Carrie MacMillan

New Haven

Senior Clinical Writer at Yale Medicine

Writer, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Articles

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): How to Find the Right Treatment

1 week ago | brnw.ch | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

Having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a lot more than the stereotypes people often associate it with, such as washing your hands raw or repeatedly checking to see if a door is locked. It’s a complex condition that involves uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that make people feel compelled to take actions (compulsions) to relieve an underlying anxiety.
Understanding Cancer Language: Tumor Terms Patients Should Know

2 weeks ago | brnw.ch | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

As cancer care advances with more sophisticated treatment options, it’s helpful to understand what your doctor means when using such terms as tumor biomarker, tumor sequencing, and tumor board. But first, let’s start with a definition of tumor. A tumor is an abnormal growth of cells in the body that can be cancerous or noncancerous. Most tumors have undergone genetic changes (mutations).
Gaucher Disease: A Rare Disease Sheds Light on More Common Conditions

1 month ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

When Pramod Mistry, MD, a Yale Medicine expert in inherited liver diseases, cared for his first patient with Gaucher disease 35 years ago, he didn’t anticipate that his work with this rare genetic disorder might illuminate the understanding of more common conditions such as multiple myeloma and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Mistry, director of the National Gaucher Disease Treatment Center at Yale, has focused his career on Gaucher, which affects one in 40,000 people worldwide.
Pediatrics Leader Weighs In on State of Children's Health

1 month ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

Clifford Bogue, MD, knew from a young age that he loved solving mysteries and working with children. As a boy, he devoured all the “Sherlock Holmes” books by Arthur Conan Doyle and spent many summers at a sleepaway camp in the mountains of North Carolina, where he worked as a camp counselor and program director.
Pediatrics Leader Weighs In on State of Children's Health

1 month ago | brnw.ch | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

Clifford Bogue, MD, knew from a young age that he loved solving mysteries and working with children. As a boy, he devoured all the “Sherlock Holmes” books by Arthur Conan Doyle and spent many summers at a sleepaway camp in the mountains of North Carolina, where he worked as a camp counselor and program director.
FDA Approves Non-Opioid Pain Medication Suzetrigine (Journavx™)

1 month ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new, non-opioid prescription pill—suzetrigine. Sold under the brand name Journavx™, the drug is helpful in treating moderate-to-severe acute (short-term) pain in adults. Medical experts say suzetrigine, which is made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is not addictive because it works by blocking pain signals that originate in the peripheral nervous system, before they reach the brain.
HMPV (Human Metapneumovirus): Your Questions Answered

2 months ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

In the not-too-distant past, a stuffy nose and cough usually signaled what was simply called the common cold, and few people concerned themselves with the virus behind it. That’s understandable, considering that most people have never heard of the more than 200 viruses that can cause the common cold, including rhinovirus and one that’s been in the news lately: human metapneumovirus (HMPV).
A Minimally Invasive Fix for a Herniated Disc

2 months ago | brnw.ch | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

Beth Bernstein woke up one Sunday morning with crippling leg pain. “It was the worst pain in my life. I’ve given birth to two children, and that was nothing compared to this pain in my left thigh,” says Bernstein, who is 66, retired, and lives in Northford, Conn. Although she could hardly bear weight on her left leg, Bernstein managed to get up and see her primary care physician the following day in January 2023.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Depression, OCD: What to Know

2 months ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

It isn’t a part of the brain most people know about, but the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is an important region linked to the state of rumination (or dwelling on negative feelings and thoughts)—a common symptom of depression, which affects an estimated 8.3% of adults in the United States. This area of the brain, therefore, is one medical researchers are targeting for the treatment of certain mental health conditions, including depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Is It a Sprain or a Strain? How to Tell the Difference

2 months ago | yalemedicine.org | Carrie MacMillan |Carrie Macmillan

It’s a common scenario: You’re playing basketball or simply raking leaves when you take a wrong step and twist your ankle, resulting in sudden, sharp pain. Was it a strain? A sprain? A pulled muscle? A torn ligament? What do these all mean, and how are they different?