This eating contest season, there was only one death this year, as far as I can determine. A 41-year-old California man died in August while participating in a taco eating contest at a minor league baseball game. The coroner said he choked to death. In…
What is the unspoken fatal epidemic of our time? And the greatest predictor of overall health, happiness, job satisfaction, and resiliency? Loneliness. As a clinical cardiologist, I am committed to the health and well-being of my patients. As a recover…
I was a brand-new intern in the intensive care unit, and Cassandra was the very first patient I saw there. A petite, slender woman, she was rolled in on a stretcher, accompanied by her tall, athletic husband, Jack. Cassandra was in her 20s, like me — b…
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 19-year-old man is hospitalized with a 6-day history of lightheadedness and nightly fevers. He also reports sore throat, headache, joint an…
Being a cardiologist, the most frequent question coming my way for the last few years is “Doc what do you think about the “keto” [ketogenic] diet.” All foods contain both micronutrients and macronutrients that are essential for the body to function opt…
I have been treating diverticulitis for 30 years the same way. When I suspect that a patient has this diagnosis, I prescribe antibiotics. This has been the standard treatment for this disorder for decades. I have found that diverticulitis is a slippery…
When patients started showing up in doctors’ offices and emergency departments with coughs, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, chills and weight loss, physicians’ first instincts were that th…
I’m a member of the ACR (American College of Radiology). One of their recent online postings is entitled: Choosing Wisely. Number three (of ten things physicians and patients should question) is: “Avoid admission or preoperative chest X-rays for …
I walk out my front door today to do my obligatory walk around the block with my pups. Two police cars with blue lights flashing, lead a caravan of over 100 motorcyclists to a funeral for one of their fallen brothers. They revved up their motors in the…
The day began in Mom’s room with a 10:00 a.m. conference at Upper Valley Medical Center, west of Columbus, Ohio. In attendance were my 93-year-old mother Joanne (now in her third week of hospitalization), her palliative-care nurse Richard, her Ep…
