Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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In my role as a hospitalist, I am always happy when a patient is healthy enough to be discharged. A resounding majority of people want to go back to their home after they leave the hospital. What we do not want is an unsafe environment leading to repeat injuries resulting in a hospital readmission. At discharge we can have members of the Home Health team perform a “Home Safety Evaluation”. Physical Therapists, occupational therapists and sometimes speech therapists will evaluate a per...
Dementia is a progressive condition that results in decline in cognitive function. People with dementia have increasing difficulties with short term memory, thinking, and reasoning. For family members it can be hard to watch the decline in a loved one who is struggling with dementia. Interacting when someone has dementia can be difficult. Following these three Golden Rules can help. Rule number 1: Do not ask direct questions. Asking someone with dementia if they remember your name or remember...
When I first moved to Brookings, the primary care physicians took care of their own patients in the hospital. We would round on patients in the morning before clinic or try to sneak over during lunch or after clinic. While I loved taking care of patients in the hospital, it was hard to juggle the responsibilities of both giving my attention to the patients in the hospital while seeing people in the clinic. Any time the hospital nurse had a question, my clinic nurse would have to interrupt a...
The most recent survey of teen mental health by the Centers for Disease Control in 2023 revealed that 20.3% of adolescents in the United States have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. This reflects a 35% increase since 2016. The survey also found that 40% of teens reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 20% seriously considered suicide, and, tragically, 9% attempted suicide. These statistics should alarm any parent or grandparent of a teenager. As the mother of a...
When many people hear the term plastic surgery, images of Hollywood stars trying to fight back the effects of aging come to mind. It is easy to assume that plastic surgeons just deal in vanity. However, that would minimize everything that these talented surgeons accomplish with their scalpels. The term "plastic surgery" comes from the Greek term "Plastikos" meaning "to shape or form." Plastic surgeons work to form or change the outward appearance of people for a variety of reasons. They work on...
Artificial Intelligence or A.I. has gone from science fiction to a reality. This technology continues to evolve and find new applications in the world, including the world of medicine. With any new advancement, there are pros and cons to be considered when implementing it into regular use, especially in medicine. In 2023 the Journal of Medical Internet Research published an article where they had ChatGPT take two of the three USMLE exams. Step 1 is taken by third-year medical students and all...
School is back in session so it is time for a little pop quiz. What is an item that almost every student carries? If you said backpack, you are off to a great start. Do you know what it takes to be at the head of the class? Let’s find out if you are a star student or need to brush up a little on your backpack knowledge. Most students carry a backpack filled with their books at some point during their school day. Did you know a heavy back pack can cause neck, shoulder or back pain? Those narrow s...
Doctors are taught medical terms and jargon in medical school like a secret code. Many medical terms are rooted in Greek and Latin. Over the course of our training, these words become second nature and we become fluent in this medical "language," although we are also expected to talk to our patients using simple terminology. However, most specialties in medicine still use the original Greek and Latin roots for their names. Once you know where these names come from, everything makes sense. Most...
Doctors write prescriptions for medications all the time. However, have you ever heard of a doctor prescribing a walk in the park? While this prescription will not fit in a bottle, it can pack some powerful health benefits. It may sound strange, but doctors actually can prescribe time outdoors to their patients with the help of a national program, ParkRx.org. This free online program can help a patient track their outdoor activity and discuss more outdoor exercise options with their doctor. In...
There is an old joke where a man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I do this. What should I do? To which the doctor replies, “Simple, don’t do that!” While the advice seems trite and maybe even insulting, like most jokes, there is some truth in it. Pain is one of the ways your body tries to protect you from even worse injury. Pain tries to keep you from walking on a sprained ankle or lifting things with a broken arm. In those cases, the advice from the doctor is...
Winter weather has finally arrived this year. Getting outside for some activity, even in winter, is great for your overall health. However snow, ice and cold can turn a stroll in the park into an obstacle course. Having proper footwear is not only important for warmth, but also the wellbeing of your feet. Choosing the correct boots for the elements could mean the difference between enjoying the outdoors and needing an urgent care visit. What makes good footwear for enjoying the outdoors safely?...
Myths are just stories we tell ourselves and others to make sense of the world around us. Myths convey beliefs or values and attempt to tell truths. In their effort to tell the truth, myths may exaggerate or misrepresent things. Sometimes this misrepresentation is innocent, while other times it is used as a tool to regulate or manipulate people. Myths can be used to give a sense of power and control over an overwhelming situation. Of the many types of myths, ones that deal with medicine are...
From the back of our hands to the back of our legs, pale blue blood vessels are visible just under the skin. Oftentimes these veins are flat and not painful. However when these vessels become abnormally swollen or dilated, they are called varicose veins. This swelling is caused by the valves inside the veins becoming weak and no longer sealing tightly. Varicose veins can become painful, quite large and stick out from the surface of the skin. In order for blood to return from your feet back to...
On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig said these famous words at Yankee Stadium, “For the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break that I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” The bad break he was referring to was the diagnosis of a condition that would become synonymous with him - a neuromuscular condition called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS is a disease which causes motor nerves in the brain and spinal cord to break down. This reduces the nerv...
When people talk about skin cancer, the type that most people think about is melanoma. This skin cancer follows the ABCDE rules for diagnosis. A – asymmetry, B – irregular border, C – more than one color, D – diameter more than six millimeters and E – expanding in size. However, these rules will not help find the most common type of skin cancer called a basal cell carcinoma. Unlike melanomas, basal cell carcinomas are often symmetric with regular borders in the early stages. They are usually o...
Merriam-Webster defines humanity as “compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition.” It is also defined as “the quality or condition of being human.” The first definition is what people want in a health care provider. We all want to be taken care of by a caregiver who is compassionate, kind, sympathetic and generous with their time and knowledge. Health care providers spend countless hours taking care of patients. In order to do this, at times we ignore our own needs for rest,...
