Believe it or not very few middle ear infections actually need antibiotics. You might say-hey it's an infection, isn't it? So antibiotics treat infections, right? Yes, antibiotics do treat infections but only bacterial infections. You could give antibiotics to a patient with a middle ear infections and that patient will [...]

MRSA is a infection, unfortunately more and more common, which is resistant to most antibiotics. It is caused by a particular strain of the staphylocccocal bacteria. In years past, this bug could be treated with most antibiotics Fast forward to today, where there are very few antibiotics left which can [...]

Pneumococcal bacteria can cause a nasty pneumonia, among other conditions. This pneumonia is especially dangerous in older individuals. There are vaccines available which can greatly reduce the chances of getting sick from pneumococcus. This vaccine called Pneumovax, is indicated for all adults older than 65 and those with certain conditions [...]

There are a lot of germs out there. As doctors, who see many patients daily, it is very important that we wash our hands frequently. In fact it is recommended that doctors wash their hands before and after each and every patient seen. It would be nice if we washed [...]

Eating shark fin soup not only contributes to the world wide threats to shark population, it turns out that the shark fins are not so great for you. Of course if you believe the pseudoscience around shark fins and myriad health benefits including for sexual prowess, then you probably also [...]

You decided to fix your deck, which in retrospect may not have been the best decision. Of course, a quick distraction and you cut your hand with a hand saw? What should you do? If the wound is small-less than one half of inch, no bone is visible and the [...]

Blood thinners are prescribed to prevent blood clots. If you have a blood clot in your leg or lung you will need a blood thinner. If you have a condition which puts you at elevated risk for a blood clot such as atrial fibrillation, then you will also need a [...]

To me it is certainly no great surprise that a privately held pharmaceutical company such as Turing has raised its prices on Daraprim, a anti toxoplasmosis medication.This medication which treats a potentially deadly infection, is simply not available from any other company in America. Pharmacy firms are quick to reply [...]

By far the majority of arthritis is due to just wear and tear or osteoarthritis. There are however other forms of arthritis. At times inflammation may cause arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a more common type of inflammatory arthritis. What happens in a nutshell is that the immune system goes into [...]

If your child needs to have an IV or other painful procedure (such as reduction of a fracture or suturing of laceration) there are some simple things which can be done to reduce the pain. I'm not talking about giving narcotics IV but rather about alternatives not involving narcotics. Distraction [...]