Is Tongue Tie Becoming More Common?

In October 2016, I listened to an interesting lecture by Dr. Ghaheri (ENT in Portland, OR) who at one point attempted to explain through genetics why clinically significant tongue tie may be increasing in frequency. After all, it seems that every year, more and more moms are reporting breastfeeding difficulty/pain as well as more infants are being diagnosed with tongue tie now than in the past. One explanation may be due to genetics. He specifically mentioned three research papers that …

11/04/2016 1

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What is the Most Common Cause of Bacterial Sore Throat? (Hint... It is NOT Strep)

Viruses may cause the most sore throats, but when it comes to bacterial sources, strep seems to get a bad rap as THE germ that causes tonsillitis and pharyngitis. However, a 2015 study from University of Alabama suggests that group A strep which is detected by the commonly used rapid strep swab only accounts for about 10% of bacterial sore throats. The real culprit that causes most of the bad non-viral sore throats at least in young adults (15-30 years) is Fusobacterium necrophorum . Th…

5/08/2015 1

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How Common is Hoarseness?

At some point, we all have suffered from a hoarse voice whether from illness or from yelling. However, it was unclear exactly how common this malady is until now... and apparently, the answer is "very common"... According to a study looking to answer this question, hoarseness affected 17.9 million adults in 2012.   The average age was 49 years old and 63% were women. Overall, 10% saw a health care professional for their hoarseness and 40% were given a diagnosis. Infectious la…

5/04/2014 0

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Risk of Death From... Is...

Image courtesy of noomh / FreeDigitalPhotos.net When it comes to risk of death from surgical procedures, it is illustrative to compare it to more common experiences. Patients often become unduly concerned with certain risks including death without any true understanding of how rare the risk may be. Unfortunately, such rare risks may be THE reason why a patient may refuse a needed procedure in the erroneous belief that something rare has an unacceptably high chance of occurring to them. …

1/10/2014 0

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Nasal Spray Cure for the Common Cold?

Well maybe not cure per se, but at least effective treatment to reduce the duration and severity of the viral cold at least. Austrian researchers have reported on the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 211 patients suffering from early symptoms of the common cold. [ link ] Treatment of the non-placebo group involved using a nasal spray containing carrageenan (a sulphated polysaccharide found in red seaweed/algae) three times per day for 7 days. Cold…

12/07/2013 2

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