Uncategorized

Surgery Is Damage to Accomplish a Goal

Most of my patients view surgery as like getting a part fixed in their car. A part wears out, so you replace it or “fix it” with a new one. As I spoke to a patient this week about pursuing back surgery or continuing to try to avoid it with orthobiologics, I was struck how he…read more

NSAIDs Increase Heart Attack Risk in Just 1 Week!

My views on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are no secret; I’ve covered many studies over the years showing just how dangerous these commonly used anti-inflammatories really are. Patients pop over-the-counter and prescription NSAIDs for everything from a simple headache to post-workout muscle aches to arthritis to traumatic injuries and more. They are as common to…read more

This Is Your Brain on Weed…

I live in the middle of the world’s biggest “Rocky Mountain High”: Boulder, Colorado. Several years ago, Colorado legalized recreational pot, and the businesses that have sprung up around weed are are growing like weeds. You can now walk down the street and buy everything from marijuana-laced gummy bears to pizza to ice cream. Even crazier, the likes…read more

Amniotic Stem Cells Are Not like Sea Monkeys!

We all remember “the miracle of instant life”! Millions of kids have experienced anxiously waiting that long, agonizing 24 hours it takes before Mom and Dad will let them pour in the Sea-Monkey eggs! The wait is made even worse by perusing the sea-monkey booklet, seeing these cute and cuddly, humanlike creatures playing ball and performing circus…read more

The Initial Marrow Cellutions Device Results

As promised, here are the Marrow Cellution (MC) test results. To review, this is a special trocar that purports to draw many more stem cells from the bone marrow. It’s shown above on the bottom versus a standard trocar on the top. This was the first patient yesterday, so this data in not conclusive. Having…read more

Our Marrow Device Test Today

I’ve blogged before on a bone-marrow-draw device that claims to be able to improve the number of stem cells. I’ve been a skeptic of this doohickey, but you never know until you test it. So today we’re paying for several donors to come in and allow us to compare it to the standard trocar. Let me…read more

Putting the Shoulder Surgery Fox in Charge of the Henhouse

It’s always interesting to read the medical research studies that come by my daily feed. Some are groundbreaking, most are so-so, and a few are downright silly. This morning we’ll look at a silly study about shoulder imaging that seems to have started with a conclusion and worked backward. My Shoulder Hurts, so I Need…read more

Why Medicine Is Becoming like the Airlines: Paying More for Less

If there’s something that’s a constant in modern society, it’s the erosion of services in certain industries. We’ve all seen it in the airlines. What used to be included in your fare is now charged à la carte, and yet ticket prices are climbing. In medicine, it’s not that different. If you go to the doctor these days,…read more