My Contributions to Humanity

My Quora Answer to:
What's been your most valuable contribution to humanity?

In order:

1. Seven beautiful, caring, loving, and compassionate children.

2. Being a physician. Especially the ER part.

3. Saving lives.

3. Medical missions to Mexico and Nicaragua.

4. The Medicine Cabinet, my baby. This was a non-profit group I started in the Spring of 1994 in response to the Rwandan civil war. In fact, our shipment of medications and medical equipment was one of the first from the U.S. In 2007, the thugs at the IRS killed my baby, claiming it was just a shell corporation. Despite the fact that I never made a penny from it not accepted cash donations.

5. My “War on Abortions After the First Trimester.”

6. My fight against aborting babies just because they have Down Syndrome. I call this "Geneticide," or the mass extermination of people based solely on genetics.

7. How to Think Like a Doctor and its Spanish translation, Cómo Pensar Como un Doctor.

8. Barefoot Doctors.

9. And my book My Worst Thanksgiving Ever, although you'd be hard pressed to find my “contributions to humanity” but they are there, especially in follow-up.

http://bit.ly/31fNKPJ

Death by Ecstasy

My Quora Answer to:
Can a man with a weak heart die from an organism?

Orgasm?

If you mean orgasm then the answer is “yes.” The best celebrity anecdote is from Richard Pryor whose own father “came and went” at the same time while having sex with one of his own prostitutes (he was a pimp).

These days, we older men with heart disease need to be extra careful because taking nitroglycerin, having Coronary Artery Disease, and using Viagra to flog a dying horse, all add up to what our special needs government calls a “Black Box Warning.” In other words, proceed with caution. But in all honesty, no one ever in the midst of passion has stepped back to say, “hey, let's think about this first.”

Sildenafil, the generic name/form of Viagra, works by relaxing the smooth muscles that line the arterial (oxygen-carrying) side of our blood system. In penises, that's a good thing. But in horny old men, that means a lot of the blood moves from the core (heart, lungs, etc.) to the periphery, leaving less blood to oxygenate these vital organs. So, at the moment of ecstasy there is a battle, and the poor ol' geezer often loses.

Taps are now on order.

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Physician Response to Patient Research

My Quora Answer to:

If you have been researching your symptoms on the Internet prior to a consultation with your family doctor, should you respect his/her superior knowledge and keep quiet about what you found?

Not at all. A well-informed patient is a good patient.

Let your doc know you have been doing research and what you found. At this point, let them think about it.

Physicians are trained to sort through all the signs, symptoms, test results, history, family history, etc. and come up with a “Differential Diagnosis,” which is a list of possible causes. The best docs I know come up with a lot of Differential Diagnoses (often just in their heads), and then narrow them down to the one diagnosis that explains everything best. Part of that process is using Occam's Razor: the most likely and best explanation is the single one that accounts for most, if not all, of the findings. As an aside, Occam also added that this excludes any “cause” that evokes supernatural intervention. In our Scientific Age, we don't even consider that anymore.

Back to your question. After throwing out there your research results, permit them to do what we do best. Their definitive diagnosis may or may not be the same as yours. Don't be offended if it isn't. Remember, they are applying their training and experiences.

Good Question.

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