During the fiscal year of 2010, self-referrals amounted to over $109 million dollars in extra payments from Medicare, which equates to approximately 400,000 diagnostic imaging examinations for seemingly arbitrary purposes.
A team of neurologists at UCLA have demonstrated an unsettling link between Parkinson's disease and exposure to a fungicide called benomyl, which was used for decades on wide variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts before being discontinued in 2001.
My biggest concern is that solely focusing on weight impedes the health movement's progress. Such a clinical and quantitative frame gives very little thought to -- and leaves no room for a conversation about -- socio-political and environmental factors that pose a threat to our health.
The surprising revelation in a recent report is that the rising burden of disease is similar among all countries regardless of socioeconomic status, and these increases are in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases, which have historically been considered "Western diseases."
At the population level, epidemic obesity is incontrovertibly established as a clear and all-but-omnipresent danger. It is absurd to suggest otherwise. And it's those who do so -- who play ping-pong with science -- who frighten the hell out of me.
When you go to the doctor, you want to find out what's wrong and how you can get better. In modern-day America, though, what you will get are tests to "rule out" problems rather than figure out what you actually have.
Here are some tips I've offered my clients -- and now you -- to get out of the all-or-nothing mentality and into the mode of setting lifestyle goals that you can actually stick with to help you lead a healthier and more hassle-free life.
Hanging on to a bit more of our money might sound good until the day of reckoning, whenever and however it arrives, when our flight is ending and our landing becomes salient. At that point, we are apt to find ourselves wishing for... a pool.
I am building on the love from my Creator who I chose to call God, who made me and gives me everything I need and more. It is God's love that I will return to again and again in meditation and prayer, when I need love, and when I want to give love.
Happy ever after is possible after all -- if we tally the reasons for it in one another's eyes. And remember why we started to keep that tally. And remember to keep on doing so. And remember to remember.
As Americans ring in the new year, many of us will resolve to get healthy. Meat and poultry producers can help -- by making a resolution to put their farm animals on an antibiotics diet.
There have been 29 mass shootings in the United States between the events of April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School and the Dec. 14, 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I propose these shootings were, in part, a health care issue.
As a man who assumes the community role of a health care provider and the personal role of a chronic hypochondriac, the potential for canines in medical care may just be the last straw I need to finally become the dog owner that I never thought I'd become.
Looking into the future, as a mother, can you imagine Blue Ivy drinking Pepsi over something like Juicy Juice or Pediasure? I doubt it, neither would our first lady.
Are you a lark, someone who likes being up and active in the early morning? Or are you a night owl, someone who tends to wake later and perhaps gains energy and focus as the day progresses, someone who likes to work (and play) in the evening hours?
My opinion is that the next big thing in health promotion will be a rediscovery, and reaffirmation, of the family. Because children and parents shape one another's culture. Because adults and kids will get to health together, or probably not at all. Because in unity, there is strength.
My morning with Ritchie, part of a required residency rotation on addiction, offered a rare glimpse into patients' lives outside hospital walls and the important, if unsettling, work that complements our efforts as physicians.
Self-referral leads to more images, more treatment, more surgeries, etc., and contributes to the escalation in the unsustainable rising health-care costs. It is a vicious cycle. So why not just eliminate self-referral?
I wish Kate Middleton improved symptoms and an easier, safe pregnancy for her and her family. I also hope that someday all expecting women will experience the skilled care and concern that a duchess deserves.
Last year, I wrapped up the year in food and nutrition stories with a detailed chronological summary. This time, I want to highlight four of the year's most significant events in the realm of food, food politics, and nutrition -- and the lessons they imparted.
