General Medicine and Primary Care

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Shoulder pain is one of the most common presentations in primary care, but the most proper workups to determine causes and develop effective treatment plans are not universally known. Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to update clinicians on common shoulder injuries, the patient histories that often correspond with them, and best treatment practices for each problem, is Dr. Kelton Burbank, orthopedic surgeon and the Worcester Medical Center in Worcester, MA. Dr. Burbank is the orthopedic consultant for the UMass-Amherst men’s hockey team and the Massachusetts representative to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. He is also president of the New England Orthopedic Society.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Eric Edmonds, co-director of 360 Sports Medicine and one of two fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego with subspeciality certification in sports medicine. Dr. Edmond is also an associate clinical professor at UC San Diego, where he is actively involved with the education of pediatric orthopaedic fellows, residents from UC San Diego, the Navy and the Air Force, and UC San Diego medical students.

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Dr. Jennifer Caudle welcomes Dr. Patrick Spencer, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. Their discussion centers on primary care manifestations of sickle cell retinopathy, from early to late-stage presentations and the gold standard treatment approaches along this disease course.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Marcy Lake, faculty member of the Kaiser Permanente Family Medicine Residency Program in Portland Oregon and author of a recent article in American Family Physician devoted to disorders of the pituitary gland. Their discussion tours diagnostic considerations toward the workup of pituitary diseases, and emerging treatment paradigms for clinicians at general, endocrinology, and surgical levels of care.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. John Ely, Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Dr. Ely has written numerous articles addressing the top questions surfacing in general practice. He joins Primary Care Today to focus on perhaps the most common question asked between colleagues in family medicine: "What is this rash?"

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Renée Simone Yolanda Allen, MD, MHSc., FACOG

Host Dr. Jennifer Caudle welcomes Dr. Renee S. Allen, Board certified OB/GYN and hospitalist, Fellow of ACOG, and Masters of Health Sciences from Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Allen shares her expertise as an OB/GYN hospitalist, the growing support from ACOG in this new arena, and the goals of an emerging subspecialty.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Gregory Weinstein, Professor and Vice Chair and the Director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery. He is the Co-Director of The Center for Head and Neck Cancer in The Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The two discuss a dramatic rise in HPV-related cancers over the past decade, and what clinicians need to be aware of in assessing their patients for these indidious diseases.

[Read the Article]

About 42 percent of the general U.S. population has low vitamin D levels. In addition to promoting calcium and bone health, vitamin D may also affect the brain and cognitive function. A new study by JAMA Neurology looked at the association between baseline vitamin D levels and the rate of cognitive decline in a group of ethnically diverse older adults.

A researcher from Rutgers University, along with colleagues from the University of California Davis, studied 382 older adults with an average age of 75. Among the group, 61 percent of participants were women, 41 percent white, about 30 percent were African American and 25 percent were Hispanic. At study enrollment, about 18 percent had dementia, 33 percent had mild cognitive impairment and half were cognitively normal.

Vitamin D levels and cognitive function were measured at baseline. Cognitive function was also followed in 318 of the participants for an average of 5 years.

Researchers found:
- About 60 percent of the group, regardless of their race or ethnicity, was low in vitamin D.
- Vitamin D levels were lower for African American and Hispanics, compared with their white counterparts.
- Participants in the dementia group had lower vitamin D …

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Tasneem "Taz" Bhatia, MD

Dr. Jennifer Caudle welcomes Dr. Taz Bhatia, associate professor in Integrative Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and and Founder and Medical Director of the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Bhatia is author of The 21-Day Belly Fix: The Doctor-Designed Diet Plan for A Clean Gut and a Slimmer Waist. She describes her personal journey toward dual-expertise in allopathic and integrative medicine, and the research foundations behind her popular book.

Host: John Russell, MD

No substance on earth is as hotly debated as marijuana. Opponents claim it’s dangerous, addictive, carcinogenic, and a gateway to serious drug abuse. Conversely, fans claim it as a wonder drug, treating cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines, PTSD, and insomnia. In Stoned: A Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana, palliative care physician Dr. David Casarett investigates with researchers, doctors, and patients around the globe how marijuana works—and doesn’t—in the real world. Dr. John Russell hosts a discussion with Dr. Cararett on this fascinating work.