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Straight, No Chaser: Emergency Room Adventures – The Cauliflower Ear
So here I am again waiting for something interesting to walk in worthy of me telling you about, and lo and behold, a behemoth of a guy walks by. You know, one of those guys who wor
Straight, No Chaser: 10 Questions You Want Answered About Genital Herpes
If you’re in a room, look around. Look to your left, then to your right. Look behind and in front of you. Then look deep inside yourself. Statistically, one of the people you
Straight, No Chaser: Syphilis Prevention, Treatment and the Tuskegee Experience
Syphilis should be a word derived from something meaning horrible. In an earlier post, we reviewed the rather horrific progression of the symptoms of syphilis. An additionally horr
Straight, No Chaser: Syphilis – The Great Mimicker
Today, you will learn two phrases that you may not have previously heard: The Great Mimicker and MSM. Regarding another word you definitely should know, I’ll touch on it and
Straight, No Chaser: Gonorrhea (No Clapping)
Some of you are old enough to remember when Gonorrhea was called ‘The Clap’, but do any of you know why it was called that? Read on for the answer. In the meantime, rea
Straight, No Chaser: The Most Common STD – Chlamydia
For most people, NGU isn’t a college in South Carolina. In fact, non-gonococcal urethritis isn’t really even that anymore, meaning it doesn’t need to be defined b
Straight, No Chaser: The Week In Review, September 22nd, 2013
You’ve been after me all week with two questions, so here goes: 1) Have you dropped back to one post a day, and why? Not necessarily; it depends on the topic and what else
Straight, No Chaser: Bacterial Vaginosis – No, That's Not an STD
I try to give you straight talk but never crudely. Therefore as I wade into conditions involving the genitalia, I’ll be sure to respect various sensitivities. That doesn̵
Straight, No Chaser: The Doctor/Patient Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Talk
As an emergency physician, my first consideration is to eliminate life threats. Along the way, I cure disease and provide a ton of information. With all of these efforts, I pro
Straight, No Chaser: The Medical Issues You Encounter While Flying
I’ve probably been engaged twenty times on airplanes to provide medical assistance. My favorite incident was when four doctors (and a nurse) simultaneously jumped to assistan
Straight, No Chaser: Hernias – Turn Your Head and Cough!
Hernias are an uncomfortable topic (no pun intended, for many reasons). Hernias are yet another example of body parts not being in their proper place. They are caused by weak muscl
Straight, No Chaser: Blood Clots in Your Legs – Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)
When patients talk about blood clots, they’re describing a blockage of a blood vessel somewhere in the body, usually the lower extremities (legs and thighs), the lungs (pulmo
Straight, No Chaser: Appendicitis – A Whole Lot over Quite a Little…
There’s not much that causes as much legitimate angst in parents as a child with appendicitis. In case you don’t know what the fuss is all about, the appendix is a 3 1/
Straight, No Chaser: The Initial Response to Sexual Assault
There are few more tragic human interactions than a sexual assault. The physical and mental issues are both challenging and dangerous. Unfortunately, the response during the in
Straight, No Chaser: Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)
In the last post, I provided an overview of diabetes. Everyone knows about diabetes, and most understand how dangerous diabetes is over the long-term. However, as an emergency phys
Straight, No Chaser: Diabetes Basics Made Simple
Somehow, I’ve managed not to talk much about diabetes. What an oversight that has been, and it’s one that is about to be corrected. As much as I’ve talked about t
Straight, No Chaser Editorial: The Future of Medicine – Nurses are Stepping Up to the Plate
I doubt you’ll hear this perspective anywhere else anytime soon, but there are some very interesting developments in health care underway. By way of introduction, a few decades a
Straight, No Chaser: The Tragedy of Septic Shock
There are bad days and then there are really bad days. In many ways, the occurrence of septic shock is a culmination of a lot of bad things that can happen to you. Septic shock is
Straight, No Chaser: The Week in Review
Another information packed week is in the bag. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions for posts. I’ll try to get to them as the schedule allows. In the meantime, b
Straight, No Chaser: Inappropriate Antibiotic Use
Here’s a great concern regarding strep throat and the previous post that leads to a much more important topic (I’ll take the liberty of paraphrasing.): What about the c
