I have never thought much about over the counter supplements. I take none and the medical science around them has been fairly poor. Patients waste a lot of money buying these items and I occasionally convince them to reconsider their…
The usefulness of taking over the counter fish oil supplements and now prescription fish oil medications to prevent cardiovascular disease and events like heart attack and stroke has had poor support from medical experts because previous studies have showed minimal…
One of the more dramatic incidents that can happen to our patients is an episode of spontaneous high pressure bleeding from a leg vein. Elevated pressure in leg veins is secondary to a vein blockage or more commonly due to…
Kind of an unpleasant thought…but unfortunately, it seems to be. Americans for 100 years have enjoyed an unprecedented run at living longer and healthier lives. Cleaner air and water, public sanitation, refrigeration, safer food, advances in trauma care, understanding many…
Crazy idea? Perhaps not. Nearly 80% of the cost of US health care is based on the treatment of eight chronic disease conditions: Obesity, diabetes, cancer, lung disease secondary to tobacco use, mental health, high blood pressure, heart disease, alcohol/drug…
YES. It absolutely does. While there are billions of dollars spent each year around the world to discover better treatments and possible cures for various cancers, physicians like myself have known for a decade that there is scientific evidence that…
Some of you may be at a point in your life where you realize you have to make activity adjustments due to the physical changes of aging. Unfortunately, most of the people I see tell me they chose to make…
Many patients who come for evaluation are concerned about whether the presence of their enlarged, bluish varicose veins predispose them to blood clots that could, “go to my heart”. The short answer is: unlikely. The main reason to be concerned…
The driving force for recommending use of anti-cholesterol medications (“statins”) is that if a certain group of patients take these drugs over several years, statins can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and death. These particular patients have already…
Let’s face facts. The United States population is aging. Adults are having children at an older age and we are all generally living longer. These simple truths require physicians to constantly evaluate how aggressively they should recommend a particular treatment,…
