Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Health & Healthcare | By June 07, 2008 | By Sajid Surve, DO | 6 Comments

Osteopathy in the 21st Century

Health and Healthcare Category Many people in the United States, and indeed the world, are not aware that there are two types of fully licensed physicians. Allopaths (or M.D.s) have enjoyed being the mainstay of healthcare for hundreds of years along with the luxury of being a 20:1 majority of practicing physicians. Osteopaths (or D.O.s) have been around for about 130 years, and represent one of the fastest growing medical professions according to the American Osteopathic Association. When I was applying to medical school in 2000, there were 19 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. Currently there are 25 schools with 28 campuses, which represents greater than 50% growth in less than 10 years. Read more →

Drugs and Pharmacology, Eight Edition | June 07, 2008 | 3 Comments

Welcome to the eight edition of Drugs and Pharmacology. Today, we discuss a variety of topics from anti-depressants and natural sleeping aids and their efficiency to the rise in tooth decay in children and whether fluoride supplementation is the answer. If you were left out in this round, just leave... Read more →

Ethics 101: The Doctor Is Out To Dinner | June 06, 2008 | 8 Comments

In an effort to make this blog more interactive, I’ve decided to start a new series of posts focusing on Ethics and Medicine. In this series I will post a series of cases and see what my readers think. Some of these will focus on the ethics of the doctor, some the patient, the hospital, and other... Read more →

Warning Labels for Inactivity: A New Trend in Health Education? | June 05, 2008 | 1 Comment

This is an era where lawsuits are filed for the absence of warnings — the McDonald’s lawsuit of 1994 (81-year-old woman awarded 2.9 million dollars for being scalded by a beverage that she ordered) and of 2003 (the plaintiff complaint stated that eating at McDonald’s contributed to... Read more →

Interactive Effects of Genetics on Depression | June 04, 2008 | 2 Comments

It is well known that depression results from the combination of many different factors. Environmental effects, such as stressful life events, are a trigger in many patients for the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) and the milder disorder, dysthymia. It is also true that the same major... Read more →

Patient Manifesto: Communication and Accessibility | June 03, 2008 | 3 Comments

This is the second post in my Patient Manifesto series. In my first post I tried to outline some broad categories of things patients want and expect from their doctor. One comment addressed two points that I didn’t focus much on but that in hindsight should not have escaped me — communication... Read more →

Brain Prosthesis: Coming to a Hospital Near You? | June 02, 2008 | 5 Comments

The possibility of fusing a mechanical device with the human brain becomes a reality. Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce you to a new piece of technology. Lo and behold, the brain prosthesis. Wait. Did I just say brain prosthesis, as in an artificial replacement of the mind? Yes, that’s... Read more →

Only the Rich Get Old? | June 01, 2008 | 3 Comments

I’m glad I’m not in college. You see, the price of tuition at some U.S. universities has been increasing and my alma mater is one of them. When I do research on the various college savings funds available for my son, I always run into a few articles that discuss the need to save for retirement... Read more →