Physician Office Issues
    15 hours ago

    SPEAKING TO PATIENTS IS AN ART

    Learning how to communicate with patients is an art physicians must master. They must learn how to give verbal instructions…
    Preventive Medicine
    2 days ago

    THESE CHANGES CAN ADD A YEAR TO YOUR LIFE

    Medical researchers continually harp on the benefits of lifestyle change. Living habits form the basis for nearly every preventive medicine…
    Human Interest
    3 days ago

    NO TAX ON TIPS: SOME STIPULATIONS

    Last year, as a part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress made permanent the tax cuts passed in…
    Preventive Medicine
    4 days ago

    PSA TESTING: THE ENIGMA THAT WON’T GO AWAY

    For decades, the Prostate Specific Antigen, or PSA test, has been the “red-headed step child” of preventive medicine. Any opportunity…
    Physician Office Issues
    5 days ago

    PHYSICIAN OVERCOMPENSATION

    The last thing the medical profession needs at the present time is for the public to read the article I…
    Human Interest
    1 week ago

    2026 INDY 500 MILE RACE

    I’m not sure why it’s taken me this long to write about the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile…
    Gastrointestinal Diseases
    1 week ago

    COLONOSCOPY AFTER AGE 75

    Healthcare economists have a fixation on various ratios that determine when, and if, a diagnostic procedure should be done. Two…
    Bone & Joint Problems
    1 week ago

    AFP CLINICAL ANSWERS APRIL, 2026

    This is the second article based on information presented the American Family Physician  journal’s section titled “Clinical Answers.” The April…
    Cancer
    2 weeks ago

    IVERMECTIN: FOR CANCER?

    Over the past 5 to 10 years, no drug has been more controversial than Ivermectin. All the uproar during the…
    Cancer
    2 weeks ago

    GLP-1’S AND BREAST CANCER SURVIVAL

    Who isn’t taking a GLP-1 these days? There are so many reasons for doctors to prescribe them that almost everyone…
    Drugs & Medications
    2 weeks ago

    ADVERSE EFFECTS OF GLP-1’S

    Literally every day I read something about Glucagon Like Peptide-1Receptor Agonists, GLP-RA’s. That’s the million dollar name for the class…
    Drugs & Medications
    2 weeks ago

    QUICK MEDICAL ADVICE FROM THE AAFP

     American Family Physician is the scientific journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians (the AAFP). The AAFP is the…
    Healthcare Policy
    2 weeks ago

    SPENDING TO TRAIN FAMILY DOCS DIVERTED

    Increasing the number of practicing primary care physicians has been a serious consideration for the past fifty years. It seemed…
    Bone & Joint Problems
    3 weeks ago

    WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PATIENT? No. 4

    WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PATIENT? No. 4 Case number 4 is a 46 year old homeless male who was brought…
    Dermatology
    3 weeks ago

    TATTOOS: ARE THEY SAFE?

    In all my 82 years, the thought of getting a tattoo has never crossed my mind! It’s not that I’m…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    3 weeks ago

    ABNORMAL LAB RESULTS

    Every day, family physicians have patients with abnormal lab test results. Most of the time, the abnormal results can be…
    Drugs & Medications
    3 weeks ago

    FDA APPROVES ORAL GLP-1

    Eli Lilly and Co. of Indianapolis nearly has a corner on the GLP-1 market. Their GLP-1,  tirzepatide, has been a…
    Heart Disease
    3 weeks ago

    WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PATIENT? No: 3

    Case three is a 66 year old male smoker who presents to the ER with 24 hours of chest pain.…
    Procedures
    4 weeks ago

    NOT ALL ABNORMAL LAB RESULTS MEAN DISEASE

    A recent article I posted about abnormal lab test results showed how they can sometimes lead to a diagnosis, but…
    Heart Disease
    4 weeks ago

    CHOLESTEROL GUIDELINES CHANGE AGAIN

    We’re all keenly aware of the role cholesterol plays in the development of arteriosclerosis. It forms the core, or the…
    Infectious Diseases
    4 weeks ago

    WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PATIENT? No. 2

    This is the second in a series of articles titled “What’s wrong with this patient?” In it, I will present…
    Drugs & Medications
    4 weeks ago

    LOW-DOSE ORAL MINOXIDIL FOR MALE PATTERN BALDNESS

    Androgenetic alopecia is the scientific name given to male-pattern baldness. Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss of any…
    Neurology
    May 6, 2026

    WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PATIENT?

