Aging places burdens on not just the person getting older, but the family as well. I have been in practice for over 36 years and I have seen many occasions where Grandpa refuses to quit driving even though he gets lost going to the store or gets in accidents. Older drivers comprise 19 percent of licensed drivers in the U.S. Although drivers over the age of 65 are more likely to respect speed limits, wear seatbelts, and avoid alcohol before driving, they are statistically more likely to be involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Drivers older than 75 years experience fatal accidents at rates higher than all other drivers over age 29. That said, studies have shown that older drivers who cease driving are at increased risk of social
Type I Diabetes
Type I diabetes is caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the islets of Langerhans, which are located in the pancreas. This leads to a need to inject insulin in order to survive. Approximately one million to 1.5 million Americans have type I diabetes, making it the second-most-common disease of childhood behind asthma. Despite improvements in care, for example, implanted insulin pumps, most people with it do not achieve the desired glycemic (blood sugar)
Appendicitis During Pregnancy
Abdominal pain during pregnancy is extremely common. Sometimes it can be severe.
How do a woman and her doctors know whether her abdominal pain is due to pregnancy or something else, for example appendicitis? Diagnosing appendicitis in a pregnant woman has always been challenging for a number of reasons. These reasons include the overlap of abdominal pain symptoms between appendicitis and normal pregnancy, the higher likelihood of non-classic symptoms with appendicitis during pregnancy
Heart of The Matter
Implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators are very common these days, but these life-saving devices are very different as are the indications for their use. The heart has its own pacemaker, called the SA node, located in the upper chamber, or atrium. It generates an electrical impulse that causes the atrium, then the ventricle, or lower chamber, to contract, thereby generating a heartbeat. For reasons that are still not clear, the SA node may fail to generate an impulse
Pancreatic Cancer
Thankfully, pancreatic cancer is an uncommon cancer, yet it is the third most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States. That is because it is usually detected after it has spread. The age-adjusted annual incidence is 12.9 cases per 100,000 person-years, however the death rate is 11 deaths per 100,000 person-years. In other words, the prognosis, once it is diagnosed, is poor. Based on a study that ran from 2009 to 2015, the overall five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 9.3
Lou Gehrig’s Disease - ALS
I have been a (long-suffering) Mets' fan since the team began. But unlike most Yankees' fans who hate the Mets, I don’t hate the Yankees, I just don’t watch them. But as a baseball fan, I do marvel at the rich history of the Yankees' teams and their great players like Ruth, Maris, Mantle, and Jackson. And of course, the colorful characters like Billy Martin. One of their greatest was “The Iron Man,” Lou Gehrig, who played his last game 80 years ago. He played 2,130 consecutive games from 1925
Steroids And Side Effects
Corticosteroid medications, often just called steroids by clinicians and patients, are used to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system. They are associated with many side effects, some of them serious. Corticosteroids are the synthetic version of cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal glands (the adrenal glands are located on top of both kidneys). These steroids are different from synthetic versions of the human steroid testosterone, which are called anabolic steroids and are
