Facts about pregnancy and covid

Posted on June 6, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

The vaccine is safe for mom (are you a future mom?!) and baby.

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Acute Achilles tendon rupture. Ouch! What to do now?

Posted on May 31, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

Acute Achilles tendon rupture.  Ouch! What to do now?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What is the optimal treatment of acute achilles tendon rupture? The options are to let the tendon scar over time (and not have surgery) OR to have an operation to sew the two parts of the Achilles tendon together.

Outcome: Nonsurgical management had 7% complication rate and had 4 time more chance of re-rupture rate compared to those who had surgery. 

In comparison, for those who had surgery the re-rupture rate was only 3.6% (it was 12% re-rupture rate with non-operative management). Surgical treatment has fewer re-ruptures, but more complications. 

If you have surgery, is there a way to decrease risk and increase benefit?  Yes.  Minimally invasive surgery has fewer complications than an open surgical approach.  There is no difference in re-rupture rate with minimally invasive surgery compared to open surgery . 

So, if you have an achilles tendon rupture, ask your orthopaedic surgeon if they can perform the reattachment with minimally invasive surgery.

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Physical INACTIVITY is associated with a higher risk for severe covid 19 bad outcomes!

Posted on May 24, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

Physical INACTIVITY is associated with a higher risk for severe covid 19 bad outcomes!

What is the research?  There was a recent study done with 50,000 patients.  This research was at Kaiser where exercise is considered a vital sign, which explains why there is such robust data on this. 

They took into consideration the patients other medical conditions (gender, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, etc). 

What are the risks? 

Inactive group was 2.25 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to those who exercised 150 minutes per week.

The physically inactive were 2.5 times more likely to DIE compared to those who exercised 150 minutes per week. 

Take home point: Exercise 150 minutes a week can truly save your life.

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How to avoid ACL injury?

Posted on May 17, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) helps stabilize the knee. It is a common ligament that gets torn. My daughter tore her ACL a few years ago, requiring operative management, AND months and months of physical therapy.

How to avoid an ACL injury? 

  1. Age (the earlier you start strengthening muscles the better).
  2. Use good biomechanics.

●     Stretch before any exercise or athletic activity.

●     Practice proper landing skills. These should include: Land with knees bent but the legs (thighs, knees, and lower legs) kept in a straight line. Land on the balls of the feet instead of the entire foot or heel

●    Maintain proper body posture throughout the landing.

●    Ensure both feet land simultaneously. (No one-footed landings.)

●    Practice proper pivoting. Women tend to remain more erect when turning, which can stress the ACL. One exercise is practicing pivoting in a slightly crouched position with the hips and knees slightly bent.

●    Increase agility by practicing running, stopping, pivoting, and running in another direction while maintaining the proper body position.

3. Compliance. This means… keep it up! Make it a routine of yours.

4.How much is useful?  Any amount, but research shows that 20 minutes daily is best.

5. Exercise variety (do not do a singular sport). The body needs varied feedback.

6. Perform specific exercises to help stabilize the muscles around the knee.

● Walking Lunges – Lunges help strengthen thigh muscles (quadriceps).
● Hamstring Leans – These strengthen the muscles in the back of the thigh.
● Single Toe Raises – You use your toes (not one toe) while the other leg is raised by bending the knee. This strengthens calf muscles (back of the lower leg) and improves overall balance.
● Squats – Whether traditional or wall squat, these exercises strengthen the quadriceps and hamstring muscles while improving balance.
● Split Jumps – Several studies have shown these to be one of the best ACL injury prevention exercises. This can be a difficult exercise to perform correctly, but it is important to gradually increase the duration and intensity of split jumps to ensure the best results. They should only be done for as long as the strength and stamina are available to perform them perfectly.

I hope this helps.

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What is physician burnout? Why should it be important to you?

Posted on May 10, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

What is physician burnout?  It’s not a disease but a syndrome highlighted by exhaustion, cynicism, and decreased sense of efficacy.  This is job-related.  In contrast, depression is across work and home environments.

Why is physician burnout important to you?  After YEARS of training, your physician may leave their career and leave you as their patient.  Your physician may have less empathy for you due to their overwhelming feeling of burnout. 

