With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is on the rise, there is an urgent need for physicians to arm their patients with tools and edu…
Category: Conditions
Flying with food allergies: Combating misconceptions and advocating for safety
Why do so many people share their harrowing airline experiences with me yet never document them or file complaints? Some say they do not want to relive the trauma. Others feel embarrassed for having been ridiculed, either themselves or in front of thei…
How to advocate for your transgender child’s health care
An excerpt from About Your Black Transgender Child: Answers to MOST of Your Burning Questions. “Mom, I would never have told my doctor because you were my doctor.”—My trans young adult Those words hit me hard! My eldest offspring said them …
The silent grief of vanishing twin syndrome: Why words matter in health care
Pregnancy loss is always a deeply personal and often devastating experience, but for those who experience vanishing twin syndrome (VTS)—where one twin or multiple fetuses are lost during pregnancy—the loss can be uniquely isolating. Unlike a traditiona…
Normalizing male plastic surgery in Africa
Aloma Isaac Junior, a Nigerian comedian popularly known as Zicsaloma, recently underwent rhinoplasty. This intervention exposed deep-rooted biases about masculinity, beauty, and body autonomy in Africa. Instead of curiosity or support, his decision was…
The hidden struggle of women with rare diseases
Rare diseases were not something I studied in any depth in medical school or residency. It was my aunt, Dr. Vivian Shih, who first raised my awareness of this area of medicine. A nationally renowned researcher studying inborn errors of metabolism, her …
How social media is shaping teen mental health and what we can do about it
As social media’s influence has surged, so too has the debate over its effects on psychological well-being. Once envisioned as a means to connect communities and amplify self-expression, these platforms are now under scrutiny for their potential …
How couples counseling helps break the cycle of conflict
Language is the architecture of our perception. It impacts the way we experience ourselves in relation to others, the moments that make up our daily lives, and why we emphasize one input while ignoring others. I first learned this in a linguistics cour…
The hidden burden of pulmonary embolism in Africa
In 2025, we will commemorate 77 years since the death of one of America’s most influential presidents, Theodore Roosevelt. He was the 26th and youngest president of the United States, succeeding William McKinley. Roosevelt was a pioneer of peace,…
How vaccine hesitancy is bringing back deadly childhood diseases
Measles was first identified as a virus in the early 20th century. This disease caused significant morbidity and mortality. A measles vaccine was first introduced in 1963, using a live virus strain developed from a child who had measles. In the 1970s a…
