Harvard Medical School Commentaries: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Feb292012
Update From the Medical Journals: February 2012
Avodart Might Slow Prostate Cancer ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Nov92011
Placebos -- What Your Doctor Is or Isn't Saying
Placebos are pills or other treatments that are considered harmless and inactive. Researchers use placebos in studies to evaluate how well a treatment works. The subjects in the placebo group are... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug102011
What I've Learned by Listening
Doctors can improve how they communicate with their patients. But, sometimes your doctor should be saying nothing at all. That's because he or she should be listening. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Jul82011
What Makes a Drug a Drug?
Imagine you have a bad cold. Your mother tells you take vitamin C. A television commercial suggests Theraflu (a combination of acetaminophen, diphenhydramine, and phenylephrine). An online medical... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar302011
Update From the Medical Journals: March 2011
Japan Crisis Prompts Review of Risks From Radiation ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Jan102011
Circulation Troubles -- What Do They Mean?
Blood flows from the lungs and heart to other parts of the body through arteries. Veins bring blood back to the heart and lungs. This process, called circulation, is vital to deliver oxygen, sugar... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Jul82010
Taking the Pain Out of Pain Relievers
Pain relievers must be among the most misunderstood types of medications out there. I get these questions all the time:
Can I take Advil if I'm also taking Aleve?
Can I drink if I'm taking aspirin?... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May62010
The Case for Moderation
It's not just your mother who recommends "all things in moderation." Your doctor may suggest this as well. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Feb232010
What Are the Odds? Understanding Risk
"If you take this medication, you will reduce your risk of disease by 20%, and 98% of people taking it have no serious side effects." ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Feb232010
Decoding the '-Omas'
Perhaps you've heard the words adenoma, lipoma and papilloma before. The all end with "-oma." It's one of the most common medical suffixes (word endings) used by doctors in medical records and biopsy... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Jul82009
Feet Matter
There's little doubt about it: Feet are important. Until you've had a foot problem, you may not realize just how important they are. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
The '-osis' Diagnosis
They sound like words that people make up when imitating doctors: diverticulosis, osteochondromatosis, pneumoconiosis. These long, complicated words ending in "-osis" sound highly technical, even... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Decoding the 'Plasties'
In the 1967 movie, The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman's character is given career advice in a single word: "plastics." If the movie were made today, the advice might be "plasty" instead.
The 3 R's of... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Uncertainty: Medicine's Frequent Companion
... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Name That Drug
Did you ever wonder where drugs get their names? I have, especially when I can't figure out how to say or spell a medicine's name or when I'm trying to identify one by a patient's description. It can... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Medical Terminology - When Size Matters
Diseases can often change the size of various body parts. So when doctors need to describe the heart or lungs, or abnormal findings such as tumors by their size, you might think the words "big" and... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
The Many Ways To Say 'Normal'
When you talk with your doctor about your health and medical care, much of the discussion may focus on bothersome symptoms and concerns you have about your health. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Pool Rules: What Your (Public Health) Doctor Is Saying
... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May252009
Understanding Why Your Doctor Might Say No
Did you ever go to a doctor's office with a request and leave without getting what you expected? Perhaps you read a newspaper article describing a treatment studied by a highly reputable academic... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May72009
The Ultimate Natural Remedy
When your doctor recommends a new medication, you know to ask about its risks (side effects) and benefits. But did you know that you should also ask about the risks and benefits of no treatment? In... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar182009
Tech Speak
When your doctor is speaking with you about your health, you'll probably be paying close attention. He or she will try to make sure that the information is clear. But despite this, physicians or... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar182009
Common Versus Rare Conditions
There's a saying among medical trainees that "when your hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras." In other words, something common is more likely to explain an ache, pain or other symptom than... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar182009
Making Sense Of Medical Warnings
Life is full of warnings and, clearly, some are more helpful than others. But warning labels are so common that you may begin ignoring them or you may not notice them at all. Just how should one... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar182009
Medical Doctors Versus Spin Doctors: Sorting Through Conflicting Information
Have you ever noticed that what your doctor says about a medicine is different from what you hear in advertisements or in the news? The differences may be subtle, perhaps the choice of words, or... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar182009
Learning From History
Contrary to the notion that tests provide the most useful information to your doctor, your current symptoms and past information about your health (collectively called the "history") are critically... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
Inflammatory Words
Medical terms can be intimidating. If your doctor tells you that you have a combination of tracheobronchitis, pharyngitis and otitis, it may sound like you have something horrible. But in fact, he or... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
The World Of Syndromes
Have you ever heard of carpal tunnel syndrome? Down syndrome? Chronic fatigue syndrome? The names may be familiar, but did you ever wonder why they are called "syndromes?" Some syndromes carry a... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
Who's Who in Your Health Care, Part 1: In the Hospital
Several years ago, our hospital decided to install white marker boards in every hospital room. The boards were installed so that all the health care professionals’ names could be listed along with... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
The 'Excluding' Language Of Medicine
Did you ever notice that your doctor talks more about conditions you do not have than what you do? ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
Medical Terminology - The Case For Accuracy
The language we use to describe our health is important. It allows us to communicate vital information with others, including health care providers. Yet many terms or phrases that seem... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
Body Language: Telling Your Anterior From Your Posterior
You may have heard the expression used to explain the three rules of real estate: location, location, location. The same expression applies to the specific terms doctors use to describe one body part... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct212008
Describing A Hospital Patient's Condition
A celebrity is sick in the hospital or a shooting victim is rushed to the emergency room. Their condition is reported as “serious” but later upgraded to “fair” or “good.” Did you ever wonder what... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct132008
Name That Disease!
