How gut bacteria shape your mental health and mood

Conditions
August 8, 2025

The gut-brain axis is a key player in mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety.

The intestinal microbiome (the foundation of the gut-brain axis) influences brain function through bidirectional communication via neural (vagus nerve), immune (cytokines), and metabolic pathways. Microbiota alterations may also impair hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation, which, in turn, affects both psychological stress level (cortisol) and whole-body hormonal balance. What’s more, microbial metabolites (such as short-chain fatty …

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Is “do no harm” the most misunderstood phrase in medicine? [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 7, 2025
YouTube video

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Psychiatrist Sabooh S. Mubbashar discusses his article, “Why ‘do no harm’ might be harming modern medicine.” He reveals that the principle “First, do no harm,” or Primum non nocere, is not part of the original Hippocratic Oath but a later, misattributed addition that has become a dangerously oversimplified slogan. …

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Why health care reform must start with ending monopolies

Tech
August 7, 2025

Monopolies thrive on control. In U.S. health care, that control is quietly breaking the system from within. Today, a small group of supplier-funded entities, including GPOs, PBMs, EHRs, MMIS vendors, and EDI platforms, dictate costs, suppress innovation, and hoard the data that hospitals need to operate effectively.

If we want real health care reform, we must start with monopoly reform.

1. Skyrocketing costs driven by opaque contracts. When a handful of players …

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Why new obesity medications for teens could be a game changer

Conditions
August 7, 2025

When I first saw the CDC’s MMWR latest report on obesity medication prescribing for adolescents, my initial reaction was probably the same as yours: less than 1 percent of teens with obesity got these medications in 2023? That seems pretty dismal.

But then I took a step back and looked at what this data is telling us. And honestly? We’re missing the real story here.

We’re witnessing something historic.

Think about where …

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How insulin resistance may cause Alzheimer’s disease

Conditions
August 7, 2025

Alzheimer’s disease is a ruthless thief, silently stealing the essence of our identities: our memories. It robs us of cherished moments, meaningful relationships, and the independence that makes life vibrant and fulfilling. Traditionally viewed as an inevitable consequence of aging or genetics, groundbreaking research now challenges this perspective, suggesting Alzheimer’s may actually be a form of metabolic disorder aptly coined Type 3 diabetes.

The concept of Alzheimer’s as Type 3 diabetes …

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Why smartwatches won’t save American health care

Physician
August 7, 2025

History has a habit of repeating itself.

Just prior to the 1929 crash, ads supporting the presidential candidacy of Herbert Hoover promoted a tag line promoting prosperity that has lived in infamy: “A chicken for every pot and a car in every garage.”

Now we have Robert Kennedy—our Secretary of Health and Human Services, the cheerleader for the “Make America Healthy Again” movement—promoting another grand idea to solve our nation’s …

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When anxiety runs the show: How medication can help kids thrive

Conditions
August 7, 2025

Ten years old and terrified, my patient sat curled in the chair, tears flowing, knees pulled to her chest, refusing to go to school for the third week in a row. Her parents looked exhausted. “We have tried everything. We don’t want to medicate her… but we can’t keep going like this.”

As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I’ve had this conversation hundreds of times. Sometimes families walk in asking for …

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Why your digital first impression matters more than ever [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 6, 2025
YouTube video

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Health care marketing strategist Sara Meyer discusses her article, “First impressions happen online—not in your exam room.” She explains why a physician’s online presence is often the deciding factor for potential patients …

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From nurse practitioner to quality improvement leader in sleep medicine

Conditions
August 6, 2025

I am a doctor of nursing practice and board-certified nurse practitioner with over a decade of experience in internal medicine, pulmonology, and sleep medicine. My career has taken shape in the diverse and fast-paced outpatient care settings of New York, where I’ve had the opportunity to serve patients from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Many of the individuals I care for face chronic respiratory illnesses, comorbid conditions, and significant …

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Why accommodations aren’t special treatment but essential for equity

Physician
August 6, 2025

“Think of it this way,” the school’s pediatrician said to me, his voice flat in my headphones. “Back in college, would you want a lab partner who needed these accommodations? When I read a letter like this, I picture a student who may not even graduate high school. I have to prepare the family for that reality.”

