That Little Black Dress and the Importance of the 5-10 Percent Goal
Weight loss is often driven by the desire to fit into “that little black dress”, a pair of designer jeans or to look sleek and toned in in your new athletic ware. Many may have aspirations that range from having a BMI of 17 (average BMI of a runway model), or looking like a young…
Oh Deer! A Tick Bite!
Although deer are beautiful animals, they bring to mind deer ticks … and Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness, first described in Lyme, Connecticut. The infection (technically a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi) is carried by backlegged ticks, including the famous deer ticks which are common in New England, down to Maryland and in the northern…
August Health News: PALB2 and Breast Cancer Risk; NSAIDS and Recurrent Breast Cancer Risk; “Gluten-Free” and FDA Regulation
1. *PALB2 Mutations Increase Risk of Breast Cancer.* For years, it has been known that those who carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a much higher risk of breast cancer. Recently, PALB2 genotype was found to also increase risk of breast cancer. In a study recently released in the New England Journal of…
Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in our country. At the same time it is often preventable and highly curable when it is diagnosed early. As a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon , specially trained to diagnose and treat skin cancer, I was amazed on a recent vacation to the beach with my…
Protect Those Eyes All Year Long!
On every glasses prescription I dispense for distance glasses, there is a stamp that says “UV protection”. That way, I won’t forget to write it — I want everyone to have it. Ultraviolet rays can contribute to many eye diseases, including cataracts, growths on the eyeballs, retinal damage, and eyelid and eye cancers. The ultraviolet…
In the News – Ebola Virus: What Is It and Are We At Risk?
The latest breaking news about Ebola is that Dr. Brantly, a family physician from Texas who was volunteering in Liberia, has been transported to Emory University Hospital to be treated in a special isolation unit developed with the CDC. On social media, some people are expressing concern about bringing this infection to the U.S., but…
Quit Smoking! How To Increase Your Chances of Success
Quit Smoking! How to Increase Your Chances of Success While traveling to three large cities in China, I noticed there were many more smokers than in the United States. Mostly men seemed to light up cigarettes everywhere, even in the supposedly nonsmoking areas of the hotel. This year, 2014, marked the 50th anniversary of the Surgeon…
July Health News: New Guidelines for High Risk HIV Population Management; FDA Reclassification of Sunlamp Products; HPV Vaccine and Blood Clot Risk
* 1. Prophylactic Antiretroviral Drugs for HIV High Risk Population – New Guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO)* **In the newly released Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations, WHO strongly recommended for the HIV high risk groups to take antiretroviral medication such as Truvada as a pre-exposure prophylaxis…
Is It Snoring? Or Is It Sleep Apnea??
Loud snoring isn’t just a nuisance, it can be a significant health issue. About half the time, it predicts the presence of sleep apnea, in which the snorer stops breathing for a short period, many times per hour. As the muscles in the back of the throat relax during the night, they collapse and impede…
How to Take the “Lag” out of Jet Lag
Have you ever suffered from jet lag? It can be miserable—sleepless nights and severe fatigue during daytime hours when you are supposed to be wide eyed and ready to take on the world. It is especially difficult if you work overseas frequently. Having just returned from a trip to Asia myself, I offer these tips…