Have you ever found yourself losing control and giving in to your cravings, only to feel guilty or disgusted with yourself afterward? Your mind may be telling you not to give in to your food cravings, but your body tells you otherwise, and you just succumb. Is it because you are too weak to resist,...
Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and the weeks that follow are busy days for infectious disease doctors like me. Roses, chocolates, and hot dates give way to genital ulcers, penile discharges, and itchy perineums. The usual diagnoses? Gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. Throw in unwanted...
You have been taking care of your face. Good skincare, maybe some treatments, your skin is in good shape. But then you catch yourself in the mirror—arms out, or in a swimsuit—and something feels off. Your face says one thing. Your body says another. There’s a clinical term for this:...
Do you rarely eat fresh food or home-cooked meals? Do you often find yourself eating at a restaurant, or using food delivery apps, or going through a drive-thru? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your lifestyle eating pattern, according to Dr. Robert Kushner, is a “convenient...
Last week, I posted on social media my frustrations with the policies of national insurer Philhealth, and it quickly went viral. The trigger was that the billing section personnel of a hospital in which I work told me that I could not place a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia, moderate risk...
A few weeks ago, a patient was referred to me after she developed a sore throat and a rash. This sounded like a routine strep throat infection, or in medical terms, acute tonsillopharyngitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. This is a common illness and is straightforward to treat. A...
Let me paint you a scene most parents know by heart. Your child is on the floor, face red, fists clenched, crying over something that, to your adult brain, seems completely manageable. Maybe a sibling took their crayon. Maybe the sock feels “wrong.” Maybe they just can’t find the words for...
Amid rising demands in the education sector, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday, February 13, announced that it is granting up to five days of annual wellness leave to all teaching and non-teaching personnel to promote employee well-being. In a statement, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara...
There’s a phrase I keep coming back to as a mother and a physician: Children do well when they can. Not when they want to. Not when we threaten or bribe them into compliance. When they actually have the skills to manage what’s happening inside their own bodies. And if they don’t have those...
There’s a spreading trend on Tiktok where babies, while awake, are laid on their chest for a few minutes to strengthen their neck, shoulder, and back. Now, some claim this same process is beneficial for adults as well. For grown-ups, tummy time is said to help fix one’s posture and strengthen...
This week, I had a bumper crop of patients with urinary tract infections, or UTIs for short. I saw a lot of patients with UTIs, both in the clinic as outpatients and as inpatients admitted to the hospital. UTIs are among the most common infections seen by doctors, and proper recognition and...
Are you having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night? The effects of insomnia may vary from person to person suffering from this condition. For some, it could be an inconvenience, but for others, it can have a major impact on their lives. Every single person, regardless...
