Blog—Educational

I recently posted some information about the recent changes to the guidelines for prescribing Statin drugs.  Here is a summary: Previously, clinicians were treating to lower LDL cholesterol levels to the recommended targets.  However with the recent update clinicians are now recommended to determine whether a patient falls into one of these four high-risk groups.…

El Camino Hospital in Silicon Valley have instituted an automatic ordering for probiotics any time a certain class of antibiotics are requested from the pharmacy.  This is in light of the more recent data that has been published showing the benefits probiotics when on antibiotics, in order to reduce the risk if diarrhea and colitis.…

Sometimes patients ask how will the bone grafted area look afterwards.  We often “graft” the area after the removal of an infected tooth or cyst.  We always attempt to buildup the destroyed bone during the same procedure using different types of grafting material, even including stem cells.  In order to protect the grafted material, we…

A recent study in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) is finding a cardioprotective benefit from total hip and knee replacement! As you may know, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world., with an estimated 17.3 million deaths each year.  There are several factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as:…

Many of my fellow colleagues can attest to the fact that we are routinely asked by patients to be placed on antibiotics because they think they are infected.  But as physicians we have the duty  to weight both the benefits and risks of this decision.  Contrary to the common belief, antibiotics are not without risks…

Had patient recently that presented to my office for a consultation regarding facial pain but then I notices a peculiar lesion on the face…dermatology consult —> melanoma!  I was shocked.  So I decided to read up the latest in this disease and came across a recent article linking alcohol consumption and skin cancer in women.…

I am sure many of you have noticed that Statins, or better known as cholesterol-lowering drugs, have been all over the news recently….but you may ask why? How appropriate, especially after the gluttony of thanksgiving.  So let’s talk about the recent interest in Statins… A recent JAMA (Journal of American Medical Assoc.) article outlined the…