Alon Kahana Archives - The Brick Magazine

COVID IS HERE TO STAY

Julie Palmer2022-02-01T09:24:06-05:00

February 2022 Photo by Anthony Shkraba By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD If there’s one topic on which much has been written in the past two years, it’s SARS-CoV-2 and the disease that it causes, COVID-19. (For the sake of brevity, I will mostly use the word “Covid” to refer to both the virus and the disease.) As a physician-scientist with both an MD and a PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology, I cringe at much of what is said and written about Covid. That the media has been fast and loose with the facts is now well known. However, what [...]

COVID IS HERE TO STAYJulie Palmer2022-02-01T09:24:06-05:00

COSMETIC SURGERY AROUND THE EYES: WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW?

Julie Palmer2021-12-01T10:09:01-05:00

December 2021 Photo on Pexels By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD We would all do well to be better listeners. In medical practice, much of the diagnostic process relies on good listening skills. In my estimation, 75-90% of a diagnosis is made by listening to the patient, and the final 10-25% comes from a physical exam and various tests to assess and confirm the clinical suspicion. In a cosmetic plastic surgery practice, the first step of any evaluation is to listen to what the patient is aiming to accomplish, and what their priorities are. There’s so much misinformation and so many false [...]

COSMETIC SURGERY AROUND THE EYES: WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW?Julie Palmer2021-12-01T10:09:01-05:00

THE PRECARIOUS MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS DURING COVID-19

Julie Palmer2021-10-26T16:19:00-04:00

Photo on Pexels By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD The theme for our November issue of The Brick Magazine is “community.” In that spirit, this column will be the first of several on the topic of mental health, focusing this time on the mental of health of adolescents and young adults — our children and grandchildren. Stating that adolescents face complex social and emotional challenges is an understatement. From the pre-teen years to adulthood, our personality and sense of self are realized based on our genetics, environment, and upbringing. This is driven home to me especially when I take care of children [...]

THE PRECARIOUS MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS DURING COVID-19Julie Palmer2021-10-26T16:19:00-04:00

AN UPDATE ON BREAST CANCER

Julie Palmer2021-09-29T17:26:23-04:00

Photo by the National Cancer Institute By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For this column, I am honored to be joined by Dr. Tara Breslin, MD, Director of Breast Care at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor and at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia*. Dr. Breslin is a renowned surgical oncologist and breast surgeon. She completed a surgical residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, followed by a fellowship in surgical oncology at the world-renowned M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, also in Houston. She has been practicing in the Ann Arbor area [...]

AN UPDATE ON BREAST CANCERJulie Palmer2021-09-29T17:26:23-04:00

VITAMIN D: THE STORY BEHIND OUR SKIN COLOR AND OVERALL HEALTH

Julie Palmer2021-09-01T08:37:25-04:00

Photo by Garon Piceli By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD These are summer days in Michigan, and everyone is out and about, enjoying the sunshine. As a result of Michigan being a double peninsula, our skies are often overcast, even in summer. At our northern latitude, winters are long and sunny days are few. The consequence is that much of the year, we get little to no sun exposure. Unfortunately, this is associated with chronic vitamin D deficiency in much of Michigan’s population. In this month’s column, I’d like to share information about vitamin D and its role in our health. Vitamin [...]

VITAMIN D: THE STORY BEHIND OUR SKIN COLOR AND OVERALL HEALTHJulie Palmer2021-09-01T08:37:25-04:00

WHY DO WE SING TO OUR BABIES?

Julie Palmer2021-07-29T19:15:46-04:00

Photo by: Andy Kuzma By Alon Kahana, MD, PhD The study of child development has come a long way in the past century. To answer this question about singing to babies, we need a short history lesson. In 1981, Professors David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering work on the neuroscience of visual processing. A few decades before, Hubel used a tungsten wire (an electrode) to record electrical activity from a single neuron. Next, in the 1960s, Hubel and Wiesel collaborated and found that specific neurons were activated by vision from one [...]

WHY DO WE SING TO OUR BABIES?Julie Palmer2021-07-29T19:15:46-04:00