“Yellow jaundice”, a redundant phrase that literally means “yellow yellow,” is a sign of a very sick liver. I recall a patient of mine, a quiet woman with chronic hepatitis C infection who visited me looking like a lemon. As I examined her...
Technology Doesn’t Heal Us, Even in the Movies
Futuristic movies with medical scenes have one thing in common: cool technology that can diagnose and cure all of humanity’s disease woes. Is movie magic a sneak peek of medicine to come? No. If disease understanding continues to depend on...
Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Junket…or Junk it?
In 2015, I was struggling to escape my education to find new ways of thinking about the chronic disease problem. At the time, my colleague Steve Best and I were meeting regularly to free-associate and follow our trains of thought as they wandered...
The Hills of My Village
Sometimes, there are hills around the village, where I live. On certain days, there they are, surrounding us – sheltering, like a giant cradle; on other days they’re not there at all. As long as I can remember, I have wondered how this...
What Happened to Healing?
Today’s Perspective When a patient comes to me with a health complaint, I listen. When it’s my turn to impart advice on what to do about the patient’s problem, what are the tools in my proverbial doctor’s bag? When it comes to chronic diseases like...