing the health gap online

Kevin

Patient

February 28, 2011

by Jerry Levin

For all of us — young, old, and those in the middle — life is simply an interlude between doctors’ visits. This perspective, while obvious, perennially stays beneath our consciousness since we are consumed by the daily pursuit of personal identity as if our mind-body-and-spirit were to function without incident and without end. More powerfully of late is the recognition that the explosive neglect of mental …

Supermarket tips for preparing nutritious meals

Roxanne B. Sukol, MD

Patient

February 26, 2011

On the subject of shopping for and preparing nutritious meals, one piece of advice that I like to share is that it’s best to stick to the outer walls of the supermarket and avoid the center. So with only a few exceptions, like flour, oil and beans, that’s exactly how I shop. What does it mean to shop at the edges of the supermarket? Let me show you what I …

Save the Boobs, and whether humor has a role in breast cancer

Jackie Fox

Patient

February 25, 2011

Last year it was the “Save the Boobs” video. This year it’s the “I (Heart)Boobies” bracelets.

Some people were very offended by the video’s slow-motion close-ups that were more reminiscent of a beer commercial. Now, some schools are banning kids from wearing the bracelets. And in a recent post on Salon, Tracy Clark-Flory made the eloquent case that we’re more than the sum of our body parts, and recounted her mom’s battle with metastasized lung cancer.

I agree …

Sharing information about your health with specialists is difficult

Jessie Gruman, PhD

Patient

February 25, 2011

As far as my chemo nurse Olga (not her real name) is concerned, I can do nothing right.

She scolded me for sending an e-mail when she thought I should have called and vice versa. She scolded me for going home before my next appointment was scheduled. She scolded me for asking to speak to her personally instead of whichever nurse was available. She scolded me for calling my oncologist directly. …

When your privacy is violated in the doctor’s office

Joel Sherman, MD

Patient

February 25, 2011

Few patients enter our health care system prepared for the unexpected and embarrassing circumstances that can routinely happen.

Most can accept it when we’re treated with modesty and respect. But not many are prepared for those times when you might be unnecessarily exposed or treated rudely. The possibilities for embarrassment are endless and it is usually unexpected. When avoidable incidents do happen, most patients are not prepared to speak up. Many …

A balanced approach to informed consent

Kevin

Patient

February 24, 2011

by Zakari Tata, MD

Informed consent has continued to generate a lot of interest in medicine worldwide.

The reason is because patients in medicine and subjects in clinical trials need protection from the multitude of injuries and harms that have been caused by intentional or accidental actions. The controversies generated by various lapses of informed consent, in my opinion, have not been addressed and more safeguards need to be put in place …

Read more…

A balanced approach to informed consent

How important is a doctor’s skill in the physical exam of a patient?

John Mandrola, MD

Patient

February 23, 2011

How important is a doctor’s skill in the physical examination of a patient?

To the lay person, a doctor’s examination might seem really important. “Of course it is, Dr M … Come on.”

But is it so? Or, perhaps, is the examination a charade, a show, a necessity to complete the medical record.

It turns out that many in the profession think doctors may be losing the skill of palpating and listening. At …

When should psychiatrists give advice to patients?

Jeffrey Knuppel, MD

Patient

February 23, 2011

This post was inspired by Dinah, a psychiatrist over at Shrink Rap.

She recently described how a psychiatrist friend of hers has been going through some phase-of-life changes. Recently he has regretted some of the advice that he previously had given to patients who were going through the same life changes he’s now going through himself. He realizes that he was not nearly so qualified to give the advice …

How to improve doctor patient communication

Paul Dorio, MD

Patient

February 22, 2011

When I was a medical student on my first clinical rotation, obstetrics, I was criticized for not using enough medical jargon when I spoke to the patients.

I took that criticism as a compliment and have always attempted to speak clearly and without too much “inflation” of my terms. In my opinion, the more clearly we physicians communicate, the better will be our patients’ understanding of their ailments.

The important topic of doctor-patient communication led a …

Why alternative care seems to work

Peter J. Weiss, MD

Patient

February 22, 2011

People sort of want to try alternative care. They’re working up to it, but then they read more about it; they read about the theory and they say, “No I don’t believe that theory. That can’t possibly work. There’s nothing to it. I’m not going to do it.” But, the problem is that the theory of why something works or the explanation is not necessary related to the effect of …

Read more…

Why alternative care seems to work

Every patient is an immigrant in the doctor’s office

Kathy Kastner

Patient

February 21, 2011

One of my favorite conferences is The Conference on Practice Improvement hosted by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

For all the upset and negativity there seems to be toward doctors, these family docs are in it — each and every one that I’ve met — for the good of their patients. And that is why I think every one of them …

Patients do not voluntarily search for health information online

Richard Meyer

Patient

February 21, 2011

As a marketer it’s important to be able to take a step back and look at the marketing environment from a patients perspective. Over the last couple of weeks, for example, consumers have read:

That up to 40% of all published clinical trial studies may have omitted key information on drug effectiveness and side effects.
That long term use of some medications may lead to new health problems.
That in order to …
Read more…

Patients do not voluntarily search for health information online

Aging is a blessing, a gift to be treasured

Aldebra Schroll, MD

Patient

February 20, 2011

I was enjoying lunch at a local café when I overheard one staffer say to another that she was facing her twenty fifth birthday soon. She went on to say, 25 is the last “real” birthday, after that “you’re just getting old”. I had to laugh, since I’m well past that age and holding up. Sure, there are some wrinkles and gray hair to contend with, that’s life.

I remember my …

Every American deserves the right to have a death with dignity

George Lundberg, MD

Patient

February 18, 2011

My old Canadian friend toxicologist Cliff Walberg was right when he famously said, “there is absolutely no limit to how revolting things can be.”

Remember that. It comes in handy, in addition to strong swear words, when stuff happens.

Case in point: I believe that every American deserves the right to choose to have a death with dignity and as pain-free as medical science and practice can provide.

To achieve that, patients and …

ER and internal medicine docs, arguing over a patient admission

Maria Yang, MD

Patient

February 18, 2011

Dr. Erdoc happened to look up when the internist walked into the emergency department.

“Oh no,” he murmured under his breath. The consulting psychiatrist was sitting next to him, typing a note. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“I hoped it wouldn’t be him. Unlike his colleagues, Dr. Internist seems to have a deep loathing for us emergency docs,” Dr. Erdoc explained as he stood up. Dr. Internist was frowning …

Top 5 NICU tips from a preemie parent

Deb Discenza

Patient

February 15, 2011

Heads up folks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), parents of premature babies want you to succeed more than you may realize. It is just hard for them to communicate this through the fog of stress and exhaustion that has consumed them for countless hours, days and even months.

So here is a little insight into the parent mind and what they want you to know about what it is …

Read more…

Top 5 NICU tips from a preemie parent