End of life Issues
    18 hours ago

    AUTOPSY ANSWERS THE QUESTION

    “What question is that?” you ask. The question on the minds of doctors, nurses, friends, and family is what was…
    Preventive Medicine
    2 days ago

    EXERCISE SEEMS TO HELP EVERYTHING!

    For just about every physical affliction or metabolic disorder people experience, the first thing experts recommend is “lifestyle changes.” Foremost…
    Drugs & Medications
    3 days ago

    NEW IDEAS ABOUT STATIN TREATMENT

    When it comes to prescribing statin drugs, doctors now have two different options. The purpose of each is to lower…
    Drugs & Medications
    4 days ago

    ANTIHISTAMINES DISCOURAGED IN CHILDREN

    Nearly everyone has taken an antihistamine at some time in their life. Antihistamines  have dozens of uses and as such…
    Human Interest
    5 days ago

    A PATTERN FOR OUR LIVES

    By the time you read this article, we will have already passed the first day of March. The first two…
    Preventive Medicine
    1 week ago

    PILLARS OF LIFESTYLE

    Regardless of the problem being discussed, medical professionals almost always start their list of recommendations with lifestyle changes. When it’s…
    Human Interest
    1 week ago

    WHAT’S HAPPENED TO PHYSICIAN PRESTIGE?

    Impersonal care and poor rapport, that’s what! These are two very important aspects of medical care, today, that affect how…
    Office Practice Info
    2 weeks ago

    HOSPITAL CREDENTIALING NOT AUTOMATIC

    HOSPITAL CREDENTIALING NOT AUTOMATIC To become a member of a hospital medical staff, a physician must undergo a thorough investigative…
    Cancer
    2 weeks ago

    MIDLIFE PSA PREDICTS RISK FOR PROSTATE CANCER

    Finally, someone has presented a common sense approach for using the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test. Long criticized for…
    Heart Disease
    2 weeks ago

    FINDING HEART DISEASE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

    Many years ago, I was troubled by a situation involving a man in his 30’s who had every indication he…
    Drugs & Medications
    2 weeks ago

    NEW DROPS FOR OLD EYES

    As we age, many things about our bodies change. If we don’t become bald, what hair we have eventually turns…
    Drugs & Medications
    2 weeks ago

    STATINS HAVE FEW SIDE EFFECTS

    The Lancet is the leading medical journal in Great Britain. Actually, it’s one of the most respected medical journals in…
    Human Interest
    3 weeks ago

    MEDICAL SCHOOL SYNDROME: TEMPORARY HYPOCHONDRIA

    During the first two years of medical school, on several occasions I was certain I was suffering from some dread…
    Physician Office Issues
    3 weeks ago

    SOME BLOOD TESTS ARE OBSOLETE

    It amazes me how often and how rapidly things in medicine change. Inquiring minds are everywhere in the vast realm…
    Cancer
    3 weeks ago

    CANCER SCREENING IN THE ELDERLY

    Dermatologists have not established an end point, or an expiration date, when they no longer screen for skin cancer. Skin…
    Gastrointestinal Diseases
    3 weeks ago

    RECENT CLINICAL PEARLS

    Several articles ago, I mentioned “clinical pearls” as a tool used in medical education. Many such pearls are in the…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    3 weeks ago

    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…
    Human Interest
    4 weeks ago

    DON’T SLEEP WITH THE LIGHT ON

    Human beings were made to be awake and active during the daytime, and to sleep and rest at night. That…
    Aging
    4 weeks ago

    IS TIGHT BLOOD SUGAR CONTROL GOOD FOR SENIORS?

    Diabetes comes in two forms, Type I and Type II. They are both horrible diseases and in so many ways…
    Heart Disease
    4 weeks ago

    hsCRP: BETTER THAN CHOLESTEROL

    C-Reactive Protein, or CRP, is a substance produced by the liver in response to the presence of a serious infection…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    4 weeks ago

    KNOW YOUR LIMITS

    When I was in medical school, it seemed like my friends and family immediately thought I knew everything every other…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    February 4, 2026

    SOME DOCTORS JUST NEVER RETIRE

    What in the world is it with some doctors? I’m referring to the legion of doctors who practice well beyond…
    Mental Health
    February 3, 2026

    PHYSICIAN MENTAL HEALTH

    Just like the rest of the American public, a percentage of physicians have mental health issues. In the same vein,…
    Drugs & Medications
    February 2, 2026

    UPDATED IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE FROM AAFP

    For the first time in decades, the American Academy of Family Physicians has published an immunization schedule of its own…
    Bone & Joint Problems
    January 30, 2026

    SPINAL MANIPULATION FOR LOW BACK PAIN

    Low back pain is one of the more common banes of the blue collar workers’ existence. Workers whose jobs require…

      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

        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…
        Blood Diseases
        June 6, 2019

        BLOOD CLOTS: Some are Good, Some are Bad!

