Doctors Weigh in on Health Care Reform

Dermatologists feel reform is a rash decisionGastroenterologists are getting heartburn over itInternists feel it is a bitter pill to swallowGynecologists feel it is a bloody issueObstetricians expect changes to be deliveredPlastic surgeons want a new face on itSurgeons wash their hand
Read More

Still Ignoring New Research on Obesity

You may have seen the recent study saying that the “increased food energy supply is more than sufficient to explain the US epidemic of obesity” (Am J Clin Nutr 2009 90: 145). If it is frustrating to me, not being overweight, I can imagine how frustrating it must be to all those poor p
Read More

“Ce n’est pas pas le germ; c’est le terrain”

Several patients, hoping to have found the magic bullet that will cure their chronic fatigue, have brought to my office an article they feel shows that a retrovirus causes fatigue.[1] First of all, the article merely “links” the virus to fatigue; it does not prove a cause and effect r
Read More

November Books

November books Unaccustomed EarthBy Jhumpa Lahiri She is a great story teller; very touching short stories of family and love relationships. The first one got to me the most, as I become “the old man” to my 2 grown daughters. Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize with her superb writing (“The
Read More

Mammogram Controversy

Not surprisingly, the recent statement by the US Preventive Services Task Force that women may not benefit form mammograms until age 50, and then recommending that they be done every other year, has been politicized. This is unfortunate; women are left confused and fearful. I agree wi
Read More

Wisdom of the Ancients

Modern technology has made our lives much easier in many respects. All fields of human endeavor have dramatically benefited from modern scientific miracles. Medicine is no different. Looking back on history one may be tempted to assume that former lifestyles and technologies where “ba
Read More

Are You at Higher Risk for the Flu?

Yes, if you are insulin resistant and/or overweight. So says the JAMA November 4th2009 (“Factors Associated with Death or Hospitalization Due to Pandemic 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Infection in California,” JAMA 2009;302:1896). But, this is nothing new. Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Priz
Read More

Docs on Coke

The Deseret News reported November 5th 2009 that the American Academy of Family Physicians formed an alliance with Coca-Cola, ostensibly to advise the public about soft drinks and health. Coca-Cola will give the Academy hundreds of thousands of dollars on the deal. This is sick. Many
Read More