The American Psychiatric Association publishes a book titled the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It sets up criteria for physicians to make a diagnosis of a mental disorder.  When I was practicing full time, many of [...]

In 1996 the Federal Government passed a law concerning patient records. It was called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It provided health records protection for patients. The rules were in play long before that. However, [...]

We have a tendency to be spoiled by our country’s health care system. A good example of this is the current measles outbreaks that have occurred. We call them an outbreak when the numbers rise above 5 infected [...]

There has been much made of the ages of the current Presidential candidates and their cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are indeed important. However, people sometimes think there is an overall decline in all abilities with age. That is [...]

As a member of the Knights of Columbus, I often have to attend funerals of members. Sometimes I have to call the widows and speak to them. That means I have both a religious and medical role in [...]

A new study on exercise was published in February in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. It looked at exercise levels in men and women and compared them to each other. The usual recommended amount of [...]

The American Academy of Pediatrics has long been an advocate for protecting our children from gun violence. Events like Columbine and Newtown and Parkland and Uvalde quickly come to mind. For the first time in history firearms now [...]

There are many identified patterns of behavior that we know about. One of them is the pattern used by men who sexually abuse women. It was codified by a psychologist named Jennifer Joy Freed. She gave it the [...]

Last week I wrote about neuropsychological testing in schools. Some people may have the perception that these tests are only useful in a school setting. That is not true. There are many neurological conditions that are marked by [...]

As a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician, I saw many patients with learning disabilities. The school psychologist and the neuropsychological testing that they did was vital in making the initial diagnosis. It was just as important in following the [...]