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Unexplained rashes with an unusual yet common cause
We all know someone who is reactive to poison ivy, and when exposed to the “leaves of three” plants gets a nasty rash, which doctors call a contact dermatitis. Most of these victims find out where this itch comes from, and will learn to avoid the plants, and the rash. A lesser known, but surprisingly common cause of a similar rash…
Managing Night Sweats: Maybe it’s the Humidity
Peri-menopausal and menopausal hot flashes and night sweats are an underappreciated health problem for millions of women. The symptoms can be both irritating and embarrassing, but the underlying health implications are far more profound than most realize. It’s safe to say that if you get overly warm during the day, the heat exchange problem doesn’t go away at night. When warmer…
Unexplained allergic reactions? It could be the AlphaGal!
One of the more frustrating problems in acute care medicine is when someone has a meaningful allergic reaction and we can’t determine the cause. Sometimes it is an irritating but non-threatening hives type reaction; or whelps, as my grew up in the South patients say. Other times, it can be a life threatening anaphylactic reaction, with a drop in blood…
Fatty liver-an epidemic for mid-life Americans
OK, most of us have to admit that we’ve put on a little bit of the fluffy stuff over the years. Unfortunately, for every portion of those exterior pinchable pounds, we pack an equivalent ratio of fat into and around our interior organs. One example of this would be the pressure on the gut from intra-abdominal fat that causes excess acid…
Magnesium deficiency and migraines
If we asked the classic “you can take only one non-drug therapy for migraine to a desert island” question, the answer would easily be magnesium. Magnesium activates hundreds of enzymes, plays several key roles in nerve and smooth muscle physiology, and is known for its calming effect on both muscle and nerve. For those with migraines, a magnesium deficiency may: -cause…
Brittle bones and blocked blood vessels: a cautionary tale
The current pharmaceutical standard of care for management of bone loss is supplemental calcium and the bisphosphonate drug class. The generics for the latter have the name formula of : ”XYZ – dronate”. Currently there are six versions on the market, and they are prescribed more than 25 million times per year. Obviously, brittle and broken bones are not only a…
Breast Cancer: Early detection versus prevention
From time to time I’ll hear some well-intentioned advice reminding women to “prevent breast cancer with regular screening”, usually referring to getting a mammogram. While we would probably all agree that with any health disorder an early detection of the problem is half the cure; early detection only allows effective treatment after the fact, not prevention of the problem itself. Which…
Senior moments and the social drinker
For those who enjoy the occasional adult beverage, the end stage plight of the falling down drunk seems afar off. For those of us who see alcoholics in the ER setting, the long term negative impact of the habit on cognitive function is as clear as day…or night, as is more commonly the case. The most severe version of alcohol induced…
Folate, folic…what’s the difference? It’s more than you think.
Since the national agency in charge of our health awareness says its National Folic Acid Week, I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you why you should not take extra folic acid. The folates are water soluble B vitamins known collectively as ‘B9’. The word folate comes from the Latin ‘folium’, because the natural forms were first found in…
Planning a critical care hospital stay? I thought not…but then again…
…most of us do not plan a serious hospitalization in advance. But emergencies do happen, and if you already have a serious medical problem, your odds of an eventual and significant hospital stay are not trivial. So, it might be a good idea to think ahead about how you could reduce the time you might have to spend there. Through…
Boundaries: important in real estate and in real life.
You’ve probably heard the saying: ‘good fences make good neighbors.’ And if you’ve bought property, you will see that the land deed carefully lays out the edges and angles of the surveyor’s boundary markers. If you and I know where my driveway ends and your hedge of rose bushes starts, we’re less likely to have misunderstandings about ownership issues later. Boundary…
Diagnosed with cancer? Learn to love your killer cells.
A diagnosis of cancer tells us that a rogue cell group escaped the body’s immune surveillance, and grew up to become a serious medical threat. In most cases, if they are not stopped, they’ll kill their owner…eventually. So, how did these bad apples escape detection? Cancer cells have several ways of eluding the protective interrogation that is constantly asking cells ‘do…