Just as every patient trusts his or her surgeon, surgeons must be able to trust their equipment. What happens, though, when the surgeon’s equipment fails? We are not discussing robotic devices or mechanical issues, but rather something significantly more dangerous: the timeless routine of gowning and gloving surgeons before surgery. While this is important to… Read more »
Twenty-five Coachella Valley undergraduate health science students helped advance critical need projects for local health care businesses this summer through the Health Career Connection (HCC) internship program. Hosted for the seventh year in collaboration with the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP), the HCC program offers ten-week, paid summer internships for local college students to introduce… Read more »
This column is a continuation of last issue’s feature story on Shay Moraga who at 39 years old was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. We are honored to have Shay sharing her journey with Desert Health® readers in an ongoing column. When we left Shay, she was close to finishing 20 weeks of chemo…… Read more »
Individuals suffering from chronic pain assume that the pain symptoms are purely physical. There are many times though that clinicians scratch their heads to identify painful symptoms when nothing structural presents itself in an effort to prove a mechanical problem as the pain culprit. Dr. John Sarno, author of Mind Over Back Pain and Healing… Read more »
Most amateur players spend a lifetime trying to attain the perfect golf swing. Today, professional golf has evolved into a game that demands a team approach bringing together the most elite specialists including coaches, nutritionists, and medical professionals to provide tour players with every possible advantage over the competition. Without that luxury, many of the… Read more »
James Bond, Star Trek, Star Wars. We’ve grown up seeing lasers as technology of the future or science fiction, but they are real and their use is changing many areas of our lives as we know it. One of these areas is the health field, specifically dentistry, where their use has led to great advancements… Read more »
This literature review is an important update on the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Over the past ten years, physicians and researchers all over the world – and right here in the desert – have been exploring new ways to detect, diagnose and treat prostate cancer using MRI.… Read more »
The passing of one of the greatest athletes in history, Muhammad Ali, has brought attention to the debilitating condition he suffered: Parkinson’s disease. This neurodegenerative disease affects as many as one million Americans which is more than the combined number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined, according to… Read more »
Neck pain is a frequently encountered problem in society. It is associated with a significant decrease in quality of life and a significant increase in time off work, which is associated with a decrease in national economic productivity. Patients typically present to either their primary care doctor or the emergency room with complaints of moderate-to-severe… Read more »
The Flint water crisis has been one of the most publicized water contamination disasters in several decades. Concerns have surfaced, however, regarding water purity and safety in other parts of the country. In the Coachella Valley, there is apprehension over hazardous chemicals that include chromium-6. Chromium-6 is the carcinogenic agent that was cause for the… Read more »
My experience as a practitioner providing care to dry eye patients has led me to be significantly more cautious about the risk of potential damage to the ocular surface. Nowadays, I am much more judicious when recommending any type of eyelid surgery, especially with patients that have had laser vision correction. The majority of dry… Read more »
Why aren’t more people as productive as they should be? Procrastination seems obvious, but is there more to it? People of all ages simply don’t do the things they could potentially do to deliver their highest quality product or service. Why is this? Often, the best product or service is simply the end result of… Read more »
Since 2012, medical researchers at Duke University’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center have been studying the utility of what was formerly a major threat to the public as the new treatment modality for one of today’s scariest killers. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary brain tumor. Radiation and genetic predisposition are thought to… Read more »
Usually, my goal in writing on various subjects in Desert Health® is to mentor, teach, and provide support. This article on loss is coming from a unique perspective, more of a personal view, since my mother passed away April 15 of this year. As I walk through the steps of grief and loss, my hope… Read more »
Skin cancers, including basal cell cancers and squamous cell cancers, are the most common cancers in the United States, affecting more than 4 million Americans every year. Skin cancers are over two times more common than all other cancers combined. They are also increasing faster than all other cancers combined. Every 10 seconds an American… Read more »
In April 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan changed its water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. The decision was politically controversial and debated from the onset. Problems with the change stemmed from the fact that the Flint River water was not chemically treated with corrosion control measures. Therefore,… Read more »
The short answer is “maybe.” To understand why, we need first to understand why one would use an eye whitener; other conditions it could mask or complicate; and how long it has been used. Eye drops are often prescribed to treat multiple eye conditions such as glaucoma, allergies, infections, dry eye, and inflammatory eye conditions… Read more »
Having to go all the time? You are not alone. Over 70% of men in their 60s have symptoms of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia),1 a condition in which the prostate enlarges as men get older. While BPH is a benign (non-cancerous) condition, it can certainly decrease one’s quality of life. The most common treatment for… Read more »
It was August 2014 when Bob, age 49, developed a cough that did not resolve with the usual over-the-counter medications. He visited his family physician who ordered a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray report was normal. However, the cough persisted over the next 2 to 3 months so his physician decided to order a CAT… Read more »
Despite the name it’s had since being incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1984, Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs expanded its service purview beyond HIV care when it became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) “Look-Alike” in April 2012. But that doesn’t mean D.A.P. is any less concerned with HIV/AIDS than it has been… Read more »