Medicine

Michael Richardson, MD has some suggestions on maximizing your next doctor's visit. ?Find a primary care doctor you can talk to and start building a relationship. Make a "well visit" to get acquainted. Be sure your medical and alternative health care providers keep your doctor up-to-date. This will help to avoid drug interactions, duplicate testing, and unnecessary health expenditures. ?What are your top 3 concerns? Write them down in order of priority. Make sure they are understandable and logical. Most doctors are very efficient in addressing multiple issues when necessary, as long as you are organized and clear. In other words, don't waste time piecing a story together. Save it for problem solving....

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"If you're one the nine out of ten adults in the United States who suffers from low back pain, I have good news for you!" states Dr. Nathan Wei, a board-certified rheumatologist and Clinical Director of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland. "Low back pain is the most expensive work-related injury as well as the third most common reason for a surgical procedure," Dr. Wei adds. The spine is a complex collection... It consists of bones, called vertebrae, and the joints that allow them to interact; discs that separate the vertebrae from each other; the spinal cord and nerves; the soft tissues such as muscles and ligaments that help hold the spine together. Your spine has 3 major functions including protecting the spinal cord, supporting the body in an upright position, and allowing the body to move freely....

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Many people today realize the importance of keeping their blood pressure under control. Blood pressure monitors are now available for home use. It's a piece of medical equipment that can provide both you and your health care provider with an accurate measure of how your blood pressure is responding to diet, exercise and medication. Many medical supplies outlets offer blood pressure monitors that are simple and easy to use. For some people the thought of going to their Dr.'s office for a blood pressure reading is enough to send their pressure through the roof. That's one of the advantages of having your own blood pressure cuff right in their own home. They can use the blood pressure cuff at their own convenience and get a more accurate reading....

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As a physician specializing in psychiatry, I know that many emotional conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders are true medical illnesses with a biologic (physical) origin. Psychiatry has become more and more "biological" in its diagnosis and treatment approaches during recent years, but a very significant stigma still exists against those who are seeing a therapist. This has become increasingly difficult to understand, but it is a social stigma that is so very important to eliminate. Why does an embarrassment or stigma still exist associated with those who are seeking psychiatric treatment? Why do people wait so long before come for help - to the point of becoming nearly non-functional with their families, children and work environment?...

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I think this is a good time for a checkup, or physical as it is termed in the healthcare industry. I mean this is a good time to check the health of your site or setting. As healthcare providers, we are dedicated to curing our patients of their ills and keeping them healthy. My question is, "Do you have the same attitude about the place you work?" Is your site meeting its highest goals? If not, then it is time for a change. I think that as a group healthcare sites are a lot like our patients. Some patients don't work hard at keeping healthy. In fact, many engage in behavior that is very detrimental to their well-being. You probably can easily image such a person. Maybe they are very overweight....

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As computers, Internet and technology have become increasingly more available and accepted, so have the applications for using them. Online consultations are something that is becoming more widely used by both medical professionals and those seeking medical advice. But how do you know if online medical consultations are right for you? There are some things to consider before you decide to try out online consultations. The first thing you should consider is the complexity and severity of the medical condition you are hoping to ask about. If you have a complicated medical history and are under a physician's care for one or more serious illnesses or diseases, you should probably stay in touch with your doctor about new problems....

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For many of us change is a difficult process. In organizations like healthcare it seems to advance at a snail's pace sometimes. There is a need for change in healthcare, most agree, though we would be hard pressed to agree upon the changes needed. One incentive for change is pay-for-performance programs now beginning in several areas. I would like to describe a couple that affect primary care physicians and then give a few suggestions as to how to adopt changes to take advantage of these programs. Even if you are not in a primary care physician program, the methods suggested for change will be helpful, I believe. In 2006 Medicare plans to institute a pay-for-performance program at the primary care physician level....

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We live in an age that demands an instant cure for every conceivable ailment under the sun and so it's no surprise that jet lag has joined the band of conditions for which there is the promise of a cure in the form of a pill. But can a pill really provide the panacea to jet lag, or are the results of taking such pills nothing more than imagined. Jet lag is a common sleep disorder that just about any long-haul air traveler will be familiar with. It is caused by the body's inability to reset its internal clock quickly enough to bring it into line with local time when arriving at your destination. For example, consider flying from London to Singapore. You arrive at eight o'clock in the morning local time to start a busy day of meetings or sightseeing....

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I am a strong believer in Cetyl Myristoleate for the treatment of arthritis. For the last three years I have been researching and writing about Cetyl Myristoleate. I am constantly searching for new research and contact and interview every doctor I can find that works with it. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the claims made about Cetyl Myristoleate on the myriad of web sites that sell it. It you want more information on the research that documents the effectiveness of Cetyl Myristoleate then do a search for my article, "Cetyl Myristoleate: Science or Speculation". Cetyl Myristoleate is an Immune Modulator. This is a tough question. We do not have any medical research yet that documents that it is an immune modulator....

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Propulsid was a popular nighttime heartburn drug before it was pulled in the market in March of 2000. It was linked to dozens of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) document associated the drug with 341 reports of heart rhythm abnormalities and 80 reported deaths. The FDA also acknowledges that only a small fraction of problems with a drug are ever reported. Propulsid was used to treat severe nighttime heartburn in adult pations with gastroesophageal reflux disease, also known as GERD. The labeling had to be changed many times to account for the growing toll of heart disease and death caused by the drug, and finally after 7 years on the market it was pulled by the FDA....

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Gout, an arthritis affliction with its roots in antiquity, has not always been easy to treat. The traditional medicines employed for gout have been non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), colchicines, probenicid (Benemid), and allopurinol (Zyloprim). Unfortunately, while effective, these drugs have their drawbacks. NSAIDS cause gastrointestinal complications; colchicines has been linked to severe neurologic and gastrointestinal problems; probenecid cannot be used in patients who do not have normal kidney function; and allopurinol has been associated with severe side effects including liver, skin, and blood toxicity. Interestingly, drugs you may take for other medical conditions may help you with gout....

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At the urging of the Food and Drug Administration, the drugs Vioxx and Bextra have both been voluntarily withdrawn from the market by their manufacturers. Studies show that these drugs, part of a family of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) known as COX-2 inhibitors, may be linked to increased chances of heart attack or stroke. Since these two drugs were heavily prescribed for treatment of arthritis pain and inflammation, many users have suddenly found themselves without their prescription medication and without relief. The automatic response to this might be to reach for a traditional anti-inflammatory, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. Alternatively, patients may opt to take the lone remaining prescription drug in the COX-2 family of NSAIDs, Celebrex....

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The answer is heel pain and specifically "plantar fasciitis can be extremely disabling - affecting work, leisure and social activities" according to Luke D. Cicchinelli, DPM, Eastern Carolina Foot & Ankle Specialists. Heel pain can really make ones quality of life miserable and lead to bigger problems at work and at home. In the May 2004 issue of Foot & Ankle International, the official publication of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) reveals that "The disorder (plantar fasciitis) is not managed in a consistent way. Rather, there appears to be a large amount of variation in the way that these patients are managed," however, one thing is very clear as described in the May 2004 New England Journal of Medicine which states that plantar fasciitis should first be treated with "...

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