Monthly Archives: July 2018

Remembrance of the GREATEST surgeon ever…Dr. Michael DeBakey

This entry was posted on by

In July there were various articles about the 10th-year remembrance of the GREATEST surgeon ever to draw a breath─ Dr. Michael E. DeBakey. He was my boss at the GREATEST place in the world for cardiac surgery─ the Baylor College of Medicine. As we age friends tend to call us by first names. No one I knew of called Dr. DeBakey, Michael. He was thought to be almost deified.

Dr. DeBakey was all business, almost without a sense of humor. When I was hired in 1983, I was invited to breakfast in San Francisco with Dr. DeBakey and E. Stanly Crawford; they were two of the three most honored surgeons in the world. Dr. DeBakey could put into a sentence what it would take the rest of us a paragraph to communicate.

The Immediate Health Benefits of Practicing a Religion

This entry was posted on by

Religion offers a prodigious prearrangement for a better afterlife to some, but does it offer benefits to individuals now which exceeds the efforts of practicing their religion? Securing a mansion in the afterlife is highly desirable but how about right now? In a very large study, over 20,000 subjects, life satisfaction, character strengths, and orientation to happiness were stronger in those who actively practiced a religion.1 Furthermore, believing and having religious affiliations offered no benefit without practicing the religion actively.

Practicing a religion does not have to be limited to attending religious services. Daily private prayer has been shown to produce significant health benefits.2 Further, religious activity was shown to provide the most benefit if started before the onset of health problems.3

What to do About Aging Skin

This entry was posted on by

If you are a person with red or purple blotches appearing on your forearms or other body parts as you grow older, you have actinic purpura. This is a medical condition that is reprehensive because of skin damage from aging and exposure to ultra-violet light when younger. It is now termed “Actinic Purpura” but use to be termed “Senile Purpura”. I can only suppose that some of the leaders in dermatology developed the condition and discarded the derogatory name.