Category: Newsletter

Health insurance terms can be confusing. Copay, coinsurance, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum – what do they all mean? Here is a quick and easy guide to help you understand the language of health care insurance.

It never seems to fail – your child is sick, the pediatrician’s office is closed and you don’t think you can wait until morning – you want a medical professional to see your child as soon as possible.

You had chickenpox as a child and heard that it can come back as shingles when you are an adult. Has this childhood disease returned in the form of the painful rash and blisters you now have?

For a man with erectile dysfunction (ED), it can be difficult to admit there is a problem. Despite the popularity of effective medications, less than one in five men with ED will ask their medical professional for treatment.

You might have heard – there is a new “high” in blood pressure. The new guidelines were recently announced at an American Heart Association meeting. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is now defined as a reading of 130 over 80 – down from 140 over 90.

Is losing weight your New Year’s resolution? If so, you are not alone. While everyone knows that eating less and exercising more are the healthiest ways to a slimmer you – it is not easy. However, there is a new non-surgical treatment designed to help you reach your weight-loss goal – and it begins with swallowing a balloon.

If you are a frequent pot smoker, or you know someone who is, this article is for you. There is a condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) — its symptoms are similar to someone who has Crohn’s disease or disease of the gallbladder or pancreas.

Your teenage daughter is headed to the beach for a mid-winter break and she wants to get a start on her tan at the neighborhood tanning salon. For the sake of her health, just say no!

Congratulations to the Washington University physicians that have been placed on the Best Doctors List in America for 2017. Of the 1,287 physicians on the list, one out of every three Best Doctors in St. Louis is a Washington University Physician.

Congratulations – you are expecting a baby! There will be no shortage of advice from well-meaning friends, relatives and yes, strangers. To help you wade through the information overload, Eric Strand, MD, chief of Washington University’s Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology, busts some of the top pregnancy myths.

If you or someone you know suffers from sickle cell, Washington University physicians want you to know that expert care and support are now more convenient than ever.

Even the best looking legs want to run and hide when unsightly spider and varicose veins start to make themselves at home. Cosmetic appearances aside, some veins can be painful and even cause other complications. Fortunately, there are excellent treatments available to give you the confidence to show your legs again.

What if the world you could see was only as far as how many fingers were being held in front of your face? What if you couldn’t see any letters on the eye chart – at all? What if you could not recognize your wife? This describes, Michael Scatizzi, a 53-year-old man who recently came to see Linda Tsai, MD, Washington University ophthalmologist and specialist in cataract surgery.

Injuries are never convenient and most don’t happen during regular doctors’ office hours. That is why Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital have added a second location to the popular walk-in orthopedic injury clinic – now open in South County!

Abdominal pain, cramping and diarrhea – was it something you ate or maybe a nasty virus? You’d feel better for a while, but when the symptoms returned again and again, you knew something else was going on. After your doctor ruled out other possible causes, diagnostic testing confirmed you had inflammatory bowel disease or IBD.

It was the beginning of the school semester, and your son just couldn’t shake his fatigue and sore throat. He was never one to complain about being sick, so you knew it was time to see the doctor. The diagnosis was mononucleosis, or as most people call it, mono.

“Life-changing.” Those are the words a 63-year old female patient recently used to describe the results she experienced after facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Gregory Branham, MD, corrected her deviated septum.

Unless you’ve been marooned on a deserted island or living in a cave for the past several weeks, it is impossible not to have heard about one of the biggest astronomical events of the decade. The “Great American Eclipse”, or total solar eclipse, will take place on August 21, 2017.

Low testosterone was once an embarrassing topic for men to discuss with their physicians. However, many men now seem to be more open about talking about their symptoms of low testosterone – including erectile dysfunction.

Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday your toddler was getting well-baby check-ups at the pediatrician. Now as those preteen years turn into teenage years, you need to know what vaccinations are important for your young adult.

One of your breasts was swollen and the skin looked like an orange peel. You thought it was just an infection, but your doctor thought differently. Imaging tests revealed a condition most people have never heard of – inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) – a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.

As many as one in three Americans suffer from low back pain. Its economic impact is greater than that of heart disease and cancer combined. Doctors who treat patients suffering from back pain are exploring new approaches that help some patients avoid opioid drugs.

The summer sun is a distant memory, but the damage to your skin is not. Winter is a perfect time to freshen and rejuvenate your face. There are many treatment choices to reverse the effects of sun exposure. Give yourself the gift of beautiful skin this winter and find out which treatment plan is best for you.

New Year’s resolutions can quickly go up in smoke, but 2017 could be the year to finally stick to your resolution to quick smoking. Help is just a phone call away for all patients of Washington University physicians.

Not every heart attack begins with a crushing chest pain. Especially for women, the symptoms of a heart attack may be mistaken for something else. Because heart disease is the number one killer of women, what you don’t know can be the matter of life or death — no matter what your age.

People who suffer from psoriasis know that is it is an uncomfortable and embarrassing skin disease. It is unpredictable and irritating, and is one of the most baffling skin disorders. It is usually characterized by patches of thick, pink-red skin that may be itchy, dry and covered with loose, silvery scales.

Most children grow up without a worry in the world – and their only concern is “what’s for dinner?” However, there are some whose lives aren’t as carefree as they should be. Perhaps an earlier traumatic event or accident is affecting their behavior. Washington University Physicians Trauma Response Program has been designed specifically to offer mental health support for children and their families to help them cope and recover.

Congratulations, you are having a baby! There is no shortage of baby books and reading material for expectant mothers, and the avalanche of information can be overwhelming. Washington University Obstetric Consultants are here to help you understand the changes that will occur in your body, what to expect during your prenatal visits, throughout your pregnancy, delivery and care after your baby is born.

You thought your blurry vision just meant you needed a stronger eyeglass prescription. However, your ophthalmologist diagnosed you with Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy – a fairly rare condition that leads to progressive blurred vision due to clouding of the cornea. Naturally, you have many questions about the disease and treatment options.

For such a long time, women with incontinence suffered in silence. This was a secret many didn’t want to talk about –even with their closest friends. Incontinence can be distressing and can have a dramatic effect on a woman’s quality of life. There are now many management options for treatment of stress and urge incontinence.

If you suffer from chronic migraines, you know the debilitating symptoms. They can include throbbing pain, sensitivity to light and sounds, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and lightheadedness. What you might not know is that Botox ® is now used as a FDA-approved preventative treatment option for chronic migraines.

For Andrea Walker, weight loss had been a battle she’d fought for years. She would diet, exercise and shed a few pounds – get frustrated and then quit. “I was basically healthy, but uncomfortable at my weight. I was concerned that I would start having weight-related health issues. As I got older, I found it increasingly difficult to lose weight.”

Living through your teenage years with severe acne was bad enough, but now you have scars that no amount of make-up can cover. You’ve heard there is a new technique available that provides noticeable results, but with less downtime than more invasive procedures. Is this treatment right for you?

It started gradually — your eyesight was a bit blurred and wavy, and then you noticed objects in the central part of your field of vision seemed to disappear. A visit to your ophthalmologist confirmed you had macular degeneration – now the leading cause of vision loss in Americans, 60 years of age and older.

You were visiting your mom and she seemed very confused and disoriented. She claimed the retirement home had moved her to a different apartment and she didn’t know why. Fortunately, you knew the reason for her confusion was not to be ignored because you had seen this out-of-sorts behavior before. Your mom hadn’t been moved to a new apartment, but she probably had another urinary tract infection.