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Computer Order Entry: A Game Changer?

When I first started my medical career, computers existed only in some research centers. Fast forward several years ( I'd rather not say how many years) and computers like it or not play a huge roll inĀ  medicine. Research into genomes for example, might have taken decades but with supercomputers [...]

By | March 17th, 2014|0 Comments

Antibacterial Soaps: All Hype?

Antibacterial soaps sound great-wow! get rid of all those nasty bacteria and have clean counters and hands! The marketing guys of these products found a great way to push products which really aren't needed and even worse might have some unwanted side effects. All soaps are antibacterial, but these special [...]

By | March 10th, 2014|0 Comments

Bipolar Disease

Almost everyone has had some mood swings. Some days the sun is shining, the air is fresh and we feel alive. Other times we might experience the blues- cloudy skies and not liking where we're at or what we're doing. For some however the mood swings are much more intense. [...]

By | March 3rd, 2014|0 Comments

How to Reduce the Risk of Elder Falls

As you become older, one of the many joys is that you are more likely to fall. Why? Your sense of balance is just not the same it was when you were on the high school swim team and of course neither is your muscle mass. You can't react as [...]

By | February 24th, 2014|0 Comments

The Internet As a Patient Chatroom: Some Observations

Sometimes chatting can actually be a good thing. Yes, I know many (including my two teenagers) spend what seems like an eternity tweeting, texting and chatting about absolutely nothing. You wonder, whether down the road intelligent conversation will be a thing of the past. Yet chatting doesn't always have to [...]

By | February 17th, 2014|0 Comments

Yet Another Reason To Get Enough Sleep

It turns out that when mice sleep, their brains go into a dishwasher mode: Their brain cells shrink and the flow of the fluid within the brain (cerebral spinal fluid) increases dramatically. How do we know this and more importantly why should we give a ho0t about fluid in mice [...]

By | February 10th, 2014|0 Comments

A New Twist on Epidural Injections

Epidural steroid injections are an effective treatment for certain types of severe, chronic back pain. Yet, like everything else in this universe, there is simply no free lunch: Steroids have some nasty side effects including increasing the risks for infections and bone fractures. A recent published study reviewed 43 other [...]

By | February 3rd, 2014|0 Comments

We Are What We Eat

Being overweight is unfortunately very common. In fact about 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese. We all have heard the mantra about exercising and following a healthy diet. Yes. genetics plays a role too. Just when we thought we knew what to do, along comes some very interesting [...]

By | January 27th, 2014|0 Comments

Ig Nobel Prize: The Alternative Nobel Prize Winners of 2013

Recent big news for those who follow the IG Nobel Prizes. Now these awards are not the same as the Nobel Prizes. The IG awards recognize exceptionally obvious, goofy or insignificant results. The research topics often make readers laugh and why not? The 2013 Medicine Prize was given to Japanese [...]

By | January 20th, 2014|0 Comments

Anecdotal Evidence: Where’s the Beef?

You would have a hard time buying the claim that the cold you woke up with this morning was caused by sunrise as your cold started after the sun rose. Yet, you would probably assume that, if your doctor prescribed antibiotics for that very same cold and after a few [...]

By | January 13th, 2014|0 Comments