EverythingHealth Anniversary

Thank you to loyal blog follower, KM, for this cute pic.  EverythingHealth is now getting over 4,000 page views a day from all over the globe.  That is just amazing to me and I have met so many wonderful bloggers over the past 5 years. I am fascinated by the power of the internet and how readily information can be found.

My goal of providing credible, up to date information without commercial

Romney Should be Proud of Massachusetts Health Care

I don't understand why Mitt Romney is running away from the Massachusetts health reform that was enacted in 2006 under his reign as Governor. They are in their 6th year and by any standards it can be considered a success.

The plan included Medicaid expansion, subsidized private health insurance, a health insurance exchange, insurance market reforms and requirements for individuals and

Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

Heavy menstrual bleeding is common and 10% of all women experience it in their reproductive years.  Women who are NOT in menopause and who have heavy bleeding that occurs during their regular cycle usually have a benign reason for the bleeding.   Fibroids and endometrial polyps are common causes of heavy bleeding periods.

Menorrhagia is the medical term for abnormally heavy periods.  This

Migraine Headaches and Oral Contraceptives

Women who are taking oral contraceptives (Birth Control Pill) and develop new migraine headaches or increased severity of headaches after starting the Pill should be told to discontinue the Pill.  Women with migraine who use oral contraceptives are at a 2-4 fold increased risk of ischemic stroke compared to women who have migraines and are not on the pill. 

The risk of a young woman having a

A Novel Approach: Ask the Primary Care Doctor

The government, academics and policywonks are always in the process of "redesigning" health care.  Patients with increased health care needs are considered "complex" and these patients consume the major health resources (translate: "money").  In fact 65% of total health care expenditures are directed toward the 25% of patients with multiple chronic conditions.  Eighty percent of Medicare

The Many Faces of Psoriasis

This 26 year old female noticed that her nails had been changing over a 6 month period.  Note the small pits and separation of the nail plate from the nail bed.  This lifting is called onycholysis.  There is only one disease where both of these findings are seen together and that is psoriasis.

Most people think of psoriasis as a skin disorder with patchy silvery plaques that form on the

Bone Mineral Density Tests

The recommendations for when and how often women should be tested for osteoporosis with bone density testing (DXA Scan) has been vague.   Many women are tested in their early 50s when they go through menopause with follow up tests as frequently as every year.  Others break a hip without ever being tested.

 A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine states that bone loss

Skin Conditions With Aging

Patients often have growths or skin changes that they wonder about.  After examining them, in many cases I say "happy birthday"...it's a manifestation of getting older.  Aging leads to a number of skin and hair changes and when you add the effects of sun, smoking and the environment,  the changes can be profound.
Over time the epidermis thins and by age 60 the dermis is 20% thinner than before.

Haiti Remembered

This is the 2nd anniversary of the terrible Haiti Earthquake that measured 7.0 on the scale. The disaster killed 316,000 people and displaced 1.5 million more.  Even now more than 500,000 people are still in makeshift shelters and only half of the aid pledged for reconstruction has been spent. 







My organization sent medical teams and supplies to the disaster zone and our doctors and nurses

Patients Owning Their Medical Records

Traditionally, the patient chart stayed in the doctors office and rarely did a patient get a glimpse of anything in the record.  Photocopying the chart is expensive and no physician would let a chart leave her office because the record must be held safely for a minimum of 7 years.   Now more and more offices are doing away with clunky paper charts and electronic medical records are becoming

Nail Trauma Paronychia

My patient welcomed in the New Year by doing a midnight 21 mile run through the streets of San Francisco.  It was a clear, crisp night and what a healthy and invigorating way to celebrate New Year's Eve!  The next day, however, her 2nd toe looked like this.  It was throbbing and tender to the touch.  She did not remember any specific trauma.

By the looks of the photo, it is a paronychia, an