In a recent study in JAMA, nearly 75% of men and 65% of women between the ages of 25-54 were classified as overweight (BMI>25) or obese (BMI>30). These numbers have dramatically increased in the last 40 years. In response to this rising epidemic, a multibillion dollar weight loss industry ranging from diet companies and supplement… Continue reading Fat Outside, Fit Inside
Category: Health
The Art of Medicine
David Sackett was widely known as the “father of the evidence-based medicine” movement recently died. He defined evidence based medicine (EBM) as the “conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” It is a set of best practices based on rigorous experimental data and seeks to… Continue reading The Art of Medicine
The State of the Emergency Department
Almost 1.5 years ago, I wrote a blog piece titled Compassion Fatigue, in which I spoke about the high rate of physician burn out especially amongst front line physicians such as Emergency Physicians and Primary Care doctors. Anecdotally, the problem seems to be only worsening especially amongst ER physicians. There is not a week that… Continue reading The State of the Emergency Department
Metabolic Ghetto
The staggering increase in the prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome and its various components is especially alarming amongst minority populations worldwide and within the United States. For example, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has doubled in India in the last 30 years, obesity rates have increased 3 fold or more since 1980 in… Continue reading Metabolic Ghetto
The ‘exposome’ exposed!
How can we explain the observation that Pima Indians living in the Southwest United States have a five fold higher prevalence of diabetes than their counterparts living across the border in Mexico? Not only are these populations genetically identical, numerous studies have been unsuccessful in identifying chromosomal regions with a strong linkage to the trait.… Continue reading The ‘exposome’ exposed!
Technology Driven Triple Aim
The triple aim is a framework developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement that describes an approach to optimizing health system performance. The goal is to improve the quality of care and the health of population while decreasing the cost of health care. The Patient Protection and Privacy Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ‘Obamacare) was… Continue reading Technology Driven Triple Aim
Know thy (evolutionary) history
Human evolutionary history has unfolded over millions of years and has transformed us from one generation to the next to its current state. In fact, the process of evolution continues to occur today and humans will be different in many aspects generations from now. If you look at human beings through the lens of evolution, it… Continue reading Know thy (evolutionary) history
My Journey with Metabolic Syndrome
In January 2013, I had blood work drawn and to my shock and dismay I was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. My fasting blood sugar was elevated and I had atherogenic dyslipidemia. In hindsight, the results of the lab should not have been a surprise as I not only had a strong family history of metabolic… Continue reading My Journey with Metabolic Syndrome
The Digital Divide
The idea of precision or personalized medicine is gaining a lot of attention. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama launched the Precision Medicine Initiative “that will help deliver the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.” Additionally, I recently came across a press release announcing the appointment of a… Continue reading The Digital Divide
Data rich but Information and Knowledge poor
The processing capacity of the conscious mind has been estimated at 120 bits per second. To put that in context, in order to understand one person talking to you, we need to process 60 bits of information per second. Primary care physicians on an average deal with three problems per patient and it is estimated… Continue reading Data rich but Information and Knowledge poor
What is health?
This question was recently posed to a group of allopathic trained health care professionals who answered with responses such as, “absence of disease,” “body, mind, and emotional wellness,” and “continuum between disease and total well being.” Although the responses seem vague and generalized, the descriptions were generally in line with the World Health Organization (WHO)… Continue reading What is health?
How do we get patients engaged in their care?
According to a meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2012), Americans are failing to comply with medication prescriptions and it's costing them anywhere between $100 billion to $289 billion a year. 20 to 30 percent of prescriptions are never filled and almost 50 percent of medications aren't taken as prescribed. (Annals of Internal Medicine,… Continue reading How do we get patients engaged in their care?
Electronic Health Records – unfulfilled potential, hated by MDs
Under the HITECH Act, the United States Department of Health and Human Services is spending $25.9 billion to promote and expand the adoption of health information technology with the goal to improve care processes, the quality of care, and overall health system productivity. The HITECH Act set meaningful use of interoperable electronic health record (EHR)… Continue reading Electronic Health Records – unfulfilled potential, hated by MDs
How can the iWatch improve my health?
The $2.8 trillion healthcare system is drowning under the burden of chronic diseases that account for 75% of the dollars spent on health care. However, these diseases have been resistant to the therapeutic advances, and therefore, we have a dismal return on our investments. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), U.S. health spending is… Continue reading How can the iWatch improve my health?
I eat, therefore I am
Meta-analyses of health outcomes studies show that medical care affects long-term health outcomes by about 10%, genetics determine about 20%, and the other 70% is a combination of social determinants – environment and behavior. Despite these percentages, the focus of the health care industry and policy makers in the… Continue reading I eat, therefore I am
S-Fxn 