by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 13, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Nutrition & Wound Healing
I have no affiliation with any pharmaceutical company, and I continue to be cautious about the Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) craze. However, I am paying attention to this family of drugs because for more than three decades I have watched with a...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 11, 2024 | Miscellaneous Musings
Today I am thinking of the veterans in my life with gratitude. I’m donating to my favorite Veteran’s organization today, in honor of these two men. –Caroline Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 11, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
As anyone knows who has had surgery recently, you can nearly forget about getting a prescription for even short-term use of narcotics. These restrictions developed in response to a national opioid crisis that continues to decimate many areas of the country....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 6, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
CMS has published the final rule for the CY2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). As we knew from the proposed rule, there are no major changes in the payment for Cellular Tissue Products (CTPs) / skin substitutes in 2025 — although CMS stated they the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 4, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
There’s a new concept for calculating obesity called the Body Roundness Index (BRI), which may be a more accurate way to understand obesity and healthcare risk than the Body Mass Index (BMI). That’s because visceral obesity is an important risk factor associated with...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 4, 2024 | COVID-19, Fight the Good Fight
A large retrospective study just published in JAMA Open Network suggests that elevated body mass index (BMI) in both children and young adults was associated with an increased risk of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), or long COVID. This study is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 31, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight, Quiz / Survey
The results are in! Given similar efficacy and/or effectiveness among a group of CTPs/skin subs, the ideal choice for a patient would be: A. The most expensive one. B. The one with the highest patient copay. C. The one that requires the most applications to be...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 31, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Nutrition & Wound Healing
Chu and colleagues have published a wonderful article in Advances in Skin & Wound Care, High-Quality Dietary Protein: The Key to Healthy Granulation Tissue – available open access. It contains a wealth of scientific and practical information emphasizing that...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 29, 2024 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
Caputo and Colleagues recently published a case report in JAMA Dermatology Clinicopathological Challenge, “Peristomal Erosion in a Man With Crohn Disease.” It’s available open access. The case is of a man in his 50’s with a 10-year history of Crohn’s...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 28, 2024 | Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Check out the new review article by Ben-Alamer and colleagues about the neuromodulatory effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The article discusses the ways in which HBOT might promote brain recovery and neurogenesis, and its potentially anti-inflammatory...
