Pterygium

 
This 45 year old man came to his doctor about a triangular shape growth in the inside corner of both eyes.  It had been present for a long time but seemed to be increasing.  There was no pain, no discharge and no visual problem.  The internal eye exam was normal.  What is the diagnosis?
These common conjunctival growths are called a pterygium (pronounced "teryjium").  We don't know what causes

Stop Unnecessary Medicare Tests

We are in a time when  Medicare is bankrupt and the GOP wants to privatize it and make seniors go to the open market to get insurance. Even the idea that we would dismantle this important social benefit is shocking yet everyone knows we have to bring costs under control.  So now we find that hundreds of hospitals (and radiologists)  in the United States are performing unnecessary CT scans on both

Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part VI

Reward Centers can Modify the Body Fat Setpoint

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (chemical that signals between neurons) that is a central mediator of reward and motivation in the brain.  It has been known for decades that dopamine injections into the brain suppress food intake, and that this is due primarily to its action in the hypothalamus, which is the main region that regulates body fatness (1).  Dopamine-producing neurons from reward centers contact neurons in the hypothalamus that regulate body fatness (2).  I recently came across a paper by a researcher named Dr. Hanno Pijl, from Leiden University in the Netherlands (3).  The paper is a nice overview of the evidence linking dopamine signaling with body fatness via its effects on the hypothalamus, and I recommend it to any scientists out there who want to read more about the concept.
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No Advantage for Screening Ovarian Cancer

There were 21,880 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in the United States in 2010 and it is the 5th leading cause of cancer death among women.   Women are understandably afraid of ovarian cancer because there are usually no early warning symptoms and when discovered,  the disease is often advanced, difficult to treat and highly lethal. A large and well run study, reported at the American

Sunburned Feet

As a follow up to my last blog, check out these sunburned feet from a friend vacationing in Southern California.  Ouch.  Feet are especially sensitive because men wear socks all the time and they never get sun exposure.  Another worrisome area is the head, especially with a bald spot.  Don't let a sunburn ruin your vacation.  Prevention is the key.

Sunburn

Summer is here and this is the time for sunburn because people are so happy to be on vacation or out in the sun, they underestimate how much sun their sensitive skin can tolerate.  Sunburn is caused by UV radiation actually burning and damaging the cells of the skin.  While fair skin is more likely to burn, even people with darker skin can be easily sunburned if they are getting sun during the

Vitamin D Improves COPD

I am frequently extolling the health benefits of Vitamin D because almost weekly there is a new study that correlates high vitamin D levels with reducing some disease.  The latest is from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and research shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation improved respiratory muscle strength in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary