Several times a year I will spot check my blood pressure at home. I know that the risk of developing hypertension increases with age. I have played around with arm position and found that my readings are higher if the…
Star Wars fans will recognize this iconic line from Star Wars Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. It came to mind when I was reading this editorial from the Journal of the American Medical Association. I had previously mentioned the…
The FDA cancelled their meeting today to discuss next year’s flu vaccine. No explanation given. This is very disturbing as it was announced that this is the worst flu season in 15 years. Here is some data from infectious disease…
First of all, we wouldn’t have this problem if people had their children immunized. If you were born before 1957, you are considered immune. If you were born after that and grew up in the US, you would have been…
Why is there an outbreak of measles in West Texas? Gaines County has one of the highest vaccine exemptions in the state as the following article details. After that is an informative article from the Wall Street Journal which reviews…
I have seen a case of Measles, 30 years ago. Most physicians have not and that is good. Unfortunately, it has made a recurrence due to a drop in immunizations rates. That may also be part of the reason for…
I follow the blog of Dr. Paul Sax. Dr.  Sax is Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He always has thoughtful observations on infectious diseases…
“Is something going around?” is a question I am often asked. In previous holiday seasons, I have often responded, “The Christmas Crud.” Now with the improvement in multipathogen respiratory panels, I can give a more nuanced response. Before I do…
PLEASE NOTE: THE OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED NOVEMBER 27-29TH TO ALLOW US TO TRAVEL TO AND FROM THANKSGIVING GATHERINGS. AS ALWAYS, DRS. THORNTON AND WALLACE WILL BE AVAILABLE BY EMAIL, TEXT OR CELL FOR URGENT ISSUES. We are about…
People are getting their flu vaccines and some of them are getting their Covid 19 vaccines as well. Here are a couple of new developments: -Pertussis is on the rise but is still quite uncommon. Reduced childhood vaccinations are a…
