Recently, media outlets and social media influencers have been on fire with stories about new “miracle” obesity drugs that promise a quick fix for people wanting to lose weight. Lost in this chatter are the life stories of millions of Ameri…
Category: Conditions
Addressing obesity: Is there a role for us as specialists?
I was in rheumatology private practice for just under four years as my first few years out of fellowship. During that time, too many of my patients were coming with obesity complicating a facet of their rheumatic disease. The most common example might …
A modern tale of thyroid cancer: AI, haikus, and healing
AI Ally Hangs up. Phone drops. Thud. She blinks back, tears, and looks up. Thyroid cancer, huh … Typing, click clack … thud. She sighs in relief. Texts friends, invites family over for comfort. The next day, she calls her doctor ready to talk, ready to…
A lesson in generosity: How one woman helped a stranger afford insulin
I waited in line at the pharmacy, a familiar chain store. The man in front of me waited patiently for the technician to ring up his meds. I overheard her say to him, “$125.00. That includes your insulin.” The man bowed his head and smiled p…
Health care’s breaking point: patients and physicians abandoned
I know you are wounded, as I am also injured. It is as if we have been battered and bruised and kicked to the side of the road, left there alone to suffer. An ignored problem will soon be forgotten; at least, that is their contention. We have screamed …
How one patient’s death transformed my approach to mental health care
Prior to working as a nurse practitioner, I worked as a psychiatric registered nurse in an inpatient behavioral health setting, caring for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with SMI die ten to twenty years earlier than the gener…
CRISPR and eEVs in the fight against chronic diseases
In one of my favorite movies, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the original crew of the Enterprise has traveled through time, back to the, to them ancient, city of San Francisco circa the 1980s. It’s all about Earth whales and alien cetaceans being…
Debunking the top myths about schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that is commonly misunderstood. A lack of understanding about the disease can cause people to draw inaccurate conclusions based on stereotypical portrayals in movies or television. Unfortunately, movie characte…
It’s time for more genomics education in nursing
Genetic testing is now the standard of care for common diseases such as cancer and heart disease, predicting risk and enabling earlier and more effective patient care. It’s an exciting revolution in patient care that has far-reaching potential an…
Why we shouldn’t trust sleep-deprived doctors: a wake-up call
I wouldn’t trust my Uber driver to drive me after they’ve been awake for over 24 hours. Why would I trust my doctor? Since starting medical school and hearing about the dreadful 24-hour shifts, I’ve constantly wondered why they are st…
