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The problem with laboratory reference ranges

Conditions

November 2, 2025

Tonight, my lab quietly changed what it considers a “normal” ApoB. On Monday, my patient’s ApoB of 98 mg/dL was comfortably green. On Tuesday, that same number was flagged high, a 30-point swing in the normal range overnight. No new evidence. No new trial. No public health crisis. Just a reference-range recalibration. And with that one quiet adjustment, millions of people who went to bed “normal” may wake up “abnormal.”

Reference …

My persistent adverse reaction to an SSRI

Scott McLean

Meds

November 2, 2025

Two years ago, I took a single 20 mg dose of escitalopram. Like millions of others, I was prescribed this antidepressant with the expectation that it would help, or at worst, have mild side effects that would pass. Instead, I experienced an immediate and severe adverse reaction. What I could not have imagined then was that the symptoms would not resolve; they have persisted and, over time, have only worsened.

Since …

Why carrier screening results are complex

Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD

Conditions

November 2, 2025

Carrier screening has outgrown the language we still use to explain it. The rapid expansion of genetic testing has uncovered new layers of complexity in how conditions present, how results should be interpreted, and how patients experience and act on genetic information. To practice responsibly in this era of Genetic Carrier Screening 3.0, clinicians must understand not only what we are testing for, but how and why the results look …

The crisis in modern autism diagnosis

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

Conditions

November 2, 2025

Autism was never meant to be diagnosed in 15 minutes.

The original vision, born in war-torn Vienna and postwar Baltimore, called for deep observation, multidisciplinary insight, and time. But somewhere between the ideal and the insurance code, we lost the standard.

Today, families navigate a system built for speed, not truth. And children pay the price.

The ideal vs. reality

In theory, pediatricians perform routine developmental surveillance. Screenings like the M-CHAT happen at 18 …

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The crisis in modern autism diagnosis

A poem about being seen by your doctor

Michele Luckenbaugh

Conditions

November 2, 2025

I come to you with stories
I cannot name.
They press against my chest
waiting for a moment when
it feels safe
for them to be set free.

Pain is a language
I find difficult to speak aloud,
and the silence between us
feels like a waiting room
that will never empty,
pressing in on me,
catching my breath.

Two strangers,
white walls between us,
your eyes move toward the clock,
while mine look at my folded hands
resting in my lap.

I wonder
am I just a time …

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A poem about being seen by your doctor

A doctor’s cure for imposter syndrome

Noah V. Fiala, DO

Physician

November 2, 2025

Picture this: It’s your second month of residency, and you’re deep into a hectic ED shift. The pressure is on; you’re managing patients, making decisions, and trying to get better. Then, a mistake happens. Not one that results in significant harm to the patient, but maybe you miss a diagnosis, fumble a procedure, or are just overwhelmed in general. You know failure is part of growth, but that doesn’t make …

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A doctor’s cure for imposter syndrome

Why humanity matters in medicine [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

November 1, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Certified coach and professor Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article, “The humanity we bring: a call to hold space in medicine.” She shares how her experience as a mother in the neonatal intensive …

The childhood risk we never talk about

Bronwen Carroll, MD

Conditions

November 1, 2025

Parents are inundated with advice and guidance on all manner of topics from an array of sources, but as a pediatric emergency medicine physician, I have been astonished to realize that parents hear almost nothing about the risk that actually poses the greatest threat of causing serious harm to their children. Approximately 10 percent of children in the United States experience sexual abuse, with one in four girls and somewhere …

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The childhood risk we never talk about

Small habits, big impact on health

Shirisha Kamidi, MD

Physician

November 1, 2025

As an internal medicine physician practicing in Southaven for more than eight years, I’ve learned one simple truth: Prevention is often more powerful than treatment. Every week, I see patients who wish they had come in sooner, before diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease quietly took hold. These conditions rarely appear overnight; they build over years of small imbalances in diet, stress, and lifestyle. The encouraging news is that small, steady …

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Small habits, big impact on health

Are we scared of the wrong environmental toxins?

