By Ioana Bonta, MD
The tantalizing idea of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer has fascinated researchers and clinicians equally for many years. The belief that the body possesses natural defenses to combat cancer existed for a long time, with multiple anecdotal reports of tumors miraculously shrinking, either spontaneously or after an infectious episode. The link between the immune ... Continue Reading
By Nitin Gupta, MD
Recent years have seen advancement in treatment options for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). New agents, with new mechanisms of action, are being tested via clinical trials along with new availability for routine clinical use. From a clinical standpoint, the myriad of treatment options make this an exciting time to practice medicine. We will discuss the different classes of ... Continue Reading
By Jamie Weisman, MD
In 2002, the FDA approved etanercept (Enbrel) for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis. The next year, alefacept (Amevive) and efalizumab (Raptiva) were approved for plaque psoriasis, followed by etanercept in 2006 and adalimumab (Humira) in 2008. The completion of my dermatology residency at Emory University in 2002 coincided with the introduction of these drugs. Emory’s ... Continue Reading
By Helen K. Kelley
Vitamin D is a nutrient that is needed to maintain good health for every part of the body – from keeping bones strong and helping the body absorb calcium to working with parathyroid function and the immune system. It is also a nutrient in which most adults are deficient. Atlanta Medicine recently spoke with two Atlanta rheumatologists, who shared their knowledge of current ... Continue Reading
By Dr. Iris Z. Feinberg
The darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on a silent killer for which vital signs and oxygen saturation measures do not help. It’s called health literacy – the gap between how health messages are communicated and what patients and health consumers can understand to make good health decisions. One in five Americans reads at elementary levels,1 which includes ... Continue Reading
By Frederick L. Durden Jr., M.D.
An Overview of this Challenging Component of Care for Patients with Neoplastic Disease Processes or Traumatic Injuries Reconstructions of the head and neck region are a challenging, rewarding and necessary component of the care patients that present with neoplastic disease processes or traumatic injuries receive. There is evidence of different forms of head and neck ... Continue Reading
Deborah Millians of Athens was feeling the pinch of social distancing. With her 11-year-old son Charles in need of a follow-up urology appointment regarding complications from an overactive bladder, an in-office visit proved daunting. It would call for an hour-plus trek to Atlanta and pulling her child away from school work, among other logistical challenges. Using the ... Continue Reading
By H. Michael Baddour, M.D., FACS
Facial paralysis (FP) has an estimated annual incidence of approximately 70 cases per 100,000 population.1,2 Furthermore, it is estimated that approximately 127,000 cases of permanent FP occur annually.3 The most common causes of FP are Bell’s palsy, trauma, herpes zoster oticus and neoplasia.2 FP, which results from injury to the facial nerve, can appear suddenly or develop ... Continue Reading
By Danko Cerenko, M.D.
Hearing loss and decline in cognitive function leading to dementia are prevalent in the elderly population. Both affect quality of life, and many studies suggest that both conditions are related, and that hearing loss may be a risk factor for development of dementia in older adults. The first report that brought to attention association between hearing loss in older adults ... Continue Reading
By Chad Everett Miller, MD
An uncommon but lethal cause of right heart failure While not as common as left heart failure, right heart failure, too, is a major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), while a relatively uncommon disease, carries a poor prognosis even today as patients succumb to right heart failure. In recent decades, the ... Continue Reading
By Rob Schreiner, MD, FACP, FCCP
The safest thing for us to do, as doctors, is disassociate and depersonalize. We tell ourselves the patient’s suffering, from COPD or alcoholic cirrhosis or opioid addiction, is their own doing. Or more importantly, would never happen to us. Or maybe we try to numb our empathy by memorizing the neurochemistry and behavioral science of addiction. But none of that works so ... Continue Reading
By Helen K. Kelley
Living donor transplant offers alternative for patients with liver failure For people in need of a liver transplant, waiting for an organ from a deceased donor can seem endless. Fortunately, living-donor transplantation offers a more immediate solution for some patients. According to Marwan Kazimi, M.D., a multi-organ transplant, hepatobiliary surgeon and Surgical ... Continue Reading
By Rahul Nayak, MD, MBA
How fecal microbiota transplants help re-establish a healthy gut microbiome There is a rapidly growing awareness – in both the medical practice and the general population – of the importance of the gut microbiome and its potential impact on total body health. Much of this interest is focused on re-establishing a healthy gut microbiome through various therapies, including ... Continue Reading
By Nanette K. Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA and Allen L. Dollar, MD, FACC, FACP
In the 1960s and 1970s, Grady Memorial Hospital was the major teaching hospital of Emory University’s medical school, such that most of the students and medical residents (and subsequently subspecialty residents and/or fellows) were based at Grady. With Dr. Willis J. Hurst as both Chairman of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology, a great deal of attention was focused on the rapidly ... Continue Reading
By Patricia Rich, MD
The idea that the only people vaping e-cigarettes are current smokers trying to quit is not true, especially in the last several years. According to the American Cancer Society, electronic cigarette use has grown a staggering 900 percent among high school students in recent years. Currently, an alarming one in six high school students admit to using e-cigarettes. Given that ... Continue Reading