    As Jim Nantz, the long-time CBS sports announcer, always begins, “Hello, friends!” DrGOpines.com is approaching the end of its 7th…
    Procedures
    May 5, 2026

    I’LL PASS ON THIS PROCEDURE

    No thanks! I’m not interested. I’ll figure out another solution for this problem! These are my feelings about a new…
    Heart Disease
    May 4, 2026

    CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND STENTS

    I just read an article on medscape.com that referred to changes that may be coming in the long-term prevention and…

      COVID-19
      October 27, 2025

      MEDICAL “MISINFORMATION”

      I fear I may be “wading into shark-infested waters” when I approach the subject in the title of this article.…
      COVID-19
      September 23, 2025

      LONG COVID STILL AFFECTING DOCTORS, NURSES

      The serious, deadly phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has ended along with the frequency of acute cases. It’s been over…
      COVID-19
      September 3, 2025

      VACCINES PROTECT CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

      COVID-19 and the vaccines developed to combat it did more to erode trust in old, well-established, standard vaccines than any…
      Cancer
      July 27, 2025

      COVID-19, VITAMIN D, CANCER, GLP-1’S, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

      MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS #29 COVID-19 has a greater effect on kidneys than pneumonia: Natural aging causes a gradual decline in…
      COVID-19
      September 16, 2023

      CDC RECOMMENDS ALL AMERICANS 6 MONTHS AND OLDER RECEIVE AT LEAST ONE DOSE OF UPDATED COVID-19 VACCINE

      The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved “reformulated” COVID vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. That prompted a CDC Advisory…
      COVID-19
      March 18, 2023

      MOST COVID-19 DEATHS WORLDWIDE WERE AMONG OLDER PEOPLE.

      The high mortality rate from COVID-19 among the elderly was a fact everyone knew, but a lot of people ignored.…
      Preventive Medicine
      January 18, 2023

      STROKE AND PFIZER VACCINE

      Have you heard the latest about the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster? There’s always something, you know! This time, there are serious…
      Healthcare Policy
      December 26, 2022

      LIFE EXPECTANCY LOWERED—AGAIN!

      The CDC just announced the life expectancy of Americans recently dropped to a 25-year low. People born in 2021 have…
      COVID-19
      May 27, 2022

      mRNA VACCINE EFFICACY

      Who really knows how effective mRNA vaccines are for COVID-19. All degrees of outrageous claims about them are made back…
      COVID-19
      February 4, 2022

      MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES: What are they? What do they do?

      This is a difficult subject to write about. Difficult because to understand it, you must possess basic knowledge of the…
      COVID-19
      January 23, 2022

      “COVID-19 VACCINE BOOSTERS SAVE LIVES”

      Yes, they really do! And The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is proud to report that fact. Two…
      COVID-19
      January 5, 2022

      COVID-19 VACCINE-MYOCARDITIS LINK INSIGNIFICANT

      Last summer, there was a lot of fuss about a link between mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and the occurrence of…
      COVID-19
      October 11, 2021

      NATURAL IMMUNITY TO COVID-19: IS IT A REALITY?

