Whenever I read of an Iraqi war veteran's suicide or of a soldier afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, I feel a frisson of anguish. My emotional reaction may be due to the many Holocaust victims whom I have doctored. They have taught me that some remembrances of pain and savagery are so deep and tautly embedded that the passage of time can only dilute, not purge....
Clinical Encounter
Excerpts from Dr. Thomas Graboys's recently published book, Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia. Dr. Graboys is known for his work in second opinions for proposed cardiac surgery. His book offers insight into his style of patient-focused care...
Clinical Encounter
Dr. Craig Vinch, cardiologist at the Lown Cardiovascular Center, shares his perspective on a patient, Prof. G. S. H. Lock. This article was originally published in the Lown Forum, the newsletter of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation...
Clinical Encounter
In this article, adapted from a longer feature in The Lown Forum, Professor Lock shares his experiences as a cardiac patient and his observations on the use of medical technology in cardiovascular care...
Clinical Encounter
Imagine that there is a procedure that you could recommend right now for the overweight, type 2 diabetic patient who is sitting across from you in the examining room. The procedure would double his weight loss and double his physical activity...
In Practice
As cardiologists, we want to promote good health- not only to sustain longevity, but also to improve quality of life. We regularly advise our patients about healthy habits, lifestyle modification, nutritional food choices, and physical activity. However, we often ignore the importance of social activity...
Clinical Encounter
A long-standing subject of scientific and research interest at the Lown
Cardiovascular Research Foundation has been to understand the impact of
our patients' psychological and emotional state on their heart health...
In Practice
The patient, a 75-year-old woman seen for the first time, was in severe congestive heart failure (CHF). She was so short of breath she could not lie down on the examining table. Her neck veins were distended, the legs edematous up to her knees, the liver palpated 10 cm below the coastal margin, and the chest examination was consistent with pleural effusions and congestion...
Clinical Encounter
To the use of medication for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, could we add a new therapeutic intervention? This one is not advertised on television or promoted by the pharmaceutical industry-this one is called language, and its efficacy lies in the therapeutic effect of words...
In Practice
My patient was apologetic for calling me at home late one evening on a weekend--something he had never done in the 30 years that I have cared for him. "I won't keep you long, but I'm disabled and don't know where to turn," he began. He then asked for the name of an orthopedist...
Clinical Encounter
Dr. Lown recounts the case of a man with unceasing hiccups who is finally cured through attentive care and open mindedness. "A doctor partakes of two cultures, the dominant one that of science, the second the art of healing, which is indispensable for the full success of the science"...
Clinical Encounter
Dr. Lown writes about a physician's need to be optimistic for patients, and the benefit that encouraging and kind words can have on a patient's health. "Every time a doctor sees a patient, the patient should feel better as a result"...
In Practice
Dr. Lown discusses how harmful a doctor's poorly chosen words can be to a patient. "Words are the most powerful tool a doctor possesses, but words, like a two-edged sword, can maim as well as heal"...
In Practice
In The Lost Art of Healing, Dr. Lown shares his wisdom and experiences about the value of touch in clinical practice. Touch is among the techniques that leads to greater trust between physician and patient, and is also an important and practical tool for doctors. In Dr. Lown's words, "A treatise could be written on the diagnostic value of a handshake"...
In Practice
