Everyone likes cool names. Physicians are no different. The closest I got to taking a Latin class in college was a Classics for Jocks class where a professor fond of helping football and hockey players with a passing grade in a fun class taught a course on the classic Latin and Greek literature. Still, I like the sound of Latin sounding names for medical conditions, especially when I can both remember and spell them. Read the rest of this entry »
The Informed Patient
with Dr Edward Pullen
Dr. Ed Pullen is a family doctor and medical writer. He'll be posting here to keep you informed of topical health issues and wellbeing trends.
What Would You Do if it Was Your Mother Doctor Pullen?
Substitute you, Father, Wife, Child, etc for Mother here, and this is a question I am commonly asked in the office. It’s also a question that I answer in different ways depending on the situation. Read the rest of this entry »
Hemicrania Continuum
I saw a patient a couple of weeks ago who had what sounded to me like trigeminal neuralgia, except that the severe one-sided head pains she was having lasted several minutes to an hour each episode, and recurred many times a day. The sharp, severe head pains of trigeminal neuralgia usually last only a second or two, maybe a few seconds, but not minutes to an hour. Read the rest of this entry »
What are you really worried about?
What are you really worried about? This is the elephant in the exam room oftentimes when I see patients who seem very upset about what initially seems like a trivial matter. Of course what’s trivial to me may be of grave concern to my patient. Read the rest of this entry »
Rhinitis Medicamentosa – Don’t become a nasal spray addict!
Sounds like a silly, and certainly is a funny name, for a not so funny problem. The vasoconstrictor nasal sprays, Afrin and others are products that have possible niche roles in management of nasal congestion, yet are a common cause of misery for users. Read the rest of this entry »
Diabetes Management – It’s Not Just About Blood Sugars
As we learn more about diabetes it is becoming more and more clear that in order to prevent the complications of diabetes, and to improve both length of life and quality of life for diabetic patients, we need to target all cardiovascular risk factors. Read the rest of this entry »
HGH in Sport
With the news media interest in performance enhancing drug use focusing on the cycling world and Tour de France winners Landis and Armstrong it is of note that until now there has really been no valid research showing whether the Human Growth Hormone really helps athletes achieve better performance. Read the rest of this entry »
What makes a Fun Case for a Family Doctor?
I saw a fun case in the office today, at least fun for me. For me to find a case to be fun, it needs to be something I don’t see every day, that I can diagnose with confidence, and where good advice will lead to a good outcome for the patient. Recently one of my young partners asked me to see a child with a rash Read the rest of this entry »
Techniques to Compliance in taking Medications
Remembering to take your medication is not easy. This is especially true for health problems like high cholesterol where you don’t feel any better when you take the medication than if you forget, and there is no day to day way to check the benefits of the medication like there can be with blood pressure medication or diabetes treatments. Read the rest of this entry »
Is It True That Dementia, Alzheimer’s Can Be Avoided By Diet Changes?
Each month Brooke Douglas of Nutrition Authority sends a guest post to help keep us abreast of nutrition related subjects. Check out her web site at : www.NutritionAuthority.com
Fish oil seems to be promoted for everything from improving serum triglycerides and cardiovascular risk to joint health recently. In the news a lot in the last few weeks has been fish oil and a diet high in fish for prevention of dementia. Here is Brooke’s take on the subject. Read the rest of this entry »
