Do Doctors Make Too Much Money?

An article in the New York Times says the reason health care costs are so high in the United States is because doctors are paid too much. I saw that and my eyes bugged out. I just came home from a meeting with physicians and hospital administrators and the entire meeting was spent discussing the financial challenges physicians face in keeping their doors open to see patients. The goal of this

SICKO -laugh and cry

I saw "Sicko" last night...Michael Moore's latest documentary about the health care industry in the U.S. Let me tell you..he got it right! The movie was chuckle out loud (col) funny and at the same time, left the viewer with a feeling of outrage. For every outrageous insurance denial story, every doctor I know could supply 100 more. See my prior post on one such denial and how it affected a

YouTube Debate-health question

Did you see the Democratic debate? I loved the format and the fact that everyone can participate. The YouTube debate will change politics forever. The questions were finally relevant and reflected what we actually care about. We need to keep the pressure on both the Dems and the Republicans and push for healthcare reform. This is just one of the questions. We want answers!

DASH diet-for hypertension and everyone

A recent study found that a diet proven to reduce blood pressure is hardly used by any patients with hypertension. The eating plan modeled on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) calls for eating foods low in saturated and total fats along with increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. Despite the repeated recommendations for this diet as the MOST HEALTHY and the MOST

Doping-ruining the sport

It is sad that the prestigious Tour de France continues to be ruined by the cyclists taking performance enhancing drugs known as "doping". From baseball, to field sports and now cycling, the heroes we long to admire are selling out to this bargain with the devil.Michael Rasmussen from Denmark is the lead cyclist wearing the coveted yellow shirt. He is now under suspicion for missing 2 drug tests

Top 25 Medical Advances

USA today is hardly a scientific journal, but it is read by millions of people all over the world. They picked their "Top 25 Medical Advances since 1982" and ranked them. What do you think?1. AIDS2. Smoking Cessation3. Obesity4. Cancer detection5. Antidepressants6. Infant mortality7. Anticholesterol medications (statins)8. Cancer vaccines9. Automated external defibrillators10. Direct to

Your Stools - endless fascination

You may not cop to it, but everyone is fascinated with their bodily waste (aka: bowel movements, stools, number 2, S*#t, dump,crap, elimination).This handy chart can finally answer all of your questions about different types of bowel movement and what is "normal". As you can see, there are many variations with type 1 being consistent with constipation. Type 6 and 7 are diarrhea.What is normal?

The Umbilical Cord-Don't Rush to Cut

If you or someone you know is pregnant, a recent study from JAMA is something you should know about. It has to do with when to cut the umbilical cord. That is probably something you never thought about, right? The placenta and umbilical cord contain up to 60% of the fetal blood red cells and this blood is rich in stem cells. We are just learning how important these precious stem cells are in

Women In Art

Stretching Before Exercise

You would think it would be easy to answer the question "Should athletes stretch before exercise?" A review of the literature is less than precise on this subject but here are some key points:* Stretching performed before exercise can increase flexibility for up to 90 minutes but there is little evidence that such routines improve performance, reduce muscle soreness or prevent injuries.*

U.S. Surgeon General Compromised by Politics

I have tried to be non-political on this blog and focus only on EverythingHealth. But I can't ignore sharing this article from the New York Times that quotes Dr. Richard H.Carmona, the former US. Surgeon General under George Bush (the son). As the "Nations Doctor", he reports that the Bush administration forced him to weaken or suppress important public health reports, including those on tobacco,

Melanoma or a Benign Mole?

The biggest malpractice risk for physicians is "failure to diagnose". If a patient shows up with a skin growth, most physicians will reach for the scalpel and remove it or biopsy it rather than take the risk of missing a cancer. But only 3-10% of suspicious moles are melanomas so that means a lot of unnecessary surgeries and costs are incurred.A pilot study has shown that applying a simple tape

It's not raging rapids - but I'm back

Although this photo doesn't look like raging rapids, it was a beautiful hike near Cataract Canyon, Utah, on the Colorado River. I couldn't risk my camera during the rapid runs so no photos of the dangerous level 5 rapids! You'll just have to believe me.Did you notice that last week was a major heat wave across the entire United States? The map in USA Today showed every state was red or orange..