I took a slow breath, calming myself. This wasn’t how I had hoped the …

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Stop telling burned-out doctors to be more resilient

Conditions
August 6, 2025

Doctors are often praised for their resilience. It’s become a buzzword in medicine, touted as some catch-all antidote to physician burnout. It’s used in keynotes, wellness programs, recruitment ads, hospital HR emails—everywhere really. “Feeling burned out? Improve your resilience.” But I believe that this emphasis on resilience often misses the mark. Worse, it can subtly reinforce the idea that if you’re suffering, you’re not resilient enough.

But what if the problem …

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AI can help heal the fragmented U.S. health care system

Tech
August 6, 2025

The U.S. health care system is a paradox. It’s the most expensive in the world—costing over $4.5 trillion annually—yet produces some of the worst health outcomes among developed nations. Fragmentation is at the core of this crisis. Patients bounce between primary care doctors, specialists, emergency rooms, and insurers, often with no single point of coordination. The result? Redundant tests, misdiagnoses, delayed care, and frustrated clinicians.

Enter artificial intelligence—not as a silver …

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A mindset shift for physicians: Retrain your brain to see what’s going well

Conditions
August 6, 2025

As a physician, you’re trained to spot problems. You scan for risks, anticipate complications, and stay alert for what could go wrong. That mindset helps keep patients safe. However, over time, it can become automatic, even outside of work.

When your attention is always tuned to what’s missing or what might fail, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s going well. One physician I coached was deeply committed to his patients …

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A surgeon’s take on God, intelligence, and cosmic responsibility

Physician
August 6, 2025

In the operating room, I often find myself marveling—not just at the complexity of the human body, but at its intelligence. The way tissues adapt, how cells communicate, how the body heals—it all feels less like machinery and more like music. There’s rhythm. Responsiveness. A kind of attunement.

That word—attunement—has become central to how I think about not only medicine, but life, belief, and even the nature of the universe itself.

As …

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Why we need a transparent standard for presidential cognitive health [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 5, 2025
YouTube video

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Nationally recognized psychiatrist, internist, and addiction medicine specialist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust.” While carefully observing the ethical constraints of the …

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How one man’s dying wish was denied by the health care system

Physician
August 5, 2025

“This is Dr. Mohr.” I answered a number I didn’t recognize.

“It’s Irving,” said the frantic voice. “He collapsed. The paramedics are working on him now.”

“They’re doing compressions? Stop! Put the paramedic on the phone!”

My father-in-law, Irving, the stoic Danish-American Navy veteran, had been on hospice for 3 months. His POST (physician order for life sustaining treatment) form was on file with the hospice agency and his custodial care facility: DNR/DNI, …

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Don’t ignore hematuria: When to worry about blood in your urine

Conditions
August 5, 2025

It happens more often than people talk about: You go to the bathroom, and suddenly you notice red or brownish urine in the toilet bowl. Your heart skips a beat. Is it something you ate? Could it be serious? Should you wait or call your doctor?

If you ever see blood in your urine, don’t panic, but don’t ignore it either. That red color, whether it’s faint pink or dark like …

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How showing up teaches children about grief and empathy

Physician
August 5, 2025

My children’s Montessori teacher lost her son to suicide several years ago. When I heard of her son’s death, memories came flooding back. I recalled Tom’s upper school project in which he presented a hoverboard. This inspired much reverence and awe in my son, who later attempted the same. Tom’s mother had tended to my daughter’s bumps and scrapes on the playground and helped her learn phonics. I gathered the …

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When conscience compels doctors to walk out

Physician
August 5, 2025

There is a kind of silence in hospitals that no overhead page can interrupt. The silence after you have raised a concern, documented it, escalated, and nothing changes. Some physicians endure that silence for years. Some burn out. A few walk out, not in defiance of medicine, but in fidelity to what medicine was supposed to be. And when they do, we often call them disruptive, political, or unprofessional. But …

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Physician hiring bias in one of America’s most progressive cities

Physician
August 5, 2025

I have been fortunate to practice in several areas of medicine in my career. This has led me to triple board certification in family medicine, palliative medicine, and addiction medicine. I speak Spanish fluently, have a spotless record, and have dedicated my career to caring for underserved patients.

Despite this, after years of applying to prestigious health systems in a major city, I’ve never once been contacted for an interview in …

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