Springtime is just starting to warm up in Beijing, and it feels great to be putting away those thick down coats and dusting off those pastel shirts and Easter finery. It also heralds an annual spring tradition in my clinic– patients feeling miserable with sneezing, itchy and watery eyes.… Read the rest
Next week’s Spring Festival will already be my sixth here in Beijing, and Spring Festival Eve is always one of the highlights of my year. My wife and I spend a wonderful evening with our Chinese in-laws, and all two dozen of us will gorge for hours on endless rounds of dumplings and snacks, drink all types of alcohol and juices, and happily shout at the TV screen as another awful performer lip syncs yet another tacky ballad. … Read the rest
Due to the incredible media exposure this week to our emergency pollution, I’ve been inundated with questions from both patients and international media about pollution. There’s still quite a lot of misinformation about pollution, so here are what I consider to be the most high yield, evidence-based and readable articles.… Read the rest
I’m facing a bit of a quandary here. Just last week I was bragging about how air pollution isn’t as much a risk factor to health than much less glamorous topics such as overweight and lack of exercise. Since then, of course, we’ve had the biggest public health emergency I’ve seen in my six years here, with air pollution skyrocketing to an astounding 755 AQI and higher in much of northern China.… Read the rest
Long before I was even considering medicine, I loved to write. I spent my undergraduate years at Columbia absorbing books and writing poems and comedy skits between my exams. But my favorite routine was devouring the New York Times each morning, delivered to my dorm door. … Read the rest
Coughing is one of winter’s inevitable symptoms for all families. As viruses pass back and forth, the usual runny nose and cough can be very disruptive, especially if it’s keeping both you and your child awake all night. For cough relief, we all have our favorite cough syrups — but which ones actually work?… Read the rest