High Blood Pressure Screed
It is time for an installment of my recurring screed about the detection and treatment of high blood pressure in the United States. The spark for this piece is the recently publicized new guidelines for treatment of this important, but largely silent, medical problem. Hypertension, the medical term for high blood pressure, characterizes the excess…
Emergency Medical Interventions on the Street
Ordinary citizens can play a life saving role in medical emergencies that occur outside of a medical setting. The Heimlich maneuver is a prime example. The Heimlich Maneuver The occasion for this intervention arises when the airway of an individual becomes blocked from a foreign body such as a poorly chewed piece of meat. The…
Healthcare Cost and Obamacare
Like all sentient people in the US, I have noted the staggering increase in healthcare costs. Compared to 1970, when national expenditures on healthcare (in 2023 constant dollars) were $450 billion, the US spent $4.87 trillion in 2023. This represents about 17.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is projected to be 20…