The Folly of Self Referral
By HANS DUVEFELT, MD
A lot of Americans think they should be able to make an appointment with a specialist on their own, and view the referral from a primary care provider as an unnecessary roadblock.
This “system” often doesn’t work, because of the way medical specialties are divided up.
If belly pain is due to gallbladder problems you need a general surgeon. If it’s due to pancreas cancer, you need an oncologic surgeon. If the cause is Crohn’s disease, any gastroenterologist will do, but with Sphincter of Oddi problems, you’ll need a gastroenterologist who does ERCPs, and not all of them do. Now, of ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 17, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Hans Duvefelt primary care Source Type: blogs
Should you use donor eggs to have a baby ?
IVF patients need to be very careful when making decisions , because some of these can be life changing.If you are older and have poor ovarian reserve, should you use donor eggs or try with your own? You need to take your time before you finalize what you want to do.You need to listen to your head; your heart; your gut; and get second opinions before pulling the trigger. You have to explore all your options , and do a lot of soul searching, so you have peace of mind you made the right decision.The most important thing is you need to make your own decision for yourself.You just can't let a doctor make this for you...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 12, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
What IVF patients need to do to make the right choices for themselves
IVF patients need to be very careful when making decisions , because some of these can be life changing.If you are older and have poor ovarian reserve, should you use donor eggs or try with your own? You need to take your time before you finalize what you want to do.You need to listen to your head; your heart; your gut; and get second opinions before pulling the trigger. You have to explore all your options , and do a lot of soul searching, so you have peace of mind you made the right decision.The most important thing is you need to make your own decision for yourself.You just can't let a doctor make this for you...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 10, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Poor ovarian responders in IVF. Hindi video
(Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog)
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - May 6, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Questions about the Interpretation of BRCA Testing by 23andMe
Lab testing for the genes that predispose a person to develop cancer is highly complex, both to preform and interpret. For example and relating to BRCA, I have blogged about some of the pitfalls of such testing (see:BRCA Exchange Available on the Web; Understanding BRCA Variants). Here's a quote from this note discussing some of the complexities that are encountered:It's not known among some healthcare consumers that there are a host of BRCA variants other than the standard ones. Normal BRCA testing looks forthree specific genetic variants that are linked to hereditary cancers. Two of these variants —...
Source: Lab Soft News - April 19, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Direct Access Testing (DAT) Food and Drug Administration Genomic Testing Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Regulation Medical Consumerism Medical Education Medi Source Type: blogs
Ten reasons to never eat wheat
How can conventional dietary advice gotten it so wrong?
Rather than eating plenty of “healthy whole grains,” people on the Wheat Belly lifestyle eat absolutely no grains and enjoy spectacular weight loss and reversal of hundreds of health conditions as a result. Unfortunately, many people view this as a “gluten-free” lifestyle which is incorrect.
Here are 10 reasons why no bagels, pretzels, or sandwiches made from wheat flour should ever cross human lips.
Gliadin-derived opioid peptides (from partial digestion to 4- and 5-amino acid long fragments) increase appetite substantially–as do related pro...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - April 14, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle Gliadin gluten Inflammation Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Scanning Viral Genes Isn ’t Sci-Fi, We Just Haven’t Made It Reality Yet
The most exciting developments in genetics and biotechThe promise of building organisms based on softwareWhat foods and biomaterials will we have in 10-15 years?What synthetic biological products will an average person have in 2035?Within 10-15 years, will a hand-held device tell me what bacteria is causing my cold?The reasons why we don’t have such a tool yetShould we fear that biotechnology leads to the loss of humanity at some point?The dystopian nightmare connected to biotechnologies
Where is synthetic biology heading? What is cellular agriculture? Why will companies pay people soon to get their genomes sequen...
Source: The Medical Futurist - April 13, 2019 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Great Thinkers artificial food bioethics biology biotechnology DNA future genetics genome sequencing genomics Innovation synthetic synthetic life Source Type: blogs
Vulvar health: Navigating the nether regions
As an obstetrician/gynecologist, I spend my days examining women’s reproductive organs. My patients come to my office with a variety of concerns, some of which can be grouped under the heading of vulvar health.
