MD Education Insights

Why the Kidneys Matter The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located at the back of the upper part of the abdomen whose main function is to filter blood and remove waste. While that sounds simple enough, I would argue that their physiology is some of the most complex in the body. Calculating the filtration of various substances, the effect of hormones, and the impact of conditions like acid-base disturbances in the body becomes remarkably complex, so I will not spend much time detailing that. There are whole textbooks on that topic if you are interested. Instead, I will specifically address chronic kidney disease (CKD), a rapidly growing condition worldwide. By the end of this article, you should have a better understanding of how CKD changes normal kidney function, what normal kidney function looks like, what causes CKD, and the treatments/therapies that address CKD.  CKD = chronic kidney disease Normal Kidney Function: To understand why CKD has a high morbidity and mortality (i....

Heart Failure - Disease Process and Prevention Heart failure has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1950. Right now, more than 6.5 million people have heart failure and it is only becoming more prevalent [ 1 ]. Furthermore, national spending on heart failure-related expenses is astronomical and only expected to increase. In this post, I want to address what heart failure is, how it develops, and lifestyle factors geared toward prevention. Why is heart failure becoming more common, despite advances in medication and treatment? The other day, I was speaking with a cardiology resident and he told me that his opinion from observation, and I agree, is that heart failure has become more prevalent because medicine has gotten a lot better at treating acute, life-threatening issues like heart attacks. More people are surviving these events which exposes underlying diseases. The typical American diet and lifestyle are less than optimal, so chronic diseases like diabetes a...

Insulin Resistance      When it comes to weight loss and health in general, the most common advice I’ve heard has to be “eat less” and “exercise more”. If I have learned anything during the endocrine unit of medical school, it is that the biochemistry that governs our metabolism is far more nuanced, and its complexity makes the age-old advice of caloric restriction and hitting the weights lacking at best. Eat less of what? What kind of exercise? What if I’m hungry? What if that advice doesn’t work? Understanding the basics of metabolism, especially as it relates to insulin resistance, is one of the most important health-related topics because good metabolic health is one of the main drivers of maintaining quality of life and staving off diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and so on. By understanding the biochemistry of your metabolism, you will be able to make better, more informed choices regarding your health.       In this po...

Irritable Bowel Disease and the Gut Microbiome Introduction:      When people ask me what specialty I want to pursue, my wife likes to tease me that my response changes based on whatever unit I’m on in medical school. And there is some truth to that. I’ve tossed around cardiology and orthopedic surgery. Right now, my response might be gastroenterology or endocrinology, which, as you might have guessed, means we are currently doing our GI unit.       This week’s topic is irritable bowel disease (I’ll be using the abbreviation IBD from here on out). Why is it important to be informed about IBD? Well, Chron’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two main forms of IBD are extremely common. Over 3 million Americans have a diagnosis of IBD, meaning that it is likely that you or someone you know currently battles IBD. Additionally, IBD can be developed at any point throughout someone's life. Even though there is a strong genetic component to developing the dis...

Introduction      The first topic I am going to cover in this blog is cholesterol. It seems to be a buzz word in nutrition circles. What makes cholesterol “good” or “bad”? What are the biochemical pathways for cholesterol in the body? And what are cholesterol’s implications for disease and health? These are the questions I will attempt to answer and discuss. We just finished our cardio-pulm unit in medical school, and I’m on spring break right now, so it is fresh on my mind. I will first explain the biochemistry of cholesterol and then its applications. Since the biochemistry of cholesterol is probably the most interesting thing you will learn all week, you should read it in its entirety. But, if your eyes glaze over, I will understand if you skip ahead.  Biochemistry of Cholesterol      Cholesterol is a type of lipid, or fat, meaning that it does not mix well in water. Its chemical properties make it essential to many processes in the body and a key...

     Since the start of medical school, I’ve received a few phone calls from Mom to make sure that I’m alright. With all the studying, assignments, research, and projects, it’s easy to forget to stay in touch with friends and family. And because I am going through medical school with a wife and almost 2-year-old daughter, I try to spend as much time with them as possible. So, for you Mom, I’m partly starting this blog so you can know that I am alive and well.      In addition to life updates, I often find that I would love to share some of the pearls I am learning with a broader audience. Medicine has so many pertinent topics since disease is something that we all face in one way or another, whether we ourselves are battling an illness or someone we love. Furthermore, I am convinced that the human body is one of God’s greatest creations. The processes that govern the development of organs and systems, healing after an injury, and disease progression are inc...