        The human body is an amazing organism. The amazing brain allows us to think, reason, and remember; the amazing heart…
        Heart Disease
        April 15, 2020

        CHOLESTEROL

        What is it and how does it cause harm? Everyone has heard of cholesterol. Everyone has cholesterol. Everyone should worry…
        Blood Diseases
        September 19, 2025

        BLOOD PRESSURE DRUGS PROTECT THE KIDNEYS

        Diabetes mellitus ie. “sugar diabetes,” has numerous devastating manifestations. The worst of these is any of the serious problems that…
        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
        2 weeks ago

        FINDING HEART DISEASE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

        Many years ago, I was troubled by a situation involving a man in his 30’s who had every indication he…
        Drugs & Medications
        November 6, 2025

        POST-MI BETA BLOCKER USE SHOULD CEASE

        On August 6, 2025, DrGOpines.com posted an article titled “Post-MI Beta Blockers Questioned.” In it, the routine prescribing of Beta…
        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
        June 26, 2021

        CORONARY CALCIUM SCORING TEST: Should you have one?

        For decades physicians have been searching for the ideal, non-invasive test to diagnose coronary artery disease early enough to prevent…
        Drugs & Medications
        July 24, 2025

        LIPITOR: THIRTY YEARS OF BENEFIT

        Lipitor (atorvastatin) has been in use in the U.S. since 1997 (28.5 years). It has been one of the most…
        Diabetes
        July 30, 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…
        Heart Disease
        June 25, 2020

        SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART DISEASE

        We’ve known for decades that high blood pressure and heart disease go hand in hand. The higher a patient’s blood…
        Heart Disease
        August 8, 2018

        CHOLESTEROL: What is it and how does it cause harm?

        Everyone has heard of cholesterol. Everyone has cholesterol. Everyone should worry about cholesterol. But what is it, why do we…
        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…
        Drugs & Medications
        June 5, 2024

        SALT SUBSTITUTE REDUCES CHANCES FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

        Substituting regular table salt (100% sodium chloride) with salt substitute (62% sodium chloride, 25% potassium chloride, 12.5% flavorings) reduced the…
        Drugs & Medications
        August 2, 2025

        BLOOD PRESSURE TARGET LEVELS EASED

        If you have high blood pressure and you’re worried about the effect it is having on your kidneys, you may…
        Heart Disease
        October 10, 2025

        HEART ATTACKS: WHAT’S NEW?

        In the simpler, unenlightened world of the past, a heart attack was just a heart attack. It was a serious…
        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
        May 25, 2023

        CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY STAGNANT, RISK FACTOR PREVALENCE WORSE!

        Most of us are aware of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We hear about them in public service announcements,…
        Heart Disease
        December 19, 2018

        SUDDEN DEATH: A Very Disturbing Event

        Sudden death is always a tragic and terribly disturbing event. When someone who “appears to be the picture of health”…
        Heart Disease
        July 5, 2023

        AN AD WORTH WATCHING!

        I never thought I would say this, but there’s an ad on TV I think everyone over age 50 should…
        Heart Disease
        October 14, 2024

        WHAT DO I DO ABOUT PALPITATIONS?

        As unsettling as they may be, palpitations aren’t necessarily a bad thing! Palpitation is the common term applied to that…
        Heart Disease
        March 20, 2020

        BLOOD THINNERS AND ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: Who Should Take What?

        Since 2014, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Rhythm Society have recommended a set…
        Preventive Medicine
        May 25, 2022

        CLINICAL PEARLS FROM “AMERICAN FAMILY PHYSICIAN” JOURNAL

        JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS DIABETES: What is the preferred medication in diabetics on dialysis?      …
        Preventive Medicine
        March 19, 2023

        FRUITS AND VEGGIES IN YOUR DIET

        If you’ve ever watched “My 600-lb Life” on The Learning Channel (TLC) you are familiar with the comments I’m about…

        DAY-IN-THE-LIFE SCENARIOS

          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          3 weeks ago

          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
          4 weeks ago

          KNOW YOUR LIMITS

          When I was in medical school, it seemed like my friends and family immediately thought I knew everything every other…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          February 4, 2026

          SOME DOCTORS JUST NEVER RETIRE

          What in the world is it with some doctors? I’m referring to the legion of doctors who practice well beyond…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          December 5, 2025

          EMPATHY: THE PATH TO BETTER OUTCOMES

          Sympathy is a word we can all define and use correctly in a sentence. It’s an expression of the feelings…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          December 3, 2025

          RURAL HEALTHCARE SUFFERING PHYSICIAN DRAIN

          We’ve all heard stories or read articles about small towns and rural communities who have such serious need for medical…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          April 7, 2025

          WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT PHYSICIAN INCOME?

          In addition to physician happiness, the Medscape survey quoted previously also questioned participants about lifestyle. Within this category were inquiries…

          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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