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Latest Posts

Patient Privacy In Haiti: “She Has AIDS” Via A Secret Note

I can’t get the stories of Haiti out of my mind. A patient showed up at the Port au Prince hospital ward with a massive left sided paralysis: an obvious stroke. This 48-year-old woman had collapsed the day before and was now accompanied by her three grown daughters, who were most attentive and worried. I examined her in the bed with other patients and families gathered around. (There is no sense of privacy and even an exam seems to be everyone’s business in Haiti). One daughter spoke broken English, but I had a good translator that helped me get the information I needed. It was a sad story. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Can Comfort Food Be Healthy?


Comfort food is usually home made and carries some emotional significance with it. During times of stress or illness people often turn to “comfort foods” to feel better. Most everyone has a favorite comfort food and comfort foods are not necessarily one’s favorite food. Ask yourself…what is my favorite food? Then ask “At the end of a long day, when I’m tired and stressed or sick in bed, what food would I like a loved one (mom) to fix for me?

Comfort foods are often fattening or unhealthy…macaroni and cheese, chocolate cake, fried chicken, chocolate pudding. Foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugar are often connected to childhood and make you feel homey and good. And different cultures have different comfort foods. Rarely is yogurt or a handful of almonds a comfort food in any culture. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Genius On The Edge – The Life Story Of Dr. William Stewart Halsted

I am one who loves medical history and Genius On The Edge – the bizarre double life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted, was a captivating read. For those who don’t know, Dr. Halsted is known as the “Father of Surgery” and practiced medicine after the civil war. Written by author physician, Dr. Gerald Imber, the medical facts are sound and the story is fascinating for any reader.

We learn that in 1850 there was no anesthesia, no knowledge of germs, no IVs or blood transfusions and no more than 200 surgeries a year were performed because the outcomes were usually disastrous. The patient who needed emergency surgery died of overwhelming infection, gangrene or shock from blood loss.

Dr. William Halsted, like all physicians of that time, was born into wealth and privilege. He began his training in 1875, ten years after Louis Pasteur showed sour milk was caused by a bacteria and when Robert Koch was able to cultivate the anthrax bacillus. At a time when surgeons were not washing their hands and were operating in dirty clothes, the concept of antisepsis was a critical advance that Dr. Halsted seized for his own training. Medical Schools were for-profit trade schools and no laboratory or clinical work was required but like many wealthy young physicians, he traveled to Europe to study the newest techniques. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Tips For Living Till 100

Research from Denmark shows that life expectancy is increasing steadily and there is a good possibility that by controlling life factors, most everyone can live to be 100. Of course, living in a high income, first world country is the first factor. The Danish experts report that since the 20th century, people in developed countries are living about three decades longer than in the past.

Check out the list (click on it for a better read) to see what factors you can control.

Tip: Don’t eat the nuts if you have an allergy. That would definitely lower your chances! And having a baby “later in life” does not mean with IVF or infertility drugs. And a “little” wine doesn’t mean a bottle a day.

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Colon Cleansing: It Might Hurt, But It Won’t Help

The internet is full of colon cleansing methods that tout the benefits of colon detox. I saw one website that showed long “worms” that live for years in the colon that “need” to be removed with special expensive potions. One of the most common questions for GI doctors is about colon cleansing and if it is beneficial. I don’t know any physicians who believe the colon needs “detoxification” or special cleansing, but until now I didn’t have a scientific way to answer that question from patients.

A study from the Am J. Gastroenterology now gives us the answer. The study authors looked at all relevant articles published between 1966 and 2008. They blinded the articles and measured outcomes and adverse events. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

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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