The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

As a general internist who does primary care for adult and elderly patients, I talk to patients a lot about arthritis and joint replacement surgery. This type of surgery, also known as arthroplasty,...

“I’ve got this cough that just won’t go away,” my patient says, and I know this story all too well. Chronic cough, a cough that lasts more than two months, is a common ailment which in most cases i...

Frequently, my patients will come to a visit and bring up a major concern: "Doc, I think I might have dementia; my memory seems to be slipping." They might give examples of having difficulty finding w...

We are familiar with the scene on television and movies: a person clutches their chest and drops to the ground, unconscious. Another character starts chest compressions and help is summoned. Although...

As a lover of the history of science and medicine, one of my favorite topics to read and learn about is the discovery of germ theory. Up until the mid- to late-1800’s, diseases had numerous other t...

I love sports. I have enjoyed playing and watching sports for as long as I can remember. And as someone who participated in a sport year-round in high school and continued in athletics (golf) in...

As a clinical professor at my state’s medical school, I frequently have medical students seeing patients with me in clinic. While the majority of patients are happy to allow student involvement, s...

Hypothyroidism, the condition of the thyroid gland not making enough thyroid hormone, is a common hormonal disorder. Perhaps because hypothyroidism is common and its symptoms can be widespread and...

Cancer is a broad term which encompasses many different diseases and each type of cancer has different patterns and tendencies. But at its core, cancer means a group of cells which is growing...