Category: Conditions

Why aren’t patients with eating problems following your advice?

What do you think about your patients whom you believe need to lose weight? Do you consider them lazy or non-compliant? Or wonder why they don’t they take better care of themselves and listen to your diet or exercise advice? You’re not alone in feeling…

39-year-old woman with fatigue, intermittent rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 39-year-old woman is evaluated for fatigue, intermittent rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain over the past 2 months. She reports that the b…

Does running cause arthritis?

In general, physical activity is important in maintaining your health. Many people falsely believe that running can cause arthritis but research show that this isn’t necessarily true. In reality, walking, running or strenuous exercise can signifi…

Tucked in: an image that gives a sense of peace

I need to see Justin before my workday commences. I’m a social worker at the outpatient cancer center where Justin has been treated for an aggressive colon cancer. Seeing him today means visiting him in the hospital, up the road from the center. …

Chocolate for coughs? Look beyond the headlines.

Everyone loves chocolate, and nobody likes to cough. So when headlines like these appeared, they made a big media splash: Apparently Chocolate Might Be Better for Treating Coughs than Honey and Lemon. Chocolate Fights Coughs Better Than Codeine, Says S…

As a cardiologist, I’m concerned that California isn’t very heart healthy

California is often perceived as a state where healthy habits abound — with a yoga studio on every block and kale salads on every plate. Unfortunately, I know in my daily practice as a cardiologist that this is far from the truth and that diseases due …

MKSAP: 62-year-old woman with a sun allergy

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 62-year-old woman is evaluated for a “sun allergy,” manifesting as a rash on her scalp, eyelids, upper back, and knuckles. This started 2 y…

5 things you may not know about cancer risk

There is still a lot we don’t know about cancer. A diagnosis or even the thought of a future diagnosis can be scary. And what about your cancer risk? Many patients ask me “If a close family member has cancer, does that mean I will too?” Through heredit…

Screening elderly men for prostate cancer: More harm than good?

Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer don’t die of the disease. Between 2011 and 2015, 112.6 per 100,000 men per year were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S., but only 19.5 per 100,000 men per year died of the disease over that same period of…

Important new information in the new information the tragic cases of child abuse

Like many pediatric intensivists, I care from time to time for victims of child abuse in the form of what is often called “shaken baby syndrome.” This syndrome is a characteristic constellation of finds that happen when a strong person grasps a child a…