Most of us are personally familiar with the symptoms of a sinus infection – congested nose, cough, fever, pain in the forehead or cheeks, and general misery. It’s impossible not to feel sympathetic for patients with sinus infections, and it’s understandable that they want to do whatever it takes to feel better as soon as possible. And for many doctors and patients “as soon as possible” means “an...

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurologic disorder. Parkinson’s biggest initial impact is on how patients move. Patients have tremors and have difficulty initiating movement. They walk with short shuffling steps. Balance worsens and falls are common. Parkinson’s disease is treated with medications and rarely with brain surgery. Resistance-based exercise has been shown to slow the worsening...

Diabetes can lead to numerous serious complications. It is a major risk factor for stroke and heart attack. Diabetes can damage the retina and is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in the US. It c...

The name Morgellons originated in 2002. That year a mother took her young son to doctors reporting that he was complaining of “bugs” in his skin. He had sores under his lips and the mother reported seeing fibers in these sores. She named her son’s illness Morgellons and started a website to raise awareness and research funding for the disorder. The boy’s doctors found no specific abnormality and b...

Breaking a bone is frequently a catastrophic injury for an older patient. A hip fracture or a vertebral fracture frequently leads to a permanent decrease in mobility which starts an inexorable decline in health and independence. For that reason, fracture prevention is a critical part of the care of older people. Osteoporosis, which is severely decreased bone density, is a major risk factor for fr...

I’ve written many times that losing weight is the second hardest thing I ask my patients to do. (Breaking an addiction like smoking or alcoholism is the hardest.) The frustrating thing is how little we know about how to lose weight successfully. But we are learning more all the time about why losing weight is so difficult. Much about dieting and weight loss is poorly understood, but let’s first l...

Neck pain is a very common problem. Many of us have woken up with a painful neck and found that we couldn’t turn our head because of painful muscle spasm. Doctors use various treatments for neck pain. Pain medication, spinal manipulation by a chiropractor, and physical therapy for stretching exercises are all popular remedies, but there is very little scientific evidence to support any of them. I ...

All patients have a right to a copy of their medical record. In practice that right is rarely exercised. It usually means submitting a request in writing, paying a fee for photocopying, and waiting weeks for someone to copy and ma...

I like introducing you periodically to some of the stranger and more dangerous germs out there. It’s a good reminder that nature isn’t just full of daisies and rainbows, and that the most lethal dangers we face are natural. This week’s news presents a terrific example. Meet Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba, a single celled parasite that lives in warm bodies of f...

“Soon I will rest, yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have.” -- Jedi Master Yoda

I have some bad news for you. You’re going to die. Not soon, I hope. But for the foreseeable future the death rate will remain one per person. This week a patient pointed me to a More