Category: Conditions

What are patients’ responsibilities for their health?

I expect my patients to develop or sense responsibility in connection to their health because I believe personal responsibility creates the basis for a constructive, therapeutic relationship and healing process. My experiences as a patient have made me…

What are patients’ responsibilities for their health?

I expect my patients to develop or sense responsibility in connection to their health because I believe personal responsibility creates the basis for a constructive, therapeutic relationship and healing process. My experiences as a patient have made me…

Toy magnets need to be banned for good

Over the course of little more than a month, we removed 54 tiny toy magnets from the digestive systems of four children. They were lucky: Despite invasive procedures and operations to repair holes in their intestines, their injuries were treated in tim…

The truth about body weight and infertility

A recent New York Times article entitled, “When You’re Told You’re Too Fat to Get Pregnant” discussed a woman’s journey to having a child, which involved being counseled against undergoing fertility treatment due to her hi…

MKSAP: 35-year-old man with persistent heartburn

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 35-year-old man is evaluated during a follow-up appointment for persistent heartburn with chronic cough. He has a 1-year history of gastroe…

Your anesthesiologist needs to know if you smoke pot

When Colorado legalized marijuana, it became a pioneer in creating new policies to deal with the drug. Now the state’s surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists are becoming pioneers of a different sort in understanding what weed may do to patients who g…

The history of antivaccination sentiment

In 1902, a smallpox outbreak infected thousands of people across the northeastern United States. That year, in Massachusetts alone, 2,314 people were infected, and 284 died. This was not unusual for early-twentieth-century Massachusetts: The smallpox v…

Someone who is both a recalcitrant skeptic and an ardent proponent of childhood vaccines

Amid the contentious dispute over immunization requirements for children, Kelley Watson Snyder stands out: She has been both a recalcitrant skeptic and an ardent proponent of childhood vaccines. Snyder, a Monterey, Calif., mother of two, was a so-calle…

Elon Musk’s girlfriend had eye surgery for depression. Is there science behind that?

Claire Elise Boucher, 31, known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. Her music incorporates elements of varied styles, including dream pop, R&B, electronic music, and hip hop. Since 2018, B…

The importance of patient education before surgery

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. For years, research and common belief have supported the concept that patient education alters patient behavior and improves patient outcomes. For instance, lifestyl…