EMDR for PTSD: My Understanding of Why and How It Works

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy for PTSD that works surprisingly well.  I will discuss here my understanding of how and why it works.

MGH/MIT/Samsung Hackathon: Skin Diagnostics

Another hackathon I did recently ran by MGH, MIT Hacking Medicine, and Samsung.  I joined Vlad Ratushny‘s team to try to use the new Samsung Galaxy phone’s oximeter to do skin diagnostics.  Specifically, to tell benign conditions, from cellulitis, from necrotizing fasciitis, which, for lack of a better expression, is really scary sh*t.  Anyway, the PPT is here and below. 

Interested Consumer

An example of an interested consumer outperforming doctors…  Interesting trend in that now treating people like idiots is not quite as acceptable as before…  The old differentiation was “consumer vs. specialist”.  Now there is “uneducated consumer vs. educated consumer vs. specialist”…

Dad and Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease is apparently very nasty stuff – dad was recently diagnosed and now it’s taking him a long time to recover.  One month of antibiotics seems like intense treatment, but, talking to him, despite this intensity, I get the impression that he is frustrated over the lack of concrete knowledge/prognosis of the disease that would tell him with some certainty how soon before he feels better.  Initially he was told that it would take 10 days to feel better.  Then 2 months.  And now 2 years.

So I decided to do a bit of research on my own and see what’s up.  Here is what I found: