Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Would your doctor write you a note like this?

Donald Trump, in his quest for the presidency, has released a statement of his health prepared by his personal physician.  In this article from Yahoo Health, several physicians, myself included, took a look at that note and commented on what it says, and how it says it.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

It feels good to get out, but you’re still stuck inside!

So you’re off on your vacation and to get there, you have to endure a few hours locked up in an aluminum cylinder soaring through the sky.  It feels really good to get out of the plane, but what do have to face while you’re confined?  Can you do anything to help keep yourself healthy during the flight?  Here is an article on Yahoo Health that looks at some of what happens during a flight, with several of my suggestions and ideas.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Men and women are different? Who knew?

The medications and medical procedures that are in use today first saw light in medical studies, with a population selected upon which to test the product.  While this may seem to be counter-intuitive, studies have often limited their subjects by gender, age, or ethnicity, which may skew the final results.  Here is an article addressing this situation, with my comments on several of the points raised.  One can only hope that someone is listening.


Sunday, December 6, 2015

You gonna take that pill?

It seems to happen to me every week or so.  A patient was watching television and saw some advertisement, or the news and heard a brief piece about a drug, and decided, on the basis of ten words or less of questionable authority, to discontinue a medication.  If he or she is lucky, there are no immediate repercussions, but there well may be.  Do you think this is a problem?  Do you have trouble understanding why someone would act that way?  Well, here is commentary on a study which looked at the question, with me being given the final words in the article.