      Why can’t today’s viruses play fair? Why can’t viruses like SARS-CoV-2 behave like the viruses of old—the varicella-zoster virus or…
      COVID-19
      September 28, 2021

      PFIZER COVID-19 VACCINE AND MYOCARDITIS

      In July, I wrote a blog about the incidence of myocarditis in young males after vaccination with Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.…
      COVID-19
      September 17, 2021

      COVID-19 VACCINATION AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

      I’m having a bit of trouble with the current attitude of a lot of people. I’m referring to the 80…
      COVID-19
      August 15, 2021

      VACCINE HESITANCY: WHY PEOPLE REFUSE COVID-19 VACCINE

      I’m old enough to remember what life was like before vaccines. As a child I had measles, mumps, and chicken…
      COVID-19
      July 12, 2021

      MYOCARDITIS AFTER COVID-19 VACCINE

      Much ado has been made on cable news programs about the adverse effects attributed to COVID-19 vaccines. In particular, there…
      COVID-19
      March 6, 2021

      SIX COVID-19 VACCINES IN PHASE III TRIALS

      We’ve heard repeatedly about the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19. Those are the two vaccines in use locally; if…
      COVID-19
      March 5, 2021

      ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO PFIZER-BIONTECH VACCINE

      Today’s media seems to have difficulty reporting the good news that comes from developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. Such is…
      COVID-19
      January 12, 2021

      COVID-19 VACCINE: MY EXPERIENCE

      The Maricopa County (Arizona) Health Department began administering COVID-19 vaccine in late December. Maricopa County has the bulk of the…
      COVID-19
      December 5, 2020

      AT-HOME COVID-19 TESTING

      These days news travels fast so you may already know the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the…
      COVID-19
      November 21, 2020

      PFIZER COVID-19 VACCINE 90% (95%) EFFECTIVE!

      By now you’ve surely heard the good news about the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company in collaboration…
      COVID-19
      July 5, 2020

      HERD IMMUNITY? What’s That?

      Lately, there have been many references to the term HERD IMMUNITY. Public health officials use it in their communications about…

      CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

        Heart Disease
        March 26, 2026

        MANAGEMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

        The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, the two largest organizations dedicated to the prevention and treatment…
        Heart Disease
        August 15, 2023

        SHORTNESS OF BREATH

        Doctors call shortness of breath a single, much shorter name—Dyspnea. The Greek and Latin derivatives of dyspnea are “dys” which…
        Heart Disease
        August 11, 2022

        SWOLLEN LEGS: NO SIMPLE ANSWER!

        It’s fairly common for a person over age 65 to, at some time, experience swelling of one or both legs.…
        Diabetes
        October 8, 2024

        MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS #20

        Rates of Sudden Death After Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction): After an acute heart attack (myocardial infarction), sudden death rates have…
        Drugs & Medications
        November 3, 2025

        LYRICA INCREASES RISK OF HEART FAILURE

        This article pertains only to patients who take Lyrica (pregabalin) and are over age 65. If you don’t fall in…
        Preventive Medicine
        September 5, 2022

        DIABETES, MUSCLE PAIN, ANTIBIOTICS, HEART & INTESTINAL DISEASE

        AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS RESEARCH ARTICLES 2021 Many practicing physicians and family medicine residents in training are interested in…
        Drugs & Medications
        May 3, 2020

        MORE ON ASPIRIN AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

        On March 22nd, I published a blog on aspirin for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The message…
        Heart Disease
        May 4, 2026

        CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND STENTS

        I just read an article on medscape.com that referred to changes that may be coming in the long-term prevention and…
        Drugs & Medications
        January 2, 2025

        MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS #26

        Losing weight does not improve health. Really? Yes. Losing weight via GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs will improve your BMI (Body…
        Heart Disease
        October 4, 2024

        HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND DEMENTIA

        Here’s some more good news. A recent scientific study suggests that “more time spent in a healthy blood pressure range…
        Heart Disease
        July 28, 2023

        POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN BEWARE!

        After menopause, women have a lot of health problems to worry about. Besides hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and…
        Preventive Medicine
        May 27, 2021

        COMMON SENSE TREATMENT OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

        Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a very common problem. I treated patients with high blood pressure every day, and many…
        Heart Disease
        August 3, 2022

        HEART TRANSPLANT: FINDING DONORS IS DAUNTING!

        A heart transplant is unquestionably the most serious operation a human can have. Removing a person’s heart is a terminal…
        Heart Disease
        December 10, 2025

        THE WATCHMAN PROCEDURE

        I’m starting this post “right off the bat” with my opinion. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s a…
        Preventive Medicine
        July 27, 2021

        GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

        Americans are constantly being encouraged to control their blood pressure. Hypertension is a serious health hazard that leads to many…
        Drugs & Medications
        August 7, 2025

        ARE YOU AT RISK FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION?

