Yearly Archives: 2012
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Breaking the Cycle of Stress and Anxiety
Posted on June 9, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in High blood pressure, StressA few months ago, a patient who had recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure came to see me for the first time. She was concerned about her new diagnosis. In fact she was so concerned that she kept checking her blood pressure several times a day which made her even more anxious. Over [...]
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Why does my shoulder always click?
Posted on May 15, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in Shoulder painThe shoulder is a complicated joint. Unlike the knee which can only flex and extend, the shoulder has multiple degrees of freedom allowing it to move in almost any direction. Because of it’s complexity it is also easily injured, usually from heavy lifting or overuse. The most common injury is supraspinatus sprain, also known [...]
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Why is my hair turning grey?
Posted on April 28, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in HairIt is a common belief that stress somehow causes our hair to turn grey. However there is no scientific evidence linking stress to hair color changes. What we do know is that as we age, the activity of hair pigment cells, known as melanocytes, gradually declines until they stop making melanin (hair and skin [...]
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Rice consumption and diabetes in Asians
Posted on April 20, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in Diabetes, Preventive care, Weight LossRice is a staple food item in Asian meals and the main source of carbohydrates. As obesity continues to rise in the West, and we understand the primary role of simple carbohydrates as its main culprit, a question is why isn’t there appear to be a similar obesity problem in Asia where rice is [...]
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Are airport body scanners safe?
Posted on April 13, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in CancerA patient of mine who works for the TSA recently asked me about the safety of full-body scanners used at airports. My initial thought was that they must be safe because it is the standard screening technology. However, the more research I did, the more questions I had. 3D full body scanners use either [...]
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Best medicine in the world
Posted on April 8, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in DrugsSo what is the best medication in the world? We often hear of “miracle” drugs on the news that can cure diseases that were once thought to be incurable. An example of this would be certain monoclonal antibodies targeting specific cancers. What was once incurable has been shown to be treatable. Although these drugs [...]
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What really keeps a doctor away?
Posted on March 23, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in Aging, Preventive care, Weight LossWhen I do annual physicals for police officers and firemen I see a clear trend. New recruits in their 20s and 30s will usually have healthy weight levels, but as they age their weight goes up. It may not go up by a lot but five pounds every year will add up to 50 [...]
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Natural ways to reduce cholesterol
Posted on March 16, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in Drugs, High cholesterolHigh cholesterol is prevalent especially in the U.S. where incidence of obesity and diabetes is high. A class of medications called “statins” has been around for a long time and is used for this condition but these medications are not without side effects and recent studies showed that they may increase blood glucose levels. Many [...]
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Is a “Contagion”-like scenario possible?
Posted on March 8, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in CoughRecently we enjoyed watching the movie “Contagion” featuring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. It was fun to see an elementary school in our neighborhood featured in the movie. One of my patients asked me how likely this scenario was and my answer was that the scenario is already here. What made the virus in [...]
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Why are medications and tests so expensive?
Posted on March 7, 2012 by Dr. Chris Oh in Healthcare costNo one will deny that the healthcare system in the U.S. is in a state of chaos. There is waste of resources with little efficiency. I believe that the primary reason for this is the lack of price transparency at every level. Doctors who order tests and prescribe medications do not know how much [...]
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