There is nothing so horrifying as when your doctor is too nice to you. During my first mammogram at Kaiser Permanente, I knew I had cancer before they even told me because of the hushed voices, the pats on my shoulder, and the way, suddenly, no one cared how much time was being spent on my visit. When that happens to you before the diagnosis is official, there is nothing ...
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1. Toddlers: TV Snacks Up Risk for Heart Disease. Certain eating behaviors in small children, including chowing down in front of the TV, were significantly associated with a surrogate marker for heart disease later in life.
2. Undocumented Immigrants' Share of Health Bill Relatively Small. Healthcare for unauthorized immigrants accounted for 1.4% of all healthcare spending in ...
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When I visited Allan in the hospital yesterday, I told him to get up and stroll the hall. However, when I checked in on him this afternoon, the nurses informed me that he refused to get up, even to the chair. When I asked why, Allan told me he could not walk. I was concerned, but when I examined him, I found his vital signs were fine, he had no ...
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Like many other Millenials who grew up in the age of Lara Croft and Brangelina, I greeted Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had undergone a preventative mastectomy and reconstruction last month with sadness for her loss and admiration for her heroic decision and very public disclosure. I hope her story will lead other women to undergo screening and potentially save lives, but real improvement in women’s health outcomes requires ...
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You drive down a busy expressway amidst thousands of other vehicles and a billboard jumps out at you. In the font of confidence, it reads, "The first step in fighting cancer should be a second opinion."
The billboard informs you of the location of the nearest Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA), "only" about 130 miles from the billboard.
When ...
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Before critiquing the American College of Physicians' recent guidance statement on screening for prostate cancer, I will begin by saying that I generally hold the ACP's clinical guideline development process in high regard. They often base their guidelines on comprehensive and methodologically sound reviews of the evidence produced by Evidence-Based Practice Centers.
In some cases, when several good-quality guidelines are already available, the ACP chooses not to reinvent ...
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For the first time in my career I asked myself that question. Over the years, I’ve had more than my share of difficult cases. I’ve had patients with life threatening conditions whom I wished I could offer more than to just shake my head and speak empty words of encouragement. They stare back at me and I see their eyes full of hope. How many times have been forced to ...
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Let me start by saying that I am by no means an expert in medical oncology and I have great respect for what my colleagues in this field are able to do for their patients and their families.
From my earliest days of internal medicine training at the University of Virginia, I can remember the oncologists as being some of the most caring and compassionate physicians around. However, recently I came ...
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As physicians, we are all privileged to share with our patients the experience of illness, helping to inform and guide. When we as physicians become ill ourselves, we face unique challenges and gain unique insights. This column will explore those dimensions of experience, when doctors become patients.
We recently spoke with Robert S. Brown, MD, FACP, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and attending nephrologist at Beth Israel Deaconess ...
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Coming to an office near you: a new test that can "confidently" predict whether or not you need to have aggressive therapy for your newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
Really?
That's what the press reports would lead you to believe. And it's really going to catch your attention if you're one of the tens of thousands of men who will have ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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Past 6 Months
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