Why You Should Still Be Thinking About Bisphenol A (#BPA)
The concerning news about ongoing Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure in the US population continues to come from a variety of sources, including an editorial in the Huffington Post (1).
BPA is an organic compound used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, and has been used in a wide variety of consumer products, from baby bottles to cash register receipt coatings. Concerns about the health effects of BPA started to appear in 2007 , and in 2010 Canada declared BPA a toxic substance. BPA is known to have estrogenic activity, which can disrupt the body’s own hormonal systems.
BPA is… Continue reading
Integrative approaches to sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis
Andrew Weil, M.D. interviewed Dr. Abramson for an article on drweil.com on 10/14/2011.
Question:
“My husband has been diagnosted with sclerosing cholangitis and ulcerative colitis. What supplements or nutritional approaches could help him?”
Answer:
Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic, progressive disorder that causes inflammation, scarring and damage to the bile ducts inside and outside the liver. If these changes block the flow of bile, the liver and gallbladder can be damaged, leading over time to liver failure. The cause is unknown.
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that usually accompanies primary sclerosing cholangitis. Continue reading
The Quant Doctor’s Nightstand
(http://quantdoctor NULL.com/2011/09/17/the-quant-doctors-nightstand/)
The latest post from my self-tracking blog: The Quantified Doctor, describing some of the devices we’re testing to see how they can empower patients take control of their own health.
These include BodyTrack, Zeo, Bodymedia, Withings, Emwave, and others.
While the devices are fun and interesting, what’s more interesting is the increased self-awareness and insight that can come from self-tracking.
Click here to read “The Quant Doctor’s Nightstand” from quantdoctor.com (http://quantdoctor NULL.com/2011/09/17/the-quant-doctors-nightstand/).
Remote Medical Care for International #Travel? Can I have a physician on call?
I was interviewed for an article on Dr. Andrew Weil’s drweil.com:
“Yes, it is possible to arrange remote medical consultation while you’re traveling abroad. I discussed your question with Paul Abramson, M.D (http://mydoctorsf NULL.net/blog/our-doctors/)., an integrative medical doctor and travel medicine specialist in San Francisco who is a graduate Senior Fellow of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine (http://integrativemedicine NULL.arizona NULL.edu/). He told me that a variety of services are available via e-mail, telephone or Skype. They vary in scope, cost and the kinds of assistance provided.
Dr. Abramson said that one option is to find a travel medicine… Continue reading
Why I book flights with Dr. in front of my name – NYT interview featuring Paul Abramson MD
Exerpt from “When Doctors are Called to the Rescue in Midflight” in the New York Times, May 24, 2011, by Katie Hafner:
Since the earliest days of commercial aviation, airlines have coped with medical emergencies in flight by calling on physicians who happen to be passengers. And as more people travel by air, the number of emergencies has risen accordingly. [...]
But physicians who get a firsthand look at the kits say the contents vary.
“With some planes, it’s a hospital in a box, and they have everything you could ever want,” said Dr. Paul Abramson, a primary care… Continue reading
How to stay healthy when traveling abroad; via @drweil #travel #health
I was interviewed for an article on Dr. Andrew Weil’s drweil.com:
I am planning a trip to sub-Saharan Africa next year. I understand I will need to get some vaccines. How do I find out which ones? Do I really have to have the shots? What other health risks should I be concerned about? And what medications apart from my prescriptions do you suggest I take with me?
International travel, especially to developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, can offer great experiences, but can also present a variety of health risks. You might prepare by consulting a… Continue reading
Anatomy of a hospital ‘bounce-back’ #preventreadmissions
Published at Fierce Healthcare on March 5, 2010
As a physician who works as a hospitalist and a primary-care doctor, I understand the complexity of discharging a patient from the hospital, and all the moving pieces that must come together to successfully transition a patient back to the outpatient setting. If even one link in the chain fails, a patient often ends up back in the emergency department and/or readmitted to the hospital as, in hospital-speak, a “bounce-back.”
These readmissions are like a canary in a coal mine, alerting us that our hospital-outpatient continuum is seriously disconnected and dysfunctional. And… Continue reading
Reconnecting #healthcare through health information exchange #HIE
Published at Hospital Impact on September 15, 2010
The clinical scenario is familiar to many doctors.
An elderly man arrives at California Pacific Medical Center’s emergency department in San Francisco at 11 p.m. on a Saturday by ambulance, unconscious and severely ill. A neighbor had called 911 after he failed to answer the phone or door. No friends or relatives are available, and the man has never visited this emergency department before.
The treating doctors must start from scratch to diagnose and treat this patient, with no knowledge of his other physicians, past medical history, medications, or previous medical care.… Continue reading
The case of the $517 chest x-ray #healthcare #prices
Part 1 in a Series. So the story goes like this. A patient of mine needed a chest x-ray. He doesn’t have health insurance, so rather than just give him a requisition and send him to the local hospital, I decided to do a little calling around on his behalf to find out what the damage would be…
Vendor #1: A well-known local hospital
I called up the radiology department and asked them how much a PA and Lateral Chest X-ray would cost. “I don’t know – we don’t have that information” I was told by the clerk. The radiologist… Continue reading
