Last June, ten members of Harvard’s incoming freshman class who had just received their acceptance letters to Harvard received another letter from Harvard. It was a letter rescinding their acceptance because of their posts on Facebook. How tragic and embarrassing for these students and their families! Social media can impact our lives in ways we… Read more »
Glaucoma, a group of diseases that leads to damage of the optic nerve, is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Left untreated, glaucoma causes permanent vision loss and blindness. Given that it is so common (it affects about 3 million people in the US alone) and there are many available treatments for it,… Read more »
In my practice, I often encounter post-menopausal clients that are referred for recurrent urinary tract infections. While on some occasions, physically identifiable ailments account for these issues, more commonly, they suffer from a hidden condition named vaginal atrophy which is often ignored or not recognized by patients and/or their physicians. The goal of this article… Read more »
There used to be a television show called The Newlywed Game during which the host asked the newlyweds questions to discover how well the newly married couples knew each other. It was entertaining to hear the answer compared to what the spouse thought the answer would be. Exposed habits were frequently the brunt of the… Read more »
“Oil pulling” is an ancient Ayurvedic practice from India that has recently become popular in the US as a means of improving health of the oral cavity, especially gum health. The practice involves using an oil, usually coconut, and swishing it around the mouth and between the teeth for about 20 minutes. Advocates of the… Read more »
A recent article published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology1 helped highlight the difference in eye disease based on whether a diabetic patient is on insulin or not. The study involved over 15,000 patients followed for 9 years. What is interesting is that outcomes were differentiated by any eye disease, sight-threatening eye disease, and something… Read more »
What does it mean to have a heartbeat that “skips”? And how prevalent is it? Among the senior population, as many as one in ten may suffer from a condition called atrial fibrillation (AFIB), a serious heart rhythm disorder. But what is AFIB? Here are five things to know: The heart has an electrical system—and… Read more »
Starting in November and continuing through June, Indio High School nutrition students receive over 1,200 pounds of organic produce from FIND Food Bank. Every other week, each of the 38 students enrolled in Physiology of Digestion with instructor Jason Tate take home over 20 pounds of produce to share with their families. This is a… Read more »
Many people have heard of PET scans to detect the presence and location of cancer. This test typically uses a type of radioactive sugar injected into a vein, which can then be detected by a machine that creates images of the person’s body while he or she lies still on a table. A new type… Read more »
Joint injuries are especially common among pro athletes who engage in contact sports. From skateboarding enthusiasts to pro football players, the risk of injury waits at every turn, twist, or bounce. Although you don’t have to be an athlete or engage in contact sports to receive a joint injury, people in these categories are always… Read more »
Low Testosterone (T) is common in men over 50. Patients ask us about T replacement after they have seen advertisements on television or direct to consumer advertising for T supplements. Which men are candidates for T replacement? The answer might surprise you! Having a low T on a lab test alone is not adequate criteria… Read more »
Many people at some point in their life experience pain on the ball of the foot, commonly known as the forefoot. Some patients describe the pain as feeling like they are walking on a pebble or sometimes like they are walking on a hot coal. At times the pain can prevent people from doing the… Read more »
Xofigo (Radium-223 dichloride) is a novel radiopharmaceutical treatment, the first of its kind that has been shown to improve cancer survival in certain men with metastatic prostate cancer. It is a promising treatment which may be effective when other treatments have failed. Prostate cancer can often be detected at a very early stage with routine… Read more »
Dry eye is a common condition that is often under-treated or under-addressed, especially here in the desert. Our local climate has many unique factors that contribute to “corneal surface disease” which is the new descriptive name for dry eye. Factors include low humidity, wind, particulate matter in the air, dust, pollens, lots of places with… Read more »
While we all know we need to get a good night’s sleep, many of us don’t realize what good sleep is, or how well we are actually sleeping, says Harvard Medical School Professor of Sleep Medicine Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD, FRCP. “Eighty-five percent of people with sleep disorders are undiagnosed and untreated which can be… Read more »
While communication technology is allowing health care professionals to be accessible to patients for specialty care when it may not otherwise be immediately available, we understand that some patients and potential users remain skeptical about the growth of telehealth. We have heard these comments when demonstrating our physical therapy teleMOVEMENT platform. Responses like this provide… Read more »
For many people, going to the dentist is one of their greatest fears. This fear can lead to anxiety so pronounced that they may go years without a dental check-up. This, of course, creates the possibility of larger problems developing, which can lead to more involved and expensive dental work in the future. Often, people… Read more »
One of the scariest times in a person’s life is when a baby is born with the immediate need for medical care. Fortunately for families the Coachella Valley, comprehensive care for preemies and high-risk infants is available at Desert Regional Medical Center’s Women and Infants Center. But what if your baby is born in Blythe… Read more »
The most common disease of the lumbar spine in older people is spinal stenosis, arthritis in the joints of the spine that occurs with aging. The disease has a classic presentation with back pain and aching in the back of the thighs and legs with walking or even standing in the line at the grocery… Read more »
In the March/April 2017 issue of Desert Health®, Dr. Lu introduced a pilot program being conducted by a team of doctors at Eisenhower Medical Center. The results of that intervention program follow. It is estimated that 5.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2017. Most people with Alzheimer’s dementia have a long duration… Read more »