As often happens in my practice, I have patients who tell me about the latest technology that helps with their medical condition or with issues of mobility. The latest is the WHILL MOBILITY DEVICE which is the latest in wheelchair mobility. It’s benefits are many, but most importantly is the simplicity of it’s controls, its …
Read More “WHERE THERE’S A WHILL…THERE’S A WAY”
A patient emailed me: Hi Doc, Should I be concerned and switch my anti-depressant since it’s on the list of medications potentially causing dementia? I tried other medications in the past but they didn’t work as well & I felt awful and went back to Paxil. I’ve been on it for 18 yrs now, so …
Read More “Latest excitement about medications and dementia”
The headline in the NYTimes today about the failing pediatric cardiac surgery program at University of North Carolina reminded me of back in training when, as a lark, we would call the operator of the hospital and ask them to page the wards for “Dr. HODAD”…… It would be early evening…and over the pager system …
Read More “PLEASE DON’T PAGE DR. HODAD”
The value of genetic testing more broadly is controversial, but I think everyone has an interest in knowing if they are at increased risk for cancer. If you satisfy criteria for testing (positive family history that is considered ‘significant’ by insurance standards) then you can get genetic testing at our office through Myriad labs and …
Read More “ORDER YOUR OWN GENETIC TESTING”
All areas of study and action have their virtuoso. That person who is ‘first among equals’; George Washington was most famously, known by this phrase. So too in medicine, there are great specialists and then there are others who are acknowledged as being just a slight cut above those of highest caliber. Here in The …
Read More “THE VIRTUOSO”
Despite this, there is a grass-roots effort to discredit these medications based on the concerns that they cause a multiplicity of side effects including dementia most importantly. These has been very little signal among users that these issues are developing, and to add to the scientific understanding, the American Heart Association undertook an extensive review …
Read More “STATIN SAFETY REVIEWED AND FOUND TRUE”
I have an amateur interest in aviation so I am following the MAX 8 concerns with great interest. Among the issues raised with the MAX 8 is the interaction of automated technology and imperfect data input. Simply put: An excellent but completely automated system can be undone by imperfect data input, resulting in automatic ‘corrections’ …
Read More “AVOIDING A MEDICAL MAX8”
The international measles outbreak has rightly stirred concerns among the general public in the US, questioning their own protection and immunity against measles. Do I need to worry? Here is the answer: If you were born before 1957, then you did not get vaccinated…but you did get the measles with near certainty as there was …
Read More “MEASLES UPDATE FOR THOSE BORN 1957-1967”
The internet has plentiful resources for an array of topics in psychiatry, but like most of you, I often find a Google search less than helpful due to adds and other methods that game the searcher and prevent them from finding, fact-based resources of information. As I’ve indicated in the past, among the ways to …
Read More “WHERE DO YOU FIND THAT about mental health?”
We are often asked by patients to assist in locating facilities for their family member who needs memory care; either assistance in placement for the longer-term or for short term respite. Fortunately, one of our patient’s daughters provided us with an excellent summary and review and I wanted to share that with you. Please look …
Read More “MEMORY CARE FACILITIES IN NORTH SCOTTSDALE”
Although my patients know that Cathy Kurth, AD is the audiologist we recommend the most, many patients still are not inclined to use a hearing aid for a whole host of reasons. With the FDA approval of the BOSE HEARING AID, one of those impediments to getting a hearing aid has been eliminated, in that …
Read More “BOSE HEARING AIDS YOU CAN BUY YOURSELF”
A recent report from The Washington Post about researcher Piero Anversa’s falsified heart research at Harvard Medical School is a tragedy. Not only has this researcher duped the general scientific community, his 31 scientific papers suggested a new area of research for young cardiologists, and those who are following this path and chasing a red …
Read More “LYING…..IT AIN’T RIGHT”
The internet is full of untruths, especially when it comes to comments and concerns about statin therapy. There is a grass-roots effort by the non-medical community to impugn the CHOLESTEROL HYPOTHESIS, a foundational concept in cardiovascular medicine that hold that higher level of cholesterol (LDL/bad fraction) increases the risk of heart disease and lowering this …
Read More “THE CHOLESTEROL HYPOTHESIS STILL HOLDS…NEW MEDICATION SHOWS BENEFIT”
Ellen and I had a bet. She had heard about the measles outbreaks and was worried she could be susceptible to an infection since she did not have measles as a child. Since Ellen was born prior to 1957 she did not get the measles vaccine as it was not available…but that is also why …
Read More “ELLEN LOST A BET…SO WHY IS SHE SMILING?”
I’ve written before about human organ transplantation that is about to become a reality as genetic engineering of pigs allows us to eliminate the barriers to trans-species transplantation (xenografting). We already use pigs for valve transplantation and in the previous generations, for producing insulin and heparin. Using the latest techniques of genetic engineering made possible …
Read More “WHEN PIGS FLY……PROBABLY SOMETIME SOON”