Denialism

Category: Medicine

  • Medicine is fun!

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    MarkH
    in

    Well, I’m back from a great vacation, and buried under an avalanche of work. Just to give you a hint of what an internist actually does… My office schedule is full—really full. Everybody needs to see me, plus the various sick people I have to squeeze in. It’s great; being busy is fun, but it’s…

  • 2 weeks of General Medicine

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    MarkH
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    I’m sorry I’ve been buried the last couple weeks, as I’ve just started my general medicine rotation. Today is my post-call day, which means I get to sleep in and then study all day long. The fire hydrant of information is cranked open full bore again, and the shelf exam for medicine is supposed to…

  • What’s in store for Burma?

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    MarkH
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    As the death toll in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nargis becomes clear, new dangers loom. Complete breakdown in essential services and sanitation will conspire to kill thousands more via disease unless the world moves quickly (and maybe, even if we do). Arthropod-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever are likely to flourish as…

  • GINA—why we should make it irrelevant

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    MarkH
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    GINA, the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act, has been passed by the House and the Senate, and will be signed by the president. Others have explained some of the implications of the bill, but the need for the bill is a grave sign. GINA is a symptom…a symptom of a diseased health care system. Health insurance…

  • Try and beat this one, alties!

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    MarkH
    in ,

    I’m not going to lie to you. This post contains some actual science. WAIT! Don’t click away! I’ll make it palatable, I promise! It’s just that this is such an interesting story, and I can’t help sharing it. It is a shining example of one of the great successes of modern medical science, and stands…

  • Who smokes?

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    MarkH
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    In this space, we have explored some real conspiracies, using as an example the tobacco companies’ war on truth. Smoking, and smoking-related disease, continues to be a significant burden on the health of Americans. For example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects between 10-25 million Americans. This disabling illness, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis,…

  • World Malaria Day

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    MarkH
    in

    The World Health Organization has declared today World Malaria Day. Why “World Malaria Day”? World Malaria Day is an opportunity for malaria-free countries to learn about the devastating consequences of the disease and for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria. World-wide there are about a million deaths yearly from malaria, mostly in…

  • Do I have clients or patients?

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    MarkH
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    One of my duties involves teaching nurse practitioner students. Nursing is quite different from medicine, and many of the linguistic markers of nursing differ significantly from medicine. As more physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners enter the primary care world there will be a bit of a culture clash. For instance, my NP students often refer…

  • Domestic violence is bad for your health

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    MarkH
    in

    A new study this month in The Lancet examined the health impact of domestic violence (of women by men). This was a very large WHO-funded study looking at multiple physical and mental health problems in abused vs. non-abused women. This is necessarily an observational study, but appears to be well done, and included a large…

  • Whoopie!

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    MarkH
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    Last night I was reading a book to my daughter at bedtime. It was all about a kid who had chickenpox. I looked at my wife and said, “this is a bit outdated.” “So what, it’s cute,” she accurately replied. Wow. I hadn’t thought about it much lately, but chickenpox in the U.S. is disappearing…