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Straight, No Chaser: The Most Common STD – Chlamydia

For most people, NGU isn’t a college in South Carolina. In fact, non-gonococcal urethritis isn’t really even that anymore, meaning it doesn’t need to be defined b
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 23, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Week In Review, September 22nd, 2013

You’ve been after me all week with two questions, so here goes: 1) Have you dropped back to one post a day, and why?  Not necessarily; it depends on the topic and what else
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 22, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Bacterial Vaginosis – No, That's Not an STD

I try to give you straight talk but never crudely. Therefore as I wade into conditions involving the genitalia, I’ll be sure to respect various sensitivities. That doesn̵
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 22, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Doctor/Patient Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Talk

As an emergency physician, my first consideration is to eliminate life threats.  Along the way, I cure disease and provide a ton of information.  With all of these efforts, I pro
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 21, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Medical Issues You Encounter While Flying

I’ve probably been engaged twenty times on airplanes to provide medical assistance. My favorite incident was when four doctors (and a nurse) simultaneously jumped to assistan
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 20, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Hernias – Turn Your Head and Cough!

Hernias are an uncomfortable topic (no pun intended, for many reasons). Hernias are yet another example of body parts not being in their proper place. They are caused by weak muscl
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 19, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Blood Clots in Your Legs – Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

When patients talk about blood clots, they’re describing a blockage of a blood vessel somewhere in the body, usually the lower extremities (legs and thighs), the lungs (pulmo
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 18, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Appendicitis – A Whole Lot over Quite a Little…

There’s not much that causes as much legitimate angst in parents as a child with appendicitis. In case you don’t know what the fuss is all about, the appendix is a 3 1/
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 18, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Initial Response to Sexual Assault

There are few more tragic human interactions than a sexual assault.  The physical and mental issues are both challenging and dangerous.  Unfortunately, the response during the in
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 17, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)

In the last post, I provided an overview of diabetes. Everyone knows about diabetes, and most understand how dangerous diabetes is over the long-term. However, as an emergency phys
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 17, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Diabetes Basics Made Simple

Somehow, I’ve managed not to talk much about diabetes. What an oversight that has been, and it’s one that is about to be corrected. As much as I’ve talked about t
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 16, 2013

Straight, No Chaser Editorial: The Future of Medicine – Nurses are Stepping Up to the Plate

I doubt you’ll hear this perspective anywhere else anytime soon, but there are some very interesting developments in health care underway. By way of introduction, a few decades a
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 16, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Tragedy of Septic Shock

There are bad days and then there are really bad days. In many ways, the occurrence of septic shock is a culmination of a lot of bad things that can happen to you. Septic shock is
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 15, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Week in Review

Another information packed week is in the bag.  Thanks for all the comments and suggestions for posts.  I’ll try to get to them as the schedule allows.  In the meantime, b
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 15, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Inappropriate Antibiotic Use

Here’s a great concern regarding strep throat and the previous post that leads to a much more important topic (I’ll take the liberty of paraphrasing.): What about the c
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 14, 2013

Straight No Chaser: About that 'Strep Throat'

Here’s a pretty common scenario. You’re a first time parent with the most adorable kid in the world. You’re in full tiger mom or dad mode, and you’re not go
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 14, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: The Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction

Well, here’s what many of you’ve been awaiting.  Assuming the preventative efforts I mentioned didn’t work for you, there are several different treatment approac
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 13, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Life Begins (To End) at 40 (Unless It Doesn’t) – The Cerebrovascular System (Your Brain)

Last but not least, in the first part of this series, let’s talk about your brain. But first a summary comment. Life after 40 poses both opportunity and obstacles. 35 to 40 is ei
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 13, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Erectile Dysfunction, Part Two – Causes

In my last post on erectile dysfunction (ED), I gave a simplistic way to understand and address it.  However, the truth of the matter is the overwhelming majority of cases of ED a
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 12, 2013

Straight, No Chaser: Life Begins (To End) at 40 (Unless It Doesn’t) – The Cardiopulmonary (Heart and Lung) System

The fourth part of this series looks at your heart and lungs.  One thing the heart and lung share in common is, left to their own devices, they could function normally for much lo
By Jeffrey Sterling, MD September 12, 2013