As we head into fall and the eventual winter cold season, our littlest patients may once again be exposed to the RSV virus. Many practitioners, including myself, have noted a decrease in bronchiolitis admissions and even severity the last few years. However, this Continue reading
Category Archives: Medical Practice
Severe childhood stress and changes in gene expression
Young children are fragile. Evidence is mounting that health in adulthood can be influenced by the environment in which a child grows up. We have offered posts on this subject previously Continue reading
Do not try this approach in your practice
Here at the PHC Primary Care blog, we try to provide useful tips which can be applied to everyday practice. The following tidbit is for interest only. We strongly advise you not to try this modality in your practice. At least not yet. Continue reading
The thaumaturgy of caffeine powder
Human beings are endlessly creative. Their quest for innovation is ceaseless. Inquisitive minds toil endlessly in garages and basements to invent the next big thing. Fortune and fame may be around the corner for the tinkerer who develops an ingenious product. Continue reading
Another perspective on childhood vaccines
I’m writing to follow-up on a recent blog post on the subject of childhood vaccines (http://phcprimarycare.org/?p=978). Perhaps I have a different perspective as a practicing pediatrician who works on the front lines of this immunization “controversy.” I recently Continue reading
Epidural steroids for back pain
Treating chronic low back pain is frustrating. Often, first-line treatments like NSAIDs, physical therapy, hot packs, cold packs or, occasionally, muscle relaxers do not seem to work very well. At least, many of our patients voice frustration with the lack of efficacy of these treatments and want “something more” done to Continue reading
Convincing parents to vaccinate their kids
Regular readers of this blog might feel we have an obsession about increasing vaccination rates. Guilty as charged.
Regular readers of this blog also need little or no convincing on this issue. For many Continue reading
We all need to keep moving
We all know exercise is good for us, but did you know that even if we exercise, too much sitting during the day is linked to a greater risk of disability?
A recently published study of more than 2,200 adults ages 60 years and older showed Continue reading
A whopping amount of whooping cough in California
Friday the 13th is rarely a good day. Friday, June 13, 2014, did not disappoint. On that day, California public health officials declared the state is now in the midst of a pertussis epidemic. Over 3,400 cases have been reported state-wide and the year is not even Continue reading
MR. Sam Adams, let’s shake on it. On the other hand, let’s not.
The earliest documented handshake depicts the Assyrian King Shalamaneser III (859 BC -824 BC) shaking hands with Marduk-zakir-sumi I of Babylon in a public display of friendship between the two kingdoms. The handshake is thought by some to be Continue reading