Is Drinking Water Over-rated?

May 15, 2018 By Dr. Carol 15 Comments

dc John via Flickr

Every 5 years or so, the general physician has to help patients unravel the truth about the latest “drinkable” beverage trend.

Whether it’s the astronaut’s favorite orange drink, or one of the myriad of sodas (aka pop), diet, zero or regular, a powdered adult kool-aid like product to mix into good ole’ water, or more recently, all the “energy drinks”.

The billion dollar beverage industry is trying to tell us we could be smarter, sexier, have more energy and downright be cooler IF we consume their products. [Read more…]

Can You Get Your Pap While on Your Period?

April 24, 2018 By Dr. Bola 20 Comments

© sherrie smith | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Would you get a pap during your period?

For most women, the answer would be an emphatic no just for the “eww” factor alone.

I was particularly good at cajoling my female patients to get their pap done TODAY when they came in for other concerns.

My charge for killing two birds with one stone on the same clinic visit while saving the expense of another co-pay worked like a charm. No messy period was getting in my way checking off the pap smear box.

The results of my zealous pursuit for getting the pap done no matter what however were not pretty. [Read more…]

Is There a Place for Faith in Medicine?

October 31, 2017 By Dr. Carol 6 Comments

Flickr via Guppydas

Nearly 20 years ago, as a 4th year medical student, I researched and presented a paper about the power of prayer in medicine and healthcare.

I was pleasantly surprised that back then as now, the vast majority of patients welcome prayers for their health from friends and family members.

In fact, when asked, the majority want their treating doctors and nurses caring for their illnesses to pray for them as well. [Read more…]

The Cost of Pain Avoidance

January 17, 2017 By Dr. Carol 1 Comment

Bob! via Flickr

In the recent media coverage and onslaught of online talk and the social attention to the
increasing, nearly uniquely American, addiction and misuse of prescription pain medications, there
are 2 other groups of victims besides the overdosed person that are rarely remembered.

This is not to minimize in any way the loss for the families and friends of loved ones who are
currently dealing with prescription drug misuse or sadly overdose use, but instead to also call
attention to the persons affected in the collateral damage of this societal epidemic. [Read more…]

Before You Use Visine for That Red Eye; Read This

January 3, 2017 By Dr. Bola Leave a Comment

Spyros Papaspyropoulos via Flickr

Nothing works to get you noticed like having red eyes. People will constantly quiz you about it, doing their best to bring it to your attention. Probably not the type of attention you had in mind.

This unwanted attention pushes people affected by red eyes to use Visine to “get the red out”. Not the best idea in my opinion. I equate it to sweeping the dirt under the carpet rather than in a dust pan. We should aim to treat the cause of the red eye instead. [Read more…]

5 Surprising Ways Using the Pill Could Help You (Even if You Don’t Need Birth Control)

September 20, 2016 By Dr. Bola 6 Comments

I don’t know how we got wrapped up with the term “birth control” but a more accurate job description of the pill would be “pregnancy control”.

Pregnancy control however is just one of the many things taking the pill can do for you.

I would actually say up to a quarter of women taking the pill use primarily for it’s other benefits while the pregnancy control aspect is simply the icing on the cake.

Here are some of the lesser known reasons for taking the pill; [Read more…]

5 Easy Ways to Tell if You Are Peri-Menopausal- Without the Expensive Hormone Tests

September 13, 2016 By Dr. Carol 9 Comments

Flickr via acearchie

There are a myriad of symptoms included in this time period of hormonal transition generally called peri-menopause (literally meaning the time around menses stop).

It can be confusing to determine but remember ALL women go through this stage of change though some have a rougher time than others. [Read more…]

Be Still My Heart

February 9, 2016 By Dr. Carol 12 Comments

brykmantra via Flickr

Once in awhile, in my chest area, it feels like something is flip flopping around. Other times a boxer seems to be punching me from the inside out- jab jab cross.

Now, as physician I know these are palpitations but I still take notice of them as sometimes it happens several times a day. [Read more…]

How to Ensure You Don’t Spend Black Friday in the ER

November 17, 2015 By Dr. Bola 2 Comments

Taber Andrew Bain via Flickr

Benjamin Franklin said “the only two things certain in life are death and taxes”. May I take the liberty to add a third? That the emergency rooms would be packed to capacity the weekend after Thanksgiving Day.

A day of cooking, feasting and putting up with difficult relatives just has a way of dialing up erstwhile stable health conditions.

One health condition that tends to flare up this time of the year is gout. [Read more…]

Before “I Do”

November 10, 2015 By Dr. Carol Leave a Comment

Prayitno via Flickr

As most of our HEALTHGIST members know, I enjoy sharing stories of actual cases I come across everyday in my practice. The ones I feel affects our women readers are the ones I am most compelled to write about.

Summer is often wedding season and often I am asked by engaged girls how they can regulate their menstrual cycles or stop it all together. [Read more…]

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