Burnout can be measured: Maslach burnout (emotional exhaustion where work makes us feel tired). This is different from depression.  When you have burnout, you may be happy when NOT at work.  There are additional features: Depersonalization (callous). Lack of personal accomplishment (need to feel that work is worthwhile) and Mini-Z (10 questions). 

What most contributes to physician burnout?  Too many bureaucratic tasks. Toxic work culture. Lack of control over schedule. Burnout is often not a money issue.

How to we cope?  Exercise. Isolating from others (we need people to “see us.”)   Not reaching out is a red flag.

How do we mitigate it? Physician burnout is a system issue, not an individual issue.  Fix the underlying problem.  Less bureaucratic. Less paperwork.

It is time to not hold physicians independently responsible for their burnout.  There is no amount of exercise or yoga that will battle physician burnout.  It is moral injury to be unable to help patients due to bureaucratic load. Insurance companies are piling on the administrative duties like requiring prior authorizations, peer-to-peer consultations.

Suicide rate is 2.3X for physicians versus 1.4X in the general population.

How to get to the bottom of what is individually important?  What is our carrot (versus stick)?  And, what is our goal? Do the choices that we are make honor our values?

What would help most to reduce your burnout?  Better be able to negotiate schedule.

How to create a culture of wellness?  Create a work environment with a set or normative values, attitudes, and behaviors that promote self-care.  Be efficient in your patient charting/paperwork.  Personal resilience.

How do we keep happy?

  • Build relationships! 
  • Work on family, fitness, fatigue. We often work in reverse order and do the least-enjoyable aspects of our life first.  There are no do-overs.
  • Learn to say no. 
  • Schedule family vacations a year in advance.
  • Eat dinner with your family 5 times per week. 
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FREE medical treatment!

Posted on May 3, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

May 7, 10, & 14: Student Outreach Clinics

UNR Med students will provide FREE medical services in Lovelock and Reno to Northern Nevadans who are uninsured, underinsured, or without a social security number at three events in the next two weeks.

  • Rural Outreach Clinic, Sunday, 9 a.m.—1 p.m., May 7: Lovelock Community Church, 1055 Dartmouth Ave., Lovelock, Nevada, 8941
  • General and Pediatrics Clinic, 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 10: University Health Building, 745 W. Moana Lane, Reno
  • Women’s Clinic, 8 a.m., Saturday, May 14: University Health Building, 745 W. Moana Lane, Reno
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Osteoporosis and menopause: What you should know…

Posted on May 3, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

Osteoporosis and menopause: What you should know…

femur (thigh bone) fracture
  • How common is osteoporosis?  Almost half of women older than 50 years will experience a fracture related to osteoporosis in their lifetimes.  These fractures often resulting in significant symptoms and impairment of function and quality of life.  Hip fractures may require surgery, a rehab stay or long-term nursing home.  Osteoporosis is substantially underdiagnosed and undertreated.  Ask your physician if a bone density (DEXA) test is right for you.
  • Estrogen deficiency at menopause is the primary cause of bone loss leading to osteoporosis.
  • Even with good nutrition and regular physical activity, osteoporosis progresses with advancing age unless treated.  There is no cure for osteoporosis so life-long management is required once the diagnosis has been made.
  • Hormone therapy is the most appropriate choice to prevent bone loss at the time of menopause for healthy women, particularly those who have menopause symptoms.
  • Bone mineral density measured while on treatment correlates with the patient’s current risk of fracture, providing justification for the use of the T-score at the hip as an appropriate clinical target. Therapy should be reviewed after each bone density test.
  • Although antiremodeling drugs such as bisphosphonates and denosumab are the drugs chosen to treat most patients with osteoporosis, a new paradigm of beginning treatment with a bone-building agent, followed by an antiremodeling agent, is recommended for women at very high risk of fracture.  Talk to your doctor about what may be right for you.
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Urinary complications of menopause

Posted on April 26, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

Urinary complications of menopause.

flickr.com/photos/ vinceandjoy/ 319681936/

Stress incontinence: leaking.

1.One nonsurgical intervention is an intravaginal pessary help give support to the bladder neck.

2.Surgical options: Mesh (the size of scotch tape) can form a hammock to keep the urethra upright.  The mesh is the best treatment that urogynecologists have.  The media does not like mesh and attorneys seem to love it

Overactive bladder: urge to urinate. 

