The Now-That-Hurts Winner of the week: anesthesia causes you pain. We’re not talking about that tube in the throat, or the botched IV. Instead, it’s more like what if your anesthesiologist asked you, “How would you like your chili-pepper powder? Blown down your lungs or directly stinging by vein?” That’s right - the type of [...]

Feel the island breeze? Got that scratchy sand feeling between your toes? If so, that means you’re ready for a great beach read - and here is it, thanks to Dr. David Khorram over at Marianas Eye. He’s hosting this week’s Grand Rounds with a tropical theme from Saipan. What makes a good beach read? [...]

This is a public service announcement: To our viewing audience - stay tuned while we attempt to reanimate your host. Doc Gurley learned today that Dave Barry (himself!) answered two (count them, two) of her Dave Barry for President Forum questions, and, faced with a double Dave, she did what any self-respecting fan possessing a [...]

It’s that time of year again - when we can take simple steps to prevent West Nile disease. So why don’t more of us do it? Could it be that many of us are Living in the Land of West Denial? The unfortunate truth is that the West Nile virus has quickly spread across most [...]

This is why reasonable people tear their hair out. Reuters has announced that the World Health Organization did something HUGE about the high cost of patented drugs for developing countries - we’re talking a major breakthrough, baby, this is the Godzilla of international agreements, crushing special interests underfoot, but heart-warming too, you know? It’s like [...]

There are a lot of not-so-great health articles floating in the ether. It’s so nice when one comes along that’s well-researched, practical and interesting. Here’s a great article about (hic!), you guessed it - hiccups. Hiccups aren’t the world’s #1 public health menace (that would be, apparently, computer keyboards), but this article is so full [...]

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the conflicting stories in the news about what pan is safe to use? Are you starting to eyeball that plastic waterbottle of yours like it might contain a Medici poisoning? Was the homeless man actually right - is aluminum foil causing brainwaves? Would someone please answer the question - is [...]

The words just don’t want to come out of my mouth - hang on a sec while I give my chest a thump - okay, here goes: It’s time for all of us to stand up for our local smokers’ rights. See, I’m passionately anti-tobacco. I watched cigarettes kill my dad. I see patients struggle [...]

All you need is a cup of tea! This week’s Grand Rounds of the best of the health blogosphere is at Women’s Health News. Ms. Walden did the kind of witty, clear, and compelling summary that only a medical librarian (instead of we mere mortals) could hope to achieve. The bar has been set high! [...]

In a sad follow-up to the Doc Gurley article, Is Your Medicine Contaminated?, independent authorities have now increased the number of deaths due to contaminated heparin from 19 to over 100. The manufacturer, Baxter, hopes we’ll believe claims there were only 4 (not a big surprise to those of us who are familiar with drug [...]

I’ll bet some of you regular Doc Gurley readers already guessed that we’d be handing out a BOGUS Award to that widely-publicized example of deeply flawed research–the study stating that you can tell if someone’s into love or lust, purely from their facial features. Slut or not? - just look at the width of her [...]

With both David Paterson and his wife now admitting to having extramarital affairs, you have to wonder, what’s the difference between him and Eliot Spitzer. I mean, except for some measly “victimless” laws. After all, of the many, many things you can cuddle up to and get off on, the one thing we here in [...]

This year brought the deflating news that Daylight Saving Time (where we lose an oh-so-painful hour of sleep) doesn’t even save energy. Looks like the savings in energy due to decreased light usage is more than offset by the increase in energy used for air conditioning. Sigh. But here’s the most important message to keep [...]

Grim news for those people continuing to suffer from Hurricane Katrina–tests show that the FEMA trailers have high levels of formaldehyde, with the CDC urging FEMA to move families out of the trailers as soon as possible. This Newsweek article is a review of the issue. Unfortunately, no one seems to be rushing to answer [...]

Perhaps it is the fact that the Elton John song by this title is acted out by writhing cartoon animals, but Doc Gurley has always found the phrase “Can you feel the love tonight?” somewhat clinically disturbing. What if you can’t? Are we talking a sudden neuroparesis with selective sensory loss that paradoxically maintains motor [...]

More heartbreak. The New York City Coroner announced today that Heath Ledger’s death was an accidental overdose. The word accidental is insider code for the fact that none of the blood levels of any one of his medicines was high enough to mean that Heath Ledger tried to kill himself–they were all in the range [...]

You’d almost think this article was a follow-up to a Doc Gurley post titled 10 Creative Ways To Get Your Doctor To Wash His Hands. Read the article if you want a review of the issue of doctors and handwashing (or lack thereof). Read the Doc Gurley November 16 post if you want a quirky [...]

It is with a heavy and broken heart (yes, both—imagine a massive boulder, pounded into bits of sand, then put in very large plastic bags and doused with water, rendering the bag so heavy that if you try to lift one, the plastic just stretches and tears—that heavy), that I am forced to concede, nay, [...]

1) Giving thanks improves your mood and your quality of life, both of which have a tremendous positive impact on your health. Seems like a cheat, doesn’t it, but who am I to question? We can give thanks for gratitude.
2) You can bulk up in your geriatric years. It’s never too late to start. No [...]

Are you worried about catching the horrifying MRSA super-bug when you go see the doctor? I’m embarrassed, as a physician, to say that there are legitimate reasons to be worried. Doctors actually do a bad job of washing their hands, with observed rates of hand-washing in the ICU as low as 28% (urg). On average, [...]