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Straight, No Chaser: Breaking News You Can Use – Sarin Nerve Gas Poisoning in Syria
Just when I thought I was done with toxins for a while… Â U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that autopsies of victims in Syria are testing positive for the pre
Straight, No Chaser: The Week In Review
Based on the response to this week’s posts, I’d say it was an informative week for you. Â Remember to click the underlined topics to go to the mentioned post. Â LetR
Straight, No Chaser: How Many Calories Do You Need a Day?
Let’s put this post (at least the end of it) under the category of things you do but really don’t think about. How many calories should you take in per day to function
Straight, No Chaser: How I Know If Your Ankle is Broken Without X-Rays – The Ottawa Ankle Rules
There are medical secrets, and there are tips. Â Then there are initiatives that help the public better understand what’s going on, like the big initiatives on heart attacks
Straight, No Chaser: Your Rebuttals and Questions about Insomnia
You are certainly an entertaining group behind the scenes. Here are some of your questions on insomnia. Be reminded that should you want to leave me a private question, just go to
Straight, No Chaser: Insomnia – You are Not Getting Sleepy…
Talking about insomnia makes me well, tired. You know what the problem is. You either can’t fall asleep, or you can’t stay asleep. You’re tired when you wake and all thro
Straight No Chaser: Top Seven Facts You Should Know About the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)


In general, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) attempts a nifty set of tricks: it aims to add over 30 million currently uncovered Americans to insurance rolls whi
Straight, No Chaser: A Dream of Equal Access to Health Care
This weekend marked the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the famous March on Washington. During this weekend’s remembrances, I couldn’t help but reflect back on Dr. Mart
Straight, No Chaser – The Week In Review
I hope this was another week of good health for you. Let’s review how Straight, No Chaser tried to contribute to your health and wellness. Don’t forget to click on any of t
Straight, No Chaser: Quick Tips – Learn the ABCDEs of Hiccups
Three question sets on hiccups of all things Why do I get hiccups? You get hiccups because everyone gets them.  You get them because basically you’ve agitated your main breathin
Straight, No Chaser: Quick Tips – You Snore Too Much
You snore too much. What this means is your breathing is intermittently partially obstructed while you’re sleeping. Snoring is the sound of air moving past that obstruction.Â
Straight, No Chaser: Can You Hear Me Now? Checking Hearing Loss
We live in a loud world. Take a listen around. You’re likely in the midst of multiple simultaneous noises, many of which (if you actually think about it) sound harsh and annoying
Straight, No Chaser: Circumcision – To Do or Not to Do?
As a medical professional, circumcision has long been one of those things that’s made me go hmmm…. If your religious beliefs include this as a ritual or ceremony, fine. I get
Straight, No Chaser: Steps for End-of-Life Planning
Now that you’ve had a chance to wrap your mind around the concept of needing to make end of life decisions (click here to review), let’s discuss some specific mechanisms by whi
Straight, No Chaser: End of Life Decision Making
Do you have a living will? Do you know what advance directives are? Have you assigned a healthcare power of attorney? For the overwhelming majority of you who do not, I hope to tur
Straight, No Chaser: About That Vomiting and Diarrhea…
You’ve all been there and done that. It’s always a bad day when you get the so-called stomach flu… First of all ‘the flu’ is a respiratory disease (affects the lungs,
Straight, No Chaser: When (Not) to Visit the ER
I’ve spent a lot of time discussing the life threats that should prompt you to rush to the Emergency Room. Today, I’m going to give you some factual information that could sa
Straight, No Chaser: Depression Quick Tips – How to Avoid It, When to Get Help
As a physician, I’m not willing to advise you on how to ‘care’ for yourself at home if you’re clinically depressed. I can discuss how to avoid depression (to the extent p
Straight, No Chaser: Are You Depressed and/or Suicidal?
I have a strong distaste for do-it-yourself websites that want to ‘screen’ you for depression. Folks, if you’re wondering whether you’re clinically depressed, you
Straight, No Chaser: Suicide Data – Understand the Threat
There are amazing, shocking and saddening facts about suicide. It is equally amazing that we aren’t discussing this as an epidemic. Consider the following information provide
