Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better. Instead, they delay the growth of tumors — which may be faster to measure but doesn’t necessarily indicate a tangible benefit for patients. But you wouldn’t gra…
Category: Conditions
Why abortion care is women’s health care
On January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade established a woman’s fundamental right to abortion nationwide. Roe v. Wade should not be overruled because women having universal access to abortion services means women have the right to choose what is best for their …
When physicians deviate from evidence-based medicine
From time to time, patients ask my advice on colonic hydrotherapy, vigorous sessions of enemas that aim to cleanse the body of toxins that are reputed to cause a variety of ailments. The logic sounds plausible to interested patients. Over time, toxins …
The myth of resilience in preventing burnout
With 44% of physicians self-reporting burnout in the 2019 Medscape National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report, most will agree the profession is in crisis. Of the 29 specialties included, all had at least 1 in 4 members reporting burno…
What to do when chronic illness is a source of embarrassment
Embarrassment is a feeling of awkward self-consciousness or shame. It manifests as a sense of discomfort or even foolishness around others. Feeling embarrassed is emotionally painful because it means you feel uncomfortable with yourself. The problem wi…
What to do when chronic illness is a source of embarrassment
Embarrassment is a feeling of awkward self-consciousness or shame. It manifests as a sense of discomfort or even foolishness around others. Feeling embarrassed is emotionally painful because it means you feel uncomfortable with yourself. The problem wi…
What to do when chronic illness is a source of embarrassment
Embarrassment is a feeling of awkward self-consciousness or shame. It manifests as a sense of discomfort or even foolishness around others. Feeling embarrassed is emotionally painful because it means you feel uncomfortable with yourself. The problem wi…
A neurosurgeon asks: Is your child’s backpack hurting her spine?
Running late for school in the morning. Again. You yell upstairs to your daughter, “Hurry up.” While she’s slipping on her sneakers and hustling out the door, you grab her backpack from the chair in the dining room. “Wow,” you think. “That’s heavy.” Ev…
The challenge of solving back pain
An excerpt from Ending Back Pain: 5 Powerful Steps to Diagnose, Understand, and Treat Your Ailing Back. Copyright © by Jack Stern, MD, PhD. Published by Avery. All rights reserved. Most feelings of discomfort in life have clear solutions. For a stuffy …
Are teenagers more vulnerable to the effects of opioids?
The younger you are when you are exposed to opioids, the higher the likelihood of addiction later in life. The prefrontal cortex is not fully formed until the age of 25. This means that alterations in the “feel-good” neurotransmitters, specifically dop…
