Foot & Ankle Problems
    2 days ago

    DOCTORS NEED A SIDE JOB: REALLY?

    Here’s a statistic I find hard to believe. According to an article in medscape.com, 39% of physicians work a side…
    Preventive Medicine
    3 days ago

    ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS AND CHRONIC DISEASE

    For the past 16 years, nutrition experts and public health officials have been increasingly concerned about the ingredients of, and…
    Human Interest
    4 days ago

    NET WORTH: A FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

    Net Worth is a concept of which most readers of DrGOpines.com have a reasonable understanding. It’s a simple concept that…
    Human Interest
    5 days ago

    FAMOUS QUARTETS IN MY LIFETIME

    They say “Music makes you smile!””Music makes the world go around!” and “Music is the soundtrack of your life” When…
    Cancer
    6 days ago

    PSA TESTING AFTER AGE 70, 80

    The “enigma that just won’t go away” has come up again. In late May, 2026, I published an article with…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    1 week ago

    RETIRING CAN BE A TOUGH TRANSITION

    During the many years a physician is in practice, he/she enjoys a solidly established identity that places the him/her in…
    Physician Office Issues
    1 week ago

    DOES DIRECT PRIMARY CARE REDUCE BURNOUT?

    I’ve read numerous articles on physician burnout, the causes, the warning signs, and the solutions. Rarely do those articles address…
    Office Practice Info
    2 weeks ago

    MY DOCTOR WAS IN A BIG HURRY!

    When people know you’re a doctor, they never fail to tell you about their doctor and the interactions they have…
    Gastrointestinal Diseases
    2 weeks ago

    CYCLOSPORIASIS: REVISITED

    Epidemics are big news! Pandemics are even bigger news! The media loves a good outbreak of an infectious, contagious disease…
    Physician Office Issues
    2 weeks ago

    FAMILY PHYSICIANS DEVELOP LONG TERM BOND

    Any family physician will tell you the relationships they develop with their patients are worth much more than money. In…
    Human Interest
    2 weeks ago

    CROSBY, STILLS, NASH (AND YOUNG)

    As long as I’m on the subject of music, I want to talk about another of my favorite groups, Crosby,…
    Human Interest
    2 weeks ago

    THE BEATLES CHANGED AMERICAN SOCIETY

    Did you like the Beatles? I did. I loved their music, their personalities, and their “comical and irreverent” manner. Why…
    Bone & Joint Problems
    3 weeks ago

    SACROILIAC JOINT PAIN

    The sacroiliac (SI) joint is not like most other joints. Although it is comprised of two bones,  unlike other joints…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    3 weeks ago

    MEDSCAPE SPECIALTY SURVEY

    Medscape is an online source of medical news and information used by DrGOpines.com nearly every day. Officially, Medscape is a…
    Aging
    3 weeks ago

    FALLS IN THE ELDERLY: A BIG CONCERN

    Nursing homes are filled with old people living there after suffering a fall. Falling has serious consequences especially if you’re…
    Healthcare Policy
    3 weeks ago

    CROWDED HOSPITAL, BULGING EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

    Three and a half years ago I experienced first hand the situation about which this blogpost is written. The situation…
    Drugs & Medications
    3 weeks ago

    ADDITIONAL NEW STATIN GUIDELINES

    The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology always seem to be connected at the hip when it…
    Healthcare Policy
    4 weeks ago

    PROTECTED MEDICAL INFORMATION—HIPAA AT WORK

    On June 5, 1981, five young men in Los Angeles were diagnosed with a rare form of pneumonia, probably Pneumocystis…
    Human Interest
    4 weeks ago

    AN UNUSABLE HANDICAP SPOT

    Last week, Sandy and I ate dinner at a nearby burger joint. They have great burgers, but the restaurant is…
    Human Interest
    4 weeks ago

    WHAT IS A PODCAST?

