Before we gather with loved ones to give thanks for our abundant blessings and eat until we lose consciousness, I wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you.
To all my readers, thanks for all the medical news articles, the feedback and the encouragement. The weekly writing would get very dull if I thought I was talking to myself.
To all my patients, thanks for granting me the greatest thing anyone can expect from a career – getting paid to do what you love. I appreciate y...
More
On Being Doc and Being Happy
Early in life we all have to choose which of the seven dwarfs we want to be. Most of us physicians, for mostly altruistic reasons, chose to be Doc. But it turns out that many of us instead ended up being Grumpy.
A survey of twelve thousand U.S. physicians released this week by the Physician’s Foundation paints a grim picture of our morale, and it received a lot of press. 78% of physicians believe that there is a shortage of primary care doctors today. 49% of doctors said that they were plan...
More
Crestor Prevents Heart Attacks and Strokes in Patients with Normal Cholesterol and High CRP
“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” -- P.J. O’Rourke I’ve written several times about the proven benefits of a family of cholesterol-lowering medicines called statins. Statins include the medications Crestor, Zocor, Lipitor, Mevacor, Pravachol and others. The group has a solid base of evidence showing that they prevent strokes and heart attacks in patients with high cholesterol and in patients who have had...
In Women after Menopause, Testosterone Patch Improves Sexual Interest
“I can’t get no satisfaction” -- The Rolling Stones Many women after menopause experience decreased interest in sex and decreased satisfaction with sex. Some women accept this as a natural part of the aging process, but other women are quite distressed by these symptoms. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the authoritative text on defining psychological illness, even lists “hypoactive sexual desire disorder” as a disorder marked b...