U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona released today a major review of the scientific evidence on secondhand smoke: The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. This subject was last reviewed by the Surgeon General's office twenty years ago, under Dr. C. Everett Koop.
The comprehensive study examined the link between secondhand smoke and a large number of diseases to determine if th...
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What Do You Call This Kind of Medical Practice?
About a month ago I attended the annual conference of the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design (SIMPD), a national organization of physicians like me who have decided to stop working for insurance companies, and start working for our patients. The conference was very inspirational. We heard distinguished speakers including Tommy Thompson, former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Regina Herzlinger, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business Scho...
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The Effects of Coffee and Napping on Nighttime Highway Driving
This issue of Annals of Internal Medicine has the most relevant medical study I've read in a long time. We've all been in the scary situation of driving late at night while sleepy and struggling to stay awake. This study asked the important question: Does drinking coffee or taking a nap improve driving late at night?
The study design involved having volunteer drivers each take 90 minute drives on differ...
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Increased Weight is Associated with Heartburn
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), in which acid from the stomach rises into the esophagus causing heartburn, is a very common and uncomfortable problem. A connection between GERD and increased weight has long been suspected.
This recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine makes a fascinating connection between being overweight and having symptoms of GERD in women. The study looked at o...
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