However, many women do not feel comfortable discussing precisely what is bothering them. And rather than use the anatomically correct word — vulva — my patients often tell me, “I have a problem down there.” My job is to figure out what they mean, explain helpful points about vulvar and vaginal health, and empower them to understand their bodies.
A look at the anatomy
To begin, let’s clarify and name the ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 1, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Huma Farid, MD Tags: Health Sexual Conditions Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Last Couple of Months in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: March 2019
By BISHAL GYAWALI MD, PhD
Hey, I’m back!
Well, you might not have noticed that my blogs were missing for the last three months but anyways, its good to be back. I was having a little time off blogs and social media as I was transitioning in my career but now I am back. Sometimes, it is very difficult to manage time for things that you must do versus things you enjoy doing, especially when these two don’t intersect. For me, these last few months the things I had to do were all bureaucratic while I couldn’t find the time for things I enjoy doing like writing these blogs. But now that we are back, let’s rec...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 26, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Bishal Gyawali Cancer drugs Clinical Trials Oncology Prostate Cancer RCTs Source Type: blogs
Day 3 vs Day 5 transfer , if there is only a single embryo
If you have only a single embryo, should you do a transfer on Day 3 or Day 5 ? This is a common dilemma which both patients and doctors face , and there are pros and cons for both approaches.After all, if you have only one embryo, then why bother to wait until day five? Why not put it back on day three , and hope that it implants? Isn't a bird in the hand worth two in the bush ? After all, if it's going to implant, then isn't the uterus as good as the IVF lab ?Yes, this makes intuitive sense, and lots of IVF clinics push for a Day 3 transfer, because they can proudly tell the patient that at least we managed to do an embry...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - March 24, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
When IVF is bad for you !
While IVF can be a very effective treatment option for infertile couples, the sad truth is that it sometimes causes more harm than good.Thus, many IVF doctors push unproven and untested tests and treatments on their patients. These are disguised in the garb of being the "latest technological advance", but actually serve only to improve the clinic's profits, and not the patient's pregnancy rates. However, patients are desperate, and unethical doctors are happy to take advantage of the patient's vulnerability.Over the last 30 years, we have seen many of these "advances" come and go. They were introduced with a lo...
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - March 12, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
Man Boobs, Muffin Tops and Bagel Bumps
Muffin tops, man boobs, and bagel bumps: These are among the varied and perverse ways that the hormonal distortions inflicted on unwitting humans who consume the seeds of grasses, i.e., grains, show themselves.
In our modern world filled with thousands of processed foods, there are plenty of landmines for health. Gummy bears and gumdrops will rot teeth, for instance. Indulge in a handful of dried prunes and you’ll have to schedule a substantial portion of your day on the toilet due to bowel irritants.
But only wheat and grains are associated with a wide swath of health problems that range from autoimmune disease to m...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 4, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: News & Updates grain-free gynecomastia man boobs man breasts testosterone undoctored wheat belly Source Type: blogs
Is wheat really THAT bad?
Because it has become such a frequent item in everyday meals, suggesting that something so commonplace must be fine, people often ask: Is wheat really that bad?
Let’s therefore catalog the health conditions that are associated with wheat consumption.
Health conditions we know with 100% certainty are caused by consumption of wheat and related grains:
Celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, cerebellar ataxia, “idiopathic” peripheral neuropathy, temporal lobe seizures, gluten encephalopathy, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune pancreatitis, tooth decay
Health conditions ...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 2, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: News & Updates autoimmune diabetes gluten-free grain-free grains wheat wheat belly Source Type: blogs
Microfluidic Device Pulls Exosomes from Blood to Test for Cancer
Exosomes are tiny vesicles that seemingly all the cells in our bodies produce. Initially, exosomes were thought to be a way for cells to expunge built-up trash, but over the past decade or so scientists have discovered that they seem to play an important role in regulating a variety of biochemical processes. One thing that has been discovered is that neoplasms produce a lot more exosomes than healthy cells, and that the exosomes can carry biomarkers pointing to the existence of the tumors.
Filtering out exosomes from blood, because of their extremely small size, is not easy, but it’s a focus of a number of research i...
Source: Medgadget - February 28, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Genetics Materials Nanomedicine Oncology Source Type: blogs
Embryo pooling for patients with poor ovarian response
(Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog)
Source: Dr.Malpani's Blog - February 24, 2019 Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: blogs
