Category: Conditions

Not all pathologists are created equal

Pathology and laboratory medicine services play a vital role in global health care and continuously improve patient care around the world. When it comes to your medical care, you have many options, and choosing the right professional could improve your…

MKSAP: 55-year-old man with severe COPD

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 55-year-old man is evaluated in follow-up for severe COPD, which was diagnosed 2 years ago. He has had two exacerbations in the past year r…

Excellent surgeons those who are quick to recognize their mistakes

“Dr. Rahman, this is the nurse in OR 12, Dr. H is doing a robotic/laparoscopic hysterectomy. He thinks he’s injured the ureter and is requesting help. Are you available?” I knew what came next was going to be complex — challenging surgically, disruptiv…

We should not be in a hurry to label a sign or symptom pathognomonic

“Pathognomonia.” I do not believe this is a real word. That’s OK. I don’t care if it isn’t. I have wanted to write this little blurb several times over a period of a few years. My theme is related to what we physicians regard as pathognomon…

The day he stopped pretending to be sick

From second through fifth grade, I mastered the art of being sick. I got out of school, soccer practice and piano lessons so that I could be the child I wanted to be — not sick, but loved, cared for. Here was my recipe: 1. Wake up. 2. Feel anxious abou…

Does coffee lead to cardiac arrhythmias?

Coffee —”because of the caffeine which it holds,” described Dr. Henry Elsner in a 1911 review article in the journal of Hypertension and Arteriosclerosis — causes “increased rapidity of the heart’s action. It makes the heart irr…

MKSAP: 60-year-old man with a variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 60-year-old man variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination. He has type 2 diabetes mell…

MKSAP: 60-year-old man with a variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 60-year-old man variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination. He has type 2 diabetes mell…

Diagnosed with prostate cancer? You must ask these 10 questions.

Prostate cancer often presents unique challenges to patients and physicians alike. It can be indolent and non-aggressive — or life-threatening and everything in between. Unlike most cancers that have a dedicated roadmap for treatment for prostate cance…

AEDs save lies: Why more people should know how to use them

Did you know that over 300,000 people a year visit a doctor for symptoms of anaphylaxis — yet, thankfully, between 1999-2010 only 2,458 died from anaphylaxis? Compare that with the fact that each year anywhere between 180,000 to 450,000 people in the U…