Conditions

I had a brief, quiet, intense conversation with a friend today. She had just lost another friend, a close one, to a sudden and tragic accident. “How are you doing?” I asked. “OK,” she replied as she turned to go up the hallway. In a second, I knew better. “No, not OK.” Her usually bright smile was strained, her voice soft, her features drawn. That brief exchange, the sharing of feelings about trauma to ...

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The field of teratology (also known as dysmorphology) is rapidly growing with daily innovations in prenatal medicine, genetics and preventive care that show its uniquely intersectional nature. But, the term teratology, and its derivatives teratoma and teratogen — derived from the ancient Greek root teras — do not do justice to the promising future of this field. I would like to see the field move away from this term for two reasons. First, ...

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A Health Affairs blog post titled "Fixing Clinical Practice Guidelines" echoed several concerns I've discussed previously: practice guidelines are being produced in abundance but often have variable methodological quality, financial conflicts of interest that threaten objectivity, and/or poor applicability to the clinicians and populations for whom they are intended. To address these problems, the authors reasonably suggested restoring funding for AHRQ's National Guideline Clearinghouse and ...

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If you’ve ever used a medication to treat an illness, you have a clinical trial to thank for it. Every standard therapy used in medicine today once started as a clinical trial. And it is commonly understood that today’s clinical trials are shaping treatments of the future. Less understood – but just as important – is the fact that clinical trials are helping patients right now. From pancreatic cancer patients whose lives ...

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Much has been written and said about the role of Facebook and social media in our society. Only recently has the increasingly dark side of what was once thought to be a monumental transformation of humanity come into public discourse.  Initially, the potential threats to privacy and the normal political process of our democracy grabbed the lion’s share of concern. More recently, however, attention is turning towards the impact of social ...

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Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 50-year-old man is evaluated for a left lower extremity ulcer. He has a 15-year history of worsening arthritis for which he has never been evaluated. He takes ibuprofen as needed. On physical examination, vital signs are normal. The spleen tip is palpable. There is swelling of multiple small joints ...

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An interesting article in the journal Pediatrics is both intriguing and sobering. It is intriguing because it lays bare something we don’t talk much about or teach our students about; it is sobering because it describes the potential harm that can come from it, harm I have personally witnessed. The issue is overdiagnosis, and it’s related to our relentless quest to explain everything. Overdiagnosis is the term the authors use to describe ...

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Actor Peter Fonda, son of Henry Fonda and younger brother of Jane Fonda, passed away August 16 at his Los Angeles home. Fonda, who was 79, is probably best known for his role as Wyatt in Easy Rider, a movie he co-wrote, produced, and starred in. Fonda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for that film as ...

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I yelled for the nurse as I wrapped my arms around Mr. John. He was suffering from a violent acute dystonic reaction from a dose of Haldol the night before. Severe muscle spasms overtook his entire body. I saw the whites of his eyes as his gaze shot to the ceiling. He had lost all control over his body — legs, torso, arms, neck, face, eyes. "I can't breathe, I can't ...

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