I love reading about medical history and even minored in it when I was in nursing school.
Our current healthcare system may be a broken mess, but at least physicians and quasi-physicians aren’t still bloodletting and applying leeches (wait, haha yes we actually still use medical-grade leeches for a few things!).
Last week Cambridge University posted 500 fascinating excerpts from its “Casebook Project,” which is the transcription of over 80,000 … read on
Getting to know each otherI went to see my new primary care physician last week.
She’s my fifth PCP in eight years because of ever-changing provider networks, or doctors leaving primary care.
I asked friends for recommendations, read online bios and Yelp reviews, and looked for any history of malpractice suits.
Related post: Need a new doctor?
I went to the visit prepared with a short, organized list of … read on
Teladoc worked for meI’ve posted before about Teladoc and the other telemedicine providers. In our highly-technical age, telemedicine, I think, fills a useful niche for providing quick, inexpensive care for minor ailments.
Last weekend I finally got a chance to use it myself to see how it worked.
On Friday I suspected I might be coming down with a UTI (bladder infection). I decided to drink a lot … read on
Hospital safety and medical mistakesIt’s been a while since I posted about staying safe in the hospital, so it’s time for an updated post.
Because the problem really isn’t getting any better.
Although there’s been much effort over the last decade to increase patient safety and reduce medication errors, medical mistakes still contribute to approximately 250,000 deaths every year.
Different sources rate medical error as the second or third … read on
Lifestyle mattersI remember a family practice doctor once telling me “Most of my patients aren’t sick. They’re lonely, unhappy, stressed or bored.”
His observation resonated with me.
So many somatic complaints, like headaches, back pain and digestive problems, stem from emotional upset.
Being isolated or bored or just unhappy with life leads to eating poorly and sitting too much, which in turn leads to heart disease, diabetes and depression.… read on
Fear sells healthcareIn our predominately for-profit healthcare system, fear sells products.
Every day I read an article or listen to a news story about cancer. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, liver cancer, mouth cancer, ovarian cancer…I often feel like a ticking time bomb!
It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the grim statistics being tossed around by marketers. Then we live in fear, become anxious and … read on
Too many specialistsOur healthcare system is like an inverted pyramid.
Rather than having a strong base of primary care doctors—family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics—and a decreasing number of specialists, we have more and more specialists and a dwindling number of primary care docs.
Roughly two thirds of our doctors are specialists. And subspecialists. And sub-subspecialists.
Why is that a problem?
One, because specialists cost more money, which adds … read on
Overdiagnosis of melanomaI learned two things from a recent journey into the healthcare system:
I’ll explain.
Earlier this summer I shared that I had a small mole removed from my leg. I didn’t like the look of it, so I thought it prudent to have it checked out.
I had to wait almost a month for an answer, because … read on
Brain on Fire: My Month of MadnessI wrote this post two years ago, but the movie is now available on Netflix. It’s worth watching, although the book goes into much more detail so I definitely recommend you read it, too, if you like medical mysteries. FN
As a twenty-something cub reporter in New York, Ms. Cahalan began experiencing strange, seemingly unconnected symptoms, such as forgetfulness, paranoia and the sensation … read on
When did medicine become “healthcare”?I recently read Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing by Victoria Sweet, MD.
The book’s introduction captured my attention immediately. In it, Dr. Sweet describes the downward spiral her elderly father suffered when he was admitted to a hospital.
At 90-something he was in pretty good health; in an ironic turn, the hospital almost killed him with unnecessary diagnostic tests and prescription drugs.
Even though … read on