I’m tiptoeing out on a limb. In my state of Kentucky, few potatoes are hotter. I started this In the Prime post fully intending to discuss the under-appreciated dangers of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), like ibuprofen, naprosyn, and celecoxib (Celebrex). Three things got me thinking about the thorny issue of treating pain. First: More than one […]
Millions of Americans believe in the practice. Government reformers believe in it. Doctors too. Heck, even I, an accused therapeutic nihilist, tracked down a poor soul who agreed to be my primary care doctor. Call it old-fashioned, but I wanted my own doc, and I wanted yearly “checkups.†No procedure—not even AF ablation–is as good […]
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Would you know what to do?
At its core, this blog aims to do some good. I don’t like to ask for things. It’s not why I write. Today is an exception. I’m going to ask you to learn about and maybe support an important cause. The topic is sudden cardiac death–our number-one killer. There are a lot of folks working […]
Hi all, I wrote two posts this week for the Courier-Journal’s online health portal, In the Prime. The first was titled, Can an insurance company improve our health? In this post I use the tragic story of a patient who stopped taking an important medicine because of a high copay. Two recent medical studies have […]
You have watched the videos. Heard the testimonials. Read the books. Floyd’s was a little sketchy, but the frankness and details of Tyler’s connected the dots. You re-watched the videos. How could he ride those guys off his wheel so easily? You still aren’t convinced. You want to believe, which of course is a normal […]
I’ve said it before here many times over. In achieving quality of medical care, information and transparency are fundamental. Knowledge empowers patients to share in their medical decisions. Doctors have always been teachers, but with the explosion of medical treatment options, this role has never been more important. Currently, in most of the real world, […]
Sorry folks. Tonight’s post will be brief. I wasn’t planning to, but I watched the debates. I planned to listen to the first few minutes, you know, just to get the flavor of the thing. But then they drew me in. It was good, refreshing in fact, that they actually mentioned some details. You’ve had […]
Let’s start with a disclaimer: I am not complaining; I’m just stating the facts. Honest fact: The morale of doctors in the real world is low–and sinking lower. I know what you are thinking. “Come on Mandrola, you are nuts if you expect us to feel sympathy for doctors–of all professions.” Well…you can think that […]
A good friend sent me a post from the now famous BikeSnobNYC. Its title was “Why so serious?†The famous one was dissing the over-seriousness of amateur bike racers. Talk about taking the easy trail. Making fun of amateur racers? Next thing you know, he will be calling all masters bike racers dentists. I am […]
Since writing about how obesity acts directly on the atria I have received a number of good questions. Most centered around the permanency and reversibility of fat-related cardiac effects. Even my partner mentioned to me that fat actually inserts itself between heart muscle cells. Wonder where he read that? Questions about a post are always […]
Here’s a question: In the next decade, which single health problem most threatens our populace? Ask a doctor this question and you will hear only one response… …Head over to In the Prime Voices to read (Part 1) of my take. A hint: Â JMM