By Mercedes Hernandez, Family Medicine Residency, UTMB and Sagar Kamprath, MD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch Unfortunately, obesity is a problem that many Americans struggle with and the effects of obesity on one’s health are overwhelmingly negative. Therefore, addressing ways to combat obesity is essential. Setting SMART goals is arguably the most important first step. SMART goals are goals that aim to be: “specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-oriented.”  As...

By Sagar Kamprath, MD, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, UTMB   Stress runs deep in today’s pandemic-driven society adds fuel to the cycle of increasing inflammation and worsening immune function. Managing inflammation and optimizing the immune system is the underlying message in most illnesses with the current pandemic being no exception. However, through nutrition, supplementation, and breathing we may augment our immune system and give our bodies the tools it needs to stay sharp and fight...

By Quratulanne Jan, MD, and Michael J. Allen, II, MD, Department of Family Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch   “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.” ― Hippocrates   Modern-day medicine in the 21st century has made great advances towards discovering cures. More recently, there has been an increased focus on prevention and social determinants of health. This recognizes that patients consist of numerous variables including...

By Victor S. Sierpina, MD “In times of deep darkness, we not only need light—we need to be a light for one another.” -Parker Palmer While we have been staring down the gun barrels of serious illness and death from COVID plus the stuttering roll-out of sufficient vaccines, another pandemic is developing. This is the so-called “Long Haul COVID” or” Post-COVID syndrome.” In a significant percentage of COVID cases, those who have “recovered” from the...

BY VICTOR S. SIERPINA, MD, ABFM, ABIHM, Director, Medical Student Education Program, WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine, Professor, Family Medicine University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor   Norman Vincent Peale, one of the early exponents of the power of positive thinking said something like this about aging: “Aging of itself does not bring disease and disability, but it is the belief that it does which brings about these conditions.” He...

By Victor S. Sierpina, MD Are we ready for the next pandemic?  In a thoughtful essay by Lainie Rutkow, a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, calls the field of public health an “invisible discipline.” This has been particularly true during non-crisis periods across the international stage. The essay is published in a recent book, COVID-19 and the World Order: The Future of Conflict, Competition, and...

BY Victor S. Sierpina, MD, ABFM, ABIHM, Director, Medical Student Education Program, WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine, Professor, Family Medicine University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor   Recently, I participated in the Texas Academy of Family Practice annual virtual conference and saw a presentation on COVID and mental health. It was given by Katherine Buck, Ph.D., and Dr. Grant Fowler, from John Peter Smith Hospital. I will share part of...

By Laura Porterfield, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Interim Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs, UTMB What if a diet could improve not just an individual’s health, but also the health of the whole planet? A recent collaboration of international experts found evidence for just such a diet. They call it the “great food transformation.” [i] The EAT-Lancet Commission—composed of 37 experts from the fields of food systems, environmental sustainability, nutrition, human health, economics,...

By Victor S. Sierpina, MD There is a well written, meticulously documented book by Baylor Professor Jeff Levin, Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity’s Two Great Institutions. Dr. Levin, an epidemiologist and religious scholar has spent his career investigating and documenting the dialogue, and the conflicts between medicine and religious traditions, their synergies and their tensions. A quote from the book that characterizes some of this dynamic: “Medicine, in the final...

By Laura Porterfield, Clinical Assistant Professor, Interim Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs, UTMB, Department of Family Medicine   Before entering, I put on my armor: surgical cap, KN95 mask covered by a secondary surgical mask, face shield, gown, and gloves. Donned in protective gear, I’m barely recognizable even to colleagues who know me well. Grabbing a clean stethoscope, I stride to the examining room, where I pause to read the patient’s name before entering. In...