Learning About Lou Gehrig, his Diagnosis, Disability and Pride
Once the athlete acknowledges his limitations, he is treated kindly and generously by his manager, teammates and fans.
What Not to Wear In the Hospital While Recovering From a Stroke
Today’s Annals of Internal Medicine includes new results for the CLOTS (Clots in Legs Or sTockings after Stroke) Trial. Not-quite acronyms aside, it’s an interesting study with implications for many patients at risk for deep venous thrombosis (DVT). This U.K.-based study, involving 3114 patients in 112 hospitals in 9 countries, used ultrasound to evaluate possible […]
Notes on Oliver Sacks, on Prosopagnosia
Unabashedly, Sacks details his own mishaps in recognizing people he’s met and finding his way; it’s a life-long, inherited affliction that requires he remember individuals by things other than
On Patient Empowerment and Autonomy
…I think the answer is inherent in the goal of being engaged, and that has to do with the concept of patient autonomy – what’s essentially the capacity of a person to live and make decisions according to one’s own set of knowledge, goals and values.
Autonomy in medicine, which borders on the empowerment idea, can be an aim in itself, and therefore valuable regardless of any measured outcome.
On Sergey’s Search (for a Cure for Parkinson’s Disease)
…This goes well beyond a new approach to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
This story, largely based in genomics and computational advances, reflects the power of the human mind, how the gifted son of two mathematicians who fell into a particular medical situation, can use his brains, intellectual and financial resources, and creativity, to at least try to make a difference.