Healthcare and Medical News for Atlanta Physicians

Improving Food Allergy Outcomes Through Research & Innovation

By Mary Vess, RN; Codi Horton, MSN, CPNP; and Brian P. Vickery, MD

Food allergies are a poorly understood group of immune-mediated conditions that leave many of those affected susceptible to serious allergic reactions and the psychosocial burdens of living with a chronic, unpredictable, disruptive and life-threatening disorder.  According to Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), the leading patient advocacy organization, approximately ... Continue Reading

Pollen, Pollen, Everywhere

By Stanley Fineman, MD

It is well known that pollen is the cause of allergic disease, including respiratory allergies, and is responsible for causing symptoms in 10-30% of the population. That’s why it’s important to understand pollen, why it is important for allergies, how it is counted and how climate change is impacting pollen counts.  Medical historians credit John Bostock as the first person ... Continue Reading

Allergen Immunotherapy Update

By Lily Hwang, MD

A treatment option review for allergic rhinitis and asthma “Ah-choo! Ah-choo!” Those are the sneezes shared across 50 million allergy sufferers in the  United States annually, leading to a decrease in productivity and sleep as well as a poor quality of life.1 Among 26 million Americans with asthma, 60% have allergen triggers for their asthma.  Many patients try ... Continue Reading

Allergic Reactions to COVID-19 Vaccines

By Deidre Crocker, MD

In December 2020, with great fanfare, the FDA approved for emergency authorization two highly effective mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. These new vaccines would hold the key to finally controlling the global pandemic that has gripped us for over a year. Both mRNA vaccines have shown outstanding efficacy (94% for Pfizer and 95% for Moderna) in preventing ... Continue Reading

COVID-19 and the Kidney: Medical and Ethical Concerns

By Unini Odama, MD, MPH

The word pandemic has never been so poignant. Not simply because the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2 [COVID-19]), responsible for the 2019 outbreak, now pandemic, has affected a large geographical area and an ever-increasingly high proportion of the population; but this close relative of SARS-COV and MERS-COV (responsible for the 2002-3 and 2010 ... Continue Reading

Diabetic Kidney Disease: Recent Advances

By Gautham Viswanathan, MD

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) occurs in approximately 30% of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and 40% of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). It is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in the Western populations, contributing to almost 50% of all cases. But there have been advances in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic kidney disease, especially ... Continue Reading

United Digestive Partners with East Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates

United Digestive announces further expansion in Georgia through a partnership with East Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates (EAGA). EAGA provides diagnostic and therapeutic gastroenterology services, including advanced endoscopy techniques. EAGA operates four clinics and two endoscopy centers, and its care team includes four gastroenterologists, two anesthesia providers, and ... Continue Reading

Hypertension and Chronic Kidney Disease: An Inevitable Coexistence?

By Charmaine Emelife, MD

  Hypertensive kidney disease (HKD) is believed to be a cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a significant number of patients living in America. Hypertensive nephrosclerosis or HKD is a vague diagnosis used especially when a patient does not have diabetes, is non-nephrotic, has no renal biopsy and is noted to have irreversible advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) ... Continue Reading

Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19

By Helen K. Kelley

With the advent of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, constant sanitizing and mask-wearing, many Americans have experienced increased feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression. We spoke to two Atlanta practitioners who shared their insights about treating mental health issues that have been brought on or exacerbated during the pandemic. “Probably everyone ... Continue Reading

Beyond Dr. Google

By Dawn Laney, MS, CGC

Let’s face it, patients carrying giant stacks of printouts from their own internet research into their medical issues is a big trigger for most healthcare providers. Despite a few exceptions, it seems that patients without medical training can easily be drawn into a web-based rabbit hole filled with misinformation and misdiagnosis. With limited time for each appointment, the ... Continue Reading

Path to Diagnosis: From Dried Blood Spot to Treatment

By Stephanie Keller, MD; Angela Wittenauer, MSN, FNPC, RN; and Rachel Logan MMSc, CGC

How do you connect a dried blood spot from the heel of a newborn to a life-changing treatment in under a month? The answer to this question is collaboration and expertise. The Georgia Department of Public Health tests every baby in the state for 35 conditions that if treated in the first year of life greatly improves their quality of life and health. Recent additions to the ... Continue Reading

Augmenting Angioedema: Improving Quality of Life Through Diagnosis and Treatment

By Marissa Shams, MD, and Dawn Laney, MS, CGC

Repeated episodes of excruciating abdominal pain and swelling that occurs suddenly without warning and results in a disfiguring swelling of the face, lips and tongue that persists for several days. Life-threatening laryngeal edema often requiring repeated intubation given the concern for asphyxiation that is unresponsive to allergy medications including anti-histamines, ... Continue Reading

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer Shares Her Thoughts on How Vaccine Development is Progressing

By Helen K. Kelley

As we go to press this month, more than 200 vaccines for COVID-19 are under development around the world. In the U.S., multiple companies are working to create a vaccine, with hopes for a safe and effective solution by the end of the year. We spoke with Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, MACP, an internal medicine physician, adjunct associate professor of medicine at Emory ... Continue Reading

Pivoting Ambulatory Practices During COVID-19

By Tina-Ann Thompson, MD,  LeShea Turner and Ted Johnson, MD, MPH

Telehealth innovation and transitions and the effect of COVID-19 on primary care practices On March 11, 2020, the Atlanta Hawks lost in overtime to the visiting New York Knicks. While disappointed, the 10,000+ individuals in the State Farm Arena crowd had won a free chicken sandwich (a Knicks player had missed two 4th quarter foul/“fowl” shots). Yet as the arena began ... Continue Reading

COVID-19 Health Disparities: Leveraging a New Lens on Health Equity

By Nicole M. Franks, MD, FACEP, and Monique A. Smith, MD

The quest for Health Equity in America has been a long journey, and it has taken the COVID-19 pandemic to further expose a long history of racial injustice and healthcare disparities. In addition to the COVID-19 forced pause on how we live, technology and the availability of information continues to provide additional lenses for all to view how people are born, grow, live, ... Continue Reading

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