Do antidepressants really work to treat depression? A new, six year meta-analysis amalgamating hundreds of the best performed clinical trials has demonstrated that antidepressants are better than placebo. The study, published in the Lancet, showed modest effects, positively affecting about 60% of people treated. Drugs varied in efficacy, ranging between about one third to twice as effective as placebo. What […]
Treat the Chart Not the Patient
Killing Care Softly It’s official: doctors treat charts, not people. Harvard researcher Russell Phillips reckons physicians of many stripes are now “data entry technicians.” My preferred term is “checklist monkeys.” The results for your health care? Not good. How much time and energy are really wasted? Recent reports show ER physicians spending 44% of their time […]
Which Form of Magic: Pill or Lifestyle?
The Magic Is the part equal or greater than the whole? People often hope so. Not long ago a patient requested I give her a pill that “makes me feel good, causes weight loss, and doesn’t have any side effects.” No, she wasn’t kidding. Many others hope for the same. And they spend lots of […]
Lifestyle in a Can? The Power of Energy (1/8/13)
Powered by Energy Tired out by the holidays? Energy can be yours. Instantly. You’ll work better. Perform better. Stay bright and alert (so claims of 5 Hour Energy) Or you can achieve “Monster Energy”. In seconds, you can“Unleash Your Beast.” The newest fracas about energy drinks, a $10 billion industry and the most rapidly growing beverage […]
Gimme the Pill! Seductions of Supplements (8/22/12)
Every Work Day Just about every day I’m in the office patients come to me clutching a new pill bottle. Inside will be tablets or capsules purportedly containing anywhere from one to 50 or more ingredients. What Do People Want To Know? Will these pills work to cure their sleep problems/Crohn’s disease/heart disease/cancer/irritable bowel syndrome/memory […]