General Entries
The Unwanted Side Effects of the Affordable Care Act
Guest Author: Dr. Richard Leshner Chief of Cardiology at St. Mary Medical Center Two huge issues that affect doctors and our patients are the employer mandate—usually referred to as Obamacare—and the use of electronic medical records. There are serious problems with both, but there are solutions as well. Let’s start with the employer mandate. For…
Read MoreThe Jannetta Society
In Boston at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. We also held a gathering of the Jannetta Society last night. It was terrific to connect with Dr. Jannetta and see many old friends from Pittsburgh including Dr. Brent Clyde, Dr. Eric Stefanian, Dr Kamal Kalia, and Professor Yuri Shulev from St. Petersburg…
Read MoreCreating a Spine-Friendly Workplace
Where do you spend most of your time in a given week? Many would say at a desk, in front of a computer. Here’s my question: are you being kind to your back while you do your job, or are you spineless when it comes to watching (out for) your back? Let me share some…
Read MorePhysical Therapy After Spine Surgery
As a physical therapist, one of the most challenging patients to work with is someone who has had spinal surgery. Whenever the lumbar or cervical spine has had surgical intervention, a therapist knows, in order to be safe, that they have to slowly bring that patient back to their normal functional level. At the start…
Read MoreMy Experience with the Marathon
A couple of years ago I started running again, purely to get back in shape. Once I got started however, my thoughts turned to the marathon. I had done a lot of training over the summer, signed up for the New York Marathon, and thought that I was on track to run it in a…
Read MoreFirst Announcement – Dr. Shah Invited to Lecture at Medical Education Event
On September 28, 2013, our own Dr. Shah has been invited to lecture at the “Mechanism & Manifestations of Traumatic Brain Injury” symposium hosted by Woods and Beechwood Neurorehab in Philadelphia, PA. The symposium will focus on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), with a special emphasis on mild TBI caused by a single or repetitive trauma…
Read MoreDarren Daulton’s Glioblastoma – Brain Tumor
Former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton’s recent diagnosis of glioblastoma has a lot of people asking questions about this type of tumor. Glioblastoma is a tumor that starts out in the brain itself. We usually become aware of it when it grows large enough to press on parts of the brain that serve important functions, like…
Read MoreFive Steps to Prevent Lower Back Pain
No matter our age or physical condition, we can all get lower back pain at some point in our lives. A Centers for Disease Control study once found that more than 25% of adults suffered lower back pain in the previous three months. In addition, another survey by The Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center of…
Read MoreThe Keys to Gardening with a Bad Back
5 Principles for Safe, Therapeutic Gardening Many people with a history of a bad back and patients who’ve had spine surgery mistakenly believe that gardening is out of the question. Sometimes doctors categorically tell their patients that gardening is a no-no if you have a bad back. Not true. Gardening, if certain commonsense safety…
Read MoreConcussion Consensus Conference
As a neurosurgeon and a sports fan, concussions have always been a particular interest to me on a professional and personal level. In early November of last year, the Fourth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport, was held in Zurich, Switzerland. The results of the meeting were released earlier this week. Importantly, the panel…
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