May is AANHPI Heritage Month so it’s a good time to share again my journey from nonsmoker to lung cancer survivor. It is such an important issue to bring awareness to this little-known and potentially deadly health disparity because, according to…
Category: Conditions
Why preventive care is the cure for our failing health care system
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison Mr. Edison, if he is watching over us, must be sadly…
Grandpa’s remains are helping push up daisies
“Rejoin the natural cycle: to know that the last gesture you’ll make will be gentle and beneficial just feels like the right thing to do.” – Recompose founder Katrina Spade I love gardening and watching things grow, so I found t…
Left in the dark: the censorship of health literature in prisons
Kwaneta Harris had hot flashes and lapses of memory. She didn’t feel right and didn’t know why. “It felt like my body was completely betraying me,” she wrote. “I felt like I was losing my mind.” The cause wasn’…
Left in the dark: the censorship of health literature in prisons
Kwaneta Harris had hot flashes and lapses of memory. She didn’t feel right and didn’t know why. “It felt like my body was completely betraying me,” she wrote. “I felt like I was losing my mind.” The cause wasn’…
Crippling fatigue: a common enemy of autoimmune disease
For many people with autoimmune disease, fatigue is the most debilitating symptom. Why autoimmune disease and fatigue go together is not entirely understood, although inflammation may be part of the reason. Other possible factors include pain, poor sle…
Crippling fatigue: a common enemy of autoimmune disease
For many people with autoimmune disease, fatigue is the most debilitating symptom. Why autoimmune disease and fatigue go together is not entirely understood, although inflammation may be part of the reason. Other possible factors include pain, poor sle…
Couples counseling: Understanding conflict and building intimacy
Situations that trigger a call for assistance with couples counseling are generally described as a need for improved communication, chronic conflict, lack of physical or emotional intimacy, or a desire to better understand the impacts of past trauma. T…
Eye dryness, insomnia, and more: hidden signs you’re in perimenopause
I am 47 years old and was today years old when I realized I have been going through perimenopause for the last four years. It is only with a retrospective lens that I can review my last four years and pick up intermittent symptoms or even just mild nui…
Pain management for Black patients and painful realities
This piece is inspired by my recent patient encounter. Within the past week, I received a call from the ER to admit a 29-year-old African-American female whom, for the sake of this essay, I will call Keisha. Keisha presented with severe lower abdominal…
