Kent Davidson MD.

The Greek word “apnea” means “without breath”.  In sleep apnea, there is an involuntary cessation of breathing that occurs while sleeping.  These pauses in breathing can last anywhere from 10 seconds to as much as a minute.  Snoring is also a common feature of sleep apnea.  While snoring can just…

We spend approximately one-third of our lives asleep, but sometimes sleep can be elusive. Almost everyone has experienced transient insomnia–the occasional inability to fall asleep, or waking up feeling unrefreshed. Thankfully, it’s usually short-lived, lasting only a few days. Chronic insomnia, however, lasts much longer. A common condition, it may be…

Stomach “growling” is typically associated with hunger or an absence of food in the stomach.  The medical term for intestinal rumbling is borborygmus (bor-boh-RIG-mus).  If you say this out loud, you may find that pronouncing the word mimics the sound produced when your stomach growls.  In fact, the word borborygmus…

The electrocardiogram, also called an EKG or ECG, is a test that records electrical activity within the heart.  With each heartbeat, an electrical signal is conducted through specialized nerves from the upper to lower chambers of the heart.  This causes the heart muscle to contract in a synchronized manner and…

Whether called fibrocystic breast “changes” or fibrocystic breast “disease”, it’s a problem that affects up to half of all women at some point during their lives.  Currently, most doctors just refer to women as having fibrocystic breasts, since it really isn’t a disease at all.  Fibrocystic breasts are lumpy, thick,…

Around six million people go to the emergency department each year with chest pain.  In many cases, the determination has to be made as to whether the chest pain is due to a relatively minor condition or to a life-threatening process.  Often this means making the distinction between heartburn (a…

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, occurring in over two million people each year.  Three of the most common types of skin cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Last week, characteristic features of each of these were described in…

The common problem of awakening with a stiff neck is a topic that is addressed poorly, if at all, during medical training. In fact, it doesn’t even have a consistent name in the medical literature. It is sometimes referred to as “torticollis” or “wry neck”, but these terms also apply…

Sun safety – describes a range of behaviors that include wearing wide brimmed hats that cover the face and neck; the correct use of sunscreen of at least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 and limiting sun exposure during the hours of peak sun intensity, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. One…