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We live in a society obsessed with weight, body image, food and physical appearance. There is a consistent battle of “fat vs. skinny” that our culture fights with every day – both sides having negative and positive aspects. Being overweight has been long recognized as an adverse health risk, as having a higher body mass has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, earlier death and some forms of cancer, while being skinny,…
Healthcare in America is becoming more complex. As described by M. Smith and coauthors in their recent article, “What’s Needed Is a Health Care System That Learns,” each Medicare patient now has an average of 7 doctors in 4 different practices, and each doctor must interact with over 200 other physicians to care for all of the practice’s Medicare patients. It is expected that the increase in chronic conditions by 26% between 2000…
Would you ever expect a doctor to protest on your behalf regarding the cost of a medical treatment? Well you should, because they do! Aflibercept (marketed as Zaltrap), a new medication that is effective in cancers of the colon and rectum, is extremely expensive; the estimated cost of this treatment is $11,063 per month….
Over the age of 65, most people are enrolled in Medicare. However the economy and deterioration of the value of retirement accounts has forced many senior citizens to reconsider the expense of Medicare. Often seniors become confused about their best insurance decisions. To compound the dilemmas of senior health, reduced Medicare payments have convinced many doctors to stop accepting new Medicare patients,…
Doctors have been trying for 30 years to develop a chemotherapy sensitivity test to identify the most effective chemotherapy drugs for an individual patient. At the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, my partner Dr. Linda Bosserman and I presented the results of a national study that showed a new test, the MiCK Drug Induced Apoptosis assay, was able to help physicians choose…
There is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the United States. Sun exposure increases the vitamin D levels in the body, but that not by enough for optimal health. Today, not only are vitamin D levels low in the northern half of the country (where sun exposure is particularly reduced in the winter time – where we’re heading now), but more individuals throughout the country are avoiding sun exposure in order to prevent skin…
It is common to use aspirin to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. One baby aspirin a day is taken by millions of Americans to help to reduce or delay the occurrence of heart attacks. About 25% of Americans take daily aspirin (E. Jacobs and coauthors, J. National Cancer Institute…
The end of the year is quickly approaching, which typically means open enrollment time for employer-based health plans, as well as Medicare, is also approaching. Now more than ever is the time to seriously consider your options for health care, and to know what is best for yourself.
Health care and the health care industry are changing fast. Not only are health plans altering their covered benefits and adjusting their premiums, but physicians are changing…
Preventing disease by taking pills is easy. You pop the pills, and expect the benefits, and you’re done – no changes needed.
An equally important, but much more difficult way of preventing disease is by changing dangerous lifestyle behaviors. Examples of these behaviors are smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse, overeating (which can result in obesity), and too little physical activity all produce harmful effects in your body.
Many patients can improve their behaviors just…
I’m often asked whether or not a person should take vitamins. You probably have asked yourself this very question. You’ve also likely read countless articles say why you absolutely should take vitamins, and heard just as many reports about why you should absolutely never take vitamins. What is a person to believe?
Dr. J. Gaziano and coworkers studied over 14,000 male physicians for a period of over 14 years. Half of them took multivitamins, and…