What if you discovered a new disease and were asked to name it? Would you name it after yourself? Would you feel honored if others wanted to name it after you? Or would you prefer to name it after... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct132008
Math In Medicine: Know Your 'Rithmetic
Perhaps you were not convinced. I know I had my doubts. But when my parents told me that the math I was learning in high school would be useful in my everyday adult life, my response was predictable:... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Oct132008
Top Five Digestion Misconceptions
I saw a patient the other day who asked me if it was true that heartburn is just another name for ulcers. As I started to answer, it occurred to me that problems with the digestive system are not... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Sep82008
Symptoms -- Location, Location, Location
When buying or selling a home, they say the three most important things are: Location, location and location. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug122008
Not So Fast: Why Your Doctor Is Skeptical
Perhaps this has happened to you: There's a news report in the paper about a new drug that sounds great, seems safe, works well and is intended for symptoms you have, such as arthritis, heartburn or... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug122008
When the Research Doctor Says, 'More Study Needed'
Have you ever noticed that when medical research is described in the news, the last line is usually a disclaimer about how more research is needed? It sometimes seems surprising given the positive... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug122008
How Your Doctor Looks at Research: the Error Factor
If you look at most medical news stories years later, there is often little to show for them. The latest "groundbreaking research" has gone nowhere and the news has moved on to other "breakthroughs."... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug122008
A Day in the Life
Doctors frequently use medical terminology even when they don't need to. Maybe it's just habit or the need to make the medical record seem more, well, medical. Habits are hard to break, and doctors... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Aug122008
Reading Your Medical Record
In an ideal world, communication occurs in two directions — you tell your doctor about your symptoms, your concerns, your efforts to maintain your health as well as you can, and so on. Your doctor... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
Sometimes It's 'I Don't Know'
I have often heard it said that the number of ways to express a concept tells you how important that concept is. If that's true, the unknown must be quite important in medical practice. If you are a... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
Medical Test Results: Are You Normal, and Is That a Good Thing?
When doctors talk shop, they often use terms to describe an examination or test result by comparing it to "normal." While this might seem straightforward, health care professionals use several... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
The Mystery of the 'Opathies'
Catch your doctor talking to another doctor and you are likely to hear conversation like this: "…she does have type 2 diabetes but no history of nephropathy, retinopathy or neuropathy …." It is the... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
Understanding Your Prescription Slip
Somehow, I never thought to question the assumption that knowing Latin would help me understand medical terms I would need to learn in medical school. So when I got to college, I abandoned the... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
How To Understand When Your Doctor Talks Statistics
... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
When Your Doctor Is Vague
Among the many reasons it may be hard to understand your doctor is one that may surprise you: Doctors sometimes use terms that are intentionally vague. ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
May272008
'Hypo'-thetically Speaking
It is likely that your doctor routinely uses words or phrases when speaking with other doctors that would sound foreign to you unless you have a medical background. Although it might sound like a... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Apr252008
Getting 'Hyper'
Perhaps you have heard the terms "hypertension" or "hyperventilation." These are terms used commonly outside of a doctor's office. But, how about "hyperhidrosis," "hyperemesis" or "hyperthyroidism"?... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Apr132008
Who's Who in Your Health Care, Part 2: Non-M.D.s
If you have ever been a patient, you may have run across a number of people who were not your doctor but played some other role in the delivery of your health care. There is the person at the front... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
Mar132008
'Dys' Can Help You Understand Your Doctor
The language of medicine can be confusing. But sometimes it overlaps considerably with that of everyday communication. The prefix "dys" is a good example. Have you ever heard a relationship described... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
The Many Faces of Heart Disease
"There's something wrong with your heart." ... read more
Category: What Your Doctor Is Saying
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