Medical

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot from patients and friends who are enthusiastically pursuing a “whole body cleanse” or “colon cleanse,” or a “detoxification cleanse.” And I’ve seen ads about these cleanses promising a number of health benefits, based on the general principle that every so often it’s a good idea to rid yourself of…

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the country are grappling with the question, “What and who is essential?” Instructions to reduce non-essential activity hit differently in crisis compared to our normal mindset that our day-planners are scheduled with only crucial tasks. When suddenly gyms, churches, and restaurants close their doors, one must reflect…

For thousands of years, medicine was an in-person enterprise. Patients with mysterious symptoms or requiring complex interventions traveled days to obtain an expert opinion. At times, Medicine appears to be nostalgic for these days now past; as society braces for the advent of 5G, many of us in medicine communicate via pager and landline telephones.…

The conversations we’ve had with physicians this week confirmed that the primal fight-or-flight response has kicked in as physicians across the nation recognize the COVID-19 pandemic as an imminent threat to the survival of their practices. Some are reacting from a place of fear, while others are proactively evaluating options and making strategic moves. In…

In November each year, I usually attend an all-day conference in Louisville on the subject of depression. Some of it can become a little grim, but there is an especially tasty free box-lunch that I appreciate. Suicide is a big subject at depression conferences. One might expect this to be true. The focus is on…

These days are getting harder. Today I heard about physicians getting intubated. I heard about physicians having to make the decision to separate from their children indefinitely. I heard about health care workers who officially ran out of PPE. I heard of hospitals that are nearing capacity and many young patients who are intubated. The…

I roll in my bed, unable to sleep. I listen to BBC talk about the craziness that took over the world, preoccupied with this one question. What question? It’s not: “Why, Corona?” For that, I already have more answers than I want. Scientists say that COVID-19 is an animal virus. It spread to humans from…

It took a 125-nanometer virus only a few weeks to move American health care from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. This had nothing to do with science or technology, and only to a small degree was it due to public interest or demand, which had both been present for decades. It happened this month…

I am an anesthesiologist who practices in Omaha, Nebraska at a large university. Our institution is preparing around the clock to care for our community in the midst of the COVID-19 virus. We are all coming together – doctors, scientists, nurses, technicians, administrators, therapists, and staff to develop plans. Leaders are not sleeping; they are…