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July 30, 2009

Echo-Location In Humans Can Be Learned/Taught!

In the March/April 2009 edition of Acta Acustica Journal, a research paper by Spanish scientists entitled " Physical Analysis of Several Organic Signals for Human Echolocation: Oral Vacuum Pulses " was published. This research has shown scientifically that human beings can develop echolocation, the system of acoustic signals used by dolphins and bats to explore their surroundings. Producing certain kinds of tongue clicks helps people to identify objects around them without needing to …
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July 28, 2009

Distortion of Risk Assessment for Surgical Complications

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net Over time and experience as well as being exposed to some pop psychology by the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Nassim Taleb, Ori & Rom Brafman, Robert Krulwich, Jad Abumrad, among others, I have realized that patients assess surgical risk in very different ways with most using irrational considerations. Too often, physicians use statistics, numbers, and facts to counsel patients on risk whether it be surgical or some other medical i…
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July 27, 2009

Washington Post: Perfect Pitch CAN Be Taught?!!

There is a fascinating article in the July 27, 2009 edition of the Wasington Post on page A8 entitled " An Elusive Musical Gift Could Be at Children's Fingertips ." This article elucidates a technique to teach any child to have perfect pitch, the ability to identify a note simply by hearing it. The technique is called "Eguchi Method" and developed by Kazuko Eguchi who developed it 40 years ago in Japan. In essence, the technique, in order to be successful, must start bef…
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July 26, 2009

Physician On-Call Communication System for Free! Thanks Google!

Since 2008, many patients in our practice are quite surprised when they actually reach a physician directly when they call our after-hours number. What the patients don't realize is that our practice is also quite happy with this set-up! Why? Well, that after-hours number is actually a Google Voice number and it provides amazing functionality that is FREE that would have costed us thousands of dollars otherwise. Using Google Voice, the after-hours number can be forwarded to any physician w…
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Needle Biopsy of Thyroid Masses Misidentifies 50% of Thyroid Cancers!

Surgeons at the University of Wisconsin found that fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in 26 of 52 FNAB reported as benign (50.0%) turned out to be either neoplastic (22) or malignant (4) on final pathologic analysis after thyroidectomy . Among patients with nondiagnostic FNAB results, the risk of malignant neoplasms was 27.3%. Even for smaller thyroid masses , FNAB is still not 100% accurate with a falsely negative rate of around 10% . Why is that? Well, one must keep in mind that the…
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July 19, 2009

Would You Find or Share Your Health Info Online?

In the August 2009 issue of US News & World Report (America's Best Hospitals 2009 Issue), there was an interesting article regarding use of the internet in order to obtain as well as share health information. This article was based on research entitled " The Social Life of Health Information " conducted by the Pew Internet Project and the California Healthcare Foundation. Some interesting statistics mentioned: • 61% of American adults look online for health information. • 86%…
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LA Times: Blood Tests for Food Allergies are Often Inaccurate & Misleading

On July 20, 2009, the LA Times came out with two articles discussing food allergy testing... and how often they provide misleading information leading to patient actions that are quite simply wrong. Specifically regarding RAST food testing... Most people will come back showing some IgE food reactivity even if they are not allergic to that food. As such, patients based on these tests, limit their diets unnecessarily. Even if a patient is truly allergic, the severity can not be predicted by the R…
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July 13, 2009

New Webpage on Vocal Cord Surgery

A new webpage has been posted on vocal cord surgery to remove vocal cord masses including polyps, cysts, papillomas, varix, nodules, etc. The webpage goes over 3 main approaches to removing vocal cord masses and it behooves any patients considering this surgery to educate themselves in what exactly is involved. Videos of the different surgical approaches are also included. Read more here .
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July 10, 2009

Washington Post Medical Mystery: Pulsatile Tinnitus (Noises in the Ear)

The Washington Post on July 7, 2009 published a story on a lawyer who suffered from pulsatile tinnitus (hearing one's heartbeat in the ear) which was ultimately found to be due to a carotid artery dissection. A carotid artery dissection could have resulted in a serious ischemic stroke which thankfully did not happen. The story goes thru his experiences in trying to find a diagnosis and treatment. Keep in mind that pulsatile tinnitus is completely different from continuous tinnitus. …
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July 08, 2009

July 04, 2009

NYT Article on Reflux (and NOT the Acid Kind)

A patient brought to my attention the other day that there was an article in the NYT on June 29, 2009 regarding non-acid reflux . Overall, the article is good, but readers should keep in mind that heartburn and other symptoms below the shoulders may NOT be present! Furthermore, the usual reflux medications may not work. Read the NYT article here . Read more about reflux here .
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RANDOM: Michelangelo's David Statue Has a Goiter???

So, I was looking at a picture of The David statue by Michelangelo standing in front of the Palazzo Vecchio when I noticed something on the neck... a bulge just off the midline and below the thyroid cartilage. Could it be a thyroid goiter or mass ? If David was alive today, I most definitely would obtain a thyroid ultrasound and perhaps a fine needle aspirate if a nodule was found. Thyroid cancer would be the concern I would counsel David about. Read more about the surgery  here  or  wa…
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July 03, 2009

Best Cell Phones for People Who Wear Hearing Aids

As wireless carriers move from analog to digital services, accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing is a concern. Digital technology means more features and improved efficiency—but some digital phones can cause interference for hearing aid users. Both ATT and Verizon have webpages that list cell phones that are compatible with hearing aids as well as give ratings on the level of compatibility. Such compatibility ratings are M- and T-Ratings. The higher the M- or T-Ratings, the better …
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iPods & Other Music Devices Can Cause Permanent Hearing Loss!

The Washington Post wrote up a nice article regarding the increased risk of permanent hearing loss kids these days may suffer due to listening to music devices too loudly. Such noise-induced hearing loss also increases the risk of tinnitus (ringing of the ears). The key things to easily remember to ensure proper music volume is: 1) If people around you can hear the music you are listening to, it's too loud. 2) If you can't hear what people are saying while listening to music, it&#…
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July 02, 2009

Allergy/Pollen Tracker for Your iPhone

I was amazed to find that there are a few programs out there for the iPhone that provides allergy count information as well as forecasts... at last check, there are 4 main ones in the app store on iTunes. Some are rated highly and others not so high. I'm not going to go too much into the description and ratings as this info can be easily found on the iTunes app store. Links are provided. The most highly rated application I found is called Zyrtec AllergyCast and is FREE! Another fairly new b…
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