Category: Conditions

Sweden’s controversial COVID-19 strategy: lessons from higher mortality rates

Sweden is being touted as an example of a successful fight against COVID-19 without imposing strict social isolation measures. While it is true that Sweden was one of the few countries that did not impose severe lockdown protocols and procedures, how d…

Finding voices with AI: a call to developers, administrators, and corporations to support ethical speech therapy

As a speech-language pathologist, I’ve dedicated my career to helping people find their voices—sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. Whether I’m working with children struggling to develop language, adults recovering from strokes or …

How a systems approach can revolutionize pain and depression treatment

As a health care writer and patient advocate for over 27 years, I have interacted with thousands of patients who experience chronic severe pain, caregivers who support struggling family members, and clinicians who treat painful conditions. Depression a…

How attention therapy transforms speech delay in young children

In order to develop good speech and conversation skills, a child must pay attention to the speaker and respond back when spoken to. The importance of sustained attention, listening to, and focusing on another person by the young child is often overlook…

The hidden crisis: congenital heart diseases in low and middle-income countries

The cries of a newborn baby are usually a sign of life and hope, but for many families in low and middle-income countries, these cries can signal the beginning of a long and arduous journey. Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are a significant health bur…

Insurance denied her a voice, but this doctor wouldn’t back down

Our nation and the health care industry have been in shock following the assassination of the CEO of one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. The brazen killing of Brian Thompson and the suspected shooter Luigi Mangione has captured America&#…

How unclaimed bodies are fueling a medical ethics firestorm

Last September, NBC News aired a one-sided report on the arrangement between a county coroner and a medical school apropos the transfer of unclaimed corpses with reportedly inadequate effort to find family. In addition to a grieving family, an academic…

The hidden grief of Black fathers after pregnancy loss

In the United States, as many as 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage (before the end of the twentieth week of pregnancy) and approximately 1 percent in stillbirth (after the twentieth week, including time of delivery). Parents who experi…

The heartbreaking truth about advocating for aging parents in today’s health care system

My parents were born on the same day, six years apart, Depression-era babies. My dad died on Christmas Eve, 2016. Nearly every Christmas season after that, for the next seven years, I hoped Mom would follow him. Was I wrong to wish that? Dad played San…

I’ve felt the pain of 3 generations of nicotine addiction

“Almost everyone I know has either quit” – my friend paused, “… or died.” She said the “or died” part with a bit more resignation than horror. We were having this conversation outside of our busy local pub a few week…