  1. First steps: voiding diary.  24-hour diary (writing down how much she drinks and how much she urinates at every bathroom trip) as this gives insight as how well the bladder is functioning.
  2. 2. Pelvic floor muscle strength.  This is assessed during a pelvic exam. 
  3. 3. Common medications are in the family of anticholinergics. The medication limits bladder contractility which is good, but can also cause dry mouth and constipation.
  4. Other nonmedication treatments: PTNS percutaneous tibial (which is on the leg) nerve stimulation.  This is a treatment that can be done multiple times in a urology office.
  5. Intravesical botox.  Botox is inserted into the bladder at your urology office. This helps relax the bladder.
  6. Spinal stimulation with implantable pulse generator can also give long-lasting relief.

Urinary tract infections: UTIs are more frequent after menopause. 

1.The role of estrogen in the urologic system is to help to maintain a beneficial vaginal flora to help decrease infections.  Use of estrogen helps decrease UTIs by half.  Estrogen can be in the vaginal in the form of cream, pill, or ring.

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The sexual history questions your physician may ask…

Posted on April 19, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

The sexual history questions your physician may ask…

flickr.com/ photos/ tokaris/ 207335658

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated their “A Guide to Taking a Sexual History.”  The list is usually tailored to those questions that seem appropriate for the patient.

Any sexually active person, regardless of age, should be asked these questions. The STI rate in postmenopausal women increased 50% in the past decade. The most important predictor of STIs in older persons is the number of sexual partners they’ve had in the past year.

1. Partners: Are you currently having sex of any kind—oral, vaginal, or anal—with anyone? In recent months, how many sex partners have you had? What is the gender(s) of your partner(s)? Do you or your partner(s) currently have other sex partners?

2. Practices: What parts of your body are involved when you have sex? Do you have genital sex, anal sex, oral sex? Do you meet your partners online or through apps?

3. Protection: Do you and your partner(s) discuss prevention of STIs? If so, what kind of prevention tools do you use, and how often do you use it?

4. History of STIs: Have you been diagnosed with an STI in the past? When? Did you get treatment? Do you have any of those symptoms that return? Do you know the HIV status of your partner(s)?

5. Pregnancy intention: Do you think you would like to have [more] children at some point? When do you think that might be? How important is it to you to prevent pregnancy [until then]? Are you or your partner using contraception or practicing any form of birth control?

6. Experts recommended an “aspirational” question addressing pleasure, but has not been included in the guide: Are you satisfied with the sex that you are having?

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How to decrease your risk of getting breast cancer?

Posted on April 12, 2022 by drlesliegreenberg

How to decrease your risk of getting breast cancer?

https:flickr.com/photos/seniwati/3179821198
flickr.com/photos/seniwati/3179821198

Breastfeed your babies!  It is also convenient, good for baby, and free.

Lose weight.  For postmenopausal women with obesity (BMI >30), there is a 20-40% INCREASED risk of breast cancer.  In premenopausal women who are obese and have breast cancer, there is an increased chance they will have a more-aggressive triple-negative breast cancer.  Obesity is associated with worse breast cancer outcomes for women of all ages (shorter time to recurrence and increased risk of death from breast cancer).  This may be due to adipose (fat cells) holding onto estrogen, causing inflammation and being associated with hyperinsulinemia.  These abnormalities can cause disrupted cellular mechanisms and downregulate immunity, letting cellular abnormalities (cancer cells) to go unchecked.

WHAT you eat is important.  High total fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a reduced risk overall risk of breast cancer.  Starchy vegetables (corn, peas, potatoes) do not count, so avoid those. Whole grains are also helpful.

DO physical activity.  1 in 8 breast cancers can be prevented with physical activity.  The 2020 American cancer Society Guidelines for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity (or 75 minutes of vigorous) physical activity weekly.  Get active.

Avoid alcohol.  Alcohol is considered a carcinogen and is linked to seven types of major cancers, including breast cancer. Any amount of alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer.  More alcohol use is associated with higher risk. Alcohol causes systemic changes of increased acetaldehyde, interference with metabolizing folate, inflammation, and increased estradiol.

I hope this helps.

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