House Call, MD

by Marissa Camilon, MD 2011 | camilon@myhousecallmd.com

Outbreak? What outbreak?

You may have seen the commercials and heard the rumors. It’s true. In California, we are in the middle of an “outbreak” of Whooping cough. On August 24, 2010 the California Department of Health reported a 7-fold increase in the number of cases of Whooping cough over the past year.  This puts California at the highest number of cases in the past 52 years. With that being said, this is a big deal for Californians and a potential “big deal” for the rest of the country.

Read the rest of this entry →

by Rebecca Shatsky, MD 2011 | shatsky@myhousecallmd.com

We hear it all too often, “No, the weight gain wasn’t my fault.  My doctor told me I have a gland problem!”  Seems like a reasonable explanation right?  Mass media around the globe continues to remind you that hormones are involved in weight loss and that glands make hormones so…who cares if I haven’t hit the gym in six months and the pizza place knows me by name.  It has to be my glands that caused me to gain a few pounds last winter, right?

While “glandular problem” is not the technical term, colloquially when someone says they have a glandular problem they are most commonly referring to an underactive thyroid.  In medical-ese we call this hypothyroidism. While it’s usually not a life-threatening condition, hypothyroidism is a fairly common disease that brings with it a variety of negative symptoms including excess fatigue, dry skin, cold intolerance and weight gain (i.e. symptoms that can make you miserable).  Conversely, if your thyroid is overactive, you may develop the opposite symptoms: heart palpitations, anxiety, weight loss and heat intolerance.  What’s amazing about this underappreciated organ is that it can be easily checked with a simple blood test at your doctor’s office and any abnormalities can often be kept at bay with a simple medication.  Before you go running off to your doctor, it’s important to understand what the thyroid gland is and how it works.

Read the rest of this entry →

by Marissa Camilon, MD 2011 | camilon@myhousecallmd.com

What it is? Where can you find it?

When we were kids, vitamin C lozenges were the equivalent of candy. Actually, they were even better than candy because they tasted great and they were healthy. As we grow older (and become more educated), we have to ask ourselves if this is really true.  Is all that delicious vitamin C actually good for our bodies?

Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is a “water-loving” vitamin that, like other vitamins, cannot be made in your body and must be consumed as part of your diet. Luckily, vitamin C can be found in lots of foods (not just citrus fruits). Other sources of vitamin C include potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries and spinach. Once inside your body, vitamin C plays a role in a number of metabolic reactions, including making collagen, transferring fatty acids into specific parts of your cells, assisting in hormone production and helping your immune response.  It is also considered one of the “antioxidant” vitamins. Read the rest of this entry →

by Leah Frankel, MS, RD | frankel@myhousecallmd.com

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but did you ever stop and wonder why? With so many wise tales out there suggesting why you should eat breakfast, it can be difficult to understand the real benefits.  Once you’ve decided that breakfast is a good idea, you’re faced with the task of deciding exactly what you’re suppose to eat in the morning for this vital meal. We’re here to discuss the benefits of eating breakfast as well as what to include in your well-balanced morning-starter. Finally, we’ll tackle some common excuses for skipping breakfast and debunk them with some helpful time-saving tips. Read the rest of this entry →

by Tania Houspian, PharmD 2011 | houspian@myhousecallmd.com

Most patients know their medications by one of their two names. Even more patients will wonder why their medications need two names. Is it a first and a last name? Are they having an identity crisis? Why in the world can’t we just pick one name and all call it that? The answers to the questions above: are no, no and we do. For further explanation keep reading.

Read the rest of this entry →