Drugs & Medications
    9 hours ago

    GLP-1’S AFFECTING WEIGHT LOSS BUSINESSES

    Here’s a point I hadn’t thought of (until now): the success of GLP-1 receptor agonists has profoundly affected the weight…
    Gastrointestinal Diseases
    3 days ago

    CONSTIPATION

    Constipation is a very common problem. Everyone has it at some time in their life, and in the majority of…
    Healthcare Policy
    4 days ago

    PROBLEMS WITH RESIDENCY MATCH PROGRAM

    I touched on it briefly in the “Residency ‘Match Day’” article, but a lot of shots are being taken at…
    Human Interest
    5 days ago

    RESIDENCY “MATCH DAY”

    “Match Day” occurs annually in March. This year’s edition has already occurred and has left us  with some questions and…
    Office Practice Info
    6 days ago

    ABNORMAL LAB RESULTS

    Every day, family physicians have patients with abnormal lab test results. Most of the time, the abnormal results can be…
    Healthcare Policy
    1 week ago

    MEDICARE FRAUD

    Fraudulent billing of Medicare is a problem of mammoth proportion. Mammoth not only because of the number of individuals, companies,…
    Human Interest
    1 week ago

    THE BEST TIME OF YEAR FOR SPORTS

    I’m a big sports fan and think we’re currently in the middle of the best time of the year for…
    Drugs & Medications
    2 weeks ago

    TEN DRUGS THAT HARM THE KIDNEYS

    When we reach the age designation known as a “senior citizen,” a lot of things in our bodies have already…
    Physician Office Issues
    2 weeks ago

    PRIVATE PRACTICE VS. EMPLOYMENT

    In a post I wrote a few months ago for DrGOpines.com, I stated three major reasons why physicians were leaving…
    Healthcare Policy
    2 weeks ago

    ANOTHER MEDICARE RUSE!

    Medicare is once again being disingenuous in its attempts to better compensate primary care physicians. Their usual method is to…
    Aging
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    POSTMENOPAUSAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

    In 2002, The Women’s Health Initiative, WHI, a study of the health habits of American women, completely shut down hormone…
    Sports Medicine Info
    2 weeks ago

    EXERCISE MIMETICS AND MYOKINES

    EXERCISE MIMETICS AND MYOKINES Within the past few weeks, I published an article about the benefits of exercise for treating…
    Bone & Joint Problems
    3 weeks ago

    CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS QUESTIONED

    Today, every long-standing, accepted, and recommended medical policy or protocol is subject to scrutiny, investigation, doubt, or revision. These tenets,…
    Office Practice Info
    3 weeks ago

    SOME PATIENTS ARE “DIFFICULT”

    It’s simply human nature, but some patients don’t like their doctor and doctors certainly don’t like all of their patients.…
    Drugs & Medications
    3 weeks ago

    IMMUNOSENESCENCE

    Vaccination, immunization, inoculation; call it what you like, it’s the process of activating the human immune system by the injection…
    Drugs & Medications
    3 weeks ago

    VITAMIN D NO HELP TO HEALTHY ADULTS

    In September 2024, DrGOpines.com presented an update on the use of Vitamin D by healthy adults and children. In it,…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    3 weeks ago

    PHYSICIANS ARE NOT “PROVIDERS”

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    Heart Disease
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    MANAGEMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

    The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, the two largest organizations dedicated to the prevention and treatment…
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    4 weeks ago

    GLP-1 RISKS FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS

    With the use of a new drug, over time, information about adverse effects becomes clearer. Late effects of a medication…
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    4 weeks ago

    ORAL GLP-1 IS EFFECTIVE

    Not too long ago I wrote a post for DrGOpines.com introducing readers to a new oral formulation of a GLP-1…
    A Day in the Life Scenarios
    4 weeks ago

    REST

    REST is not a state physicians find themselves in very often. In fact, the medical profession has a thing for…
    Aging
    March 20, 2026

    STATINS AFTER AGE 80

    It seems that when senior citizens reach the age of 80, the healthcare industry is no longer interested in them.…
    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…
    Human Interest
    March 18, 2026

    DIET SODA BLAMED AGAIN!

    Like so many things in life, one entity, item, or thing gets blamed for many of the ills that human…
    Human Interest
    March 17, 2026

    SENIOR NATIONAL PARKS PASS

    If you’re young or still physically able to travel and enjoy the great sights and scenes the U.S. is blessed…

      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

        Cancer
        October 14, 2025

        LOW-DOSE ASPIRIN AND CANCER PREVENTION

        Is there no end to the creative imagination of medical researchers? Some amazing revelation of a new, life-altering use for…
        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…
        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…
        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
        August 8, 2021

        DRUG OPTIONS FOR TREATING CHOLESTEROL AND REDUCING CARDIOVASCULAR RISK

        A subject I’ve blogged about several times is cholesterol. The biochemistry of cholesterol, it’s clinical significance, and guidelines for treatment…
        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…
        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…
        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…
        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…
        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 3, 2019

        AN EPIDEMIC OF A DIFFERENT COLOR: Atrial Fibrillation

        I have at least 8 or 10 personal friends who have had episodes of Atrial Fibrillation. My wife and I…
        Preventive Medicine
        June 22, 2022

        CAROTID STENOSIS AND STROKE

        Carotid stenosis is a narrowing of the artery in the neck that sends blood to the brain. When blood flow…
        Preventive Medicine
        March 5, 2022

        IBUPROFEN vs. TYLENOL. EGGS GET GOOD PRESS!

        EGGS DON’T INCREASE CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Two recent anecdotes from American Family Physician, the scientific journal of The American Academy Of…
        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…
        Preventive Medicine
        September 6, 2022

        LET’S PUT STATINS IN THE WATER!

        I have written 7 blogs about statins, and I suspect you’re beginning to tire of my persistence. I love statins!…
        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…
        Preventive Medicine
        September 9, 2022

        DO STATINS CAUSE MUSCLE PAIN AND WEAKNESS?

        It’s statins again!  This time it has to do with muscle pain and weakness patients attribute to statin therapy. A…
        Heart Disease
        February 24, 2021

        HEART ATTACKS IN WOMEN: Are They Really Different?

        For many years, the mantra has been that heart attacks in women are different; they are harder to diagnose, the…
        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…
        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…
        Cancer
        November 12, 2024

        MEDICAL NEWS BRIEFS #23

        Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: To operate or not to operate? That’s the question: Carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of the median…
        Heart Disease
        September 21, 2023

        WOMEN WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION MORE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT THAN MEN

        As I’ve reported before, it seems like atrial fibrillation exists in epidemic proportion. If you don’t know someone who has…
        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…
        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…
        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…

        DAY-IN-THE-LIFE SCENARIOS

          A Day in the Life Scenarios
          3 weeks ago

          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
          4 weeks ago

          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…
          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…

          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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