    In today’s world, it seems like everybody and his brother has a podcast. It’s the new and innovative way to…
    Human Interest
    July 30, 2026

    OUR 1950’s TELEVISION

    If you’re my age (82), you undoubtedly remember the first television set your family had. I don’t remember the actual…
    Drugs & Medications
    July 29, 2026

    GLP-1’S AND WERNICKE ENCEPHALOPATHY, WERNICKE-KORSAKOFF SYNDROME

    Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is an organic brain disorder that is usually a late sequela of chronic alcoholism. It is a degenerative…
    Human Interest
    July 28, 2026

    BARBER SHOP EVOLUTION

    The subject of this article is a long way from what I usually write about. It has very little (actually,…
    Neurology
    July 27, 2026

    ”SUPER MOVERS” HAVE SLOWER MENTAL DECLINE

    “Super Movers” are a group of people age 80 years and older who walk at an accelerated speed. This speed…
    Drugs & Medications
    July 24, 2026

    OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF HYPERTENSION

    High Blood Pressure is a subject about which volumes are written. It’s such a common problem millions of Americans 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
        May 11, 2026

        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…
        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…
        Preventive Medicine
        April 30, 2022

        QUICK NOTES FROM DR G OPINES DrGOpines.com

        DrGOpines.com ONYCHOMYCOSIS: Do your grandkids tease you about your ugly toenails? Do you avoid going barefoot because you’re embarrassed by…
        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…
        Diabetes
        October 21, 2024

        MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS #22

        There are three (3) categories of Blood Pressure: New European guidelines for high blood pressure (HBP), hypertension define three categories.…
        Heart Disease
        June 28, 2018

        Passing Out is Scary!

        Passing Out: By “passing out” I don’t mean leaving the theater, but instead I mean losing consciousness. The fancy name…
        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…
        Drugs & Medications
        October 16, 2022

        STATINS ARE “MIRACLE DRUGS!”

        I’m going to beat the statins drum once again! Very few drugs have had the impact on cardiovascular disease than…
        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.…
        Drugs & Medications
        December 25, 2023

        ANTI-ARRHYTHMIC DRUGS AFTER ABLATION: DO THEY HELP?

        If you’re one of the ever-increasing number of folks who have undergone ablation for atrial fibrillation, you may be wondering,…
        Heart Disease
        May 5, 2024

        CARDIAC EJECTION FRACTION

        Do you understand what is meant by heart failure? As the name implies, people with heart failure have a heart…
        Heart Disease
        September 17, 2020

        ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: Benefit of Early Rhythm Control

        In the past, the emphasis for treatment of Atrial Fibrillation focused on control of the heart rate. A rapid heart…
        Drugs & Medications
        August 6, 2025

        POST MI BETA BLOCKERS QUESTIONED

        For many years, doctors have been told that patients who suffered an acute myocardial infarction, a heart attack, were all…
        Heart Disease
        August 11, 2025

        STABLE CHEST PAIN? CCTA IS YOUR ANSWER

        The information that follows may be as important as any previously reported here! I’m referring to a 2021 recommendation from…
        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
        May 6, 2019

        CHOLESTEROL TREATMENT GUIDELINES: Latest Info

        AHA vs. USPSTF Both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issue guidelines…
        Heart Disease
        June 16, 2026

        POST MI BETA BLOCKERS? NO ONE CAN DECIDE

        The proverbial pendulum must be getting confused about which way to swing! At least that seems to be true in…
        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…
        Preventive Medicine
        September 21, 2022

        TOO MUCH HDL-CHOLESTEROL?

        For decades we’ve been told about the cardio-protective benefits of the “good cholesterol,” High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C). We were…
        Drugs & Medications
        March 28, 2022

        TYLENOL AND BLOOD PRESSURE: THERE’S MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!

        Most people think of Tylenol (acetaminophen) as a safe drug. They substitute if for aspirin because they are continually reminded…
        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
        March 18, 2024

        WHAT IS AN ANEURYSM?

        Surely you’ve heard someone talk about having an aneurysm or you knew someone who did. When you heard that word,…
        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 29, 2026

        TREATING LEFT MAIN CORONARY DISEASE

        As I recently discussed in the coronary anatomy article, the left coronary artery begins as a large single vessel, the…
        Heart Disease
        February 20, 2026

        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…

        DAY-IN-THE-LIFE SCENARIOS

          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          1 week ago

          RETIRING CAN BE A TOUGH TRANSITION

          During the many years a physician is in practice, he/she enjoys a solidly established identity that places the him/her in…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          3 weeks ago

          MEDSCAPE SPECIALTY SURVEY

          Medscape is an online source of medical news and information used by DrGOpines.com nearly every day. Officially, Medscape is a…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          July 9, 2026

          PHYSICIAN BURNOUT

          Today, the medical media, meaning medical journals and physician newsletters, have an incredible degree of concern about physician burnout. Under…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          June 11, 2026

          PATIENTS LOSING TRUST IN DOCTORS

          The medical profession, and in particular family physicians, remain among the most respected professionals in the U.S. According to a…
          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          May 15, 2026

          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…

          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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