        At my age, most of my friends and acquaintances have, or have had, Atrial Fibrillation! It is the most common…
        Heart Disease
        October 7, 2025

        TROPONIN LEVELS AND HEART ATTACKS

        If you have had the misfortune of having a heart attack, no doubt you have heard of the troponin test.…
        Heart Disease
        February 19, 2024

        SCREENING FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

        Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and is a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. An ischemic stroke…
        Heart Disease
        April 24, 2026

        WOMEN AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

        Last year, the American Heart Association updated their hypertension guidelines for women. They established four groups of hypertensive patients based…
        Heart Disease
        December 17, 2020

        ABLATION PREVENTS PROGRESSION OF ATRIAL FIB

        Many of you readers of Dr G Opines are familiar with Atrial Fibrillation because you’ve had it, yourself. It’s not…
        Drugs & Medications
        March 7, 2022

        STATIN INTOLERANCE OVERESTIMATED

        The use of statin drugs has been challenged for years by the fear of alleged adverse effects. Patients who need…
        Drugs & Medications
        April 3, 2025

        ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR CHOLESTEROL MANAGEMENT

        If you are unfortunate enough to be on the maximum dose of a statin drug and still not have your…
        Blood Diseases
        July 28, 2020

        BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS ARE MORE THAN JUST BLOOD!

        Donating blood is a good-hearted thing to do. In medical school, I did it 2 or 3 times a year,…
        Heart Disease
        April 3, 2019

        HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: It’s Still The Silent Killer!

        HYPERTENSION: High blood pressure (HBP) has for decades been called “the silent killer.” It works insidiously while you’re completely unaware…
        Preventive Medicine
        May 16, 2022

        ASPIRIN NOW OK FOR PRIMARY PREVENTION!

        Two years ago, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the agency of record for preventive health care recommendations,…

        DAY-IN-THE-LIFE SCENARIOS

          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          3 weeks ago

          ABNORMAL LAB RESULTS

          Every day, family physicians have patients with abnormal lab test results. Most of the time, the abnormal results can be…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          March 27, 2026

          PHYSICIANS ARE NOT “PROVIDERS”

          Finally, someone besides me has taken offense at physicians being called providers. Since today’s world contains all levels of folks…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          March 23, 2026

          REST

          REST is not a state physicians find themselves in very often. In fact, the medical profession has a thing for…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          March 19, 2026

          OLDER PHYSICIANS: IMPAIRED?

          Many healthcare institutions and medical practices are seeing the age of practicing physicians increase as more continue to practice beyond…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          February 11, 2026

          THE QUIRKS OF MEDICAL EDUCATION

          Medical education is phenomenon unto itself. It is filled with nuances that make it distinctive in  character and personality, as…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          February 5, 2026

          KNOW YOUR LIMITS

          When I was in medical school, it seemed like my friends and family immediately thought I knew everything every other…

          YOUR WELLNESS MATTERS

            August 8, 2025

            FASTING FOR BLOODWORK IS OUTDATED

            Here’s something that might brighten your day. “It really doesn’t matter if you’re stomach is empty” [when you have blood…
            July 5, 2024

            PRIORITIES IN GERIATRIC CARE

            In spite of statistics that show the average life expectancy of Americans has been declining over the past 5-10 years,…
            January 9, 2024

            WHITE TEETH

            Many people today have a significant focus on personal appearance. You might not think so from the way segments of…
            September 1, 2023

            MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS NO. 5

            Cancer Among Younger Americans is Increasing    A study published on JAMA Network Open using data from the National Cancer…
            August 25, 2023

            WATER FLUORIDATION, CREST TOOTHPASTE

            There’s little or no disagreement with the statement that fluoridation of community drinking water supplies has been one of public…
            August 5, 2023

            MORE ABOUT SUGAR IN OUR DIET

            Recently, I reported information that certain amounts of sugar in our diet were tied directly to increased risk of a…
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