mRNA therapeutics will fundamentally change the practice of Medicine. Every once in a while, medicine changes in a fundamental way, and we may not realize it while it’s happening. I wasn’t around in 1928 when Fleming discovered penicillin, or in 1953 when Watson, Crick, and Franklin characterized the double-helical structure of DNA. But looking at Medicine today, there are…

A new study suggests long stays in the Emergency Department, instead of being sent to the regular hospital, are associated with higher mortality. — As a consulting nephrologist, I go all over the hospital. Medicine floors, surgical floors, the ICU — I’ve even done consults in the operating room before. And, more and more, I do consults in the Emergency Department. The reason I am doing more and more consults in the Emergency Department…

Until now, we couldn’t see evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy until autopsy. — If you happen to be reading this on a Sunday, Monday, or Thursday and live in the United States, there’s a good chance you’re watching NFL football tonight. 20 million people on average tune into these games, myself included. Go Eagles. …

A randomized trial shows the efficacy of Tongxinluo, a traditional Chinese medicine. But you may not want to know what is in it. — As some of you may know, I do a fair amount of clinical research developing and evaluating artificial intelligence models — particularly machine learning algorithms that predict certain outcomes. And there’s this thorny issue that comes up as algorithms have gotten more complicated — it’s called “explainability”. The problem is…

Some lessons from the priestess of Troy Today, I’m going to talk to you about a study at the cutting edge of modern medicine — one that uses an artificial intelligence model to guide care. But before I talk to you about that, I need to take you back to the late bronze age, to a city…

Every click you make, it is watching you… When I close my eyes and imagine what it is I do for a living, I see a computer screen. I mean, yes, I’m primarily a clinical researcher so much of what I do is looking at statistical software, or, more recently, writing grant applications. …

The hidden epidemic continues to grow. — On May 3rd, 2023, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory raising an alarm about what he called an “epidemic of loneliness” in the United States. Now, I am not saying that Vivek Murthy read my book, “How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t” — released in January and available…

Health aides — like nursing assistants and home health aides at particular risk. — If you run into a healthcare provider these days and say “how are you doing?” you’re likely to get a response like — “you know, hanging in there”. And you smile and move on. But it may be time to go a step farther. If you ask that next question…

Direct-to-Consumer Testing is Exploding — Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that I am a healthy 43-year old man. Nevertheless, I am interested in getting my Vitamin D level checked. …