From all our staff and practice associates, we wish you a Happy New Year! Please celebrate with joy, confidence and moderation, then resolve to make 2018 your best year ever! Remember that your health and happiness is our first wish, but also that it is very largely in your own hands. Please contact our office …
Monthly Archive: December 2017
Dec 27
Surgery During the Holidays
We are now in the midst of the holiday season, a time when most people are not thinking about having surgery. There are exceptions; a ruptured appendix must be removed, an auto accident victim with internal bleeding has no time to wait for the holidays to pass. For that reason, hospital emergency rooms and emergency …
Dec 25
Happy Holidays from Dr. Birkedal and Staff
Happy Holidays to all our friends, staff, patients and readers. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday with your family and loved ones. Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and we look forward to a successful New Year in 2018.
Dec 22
Obesity and Mental Health
Discussing mental health and obesity can be tricky, because you often run into the question of, “which came first, the chicken or the egg.” It can be debatable whether mental health issues like anxiety and depression lead to overeating and obesity, or is it the reverse? Does being overweight or obese make people depressed and …
Dec 18
The Cost of Obesity
Recently, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore published a study that tried to quantify the cost of obesity in the United States. The cost estimates took account of factors such as increased expense for treating diseases like type-2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, as well as lost work time and productivity. …
Dec 15
How to Choose a Surgeon
Many surgeries are elective and can be scheduled in advance, giving the patient time to think about both the procedure and the surgeon. Frequently, the procedures performed by a general surgeon fall into this category. Vascular surgery, thyroid surgery, gallbladder removal surgery and bariatric surgery procedures like the gastric bypass, lap band procedure and gastric …
Dec 11
Deep Vein Thrombosis
One of the procedures we do in our medical office is the treatment of relatively minor vein disorders like varicose veins and “spider veins” (click the link to see a recent article on Varicose and Spider Veins). These vessels become visible through the skin and are often seen on the legs. Varicose veins and spider …
Posted on:
December 9, 2017