Health in the time of COVID

Hello,

I hope you are doing well.  It's easy to get wrapped up in the news about coronavirus, and I am speaking from my personal experience.  Still, we cannot forget that other illnesses exist. 

While local ICUs and emergency rooms may be busy, the rest of our local hospitals are not as busy as it usually is.  Data from New York also suggets a substantial increase in the number of non- COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic.  

One explanation is that people are afraid to seek urgent medical care for urgent medical problems.  We have received phone calls from patients asking if they should go to the ER for concerning symptoms.  The answer is yes.  Please, do not ignore symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, facial droop, or severe abdominal pain.  While screening colonoscopies and mammograms can wait, heart attacks and appendicitis cannot.

Of course, we are here to guide and care for you.

Best Regards,

Seema Verma, MD

Author

Seema Verma, MD A personal, intelligent, and empathetic physician who practices primary care and hospital medicine.