Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

DECATUR ─ Part of the job of being a physician is to advocate on behalf of the patient. For the physicians in Etowah County who comprise the nonprofit organization known as Physicians Who Care, this isn’t just part of their job…it’s their mission. Physicians Who Care of Northeast Alabama was founded in 1988 as a…

By: Seth Spotnitz, MD Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a disease characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction during sleep which often causes a reduction in blood oxygen levels. As many as 24% of males and 9% of females may suffer from OSA. Many of these people are unaware that they suffer from a…

Eric W. Baum, M.D., M.Sc. Clinical Professor, Department of Dermatology UAB Medical Center Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with a multi-varied etiology. It is characterized by pruritus, which can be quite severe and unrelenting. The skin lesions are polymorphic in nature and may present as erythema, excoriation, papules, papulovesicles, lichenified and have…

By: G. Lowndes Harrison, MD, FACRO Radiation therapy traditionally utilizes the delivery of megavoltage radiation directed to cancerous tissues. Early in its use, it was discovered that radiation in large doses would cause severe and often fatal side effects. However, if smaller fractions of radiation were given on a daily basis, many tumors could be…