Health & Healthcare Category

Health & Healthcare | By July 18, 2007 | By Sudip Ghosh, MD | 2 Comments

Death from Broken Hearts and Octopus Traps

It is now established beyond any doubt that women in particular can die of a broken heart. The good news is that if you can make it to hospital, your chances of survival are pretty high.

First described in 2005 in Japan, the Tako-tsubo syndrome (or the “broken heart syndrome”) is being increasingly reported in world literature, although it must have been happening all the time. In 80% of cases, it reportedly occurs in post-menopausal women above 60 years of age after an episode of stress or occasionally related to anger. Death of a close relative is the most common situation. Read more →

“Sick” - Jonathan Cohn’s Book on the Healthcare Crisis | July 13, 2007 | 1 Comment

Nearly 43 million Americans are without health insurance and the number is rising, as the average cost of a family’s healthcare insurance is about $12,000. America pays 16% of its national income for healthcare, more than any other country, yet its position on the health chart among developed... Read more →

Anna Nicole and Sandeep Kapoor, MD: A Doctor-Patient Relationship Gone Foul? | March 01, 2007 | 1 Comment

The doctor-patient relationship is sacrosanct in modern medicine and forms the foundation of contemporary medical ethics. Universities teach medical students from the beginning, even before they set foot in hospitals, to maintain a professional rapport with patients, uphold patients’ dignity, and... Read more →

Osteopathy: Finding Health, Not Disease | April 09, 2006 | 1 Comment

One thing that you, as graduates, must remember, is that you have to keep pace with advancing science, it is in this spirit that the last daughter of science, Osteopathy, raises her head and claims to inherit all that is good in the past history of the healing art. It is impossible in this age of progress... Read more →

What Can Science do to Promote Parity Between Mental and Physical Health in the Insurance Industry? | March 05, 2006 | 7 Comments

Despite the fact that science is now easing back the curtain and revealing the neuroanatomical correlates of mental illness, some insurance companies still refuse to cover mental health in their basic policies. During our previous roundtable, I related my disappointment over the health insurance industry’s... Read more →

Should Basic Health Insurance Cover Mental Health? | February 27, 2006 | 6 Comments

Last night I decided to hide from the subfreezing temperatures outside by settling down with a warm cup of mint tea and my newly arrived health insurance policy. In a effort to make my task more tolerable, I decided that I would read it through a biopsychosocial lens. Most noticeable among the stacks... Read more →

What is a D.O.? | February 14, 2006 | 5 Comments

A Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) just might be your family practitioner, cardiologist or even your obstetrician. Surprise! They are not all M.D.s. The increasingly growing hand of biopsychosocial medicine is pulling back the curtain on various types of medical fields. An example is osteopathic medicine.... Read more →