KevinMD.com

Dementia prevention: what’s proven and what’s still a hunch

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000

When patients tell me they’re afraid of getting dementia, I don’t hand them a book of crossword puzzles and wish them luck. I ask three questions. What are you willing to do? What risks will you accept? How much not-knowing can you live with? For the man who watched his father stop recognizing his own

How HPV self-collection could close cervical screening gaps

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Cervical cancer screening rates have declined over the last 25 years in spite of innovation in vaccines and screening tools. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations are extremely effective at preventing this form of cancer, as almost all cervical cancers are linked to persistent infections of HPV. Equally important in the effort to eliminate this disease are

Doctors are told to push through. For addiction, that can be deadly. [PODCAST]

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 00:00:44 +0000

Listen and followApple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeMore apps · Browse all episodes Medicine rewards pushing through, but for a doctor with an addiction, pushing through can be deadly. Anthony Grandelis is an OB/GYN hospitalist in New York City and a physician in recovery from addiction. This episode is based on his article “The danger of worshipping resilience in

Turf wars in medicine and the anesthesiologist’s next skill

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 20:00:00 +0000

In this age of artificial intelligence, the relevance of each medical specialty is shifting and uncertain. From here on, medical specialists will have to weigh the relevance of: Training and certification in their own specialties Licensing and credentialing to practice and bill as experts in those specialties The growing need to learn and practice skills

Alan P. Feren, MD, on patient advocacy: a KevinMD subscriber spotlight

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Alan P. Feren, MD, is a retired surgeon, independent physician, health care consultant, and patient advocate with more than 50 years in clinical practice, system leadership, and health care innovation. He has published 18 essays on KevinMD since April 2025, one of them with patient advocate Joyce Griggs, and has been a guest on The

Polio vaccine history and the paradox of cleaner living

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 14:00:00 +0000

An excerpt from Your Immune System: The Amazing Science of Who You Are. Polio is a viral disease of the nervous system. It attacks people of all ages, but children and young adults are disproportionately affected. Like many other viral diseases, polio starts with nonspecific symptoms, like headache, fever, sore throat, vomiting, and diarrhea. These

Why TMS targets now differ for depression, OCD, and anxiety

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000

For most of its history, psychiatry has treated the brain as a chemical soup, adjusting neurotransmitters and waiting weeks to see whether anything changed. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) represents a different idea: that mental illness lives in specific, dysfunctional circuits, and that those circuits can be targeted directly. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Medical jargon that means something else to patients

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Four words of mine sent a woman into a hospital hallway to find out whether her father was dying. Every one of them was true. I found her there an hour later, phone 6 inches from her face, the search box readable over her shoulder. Shadow on lung. The results were what you would expect.

How the 764 network pushes kids to self-harm, and the signs doctors miss [PODCAST]

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:27 +0000

Listen and followApple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeMore apps · Browse all episodes An online network is coercing children into hurting themselves, and the warning signs are easy to miss. Matthew Turner is an emergency medicine physician, and Dana Grueser is a parent advocate. This episode is based on their article “The 764 network warning signs clinicians miss,” published

Plaque in arteries grows inside the wall, not on it

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 21:00:00 +0000

I’m sick of seeing this cartoon in my Apple News feed. You know the one. A bright red artery lined with yellow globs of cholesterol, with a few red blood cells squeezing through what’s left of the opening. It looks like someone poured bacon grease down the kitchen sink. There it was again this week,

Why your calf muscles are called a second heart

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 20:00:00 +0000

The evolution of walking on two feet freed our hands, but it also created a challenge for our circulation. Located far from the heart, the calf muscles help push blood upward against gravity. Vascular specialists sometimes call the calf muscle pump a “second heart.” Yet despite using these muscles thousands of times a day, most

Why your calf muscles are called a second heart originally appeared in KevinMD.com.

How to use AI without losing your clinical judgment

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 19:00:00 +0000

In emergency medicine, sequence is half the job. Airway before breathing. Check the glucose before you call it a stroke. I’ve come to believe AI at the bedside needs the same kind of ordering rule, and mine is short: Commit before you consult. Write your own assessment and plan first. Then open the AI. Then

Why women in medicine can’t follow a blueprint built for men

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Ladies, we have been building our careers based off of a blueprint never meant for us. We were told we could have a fulfilling lifelong career in medicine, just like physicians have been doing for a millennium. This blueprint was designed for a different gender. I offer you the alternative “pink-print” for women in medicine;

Hospital staff retention depends on friendship, not just pay

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 17:00:00 +0000

In November 2026, headlines about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s public apology for infidelity turned a private relationship into an international conversation. The separate corporate investigation has its own questions, and allegations must not be mistaken for conclusions. But I found myself thinking about something smaller and more familiar: the conversations that happen in a hospital

What practicing medicine with limited resources taught me

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Medicine teaches us to look for answers. We are trained to order the appropriate investigation, obtain the necessary imaging, consult the relevant specialist, and use the available evidence to reach a diagnosis and treatment plan. But what happens when some of those options simply aren’t available? As a young physician practicing in Uganda, I have

How to judge the clinical utility of a new lab test

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Far too many laboratory tests are accurate, reproducible, and supported by strong research, yet never reach the patients who could benefit from them. Why? Because demonstrating that a test works is only the beginning. Making it useful in the real world requires solving a different set of problems. I’m a molecular biologist who has spent

Wisdom teeth removal with Medicaid can mean a 3-hour drive

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 14:00:00 +0000

As a general dentist who recently began practicing in Illinois, I care for Medicaid patients and perform third molar extractions. Some of the most meaningful moments in this work happen before the procedure begins, when patients explain what it took to find care before I started working here. Some patients have told me they previously

A specialty pharmacy refill stalls. Who tells the doctor?

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Imagine a patient with rheumatoid arthritis calling her pharmacy liaison on Thursday. She usually receives a 30-day supply of her medication by mail. Her last shipment contained less. She has enough through Sunday. The liaison checks the refill status and sends the coverage question to a patient support advocate. She tells the advocate when the

Medical practice financial management needs a monthly close

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Fall is decision season in physician practices. A senior partner starts talking about retirement. The practice considers adding an associate. Someone raises a second location. The clinical side of these decisions gets careful attention. The financial side often runs on a feeling. That feeling usually comes from the bank balance. The bank balance is not

Why PCOS may start in the brain, not the ovary [PODCAST]

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 00:00:18 +0000

Listen and followApple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeMore apps · Browse all episodes A hormone doctors use to estimate how many eggs remain may also be acting on the brain. Oluyemisi Famuyiwa is a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist. This episode is based on her article “The brain signal that drives polycystic ovary syndrome,” published on KevinMD. You will