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Pay Tribute To The Veterans In Your Life By Learning More About PTSD

My ability to sit peacefully day after day and write about health or enjoy my family owes more than I’ll ever know to the hard work and sacrifice of generations of American men and women who served in the Armed Forces. On behalf of my colleagues at Harvard Health Publications: Thank you for your service.


One of the challenges faced by many servicemen and servicewomen returning from war is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

In a nutshell, post-traumatic stress disorder is a lasting and exaggerated reaction to a terrifying or life-threatening event. It makes a person feel like he or she is living through the event over and over again. PTSD shows itself in three main ways:

Re-experiencing. People with PTSD mentally relive the triggering trauma in daytime flashbacks, nightmares, or inescapable thoughts about the event. Sights, sounds, smells, or other stimuli can bring the event to life.

Avoidance. People with PTSD tend to Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*

Avoiding Wild Animal Attacks

Photo of a brown bear (grizzly) in the wild.By now, most everyone is familiar with the tragic circumstances in which a visitor on a trail in Yellowstone National Park on July 6, 2011 surprised a brown (grizzly) bear with cubs, provoking a fatal attack. Fortunately, events like this are rare. At the same time, they are also predictable by virtue of our understanding of bear behavior, particularly in the wildland-urban interface. It was not the victim’s fault, and our hearts go out to his family and friends. For the benefit of others who will backpack and explore in bear country here is an excerpt about avoidance of hazardous animals, in particular bears, adapted from the book Medicine for the Outdoors:

Avoidance of Hazardous Animals

Most wild animal encounters can be avoided with caution and a little common sense. Follow these rules: Read more »

This post, Avoiding Wild Animal Attacks, was originally published on Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..

Fourth Of July: Top Tips For Fireworks Safety

As the 4th of July approaches, I’ve begun to hear fireworks exploding in my neighborhood.  It’s been dry here, so in addition to the risk of injuring a person, there is a risk of setting the fields on fire.  I sure hope my neighbors are being responsible.

I hope you will all have a safe and happy July 4th.  Be safe and stay out of the ER.

Please use the following tips:

  • Never allow children to play with or ignite fireworks.  A responsible adult should be in charge.
  • Read and follow all warnings and instructions.
  • Be sure other people are out-of-range before lighting fireworks. Small children should be kept a safe distance from the fireworks; older children that use fireworks need to be carefully supervised.
  • Do not smoke when handling any type of “live” firecracker, rocket, or aerial display.
  • Keep all fireworks away from any flammable liquids, dry grassy areas, or open bonfires.
  • Keep a bucket of water or working garden hose nearby in case of a malfunction or fire.
  • Take note of any sudden wind change that could cause sparks or debris to fall on a car, house, or person. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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