I read a joke once about a husband’s preemptive strike in the bedroom. He walks in holding two aspirin and a glass of water. When his wife asks what it’s for he says it’s for her headache. She replies “But I don’t have a headache.” “Gotcha!”
Headaches are no fun, so we might as well get a little chuckle at their expense. And if you suffer from sinus headaches, there might be quick and inexpensive relief your doctor hasn’t shared with you.
Listen, I have had allergies since I was small but sinus headaches have been rare. That is, until I got my complete dental implants. They have wildly improved my quality of life, but I have had more intense and regular sinus headaches as a result. My surgeon had removed teeth prior to the implants and freely admitted he had been up in my sinus area. He said I could see an ear nose and throat specialist if the sinus headaches became too much of a problem. He tried to ignore my laughter as I told him I could fix this myself. Read more on What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Sinus Headaches…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, medicine by on Sep 3rd, 2012. 1 Comment. 
The first time I heard about using empty whipped cream dispensers to get “high” was a long time ago. I was living at my parents’ house after I had finished medical school in France. I had done my thesis as quickly as possible, in the fall. My residency was projected to start July first. I promised my parents I would do what I could to earn my keep. I sold kitchen cabinet fronts over the telephone, got involved in a chorus production of “Pirates of Penzance,” and substitute taught for awhile.
As a substitute teacher in suburban Boston I was taught everything from senior hygiene to 9th grade algebra. A principal saw me teach 9th grade algebra and told me the heck with the credentials — the way I put across factoring quadratics was good enough for him to take me on permanently. I was leading the class in yelling, singing, and dancing “everybody factor.” And they were.
I told him I was going Cincinnati to start a surgical residency. He stared at me in disbelief. I told him I had more important news for him. Read more on Teens and Inhalant Addiction and — K2 Spice?…
Filed under Addictions, Education, Family, News, Substance Abuse by on Aug 30th, 2012. Comment.
I think we’d all agree that kids have tough choices to make at every turn, and this includes what they eat and drink. A thick, sloppy sandwich served with fries and a sugary soda, or a salad of mixed greens and vegetables from every color of the rainbow with a side of vinaigrette. Yeah, I get it.
But c’mon, does anyone really think that creating junk food laws for kids is going to help? Read more on Making Criminals of Overweight Children…
Filed under eating disorders, Government, News, Research, weight by on Aug 30th, 2012. Comment.
Take two Tylenol and call me in the morning? Research now suggests that our emotional and physical pain are interrelated. Maybe Tylenol really is good for more than just headaches.
This is the dichotomy between even the best experimental science and real life as we clinicians see it.
Who has not seen a kid put his or her hand on the umbilicus and say “my tummy hurts” when he or she doesn’t want to go to school? That child is likely trying to avoid something unpleasant like a bully or a difficult assignment. Oh, our beliefs in the separation of body and mind are so deeply engrained that adults might even think they are faking. But perhaps children are just more open and direct. Read more on Mind-Body Connection Proven at Last?…
Filed under medicine, News by on Aug 24th, 2012. Comment.
Whitney Houston’s death might be “old news” already, but I still think her death may not have been in vain.
Because Whitney was a star, we were treated to hearsay before facts. She drank in the morning, in a public place, and according to some observers may have been behaving a bit strangely.
There is an old screener for alcoholism called the “CAGE” questionnaire. It’s named after the four questions that presumably even a primary care physician — who has little room left in an overtaxed memory — could remember. Read more on Whitney Houston’s Death May Not Have Been in Vain…
Filed under abuse, Addictions, Celebrities, Disease, prescription drugs, Substance Abuse by on Aug 23rd, 2012. Comment.
Maybe the folks who continue to argue against stem cell research are just afraid their own stem cells could beat them at a game of checkers.
