Doctor Column

Monoclonal Antibodies: A COVID’-19 Nemesis?

When President Donald J. Trump contracted COVID-19 in October of 2020, he was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with a cornucopia of drugs to combat his sickness. They included, as far as we know, Remdesivir, dexamethasone, a monoclonal antibody cocktail plus other medications and supplements to fight off the infection.

Pain 101 — The Basics: How Can We Make Sense of Pain?

Pain tells us that there’s something’s wrong in the body. It has a peculiar way of speaking to us. Whether we complain about a mild headache or the intense, agonizing pain of a fractured thigh bone, it seems to say: “Listen up. It’s for your own good. There may be something terribly wrong going on in the body and you better act quickly to correct the problem.”

Coronaphobia: The Emotional Effects of COVID-19 and Mrs. Michelle Obama

Former First Lady Michelle Obama announced in her podcast on August 5 that she’s suffering from “low-grade” depression. She said it this way: “I know I’m dealing with some form of low-grade depression because of the quarantine, because of the racial strife.” It’s “dispiriting” watching the day-in and day-out hypocrisy of this administration. She had difficulty sleeping and there were periods “where I’ve felt too low” and “where you just don’t feel yourself.”

What You Need to Know About Knee Pain? What If It’s Not Arthritis?

People of all ages have experienced knee pain that varies from being a nuisance to incapacitating agony. We need healthy knees to walk, run, stand or jump. When injury or disease triggers knee pain, it’s critical to get pain relief, the right diagnosis and treatment as well as information on how to prevent future problems. To help understand knee pain or knee problems, it’s useful to be familiar with the knee joint

Could the Upcoming Flu Season be a “Double Whammy?” The “Twindemic” of COVID-19 and Influenza?

Although the Flu virus has played second fiddle to COVID-19 this year, it too is a lethal virus. We’ve become conditioned to accepting the “statistic” that every flu season, the virus kills many thousands of Americans. Health officials say it’s particularly important this year to get the Flu shot because of the potential “double whammy” of the Flu and COVID-19 joining forces to cause widespread sickness and loss of lives.

Electrical Cardioversion for Heart Rhythm Problems

John is a 67 year old retired postal worker. He complained of being tired, lightheaded, having palpitations and being short of breath, the latter, especially after walking two or three blocks. A thorough cardiac evaluation pinpointed the problem. Calcium deposits formed on the heart’s aortic valve causing a narrowing of its opening and thereby reducing the flow of blood from the heart to his brain and the rest of the body.

The COVID-19 Sweepstakes: The International Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine

The COVID-19 Sweepstakes has become the most famous international, scientific race in history. From China to the United States, from Canada to Australia, scientists are off and running to be the first to get a COVID-19 vaccine to the market. Forget the roses. The prize money in the COVID’s winner circle is worth billions of dollars to the pharmaceutical company that wins this race.