Category: Conditions

Be careful of assigning the diagnosis of ADHD to young children just entering school

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common diagnosis in children today, and is increasingly a diagnosis assigned to adults, too. ADHD is a real thing, despite some having some skeptics and a few outright denialists; differences in brai…

Breastfeeding and newborn hospitalization rates: What should be done about it?

An August 2018 paper in Academic Pediatrics found an unsettling conclusion: Breastfed newborns have about double the risk of needing to be hospitalized in their first month of life, compared to babies who were formula-fed. The numbers are solid, and th…

Should we start screening for colon cancer at age 45?

Here’s what most medical experts agree on: People 50 and older should be screened for colon cancer. Here’s what is more controversial: Whether that screening should start, routinely, at age 45. Recently, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended th…

A physician defends Ayurveda: Is it the original personalized medicine?

As more patients and clinicians are searching for holistic approaches to health care, Ayurveda, or the traditional medical system of India, has been gaining popularity in the Western world.  Unfortunately, many allopathic physicians still view this sys…

Eradication of H. Pylori should be confirmed using the urea breath test or fecal antigen test

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 60-year-old woman is evaluated 1 month after completing a 14-day course of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy consisting of amoxicilli…

When you identify your Lyft driver as potentially having bipolar disorder

I remember September 27, 2018 like it was yesterday. When Ashley* picked me up from my apartment Thursday morning, I thought it would be like the 138 past Lyft rides I’ve taken since 2017. I was wrong. After I waived to Ashley from the curb, I got sett…

A patient gives the gift of poop

In broken English, against the backdrop of the emergency department’s chaos and clatter, Mr. Simon relayed his story: unintentional weight loss, gradually yellowing skin, weeks of constipation. He punctuated his list of devastating symptoms with …

Heart health begins in childhood: 5 tips from a pediatrician

Heart health starts in childhood to avoid cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Kids today have developed so many bad health habits that they are facing heart attacks in their 30s. Many experts predict they will be the first gene…

Is gaming disorder a real addiction, and how can I tell if it’s affecting my child?

Studies have shown that video games and other addictions, such as alcohol and nicotine, affect neural pathways in similar ways: They all lead to an increase in dopamine levels in specific pleasure centers of the brain. While drugs increase dopamine lev…

The history and physical often falls by the wayside in modern medicine. That’s a shame.

Did you feel a pop? It is a simple question that we rattle off to complete our musculoskeletal history. The answer may or may not give higher suspicion for a diagnosis of tear over sprains. But have you — the provider — ever felt a pop? Like any good p…