by  James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

The headlines read, “Study shows virginity pledgers as sexually active as peers,” or, “Virginity pledges don’t work.”  OK, I thought, I’m not too keen on public pledges myself.  They were probably done in the emotion and peer pressure of the moment.  I wish all programs would undergo similar scrutiny.

But, then, I read an interview with the study’s author and found ”the rest of the story,” to quote Paul Harvey.  I didn’t take my own advice and believed a headline without reading the details.

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Hi! It’s Leigh Ann, managing editor, again.

Scrambling for the perfect gift? Need something for under the tree? Well, scramble no more! Here’s what you do.

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James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

News flash.  Medicine is not perfect.  A few years ago, I finished my advice to a patient by saying, I might be wrong.  She sarcastically said she was going to go straight home and call her doctor son-in-law to give him the news. “A doctor said he might be wrong. Who knew?”

Reading the recent news about colonoscopies made me think of this.  Why do we need scientific studies to document that therapies work?  Because we can’t rely on our intuitions and preconceived notions.  Every diagnostic test and treatment needs to be scrutinized objectively.  Even the ones we’re sure of.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Consumers Union is upset with the FDA, calling for an overhaul of the agency.

Consumers Union, which publishes the popular Consumer Reports magazine, describes itself as “an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.” I have always found them to be just that.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

I was scanning the medical news headlines today and I could not stop thinking how misleading some can be, and why you need information like James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor website and magazine, along with like sources, to sort out the confusion.

In just a few minutes, I found:

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by  James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

I need psychiatric help.  Not the usual kind (well, maybe), but someone in the psychiatric field to help me understand what this new report in the Archives of General Psychiatry is really telling us.  I know the headlines, that almost half of adults 18 to 24 have a psychiatric disorder.  Alcohol was higher in college students.  Nicotine and drug addiction was higher in non-college students, along with bipolar disorder.

How were these disorders diagnosed?  What was the criteria for diagnosis?  What are we to do about it?
Is this just another “scare of the day”?  Are smoking and drinking now “psychiatric disorders”?

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

The CDC says we’re having a big problem with type 2 diabetes. It reported a whopping 90-percent increase in new cases from 2005 to 2007, compared to 10 years earlier.

What can we do? Perhaps genetic treatment is the answer!(?)

The current New England Journal of Medicine published two studies on whether we can better predict type 2 diabetes risk by looking at DNA variations on genes. If we could, we might also be able to individualize treatment, they thought. A double whammy.

Alas, they found that it doesn’t help much more than knowing family history and weight.  They hypothesized the reason was scientists haven’t found all the DNA sequences that affect diabetes.

Although I have simplified these complicated studies, that’s the gist.  But I looked at the results a different way.

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Hi, everybody. It’s Leigh Ann Hubbard, managing editor of James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor. I’ve hijacked the blog for a sec.

We need your help. We’re discussing an upcoming article on moles. It covers what to do if you can’t get in to see a dermatologist. But there’s been a suggestion that that’s not even a concern. Is it?

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Today is the big day.  No more political ads.  I have a little different view than the mainstream on our duty to vote.  Certainly, I believe U.S. citizen has the right to vote, but our duty is to be informed before we cast the ballot.  This election will determine paths we will follow for years to come, with new laws and court decisions pending.  The economy is the news and worry now.  Maybe this is your one issue.  Or maybe it’s defense.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

A new study concludes that many physicians prescribe placebos to their patients.  The news, which made headlines all over the place late last week, was surprising to me.  But I think the study is a tad weak and misleading.

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