'health care' posts

I have been asked many times about toenail fungus and how to treat it. It is a common condition and distressing to look at, at least from the patient's perspective. There are theories abound as to the cause or causes, and I've heard of treatments from tea-tree oil soaks to surgery, but the really bedeviling part about this affliction is the generally high likelihood of recurrence no matter what you do. The medications and some of the other treatments available seem to work for a time, only to fail later on. But there may be a solution.

A curious observation is that exercise...

For those of you who don't know, today is the official two year anniversary of the Swedish blog - this means Swedish has been blogging several times a week for two full years!

What have we been blogging about this year?

• Allergy prevention and management

• 10 things doctors and health care providers admire about patients

• The role of cancer rehabilitation

• For parents: dealing with picky eaters and healthy travel food tips, plus how to introduce solids to your infant (and other parenting topics)

• Marijuana smoking and the risk for lung cancer

• Recommended activity levels after different types of surgery

• The story behind 1-855-XCANCER and resources at the Swedish Cancer Institute

• Tips for those dealing with eczema and acne

• Deciding on surgical treatment for breast cancer and tips for accessing online information about breast cancer

• For moms and moms to be: nutrition in pregnancy and announcing the Lytle Center for Pregnancy and Newborns 

• Flu information

• Resources for those with hearing loss interested in cochlear implants from our live-tweeted and Instagrammed cochlear implant surgery

• Why you still need sunscreen in Seattle

• ...and many other topics

Who's been blogging?

We've had people from across Swedish blogging (more than 100 the last time we checked), including:

• Surgeons

• Nurses

• Family Medicine and Primary Care Physicians

• Dietitians

• Educators

• (And many others!)

Why are we blogging?

We started the blog as a way to connect with you (our community), whether you're a current patient, a past patient, a future patient…or just someone who stumbled across our site looking for health information. We believe our role is to be a resource of information, both online and off. Blogging gives us an easy way to keep you up to date, informed, and engaged on a number of health topics…

“Did my stress cause this rash?!”

A patient recently asked this question half-jokingly, but as we talked further about his life circumstances, he came to the answer of his own question. Issues between him and a loved one came tumbling out, his persistent unhappiness with the present state of affairs made it clear that yes, very much so, his stress is playing a role in his rash.

How can this be possible? And if it is true, that our mental states can give rise to very straightforwardly visible physical maladies, how are we to respond?

The interplay of our minds and bodies runs deep. The more time I spend in the practice of medicine, the more amazed I am at the powerful effects that run back and forth between the two poles of our being, the physical and the mental aspects of our selves. Physical events, such as broken bones, strokes, and degenerative disease strike ...

Kevin Brown


Marcel Loh

SEATTLE, April 1, 2013 – Swedish Health Services today announced that Chief Executive Kevin Brown is leaving Swedish to take a new position as CEO of Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta.

Instead of only focusing on what patients need to do to improve their health, let's look at what they bring to a doctor’s appointment.

Here are 10 things that physicians love about their patients:

10. Their preparedness. One might think that doctors cringe when patients pull out “the list” of their concerns and questions. On the contrary: this adds great efficiency and still helps us to be complete in what we do. The last thing a doctor wants is for a patient to go home and worry about something they forgot to ask us.

9. Their self-discipline. I have seen many patients shed pounds, shake off cigarettes, trim down on alcohol consumption and put on those sneakers day after day. If I’m honest, I’d say that I myself exercise just so I can look these inspiring individuals in the eyes when we talk about fitness.

8. Their knowledge. I don’t always know the “latest and greatest” developments in medicine. My patients are well-informed, and not uncommonly alert me to something I need to research or bone up on. They are “iron sharpening iron.”

7. Their ...

Do you have a groin bulge that seems to come and go, often absent upon waking in the morning? Or perhaps you already know you have a hernia? Hernias are very common and occur in approximately 1 in 4 males (less common in women), so chances are you or someone you know has or has had an inguinal hernia. The main question I always get asked is "should it be fixed?"  

As a general surgeon, I see 4-5 patients every week with a newly diagnosed inguinal hernia. Many are self-referred after discovering a lump in the groin, while many others are referred from their primary care provider after the hernia is discovered during the physical exam. After verifying that a hernia is the correct diagnosis (other possibilities are a groin strain, swollen lymph node, etc.), I have a discussion which addresses the aforementioned question. As an aside, these are very common and also found in the pediatric population (see a similar discussion by one of our pediatric surgeons)

To understand hernias...

Happy (healthy) holidays! Here's a roundup of great tips, recipes, and videos to help you make decisions about what to eat or what to make & bring to holiday gatherings:

• Love pinning and finding recipes on Pinterest? Click to view and pin from our board of more than 100 dietitian-approved heart-healthy recipes.

• Tarynne Mingione, RD, gives some great tips for thinking about portion sizes at holiday gatherings and also how to incorporate more vegetables into your favorite festive foods - click here to read, and also find links to some of her favorite recipes!

• Do you know what is in your holiday cocktail? Dr. Lindquist has some tips for eating and drinking at holiday gatherings. Click here to watch his video with healthy holiday eating tips, and also watch this video with tips on preventing holiday weight gain.

• Chef Eric has ..