Medical terms
Harnessing the Placebo? The Human Side of Medicine
“Placebos are the ghosts that haunt our house of biomedical objectivity, the creatures that rise up from the dark and expose the paradoxes and fissures in our own self-created definitions of the real and active factors in treatment”.1 So writes Harvard professor Anne Harrington, and today, the mysteries and contradictions generated by the placebo continue [...]
Death of the Physical? Primary Care and its ‘Archaic’ Exam
Dr. Eric Topol’s Technology, Innovation, and Design (TED) talk entitled, “The Wireless Future of Medicine”, discusses how we will soon use smartphones to monitor our vital signs, diabetes, and even our REM cycles.1 The goal, as Dr. Topol reiterates to his audience, is to keep more patients out of hospital beds. Yet, critics claim that [...]
The Doctor-Patient Relationship in the Internet Age
Introduction The advent of the “information technology age” has led to a rapid change in the doctor‐patient dynamic. Before the Internet became host to a plethora of medical information and advice, the doctor‐patient relationship was confined primarily to office consultations. In that setting, doctors advised patients on the best course of medical action, and the [...]
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