M. Bennet Broner, PhD

Conditions

November 1, 2025

Like you, I receive many emails concerning environmental toxins. Many of their claims are based on conjecture rather than scientific evidence and are delivered in a panicked manner, implying that you or a family member is doomed if you do not act quickly. It is especially annoying that they often target minor issues rather than major ones. For example, they have emphasized the danger of artificial sweeteners. However, if one …

A doctor’s fight to repair, not replace

Xiang Xie

Conditions

November 1, 2025

Author note: This piece is based on a series of conversations with Dr. Meng Xu, one of China’s leading cardiac surgeons. His voice, vision, and uncompromising devotion to valve repair inspired every word. Though he prefers to remain out of the byline, his story is the one being told.

It was 11:48 p.m. on August 14, 2021, China’s Qixi Festival, a day for lovers and a celebration …

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A doctor’s fight to repair, not replace

How to prepare for your death [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

October 31, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Physician executive Joseph Pepe discusses his article, “A doctor’s guide to preparing for your death.” He shares practical and compassionate advice on planning for life’s inevitable end, from organizing essential documents and …

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How to prepare for your death [PODCAST]

The dismantling of public health infrastructure

Ronald L. Lindsay, MD

Physician

October 31, 2025

Florida has seen over 1,300 pertussis cases this year, an 81 percent increase from 2024. I didn’t speak as a retired pediatrician. I spoke as a witness: a witness to systems retreat, a witness to the dismantling of public health, and a witness to the consequences of ignoring coordinated care.

The numbers are staggering. Over 1,500 confirmed measles cases in 2025. Three deaths, the first measles-related fatalities in the U.S. in …

The case for therapeutic nicotine use

Larry Kaskel, MD

Conditions

October 31, 2025

When most people hear nicotine, they picture stained lungs, cigarette ads, or sweet-flavored vapes. But nicotine isn’t tar, benzene, or formaldehyde. It’s a potent nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist with real neurochemical effects, and in carefully selected patients, it can help. I’ve been using nicotine gum and lozenges for years in patients with fatigue, mild depression, and ADHD, not as a miracle cure but as a targeted cognitive and mood-enhancing tool. …

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The case for therapeutic nicotine use

What is your physician well-being strategy?

Jennifer Shaer, MD

Physician

October 31, 2025

Every health care organization measures recruitment and retention. HR teams work to offer competitive packages based on salary, benefits, PTO, and CME allowances. These details matter. But for today’s physicians, these are simply the baseline. The physicians entering and shaping today’s workforce expect more. They have new lines of questioning related to the amount of evening and weekend coverage, call schedules, administrative time, and available support staff. Today’s physicians will …

Why are we devaluing primary care?

Ryan Nadelson, MD

Physician

October 31, 2025

The first day I walked into my residency clinic, I realized this was the part of medicine I understood the least. The waiting room was full, and every patient carried not just a diagnosis but the weight of a system already stretched thin. We learned to triage, to document, and to move quickly. But we did not learn how to lead, how to build continuity, or how to see the …

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Why are we devaluing primary care?

A nurse’s view on the broken health care system

Amanda Dean, RN

Conditions

October 31, 2025

We ran as fast as we could. I glanced up occasionally at the nurse straddling my patient, her blonde waves obscuring her face as she furiously attempted to restart a non-beating heart. We pushed the hospital bed down hallways and around corners, narrowly missing people-filled stretchers lining the Emergency Department. I stood in the back while the experts took over. If she was ready to leave this world, I wanted …

The courage to choose restraint in medicine

Kelly Dórea França

Education

October 31, 2025

The most powerful lesson I am learning in medicine whispers against the roar of constant intervention. It is the art of “”unmedicine”: the wisdom that the best care can often mean doing less. I entered medical school envisioning a future of decisive action. Yet, my clinical experiences have painted a more complex picture. I’ve seen a physician spend a full consultation gently steering a patient away from an unnecessary MRI, …

Carrier screening counseling must evolve

Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD

Conditions

October 31, 2025

Carrier screening has outgrown the language we still use to explain it.

For years, clinicians told patients they were either “a carrier” or “not a carrier.” But as the science has evolved, this binary approach is not only outdated; it is increasingly misleading.

Genetic carrier screening has entered a new era, and our counseling must evolve alongside it.

For decades, carrier screening was offered selectively based on ethnicity. Ashkenazi Jewish individuals were screened …

How a dying patient taught a doctor the meaning of care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

October 30, 2025

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Internal medicine physician Augusta Uwah discusses her article, “The dying man who gave me flowers changed how I see care.” She shares the emotional story of a terminally ill patient whose simple …

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