Summer is fun, but it isn’t without hazards. In fact, a surprising number of people become ill or are injured during the summer months....
Summer diseases – Shelby Sun
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Shelby Sun
American Cancer Society Reaffirms the Benefits Of Mammography – Shelby Sun
October is national breast cancer awareness month and October 17 is mammography day. If you are confused about the screening...
www.mypyramid.gov – an awesome resource – Shelby Sun
It’s very likely that you have visited the new food pyramid website, www.mypyramid.gov. How do I know? Because, the site was clogged for...
Mark your calendar – Flu shot – Shelby Sun
On Monday you have a hair salon appointment, on Wednesday it’s dinner at Martha’s place and Friday morning is your flu shot appointment at...
The world is flatter and fatter – Shelby Sun
The obesity pandemic – slowly and silently – is killing more people in the world than the bird flu may ever kill. In United...
Medicare drug bill – a step towards privatization of Medicare – Shelby Sun
The Medicare legislation being voted on by Congress this week hopes to bring the greatest change to Medicare in its 40 year history. The...
Meditation – not just for the mind! – Shelby Sun
Last week I attended a talk by Dr. Herb Smith a former Rhodes College psychology professor. He was teaching meditation. I am often asked ,...
Diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease – Shelby Sun
Last week, at a breakfast meeting Governor Mike Huckabee spoke about his personal battle and victory over diabetes. As the talk was...
Dehydration from Bright Lights and Bright Sun – Shelby Sun
When Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, the newly crowned Miss. Universe, fainted on stage, she was likely squeezed by her tight dress and dehydrated...
Improving Care for Sepsis Patients – Shelby Sun
A visit to the hospital can be traumatizing. Even more traumatizing can be when the team of doctors and nurses are not coordinated in the...
Sticking to It – Shelby Sun
When Ms. Landers, a 30 year old HIV positive patient, comes to my office and is failing on her HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral...
Time for a check up – Shelby Sun
The odometer on my Toyota Avalon just passed 100,000 and soon the “check engine” light went on. It was a reminder that I needed to take my...
To eat or not to eat: Spinach – Shelby Sun
Last week while having dinner at a hospital board meeting at the Peabody, I wondered if I should eat the salad – especially the spinach....
Meningitis Vaccine for Teenagers – Shelby Sun
Our pediatrician poked a pen in my teenage daughter’s arm and said “That’s how much it will hurt, or I will give you ten dollars” He was...
Memphis – First in Addressing Childhood Obesity – Shelby Sun
Who would have imagined that the first interactive national conversation on childhood obesity would begin in Memphis? But that is what is...
Norfleet Forum- Focuses on Diabetes and Obesity – Shelby Sun
For several months I have been on the planning committee for the Norfleet Forum, which is an annual meeting in Memphis of health care...
Only in America …dietary guidelines – Shelby Sun
Only in America do we order a big double cheese burger, large fries and a diet coke from the drive-through and the government tells us...
Patients and Family are Part of the Healthcare Team – Shelby Sun
Few weeks ago my wife, also a physician, and I attended a medical seminar on teamwork. A Navy pilot, Steve Harden, was teaching us...
Feel the power of prayer – Shelby Sun
Last month I spoke to students at Rhodes College on “Does Prayer Really Work?”. I am not a preacher or a pastor but a doctor. Why would a...
The ballooning cost of prescription medications – Shelby Sun
Nearly 84% of the elderly take a prescription medication regularly. Each year we pay 10% to 17% more than the previous year for our...
Giving Thanks for Health – Shelby Sun
On Thanksgiving Day we had a gathering of family and friends for a feast. Before the meal we all prayed together and then one by one- old...
A can a day will keep fitness away – Shelby Sun
It’s 7th grade math. One 12 ounce can of soda has 150 calories. There are 365 days in a year. One can of soda per day will add 54,750...
Remembering the mad cow disease epidemic of 1990s – Shelby Sun
History repeats itself, and so do epidemics. Yet, over time we have become better prepared to handle epidemics. Before the holidays, when...
Aspirin the wonder drug – Shelby Sun
Have you ever wondered how the wonder drug works? What magic does aspirin have that allows it to reduce pain and fever, save 110,000 lives...
Canadian drugs for Seniors – Shelby Sun
My dad gets his beta blocker (high blood pressure medicine) from overseas, but my wife insists on carrying an entire course of antibiotics...
