Posted 02/17/2014 I regularly revisit last year’s Time Magazine Special Report “Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” with the same conflicted feeling I had at about age six when I learned that something painful, like picking a scab or jiggling a loose tooth, also afforded a secret pleasure that could not be shared with friends. […]
Category: P
Physicians and Guns
I guess it should come as no surprise to anyone, the increasing number of articles in conventional medical journals about the health consequences of gun ownership. After all, each year more than 30,000 people are killed by a gun and another 70,000 are wounded. Add up the past decade and you get nearly one million […]
Psychiatry Has Gone Bonkers
It may come as a surprise to learn that 11% of Americans over age 6 are taking one or more psychoactive drugs (also called psychotropics) daily for various forms of mental illness. In fact the fastest growing population being prescribed psychoactive drugs are children between 2 and 11. Would it surprise you to learn that […]
The Price of Your Doctor’s Declining Skills
I recently read that the skills involved in taking a patient’s medical history and performing a physical exam have declined as doctors become increasingly dependent on high-tech diagnostic equipment. Compared to medical education in years past, relatively little emphasis is placed on bedside medicine, a new term for an old concept: getting the necessary information […]
Melanie’s PMS Hell
A smart woman in her mid forties, Melanie had written “Bad PMS” neatly on our patient intake form, and then gone on to trace the word “Bad” several times with her pen and underlined it. Until about ten years ago, the odds were stacked against women like Melanie, trying to get help from their doctors […]
Progress On Prostate Cancer
Please forward this to all the MEN on your contact list. Having an aging prostate gland myself, I do follow the trends in preventing, diagnosing, and treating prostate cancer, an extremely common but fortunately not highly lethal disease. It’s been said, for example, that every man, if he lives long enough, will eventually develop prostate […]
Value Your Privacy? Avoid Walgreens Pharmacy
One evening a couple of weeks ago while at a movie I felt my cell phone vibrate. This was unusual, since virtually all my patients correspond via my often-checked e-mail. The caller ID was unknown to me, and was not that of my answering service. I would have waited 15 minutes until the movie ended, […]
Six Commonly Missed Diagnoses: Parasites
Posted 06/11/2012 If internet scare tactics from companies selling herbal supplements for parasites weren’t enough, the cable TV show “Monsters Inside Me” with its toe-curling film clips has cinched it. We’re in a new “Alien versus Predator” mode, though you might ask which one is us and which them. Those really large parasites you’ll see […]
A Paradigm Shift
Brace yourselves. Wear comfortable shoes. Like it or not, you’re about to participate in a paradigm shift in health care. A two-page article tucked into last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reporting on the results of physician surveys about the Affordable Care Act reflects a genuine paradigm shift. First, let’s clarify the […]
Prostate Cancer Screening: The New PSA Controversy
Posted 1/2/2012 Nobody wants to deal with cancer, but unfortunately as we all get older we enter the realm of increased cancer risk. Around age 30, when we finally shed the delusion that we’re not immortal, we start taking better care of ourselves. We stop smoking, eat healthier, exercise a bit, abandon skydiving as a […]
Physician’s Guide to Fibromyalgia
This short guide accompanies my patient-directed book Healing Fibromyalgia, which is based on my experience treating more than 1,600 fibro patients. Because of the nature of this condition, and the frequent necessity of prescription drugs, I wasn’t quite sure how to get the reader’s primary care physician involved. Virtually all fibro patients need professional expertise […]
Physicians as Morons
I do know that title sounds judgmental, perhaps even harsh, but sometimes you wonder if there might not be a bevy of physicians who received their education online at the University of Phoenix, or their medical licenses by having a relative in Springfield.
Treating Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
Last week we talked about PCOS and today we’re looking at treatments.
When I first read the phrase “ovarian drilling using lasers,” for PCOS, I thought: Only a guy could come up with this concept (and I bet he wouldn’t want some woman doc drilling away on his outdoor plumbing). Then an image crossed my mind of some surgeon in a OR with a hardhat setting up his rig, rolling up his sleeves, lighting a Marlboro, and getting to work.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS is by far the most common cause of infertility in women, and the number of women with diagnosed and undiagnosed PCOS is best described as “vast.” Experts estimate that as many as 10% of women of childbearing age may have the disorder.
Poisoned by an Antibiotic
Although he was only in his early thirties, he moved like an old man with widespread arthritis. At the stairs, he supported himself on the short banister to keep his full weight off his feet. It looked as if every one of his muscles were in pain.
Psyllium
Rich in soluble fiber, psyllium seeds and their husks have long been enlisted to ease constipation and digestive system upset. During the Middle Ages, Arab physicians regularly recommended a formula for constipation that included psyllium as a principal ingredient. Today, a number of studies suggest that psyllium may also be effective in lowering cholesterol, promoting weight loss (it makes you feel full), and aiding numerous other conditions.
Prickly Pear
A symbol of the Rio Grande valley, the prickly pear cactus (genus Opuntia) boasts thorny pads, colorful large flowers, and succulent fruits, and its distinctive image is proudly displayed on the Mexican flag. For centuries, native peoples living in the deserts of Mexico, the southern United States, and parts of South America relied on this robust desert plant for food and healing. Many of these traditions were carried on by European settlers, who then also transported the plant’s seeds to Europe and around the world.
Policosanol
Policosanol is a unique natural product derived from sugar cane wax and beeswax: It has proved effective at reducing cholesterol levels and for some individuals may be a reasonable natural alternative to the commonly prescribed “statin-type” cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Phyllanthus/Ayurvedic Liver support combination
The flowering herb Phyllanthus amarusis indigenous to India, where it has long been used by practitioners of traditional Ayurvedic medicine to treat liver problems. In recent years scientists have discovered compounds in the herb that fight the virus responsible for causing hepatitis B, a chronic and potentially serious liver inflammation that can cause jaundice, fatigue, and other problems. Phyllanthus may contain other as-yet-unidentified substances that protect the liver as well.
Pelargonium sidoides (African geranium)
Commonly known as geranium, Pelargonium sidoides is part of a genus of flowering plants first cultivated in South Africa. Geraniums, which bloom in a variety of shapes and colors, are typically grown for their beauty; and some fragrant species of Pelargonium are used to create perfumes. But the P. sidoides species also offers medicinal benefits. It has a long history in tribal South Africa as being used to treat coughs, upper respiratory infections and gastrointestinal illnesses. P. sidoides is often marketed as EPs 7630 or Umckaloabo, meaning “heavy cough” in Zulu tribal language.