Listen, I want to live forever. Not like in the song “Fame,” but like in the way that most of us would do anything to live. Or like the guy who had to leave the country to get life-saving treatment for cancer of the trachea. Now he is alive when everyone thought he wouldn’t be. It’s a treatment he couldn’t get in the States. In the States, stem cell benefits are masked by misinformation and fear.
Okay, so I had a metabolic disease that threw me into a coma and nearly killed me a few times. But here I am to talk about it. I think about it every blessed day and I find myself grateful to this universal intelligence. Yes, I am a theist. But I still live in a personal world where I would do anything to live. Read more on Stem Cell Benefits Masked By Fear and Misinformation…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Disease, Religion, Religion and Politics, Research, Science, Stem Cells by on Aug 17th, 2012. Comment.
It’s always convenient to have somebody else to blame, but I’m afraid that doctors are mostly to blame on this one. They call them “hospital acquired infections” and they are killing patients who should otherwise be just fine.
Like this writer’s father, who walked into a ritzy New York academic hospital with what used to be called “walking pneumonia.” He went on to die of – you guessed it – a “hospital acquired infection.”
Walking pneumonia is basically an infection of the lungs that may cause a cough — or even a painful cough — and makes it hard to breathe. Typically, it does not hurt the patient’s general well being enough to make her or him an invalid, a hospital inpatient, or certainly not an intensive care inpatient. This guy’s dad should have easily made it home. Read more on Medical Science Develops Harmful Products…
Filed under Doctors, medical errors, medicine, News, Research by on Aug 16th, 2012. Comment.
This air traffic controller thought the pilot declaring an emergency was full of baloney. I’m afraid the only baloney in his future might be the stuff he’s eating while he waits in the unemployment line.
I cannot be the only person who got angry reading this. An airline sends an emergency plea for help to air traffic control down below. The air traffic control decides that this is a hoax and does nothing.
The fact that everyone survives is not a defense — don’t even mention it. Read more on Crying For Help vs. Crying “Wolf!”…
Filed under Doctors, medicine, News by on Aug 1st, 2012. Comment.
I can’t say exactly what is going on in the case of the Colorado movie theater shooter — I just do not have all the knowledge and all the facts. I am happy this young man was able to find the psychiatric services at his local institute of higher education. Many students cannot. Sometimes I even have to alert my patients who are eligible for such services that such services exist. Psychiatrist Lynne Fenton’s past as an acupuncturist is colorful, at least. I have been to so many places and done so many things, that I do not think anyone should be condemned by their past.
In the past, Dr. Fenton has been disciplined by her medical board for prescribing rather strong drugs to herself and family. I suppose people are sometimes overcome in circumstances such as the death of a relative like Mom. She is back practicing with not more than a slap on the wrist and a mark on her record. Appropriate for this level of wrongdoing I think, if there are really no other circumstances. As for the accused shooter’s notebook with the stick figures and the shooters, I have seen many such notebooks — but never from a patient. I saw them in 2nd, 3rd or more rarely in 4th grade on the desks of male classmates who fantasized about such things. The operative word here is “fantasize.” Read more on Colorado Shooter’s Drawings May Have Been A Warning…
Filed under Mental Illness, News, Psychiatrists by on Jul 30th, 2012. Comment.
Hello health care system. This is weird, to put it mildly.
As far as anyone seems to be able to figure out what happened, this 38 year old nurse killed five dialysis patients and “assaulted” five others by putting sodium hypochlorite – bleach — in their dialysis tubing.
She had some problems with domestic violence and public intoxication and such. But according to the relevant statements, that was all resolved before she did this.
Jurors have convicted her of capital murder, but she is not going to get the death penalty. Mostly, this is because she is deemed to be of no further danger if she’s kept out of health care. Her daughter seems to be taking it hard. This is an indication for counseling, but not a change in Mommy’s sentence. Read more on When Nurses Kill…
Filed under medicine, Public Health System, Substance Abuse, Violence by on Jul 25th, 2012. Comment.