March 21st, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Book Reviews, Health Tips, True Stories
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By Susan Biali, M.D.
Ten years ago, I was an emergency medicine resident and wanted to die. Today, I’m a general practitioner in part-time practice and in love with life. What made the difference? I signed up for a dance class.
Reports on physician burnout list the personality traits that set us up for trouble: we’re excessively conscientious, feel overly responsible, want to please everyone, and function on an extremely high level –- even if we’re overloaded, exhausted, or our personal life is falling apart. We burn out because we bend over backwards to help others, until something (like our minds or our health or our marriages) finally snaps. Now imagine this: what if we took some of that deep caring and hyper-responsibility, and turned it on ourselves?
When my depression hit bottom and I became a serious risk to myself and my patients, my chief resident asked me to take a stress leave. On impulse I went on a solo tropical vacation and one night at the resort, as I watched an exuberant group of salsa dancers burning up the stage, my eyes filled with tears. I suddenly remembered that when I was a little girl, I practiced incessantly in the basement to my ABBA records, preparing myself for the moment that I would live my dream and finally become a “Solid Gold Dancer.” That night, in that darkened tropical theater, I knew how I would save my life. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
March 18th, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Research
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One of the basic principles of science-based medicine is that a single study rarely tells us much about any complex topic. Reliable conclusions are derived from an assessment of basic science (i.e prior probability or plausibility) and a pattern of effects across multiple clinical trials. However the mainstream media generally report each study as if it is a breakthrough or the definitive answer to the question at hand. If the many e-mails I receive asking me about such studies are representative, the general public takes a similar approach, perhaps due in part to the media coverage.
I generally do not plan to report on each study that comes out as that would be an endless and ultimately pointless exercise. But occasionally focusing on a specific study is educational, especially if that study is garnering a significant amount of media attention. And so I turn my attention this week to a recent study looking at acupuncture in major depression during pregnancy. The study concludes: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
March 14th, 2010 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, True Stories
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He wasn’t like some other men who moan and protest the very idea of shopping with their wives. He wouldn’t throw small tantrums at the idea of spending money on beauty, belts, and blouses. He enjoyed strolling around the city streets, feeling the sun warm the concrete, watching the wild array of people and their interactions with the world. But as soon as he would step into a small boutique and close the door behind him, the tinkling of little bells on the door handle was like a Pavlovian cue to feel a different sort of anxiety beyond spending money. For the walls seemed to close in on both him and those sad, tragic characters looking up from their registers, smiling and greeting him with: Hello, is there anything I can help you with today? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*
February 13th, 2010 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
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I guess I actually knew this intuitively, as the number of people I know who mention “trying antidepressants” rises, but the Archives of General Psychiatry article by Drs. Olfson and Marcus (August, 2009, 66(8), pp, 848-856) has confirmed my sense that antidepressant use has risen.
In fact, in the United States between 1966 and 2005 the annual rate of antidepressant use for people rose from 5.84 percent to 10.12 percent – translating into 27 million people over the age of six who were taking antidepressants. FYI, that makes antidepressants the most widely prescribed class of medication in office-based and hospital outpatient-based medical practices. Read more »
This post, The Rise In Antidepressant Use: Are We Neglecting Therapy?, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
January 27th, 2010 by StaceyButterfield in Better Health Network, News, Research
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This week’s obvious news consists of findings that you might have hoped weren’t true, but really you already knew they were.
First, sending your spouse off to war will make you unhappy, according to the New England Journal. “Among wives of soldiers deployed for up to 11 months, researchers found almost 3,500 more diagnoses of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and other mental health issues than among wives who husbands stayed home,” reported HealthDay. Guess these women actually liked their husbands!
Then, it turns out that diabetics should not pig out, especially on salt, according to the Archives of Ophthalmology via HealthDay. A study of black patients with diabetes found that those who ate more calories and more sodium were more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy. “These results suggest that low caloric and sodium intakes in African-American individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus…might be part of dietary recommendations for this population,” the authors concluded. Shoot, now we will have throw out those “hot dog a day keeps the doctor away” guidelines.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
