Health Tips

Most of us have heard of the male hormone, testosterone, and may have even blamed it for everything from extreme sports to the road rage videos on ‘YouTube’. You may also have seen ads on TV, promoting testosterone therapy for aging men. This strange cultural phenomenon – simultaneously rolling our…

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, occurring in over two million people each year.  Three of the most common types of skin cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Last week, characteristic features of each of these were described in…

The New York Times recently featured a story on Bob Harper, a celebrity fitness trainer for the hit TV show, “The Biggest Loser.” He is extremely fit and healthy, and yet had a massive heart attack at age 52. As it turns out, he has a fairly common genetic condition…

Most of us presume that taking a multivitamin every day is a good idea. “Can’t hurt, might help” is what we think. And because many of us struggle with getting in enough vitamin-rich fruits and veggies, surely a little supplement is a reasonable “plan B.” In fact, roughly one-third of…

Should you aim for an even lower blood pressure goal? There is a hot debate going on right now between physician groups about blood pressure treatment. Specifically, when should we start prescribing blood-pressure lowering medications? When systolic blood pressure is greater than 140/90?  Or perhaps we should begin when it’s…

The Obesity Society’s December newsletter listed their top 10 articles from 2017. One of them caught my attention: “The real reason you’re gaining weight as you get older.” This article, featuring insight from Dr. Caroline Apovian, the Director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at the Boston Medical Center,…

Poor sleep may contribute to increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and depression, yet physicians often forget to ask their patients about their sleep habits until it becomes a crisis. Sleep specialists recommend that insomnia be treated at the same time as other medical conditions. It is common for clinicians…

The risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death increase markedly (about 4%) during the winter holiday season. The more cynical among us have sometimes attributed this purely to the additional stress of close family gatherings at this time of year, but the truth is that alcohol consumption may be…

I recently wrote a health tip about the importance of getting the flu vaccine each fall season [insert link please] because it is our only real defense against the virus. We are getting closer to a master vaccine for these wiley viruses (meaning one day we will be able to…

I am the rehab physician for a charming, ninety-year-old woman who is recovering from a broken hip. She is very sharp and independent, and had been living alone until her recent fall at home. She was hurrying to turn off her stove burner when she lost her balance and fell…