The uvea makes up the middle part of the eye and includes the iris (eye color ring), ciliary body (eye focusing muscles), and the choroid (blood supply). Uveitis is inflammation of the uvea, and it is associated with up to 10% of visual…

Diverticulosis is a condition where outpouchings form in the intestinal wall, usually involving the left-side of the large intestine, or colon. Risk factors for diverticulosis include being older than 65 years, obesity (body mass index [BMI] of…

Over the years, the nature of lung cancers associated with cigarette smoking has changed. Once, most people who smoked used unfiltered cigarettes which caused the smoker to inhale larger particles that lodged in the main bronchi and caused tumors…

Plastics production and use reached 435 million tons in 2020 (up from 234 million tons in 2000) and by 2040 is expected to further increase by 70%. Plastics are synthetic materials composed of polymers, such as polyester, polyethylene,…

Today’s case study comes from Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan. But before I get to the case, I would like to lay some groundwork. The heart has its own internal pacemaker, known as the sinoatrial node, or SA node. It is located in the…

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S. A bite from infected Ixodes scapularis ticks can transmit the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The first case was reported in 1975 in Lyme,…

Not too long ago, an opinion piece, or oped, ran in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was written by Martin Makary, MD, who was appointed as commissioner of the FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, by President Trump. I…

Sometimes, especially in primary care practices, clinicians are sometimes under pressure to give in to patients’ demands for inappropriate treatment. For example, Mrs. Jones sees her doctor for what the doctor determines to be a common cold. When…

A previously healthy 8-year-old boy was brought to the dermatology clinic with a seven-day history of an itchy rash on his cheeks and a lacy rash on his chest and arms. He reported no recent fever, runny nose, or malaise. On physical examination,…

A healthy 30-year-old man presented to the ophthalmology clinic in Alicante, Spain with a three-day history of recurrent, painful bumps on his left lower eyelid. He reported having annual recurrences of similar lesions at the same site since…