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New Nasal Spray Is The First Of Its Kind

Meda Pharmaceuticals has announced a new nasal spray “Dymista” that contains both a steroid and an anti-histamine active ingredient. Why is this significant? It’s because it’s the first and only one to do so. Of course, it’s not available yet until the FDA approves it, but at least it has shown effectiveness in Phase 3 clinical trials.

At this time, nasal sprays as it relates to nasal allergies come in two separate flavors:

1) Steroid Nasal Spray (flonase, nasonex, nasacort, rhinocort, veramyst, omnaris, etc, etc)
2) Anti-Histamine Nasal Spray (patanase, astepro, astelin)

This new combo nasal spray “Dymista” contains Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

Is It Healthy For Babies To Be Around Pets?

There have been a number of studies in the past investigating whether it is healthy for a baby to be around pets and whether such exposure increases or decreases risk of becoming allergic to them later in life.

In a recent study (published online June 2011), the researchers found that among males, those with an indoor dog during the first year of life had half the risk of becoming allergic to dogs at age 18 compared with those who did not have an indoor dog in the first year of life regardless whether born by C-section or vaginally. Also, teens with an indoor cat in the first year of life also had a decreased risk of becoming allergic to cats. Neither cumulative exposure nor exposure at any other particular age was associated with either outcome. So it appears that Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

Some Asthma Inhalers Can Cause Fungal Laryngitis (Thrush Of The Voice Box)

It is a big bummer to be an asthmatic. Not only is breathing a problem, but even the treatment for asthma can cause problems.

Take for example steroid inhalers like advair, symbicort, fluticasone, etc.

All asthma patients know to rinse their mouth out after inhaler use due to risk of oral thrush, but what about from the back of the mouth down to the vocal cords??? This nether region can’t be gargled very easily. One can swallow water to rinse this area out, but the vocal cord region would still not be addressed (otherwise aspiration would occur).

And that leads to potential vocal problems… like fungal laryngitis (or thrush of the voicebox). Here’s a picture of what that looks like. To compare, normal is shown in the smaller picture.

Note the white patches indicative of fungal growth. This fungal infection can lead to symptoms of a mild (if any) sore throat, but most patients complain of hoarseness as their only symptom. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

An At-Home Laser Hair Removal System That Works

Without going into TOO much detail of how I know this… I have personally observed that the TRIA Laser Home Removal System does work after observing its use and its effects over a 6 month period of time. And before anybody asks… no… I was not paid to write this nor did I get a free one to try. Rather, someone I am close to bought it off Amazon.com and I was a skeptic on-looker.

In any case, the caveat being that I know it works (admittedly anecdotal) as long as the hair is dark (ideally black or brown) on very light colored skin (ideally white).

The way laser hair removal works is Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

Myth Buster: Seafood Allergies Do Not Increase Risk Of Allergies To CT Contrast Dyes

It is a prevalent belief out in the medical (and lay public) community that patients with iodine or seafood allergy can not receive contrast when undergoing certain radiological tests like CT or MRI scans. The concern is that contrast contains minute amounts of free iodide and as such, IV administration of this material puts the patient at risk of a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction.

Contrast is often given in these tests as it traces out bloodflow enabling the physician to see organ and mass architecture much more clearly allowing for improved accuracy in seeing anything abnormal.

Well… rest assured that patients with iodine and seafood allergy CAN receive contrast without any significant increased risk of an allergic reaction as compared to other allergies.

In a large study encompassing 112,003 patients, Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*

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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