April 14, 2019
Mr. Jones was sick. You could tell from across the room. He was shriveled like a prune and was moaning like a goat. As the paramedics unloaded him onto the gurney, I asked one of them for his vitals and my hunch was confirmed. “Blood pressures are about 70 over palp, heart rates in the 130s, and we couldn’t really get an oxygen…
June 13, 2020
The farming of abundant carbohydrates fueled the development of human civilization. Wheat, corn, and rice provided the energy to walk great distances to hunt animals. Carbs were easy to store as reserves of energy in bags of grains to get us through harsh winters. Even now, carbs are great if you are a marathon runner, a tour guide who walks…
February 24, 2020
Humans were not designed to sit for long. We didn’t develop bi-pedal ambulation to sit. We didn’t develop a massive fancy appendage to our brain called the cerebellum—which coordinates our steps and provides an intricate balance system—just to sit much of the day. If the human cerebellum suffers even a minor stroke, most people suffer from uncontrollable vertigo and difficulty…
June 3, 2019
Oh my gosh! Don’t touch Timmy–he’s got pinkeye! We’ve all heard this warning a dozen times, if not more. What is pinkeye, and why is it so bad? Why do you need magical drops after pinkeye in order to go back to school? Pinkeye is a poor description of three roughly related conditions called conjunctivitis. Most cases are completely harmless.…
April 21, 2019
For a while between 2013-2016 I trained in the technique of Hair Transplant Surgery and setup a clinic in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. It is truly a Wild West of specialities without much of a formal training process, bringing together a bunch of physicians with disparate training backgrounds including dermatologists, family physicians, radiologists, internists, and emergency physicians, amongst other specialities.…
April 20, 2019
“Mr. Jones,” I asked after I introduced myself to the old man on the gurney and his two adult children. “I hear you have something stuck up your backside?” “Yes, I’m afraid so,” he responded a bit sheepishly. “May I ask what it is?” I inquired curiously. “A shampoo bottle. One of the travel-size ones,” he responded. “Oh boy,” I…
April 20, 2019
The overweight middle-aged man was propped up on the EMS gurney and flanked by two police officers as he was being rolled in through the ambulance entrance. He was alert but somber and looking down at his blood-stained white shirt. “What’s that all about?” I asked the secretary, Dannie. “EMS called a little while ago and said there was a…
April 19, 2019
“Hey Doc,” said Darrel, one of the nurses, with a smile, “you should probably come see this psych patient EMS just brought in a little while ago. She’s bat shit crazy. I can’t get anywhere near her to place a line.” “Yeah?” I closed out of a patient chart and looked up, “What’s she up to?” “Man, she’s drooling and…
April 18, 2019
The man should have been in his prime, but lay in his 30s in his ICU bed when I returned back in the morning. I was on my medical intensive care unit rotation during residency. We were rounding with the attending ICU doctor, describing each patient’s illness and plan, when I heard the patient’s story. “Mr. Terry is a 35 year…
April 18, 2019
The EMS call alerted us to a young drowning victim en route. I dropped my chart and hurried to the resuscitation room. “Did they say how soon they’d be here?” I asked the head nurse, Cammie, who was hurriedly putting on gloves. “Did they say how old the kid is?” “They said they were just getting off the highway…and they…
April 17, 2019
Is Superglue a safe alternative to Dermabond for fixing minor cuts? It is safe–just not as good! Superglue and Dermabond are both in the same family of plastics (cyanoacrylates), but there are important similarities and differences. They both adhere readily to skin and form a strong seal. However, Superglue dries in a stiff fashion and flakes off in stiffer shards,…