Articles by Sajid Surve, DO
Health & Healthcare | By February 27, 2009 | By Sajid Surve, DO | 2 Comments
Doctors as Mirrors – A Reflection on the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Has this scenario ever happened to either you or somebody you know? You get a raving endorsement from a friend or family member about the doctor they saw, and how they’re the best thing ever, and how you absolutely MUST go see them immediately? How many times has somebody actually gone to see a doctor based on that recommendation, only to be underwhelmed and confused about the beaming review?
These are cases where people fell victim to the cult of personality. The doctor-patient relationship, just like any other relationship, takes on many forms. What works for one person may not jive for another. Read more →
- The Hidden Dangers of Soy
- Topical Morphine – An Experimental Approach to Chronic Pain
- A Primer on Acupuncture
- Deep Brain Stimulation for Pleasure
- Why a Smartphone is a Dumb Idea
- Beating the Biological Clock – Clinical Trials of Tasimelteon
As the American diet turns towards the perception of more natural and “healthy” foods, a surge in soy products has taken hold in the market. Soy is touted as a superfood full of protein, fiber, and antioxidants, and able to do everything from lower cholesterol to fight cancer. However, not all the physiological properties of soybeans are positive. Compared to the number of outlets proclaiming the benefits of soy, relatively few sources discuss the side effects of a soy-rich diet. Read more →
Practitioners who treat patients with chronic pain understand just how difficult management of that population can be. As of today, the evaluation of pain remains completely subjective; no lab tests or imaging studies can provide any meaningful insight into how much pain a patient feels. When the pain is severe and intractable, the only option becomes opioid analgesics, which have high potential for abuse and are laden with side effects ranging from constipation and sedation to respiratory depression, testosterone deficiency, and immuno-modulation. The trouble with opioids is that they must be ingested in an oral form with systemic absorption regardless of where the actual pain lies. Over the past few years, a quiet murmur has been rippling through the pain practitioner community about the possibility of dispensing morphine as a topical agent. Small scale clinical trials and animal models have shown some promise, and also raised some questions about this experimental approach. Read more →
Traditional acupuncture is an ancient chinese art which was passed down from master to apprentice for over 4,000 years, based on anecdotal evidence, trial and error, and an Eastern philosophy of the universe. Its practice was outlawed in China after the Revolution of 1911 in favor of allopathic medicine, during a time when China wanted to appeal to Western civilization. However, in the 1950s Chairman Mao ordered a reorganization and integration of the two philosophies, and the resultant consensus became what is referred to today as “Traditional Chinese Medicine” or TCM. TCM is an entire system of medical practice, with the primary focus being on herbology. Other elements include acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, scraping, coining, and some bone-setting, all of which are meant to support the action of the herbs. Read more →
Scientists out of Oxford University have developed a deep brain stimulation protocol for the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain, a small center behind the eyes which is believed to have a role in our perception of pleasure associated with food and sex. Dr. Tipu Aziz, a professor of neurosurgery at Oxford remarks, “A few years ago, a scientist implanted such a device into the brain of a woman with a low sex drive and turned her into a very sexually active woman. She didn’t like the sudden change, so the wiring in her head was removed.” The doctor further comments that a “sex chip” utilizing this technology could be available within 10 years. Read more →
A week’s worth of New York Times newspapers contains more information and knowledge than the average person in medieval times saw in their entire life. In our current golden age of technology, we as human beings have come to embrace the notion of computers, and the idea that information is a commodity that must be available immediately. Products on the market in the technology sector are increasingly complex in scope and connectivity, and give us unprecedented access to an enormous yet speedily growing body of information. Nowhere is this trend more glaringly apparent than the recent developments in mobile phone technology. Read more →
The Lancet recently published clinical trial data from a Harvard study which compares the experimental new drug tasimelteon to placebo in treating jet lag. The medication works by binding to the same receptor as melatonin, and activating it as a direct agonist.
Melatonin is a neurotransmitter produced by the brain that is believed to play a pivotal role in the regulation of our “biological clock” or circadian rhythm. Melatonin levels fluctuate in the bloodstream throughout the day, and surge during the nighttime hours when it is dark outside and our bodies are inclined to sleep. The trouble with melatonin is that it falls under the FDA category of supplements and nutraceuticals, and is therefore largely unregulated in terms of potency, manufacturing process, and quality of ingredients. Studies are hard to conduct and successfully repeat for this reason as well. Read more →
Monday, March 22, 2010
- Religion - A "Natural" Phenomenon?
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 - The Five Myths
- How Culture Shapes Our Mind and Brain
- Sex, Violence and The Male Warrior Hypothesis
- The Secret to Good Health – Listen to the Data
- If Herbal Medicine is Medicine, Shouldn't it be Treated as Such?
- Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuroscience Conferences for 2010
- Too Much Information?
- "I Feel Your Pain" - The Neural Basis of Empathy
- Income Inequality and Health Outcomes
- The Evolution of Depression
- Journal Retracts Autism Research
- Speaking in Tongues - A Neural Snapshot
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Post-Partum Psychosis - Rare but Real
- Is Your Doctor Happy or Burnt-Out?
- Worried Well on the Web
- Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective... Again
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 - The Solutions
- Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
- Empathy – How Much is Too Much?
- Let the Matches Begin!
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 4 – Their Life Today
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 3 – Try to Work Out their Troubles
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 2 – Revealed to be Complicated
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 1 – Introduction
- Deep Brain Stimulation – A New Frontier in Psychiatry
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 3 – Equip Teachers with Prescription Pads?
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Brain Blogger Finalist for Two 2010 Research Blogging Awards in Neuroscience and Psychology
- Tall Tales of Diabetic Amputations
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 – The Solutions
- Brain Blogging, Forty-Ninth Edition
- How Your Brain Groups Words
- The Child Brain and the Playing Teacher
- You Have a Right to Choose if we Agree
- Measuring Quality in Primary Care
- Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me A Match – The NRMP Main Residency Match
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 – The Five Myths
- When It Comes to Aging, Size Matters
- i agree you dianne...
- Often, patients report persistent physical symptoms, but no somatic ...
- Great help, understood who is a LEADER & a FOLLOWER. Is there a category wh...
- Don't agree, to my opinion empathy is not easily learned, it's a quality not eve...
- Thanks, got the meaning of INTELLIGENCE/IQ....
- I'm a 54 yrs old woman .i was working for a retail company for 5 yrs ,my husbend...
- Thanks so much for sharing. My daughter began having seizures when she was 17. S...
- yea ur right lol lughter the best medicine i cnt do without it in a day!!!!!!!!!...
- Very touching story. My heart goes out to your family. Seizures are tough. And ...
- Thank you for sharing your nephew's story. So hard on those who love him, but I...
- Congratulations to all who've matched! Although the results of NRMP Main Residen...
- It's been almost 25 years since my son suffered a TBI in an accident. He was onl...
- I tend to agree with the teachers.But a teacher can only keep a record about the...
- Very interesting article, the 5th paragraph gets a little biased...but I still e...
- Dear Dan,There is certainly much clinical interest in this field. ClinicalTr...
- I recently commented on a sciencedaily.com article reporting success with TRD an...
- I have family members who are teachers. After sharing this article with them, th...
- It is great that people are challenging the use of this medication. As, a societ...
- I agree with the stand of the teachers and their children's that more than half ...
- I think that there’s also a social aspect to it. If you grow up in an area where...

