Category: Conditions

A call to action for my medical colleagues

Modern medicine, a system originally designed to fix acute health care problems, now creates more chronic health care problems than helping to solve them. I see the dangers of over-testing and over-prescribing taking place each day in my day-to-day ped…

A surgeon’s favorite stomach surgery patient

High on my list of favorite operations was surgery on the stomach: The anatomy is neat, the re-plumbing alternatives clever, technical challenges rewarding, and, because it’s well-supplied with blood, complication-free healing is pretty predictable. Al…

A path toward clinical trial diversity

Minority and marginalized communities have historically been underrepresented in local and federal governments and in dozens of private sectors globally. Pharma is no different; there exists a steep chasm that drugmakers have yet to bridge concerning r…

Love: Stepping forward or hanging back?

The saga of distancers and pursuers in relationships exists in many different forms. Perhaps the most common version is the man as distancer and woman as pursuer. It would seem that hardly any adult with some experience in the world of romance has not …

Love: Stepping forward or hanging back?

The saga of distancers and pursuers in relationships exists in many different forms. Perhaps the most common version is the man as distancer and woman as pursuer. It would seem that hardly any adult with some experience in the world of romance has not …

The connection between oral health and overall health

Guess what? The mouth is attached to the rest of the body. And though dentistry and medicine are typically separated from the very beginning of professional training, they are irrevocably linked for patients and have an impact on each other. Here’s som…

What does living with COVID really mean?

It’s a standard instruction during safety demonstrations on airplanes: “In the event of a sudden loss in cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. Put your mask on before helping others.” But why is that? Wouldn&#…

A matter of trust: Bill Maher loses trust in medical professionals

I was at my gym last night. Billy Joel’s ballad about trust was the metronome to my squats. Though vaccinated and boosted, I was wearing my mask. I know the latest evidence about vaccines and natural immunity, the dramatic transmissibility but mild vir…

Dislocations: an exception to the rule

There are not many situations in general medicine where a doctor can affect an instant cure, and the patient will call them a “miracle worker.” Most patient visits end with a prescription or two or some instructions along with the admonitio…

What to do when your child suffers a concussion

This spring, kids will be returning to extra-curricular activities and organized sports in the community, much of which was canceled over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As these activities resume, now is a good time to learn what to d…