"This blog was developed to provide medical updates that are important and have my perspective as additional insight."
Author: Douglas Lakin, M.D.
Born in Michigan, but raised in the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley area, Dr. Lakin earned his undergraduate degree at Arizona State University in 1983. Graduating first in his class of 6,000 as a Philosophy major in the Honor’s Program, he was the recipient of the Mouer Award for outstanding scholarship. He was the first person in the history of ASU to earn a coveted spot at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, entering in the fall of 1983.
Originally intending to become a medical research scientist, Dr. Lakin developed a greater interest in patient care. Inspired by his father, Dr. Mervyn Lakin and Sir William Osler, the founder of modern internal medicine and first Chief of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, he focused on clinical medicineAfter completing his medical school training from Hopkins in 1987, Dr. Lakin performed his Internship and Residency in Internal medicine at the University of Iowa’s Hospitals and Clinics, among the premier Internal Medicine programs in the country. Dr. Lakin excelled to the highest levels of clinical scholarship, achieving among the highest scores in the country on his Internal Medicine Board Examinations.
With his training complete, Dr. Lakin joined his father in practice in 1990. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Lakin senior retired. Dr. Douglas Lakin continues his practice in the tradition of his excellent training, and provides the quality of patient care established by his father before him.
The use of hormones in the post-menopause period remains controversial due to concerns about breast cancer & heart attack issues primarily. The pendulum has swung back and forth over the past few decades, with hormone use in post-menopause generally frowned upon for any extended period. That said, I am a supporter of hormone use in …
Coumadin has had a virtual monopoly as an oral anticoagulant since it was first used in 1940 at Wisconsin General Hospital. Discovered accidentally when scientists investigated hemorrhaging of livestock who ate spoiled sweet clover when grazing, it took a decade to isolate dicoumarol and use it in the clinic. Initially showing success in preventing blood …
With all the advertising during Football games about LOW “T”…..the topic is becoming increasingly on the mind of men, and women. It all began several years ago when Oprah said she was using some testosterone cream to improve her sex life, and that she ‘swears by it’….and the floodgates opened. Testosterone is the ‘male’ hormone, …
About 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s disease, and currents of those people want help in dealing with this illness without waiting months for an appointment or thumbing through hundreds of pages of difficult medical terminology. Our state of Arizona is home to one of the finest Parkinson’s doctors in the world, Dr. Abraham …
Your brain can do 1 TRILLION computations per second and is the most complex thing in existence that we know of in the Universe…..quite an achievement ……and you are the owner of this wonderful device. Well….perhaps you are not that lucky, as it is constantly active….and that’s a problem. The brain can make connections where …
Yes…you may recognize that amazing line from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and the reason I reference this is that irony about our health and what we expect. I think we all have a vision of ourselves, a kind of mythical creation as a running reel of our consciousness, and in it, more and less actively, …
With nearly 300 people infected with a multi-drug resistant Salmonella infection in California and across the West Coast, it’s important to identify the potential offending chicken and avoid eating it, but even more important is handling chicken properly and cooking it to 165 degrees to kill any bacteria that you may get exposed to. There …
Heartburn is a thing of the past……those who are ‘in the know’ are aware that we now call it GERD (Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease). GERD is very common, with about 7million in the US having it, and almost 60% experiencing the symptoms in any one year. The symptoms of GERD are varied and include: Heartburn (painful …
Dr. Lakin; My dentist likes to do xrays once a year, to help in caring for my teeth, but I’m concerned about excessive radiation. What do you think? Chevy Dear Chevy; This is a great question, and one we should all think about when we are exposure to radiation or xrays. Now that it …
Doctor Lakin…can you give me your thoughts re: interaction between Crestor and Vitamin D (1000 units)…I have been taking both daily for a while as I heard that Vitamiin D will help stave off the muscular pain produced from the statin………R.S. RS; Had not seen such data until you mentioned it. There is one article …
Good Morning Dr. lakin, For the past few months i have been getting diarrhea, i don’t eat a lot of meat, I’ve been eating lots of fruit, but wondering if i need more roughage or if i have a bug of some kind……Patty Dear Patty; Hard to say……such symptoms are non specific. You probably …
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus is the latest virus to concern the Centers for Disease Control, appearing 130 times so far in Middle East travelers. This respiratory infection is due to a virus that has ‘gone wild’ and causes severe pneumonia and reduced oxygen levels in it’s victims. With an approximate 50% death rate, it …
Relax…..and early flu case has been noted and is Influenza Type B. This is the least common of the flu types and may not indicate an early season this year as there are occosional cases of flu seen sporadically. We’ll keep you posted on our website and with our Twitter Report…Bugs In Town. When we …
Get a good value is one of the things I love to do when shopping. Something that is high quality, excellent performance, and inexpensive….it’s a great feeling to get that. In medication, it is possible to achieve this with generic medications in some categories. Cholesterol medications, blood pressure medications, heart medications that used to be …
C diff (Clostridium Difficile) is an intestinal infection that arises from overgrowth of this type of bacteria that crowds out the normal gut flora. It occurs often after a person is treated with strong antibiotics that ‘wipe out’ their normal gut bacteria. C diff results in severe diarrhea that is debilitating, particularly as it occurs …