Articles for Health

“Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate.” – Michael Leavitt Why are we writing this? The COVID-19 pandemic has reached a point where containment is no longer possible. The COVID-19 threat is real, and rapidly getting worse. Many of you are very nervous; some are unsure […] Read More

Some advice as an emergency physician, daughter, mother, and concerned citizen. Help keep older relatives and neighbors self-quarantined at home. Same goes for those of any age who are immune-compromised (cancer-patients, on immune-suppressant meds for autoimmune diseases, etc.) Pick up and deliver their groceries and prescriptions to their front-door for them. Health care workers (physicians, […] Read More

Sentences that start with the phrase “A guru once told me…” are, more often than not, eye-roll-inducing. But recently, while resting in malasana, or a deep squat, in an East London yoga class, I was struck by the second half of the instructor’s sentence: “A guru once told me that the problem with the West […] Read More

American adults are in pain. A 2015 study from the National Institutes of Health showed that 25 million U.S. adults cope with chronic pain every day. While everyone’s suffering is different—there are as many sources of pain as people—for many, how you sleep plays a crucial role. Members of my own family are a part […] Read More

Creaking knees, stiff back, dodgy shoulders… Age is no friend to the human body. So how are veteran athletes like Roger Federer and Jo Pavey still at the top of their game? And what can you do to keep up? Slow down, that used to be the mantra for middle age. The dread half-century reached, […] Read More

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey In 2017–2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in adults was 42.4%, and there were no significant differences between men and women among all adults or by age group. The age-adjusted prevalence of severe obesity in adults was 9.2% and was higher in women than in men. […] Read More

About 4 in 10 American adults are obese, and nearly 1 in 10 is severely so, government researchers said Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings come from a 2017-18 health survey that measures height and weight. More than 5,000 U.S. adults took part. The survey found that the obesity rate was 42% […] Read More

As availability of diagnostic testing for COVID-19 increases, clinicians will be able to access laboratory tests for diagnosing COVID-19 through clinical laboratories performing tests authorized by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Clinicians will also be able to access laboratory testing through public health laboratories in their jurisdictions. This expands testing to a wider […] Read More

The spread of the new coronavirus, which has infected over 80,000 people worldwide and resulted in the death of more than 3,000, has raised alarms around the world. At the same time, the seasonal influenza, known as the flu, causes severe illness in between 3 million and 5 million people, with hundreds of thousands of […] Read More