Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

The Lesbian And The Lipstick

red-lipstick.jpgThe woman in bed six informed me immediately on my arrival and introduction that she was a lesbian. I don’t know why it mattered because she was there for a scald injury on her arm, and I hadn’t inquired about it. In fact, I hadn’t even begun my history before she made her announcement in a somewhat belligerent tone.

So…ooookaaay. I tried not to let this non sequitur throw me too much off my stride, and I went through the brief history necessary for a minor injury such as she had.

As an aside, this self-proclaimed lesbian was quite feminine. She was well-dressed for the hour of the evening and quite pretty in her own sort of way. She even had a choker of pearls on, along with earrings, lipstick, and well-coiffed hair.

I asked a few questions, though, and was surprised at the frankly-aggressive tone of her responses. Nothing too blatant, nothing that I could call her on, but quite definite. And her story seemed to not quite add up. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*

Internal Medicine Funnies

Here’s the first of many posts from Internal Medicine 2010 in lovely Toronto, Canada.

As you’d expect during a cardiology lecture, Steve Kopecky, FACP, reviewed lots of studies known by cool acronyms. He also explained why picking an inspiring name like “COURAGE” is important for your trial, based on his attempt to recruit a patient for the “BARI” trial:

“Oh no, doc, you ain’t gonna bury me,” the patient replied.

Because that joke was funny, I’ll forgive Dr. Kopecky the implied insult with which he began his lecture:

“The Wall Street Journal’s become one of the best medical journals you can read.” (Harumph.)

*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*

Life’s Lessons And Playing Dolls

I’m not very good at the sort of play that grownups enjoy. I almost killed a goose once when I sliced and very nearly combined bird hunting with a golf tournament. I can serve a tennis ball — across the fence and into traffic. I once swung at a baseball no less than 20 times as teammates kept encouraging me.

However, I have a great imagination. Imaginary play was my delight as a child, and I rediscovered it when my own children became my born-again playmates.

Unfortunately, I felt inadequate when it came to dolls. Since my poor daughter, Elysa, is blessed with three older brothers, she’s always looking for someone to play dolls with her. Often, that someone is ‘papa.’ Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*

Modern Meditation: Buddhism Meets Punk Rock

Dharma Punx in New York City mixes the tradition of Buddhism with the ideology of punk rock. Dr. Jon LaPook talks with teacher Josh Korda about how the seemingly different connect with the help of meditation.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

HRT And The “Window Hypothesis”: Hope Or Hype?

It’s only Wednesday, and so far three patients have come to their office visits carrying Cynthia Gorney’s article from Sunday’s New York Times entitled “The Estrogen Dilemma.”

The article explores the stories of three women who found relief from perimenopausal symptoms by using hormone replacement, framing the discussion in the larger context of what is being called the “window hypothesis” — the idea that starting estrogen replacement in the perimenopause and continuing it into later life may be neuroprotective and even cardioprotective, in contrast to beginning its use 10 or more years after menopause, where it can trigger heart disease, stroke and dementia. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at The Blog that Ate Manhattan*

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

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…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles