Obesity and Cancer

I recently blogged about the obesity rate—although it is still rising, the rise is slowing. Still, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that obesity rate will be 42 percent by the year 2030. That spells trouble. Another recent CDC report on cancer highlights...

Antibiotic Overuse in Children

In pediatric medicine, antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed medications, with more than 30 million prescriptions written each year. A recent study analyzed antibiotic prescribing patterns in outpatient visits in the United States between 2006 and 2008....

Antibiotics, Probiotics or Both for C. diff?

On May 27, 2011 a New York Times article reports that Sherwood Gorbach, a 71 year doctor, has been instrumental in the development of a new antibiotic, Dificid, also known as fidaxomicin, for treating C. difficle (C. diff) diarrhea. Dr. Gorbach spent most of his...

Take Control of Your Health

A recent national survey of doctors and hospitalized patients found that only 48% of patients said they were involved in decisions about their treatment. What’s even more alarming, 29% didn’t know who was in charge of their case while they were hospitalized. This got...