palmd
Posts by this author
February 4, 2009
It's a tradition in the blogosphere for more popular blogs to help out the little guys.
But only once a year. Usually in February.
Many blogs have very liberal blogroll policies: you link me, I link you. Since I moved into the new space here, I've been very lazy conservative with my blogroll,…
February 4, 2009
So I was checking out my incomming links on sitemeter and I found a great one. You see, fake diseases alway bring out the wackos.
This is the thing about medical wackos. Not only do they think that they have diseases that no real doctor thinks exists, but they think everyone else must have it,…
February 4, 2009
So, what's up with low back pain? Well, here's what's up with mine:
To quote from The Book of Pal:
Just below the L4-L5 disc, behind L5 vertebral body on the
right side, there is evidence of a large extradural soft tissue density
measuring approximately 1.5 x 0.8 cm in its maximum vertical and…
February 3, 2009
She sat on the exam table looking tired an cranky. Otherwise there wasn't much to note about her appearance---not young, but not old; not thin, but not fat; she didn't smell of smoke or have pet hair on her clothes. A glance at her demographics sheet confirmed that she was middle-aged, domiciled…
February 2, 2009
One of the frequent complaints I hear about real medicine is that it is dangerous. Of course, it's true---so is riding in a train, but it sure beats walking. And that's the danger of this particular fallacy---yes, medicine is a sharp tool, but it's also an effective tool, so we must use it…
February 2, 2009
I gotta admit that I just don't get it. Perhaps it's my overly narrow world-view, or perhaps it's my lack of imagination, but I really don't get it. Let me explain.
I've got this horrid pain in my back and leg. It's searing, aching, gnawing. My foot is numb, but still hurts. It tingles, feels…
January 30, 2009
A patient broke the news to me. There is a massive recall of generic drugs made by a single company, Ethex Corp, a subsidiary of KV Pharmaceuticals. The company makes many of the popular generic drugs that I prescribe every day, such as generic extended-release metoprolol.
This is a really big…
January 29, 2009
A long time ago (in blog years) I wrote a series on alternative medicine over at my old Wordpress blog. It's time to dust off the old post and get back to some basics.
What is alternative medicine, anyway?
That's a great question. I know it is, because I asked it. I get this question almost…
January 29, 2009
It started a few weeks ago---a dull ache in my lower back, more on the right, worse with sitting for prolonged periods of time. I did my usual stretches, although not as much as I should have. The pain waxed and waned, until a few days ago, when the pain escalated suddenly, preventing me from…
January 29, 2009
It's up and ready for visitors at Space City Skeptics. Go and read.
January 28, 2009
I love my podcast. A lot. I have great guests lined up. Really.
But I also have a dead computer (I'm using a hospital PC right now). My laptop has all the "stuff" I need for the podcast, so please don't give up! When it's back out again (hopefully this weekend), I'll let you know.
That is all.
January 28, 2009
It's hard to hide severe back pain. When I stand up, I look like a question mark. The visibility of the problem, combined with the general goodness of my fellow human beings, leads to lots of unsolicited advice. Folks have given me great advice (take some NSAIDs, stretch, and don't lay in bed)…
January 28, 2009
Look, the Pope gets to make the rules---it's his club and he gets to decide who plays and who doesn't. The Vatican does not claim to be democratic. That being said, all decisions rest on him, and him alone, and cannot be blamed on "the will of the people". The buck really does stop with Papa.…
January 27, 2009
Now, both of my readers may note that: 1) the number "37" appears to be randomly assigned, and 2) "incoherent" would appear to be redundant. But let me explain.
Many, many years ago I injured my back. It got better. Until 3 a.m. this morning. Since then, I have been a walking question mark,…
January 26, 2009
Blog buddy and all-around great guy lucite box of diodes, Orac of Respectful Insolence, has won "Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog of 2008", sponsored by MedGadget.com. According to the website:
Orac of Respectful Insolence has been chosen as the Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog of 2008. As one…
January 26, 2009
Morning report is a daily conference for medical residents. It is done differently at different institutions, but normally a case is presented, often by the post-call team, and discussed by the senior residents and an attending physician. Today's case will be the first in an occasional series…
January 26, 2009
It's true that words matter, and that we who practice real medicine have often let cult medicine practitioners get the linguistic high ground. We've let them get away with calling non-science-based practices "alternative" and "complementary", without really asking, "alternative to what?" or "does…
January 26, 2009
A short time ago, I told you about H. flu, a nasty, but preventable disease. Now, Orac tells us about some unfortunate idiots who chose not to prevent it. Go and read.
January 25, 2009
Sometimes I feel like I'm pounding my head against a wall. I've been wondering why the issue of so-called conscience clauses just won't die, why otherwise intelligent people can't just agree with me just don't get it.
Quick review: some health care professionals wish to be able to deny patients…
January 24, 2009
...or so goes the refrain of the addict. I was going to put up a more substantive, well-researched post, but I wanted to give you a few weekend thoughts to chew on.
I deal with addictions a lot, but the most common and deadly one is tobacco. Tobacco is responsible for millions of serious illness…
January 24, 2009
I don't have a lot of experience with small hospitals. My medical school's hospital was about two square blocks of buildings, all of them attached, ranging in age from 100 years to 10 years. The were connected by irregular bridges and linked (ex)-fire escapes, and by miles of dim tunnels.…
January 23, 2009
Similar to this classic geek comic, xkcd shows the stupidity of the above-average geek.
January 22, 2009
I've written quite a bit of the need for good health reporting, and I've had the good fortune to talk to some terrific reporters. But bad reporters are easy to come by, which is kind of sad, especially since jobs are getting scarce.
When this article came across my browser, something looked…
January 22, 2009
This is just for kicks, and requires a little work. I recently became aware of a dreadful article that I'd love to share with you, but then I thought, "my readers are pretty damned smart; let's see what they have to say first."
The article in question, "External Qi of Yan Xin Qigong differentially…
January 21, 2009
I'm one of those wacky idealists for whom January 20th was a great day. But with those high hopes, I have some fairly high expectations of our new president, one of the first of which is to repeal the Church Amendment, an HHS directive allowing health care providers to abandon proper ethics…
January 21, 2009
Nearly a year ago, a young girl was killed by her parents. She was dying of diabetic ketoacidosis, and her parents provided only prayer. They weren't living on some compound under the thrall of some cult leader. They weren't living in a third-world country far from modern medical care. They…
January 21, 2009
Jake over at Pure Pedantry has a post up about eCards used to warn of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and while the idea is certainly humorous, it's probably a really good idea. The story has popped up a few times in the last several months, most recently in the New York Times. The basic…
January 20, 2009
If you like the new banner, kudos goes to Matt Yarbrough. I don't really know who he is, but he was kind enough to design a banner and work with the picky blogger on a font. For the rest of the info on the image and copyrights, see the About page.
January 20, 2009
Make no little plans; they have no power to stir men's blood.
---Daniel Burnham
The last eight years have seen subtle and not-so subtle predations on the practice of medicine. Will the new administration be able to promote the kind of change we need? Let's review some of the challenges facing…
January 19, 2009
You've probably read about the current Salmonella outbreak. It's a fine example of what can happen when food is produced and distributed on an industrial scale---even one small contamination event can spread widely in the food supply, and there isn't much of a system in place to follow the trail…