"This blog was developed to provide medical updates that are important and have my perspective as additional insight."
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. ProPublica has just come out with a simple to read scorecard for surgeons….to share Medicare information on surgical outcomes that the government is collecting. This information is useful, to the extent that it provides a ‘ballpark’ estimate of a surgeon’s …
Chest pain can have a myriad of causes, and making this determination can be difficult and often requires a doctor to pick apart what the symptoms means. Pleuritic chest pain is a sharp pain, focused, below the skin surface, and is accentuated by coughing, sneezing, or breathing (deep or shallow). It is typically on only …
During my career, the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) has improved dramatically, withe longevity the rule, rather than the exception, since the development of a multidrug regimen that includes: ACE Inhibitors/ARB’s, Beta Blockers, Aldosterone Inhibitors, and Diuretics. A new addition, Entresto, appears to provide further improvement in CHF, enough to warrant some tempered excitement …
The internet has many surprises….and one of them is THE WAY BACK MACHINE On this website, you can look up old versions of websites that no longer exist or you can see the initial iterations of ones you are currently using. It’s a bit of a ‘trip’ to go back and see www.doctordoug.com from the …
Here is a fun little quiz to check your memory and your artistic knowledge. Take a look…it’s a lot of fun: QUIZ IS >>>>HERE<<<<
Among the latest innovations with wide-ranging effects is the introduction of anticoagulant medications to replace Coumadin (Warfarin). Coumadin is a Vitamin K antagonist that thins the blood and has been used for over 70 years to treat blood clots and to prevent strokes. Discovered and perfected by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, it …
I’ve started to see more mosquitoes around town and it’s time to recall the two issues that we need to attend to mosquito bit prevention: West Nile Virus and Chikungunya Virus West Nile Virus is an infection we seen now every summer her in Phoenix. It is an uncommon viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes and …
A new blood test has been developed at Harvard Medical School that will tell you a list of all of the viral infections you have had in the past, among the several thousands of possibilities. This means we will know every type of common cold virus (there are approximately 200 of those), as well as …
HIV is a tricky virus. It uses a variety of mechanisms to avoid identification and elimination by the immune system, while at the same time destroying the immune system directly and preferentially. This is a world different from say the POLIO VIRUS, which attacks the intestinal lining cells, then the nerve cells, sparing the …
A recent study of skin cells, in the journal Science, demonstrated that UV-exposed skin cells harbor a multiplicity of genetic mutations that can develop into cancer. By sequencing the genes in skins cells obtained at the time of plastic surgery on the eyelids (to remove drooping skin), the researchers were able to demonstrate multiple genetic …
I often have patients who report sore tissues in the mouth such that eating and swallowing is a very painful experience, so much so that they stop eating almost completely and just drink liquids. In this situation, I have a few additions to suggest beyond using supplements like Ensure or Boost. These include: Watermelon….very soothing. …
In an effort to help keep your mind sharp, here is a fun quiz to puzzle over. Remember….one of the key features of warding off memory loss is THE 3E’s…. Exercise Engage….this is engaging your mind!…..CLICK >>>>HERE<<<< Vitamin E
I took the plunge recently and contributed to my first project on Kickstarter, the contribution was given to developers of a printing ‘font’ for the computer made from the handwriting of Albert Einstein. As you all are aware, I am a bit of an Einstein fan. His gentle manner, self assuredness, and brilliance make him …
The latest research shows that our memory starts to demonstrably decline after age 40….far younger than any had expected. But generally, we do not notice this decline until our 50’s and 60’s and then, for most of us, this is a matter of simple word-finding or problems with proper names. Often, patients will ask me …
As a physician, the commonplace experiences that patients relate to me often have completely different meanings than the ones they give them. For instance….it is often that case that patients will think that a symptom, let’s say ‘bright red blood in the bowel movement’ strongly suggests they might have cancer, when in fact, the vast …