When patients and doctors don’t agree… – Shelby Sun
Mrs. Johnson refused to have her second leg amputated. She lay on the hospital bed with her one prosthetic leg leaning against the wall,...
Travelers Beware – Shelby Sun
“We should go to Africa for our next vacation.” said my friend. “Africa?” I questioned. Imagining exotic diseases, I shuddered at the...
What to do – I got the flu? – Shelby Sun
You have a fever of 100 degrees and a runny nose, but you still manage to go to work. So you think you have the flu? Nope. You don’t...
Resistant Staph Infections Disguised as Spider Bites – Shelby Sun
Mrs. Scott insisted she had been bitten by a spider as she caressed a deep ulcer on her right thigh.” “Did you see the spider?” I asked....
Education of mothers helps reduces infant mortality – Shelby Sun
Last week I along with several of my public health colleagues sat with Governor Bredesen during lunch. He pointed to us and asked “I need...
Herbal Therapy and the Common Cold – Shelby Sun
As a doctor I rarely recommend herbal or alternative therapy for the common cold to my patients, but as a parent I use it all the time....
Covering my Behind – Shelby Sun
It is not the calls from patients or the hospitals that keep doctors awake at night, but it is the risk of a potential malpractice...
Eating Soy Foods Can Reduce Bone Fractures – Shelby Sun
In our society soy foods do not get special preference, in fact some people find them disgusting. However, a recent study that showed that...
Cell Phones Don’t Cause Tumors, But They Do Cause Accidents – Shelby Sun
My brother called me several months ago and asked, “do you know if cell phones cause brain tumors?” He was calling from his cell phone...
Holiday Candies Expanding Waistlines – Shelby Sun
Each fall Halloween kicks off the candy eating season- still to come are Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentines Day. By the...
New Orleans Last Week – Not Unlike Bombay Last Month – Shelby Sun
I was stranded overnight in a car and then waddled 5 miles through hip deep dirty brown water. This was not in New Orleans last week, but...
Married adults live longer. but why? – Shelby Sun
I told my wife about a recent study, “Honey, married people live nearly a decade longer than unmarried people.” She smiled....
Fast Food Needs To Change Fast – Shelby Sun
We went to McAlister’s Deli for lunch last Saturday. As my daughter and I peered at the four columns of menu items above the counter, she...
Guess who turned 40 this year? – Shelby Sun
Like it or not medicare is here to stay – infact there are many who advocate it as the insurance plan for all Americas who cannot...
Forgiveness – it’s healthy for you – Shelby Sun
Many Christmas dinners have come and gone and you still have not talked with Uncle Stan. Since that heated family argument ten years ago,...
Disease management program – a new strategy – Shelby Sun
Last Thursday I along with 20 other physicians met with Governor Bredeson for over an hour and a half. He was selling his TennCare...
Happiness and health – are they linked? – Shelby Sun
During morning rounds at the hospital I examine Mr. Jones. He had a lung transplant a year ago, and has made more visits to the hospitals...
Health report cards – Shelby Sun
This school year in addition to getting a scholastic report card on your child, imagine receiving a health report card, which would tell...
How healthy are our restaurant menus? – Shelby Sun
Last week we dined at a restaurant, we have been frequenting for the past 10 years. The young polite waiter asked for the order. I looked...
How much to drink? – Shelby Sun
My wife is a drinker. She drinks 7-10 glasses each day – of water that is? She wants me to be like her, but I refuse. I am stingy with my...
Meningitis Vaccine for Teenagers – shelby Sun
Our pediatrician poked a pen in my teenage daughter’s arm and said “That’s how much it will hurt, or I will give you ten dollars” He was...
Nonviolence Conference to Address Racial Disparities in Healthcare – Shelby Sun
If an African-American patient comes into a doctor’s office, does he get similar care compared with a Caucasian patient? “No,” says the...
When an epidemic becomes a pandemic – Shelby Sun
A few months ago, a hospital surveyor asked me. “As an infection control practitioner, what would keep you awake at night?”...
Patient’s Rights- Know Them and Exercise Them – Shelby Sun
Do patients have “needs” or do patients have “rights?” When I was in medical school – a couple of decades ago – we talked about...
New Vaccine Can Save ER Visits – Shelby Sun
Parents and pediatricians can add another vaccine to their laundry list (now at 15) of childhood vaccines. Oh no…another shot, that sounds...