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Jim Gagné, MD, Internal Medicine: Patient & Practice Information
I'm a physician certified in internal medicine, pain medicine, and addiction medicine. You can learn about my practice near La Canada, California, and look over a variety of articles and handouts.
Contact Me
Verdugo Internal Medicine, Inc.
1809 Verdugo Blvd., Suite 200
Glendale CA 91208
(818) 790-4300
Biography and Practice Information
- Here's a description of my background and training, and how you pronounce my name.
- My internal medicine practice is across the street from Verdugo Hills Hospital in La Canada, just north of downtown Los Angeles.
- Here is information for prospective patients.
Do you need a primary physician?
Preventive Medicine
- What is preventive medicine?
- Which preventive medicine tests should you have?
- Which vaccinations do adults need?
- Do men over 50 need a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test?
Health Information Articles and Handouts
- Get started on exercise for health, mood, and pain relief.
- Here are Healthful Hints brochures on a variety of general medical topics. These are handouts I've written over the years to give to my patients. For easy printing, you can also download many of them in Adobe Acrobat format.
- How can you assess your risk of heart disease, and what can you do if your risk is elevated?
- What is metabolic syndrome, and how do you treat it?
- A section on emotional healing. Several handouts discuss various antidepressant medications.
- Information for patients with chronic pain and those trying to arrange for their care. This section is an introduction to how I treat chronic pain. You'll find a description of my approach to pain management plus information on the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.
Extraordinary Maturity
- In April 2006 Greg Mooers and I recorded two videos that discuss Extraordinary Maturity: how to grow up and become genuinely yourself. Now you can watch them here on DrGagne.com.
Spirituality in Medicine
- A number of techniques and approaches have great potential in helping you heal. Here's an overview of spirituality in medicine.
Miscellany
- I often recommend books to patients to help deal with a variety of problems. Here's a descriptive list of books and tapes you may find helpful.
- You'll find an opportunity to provide feedback, comments, and discussion at the bottom of every page. (Please do not use the feedback page to ask questions about your personal medical situation.)
- Finally, this site continues to grow and develop. See the list of upcoming future topics.
Disclosure
The information provided on drgagne.com is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician. Its purpose is to present medical information to Dr. Gagne's patients and to the public at large. Also, Dr. Gagne hopes those who are looking for a physician will find drgagne.com useful to learn more about him and to help decide if they are a good fit. Its intended audience is existing and potential patients and the general public. This site is funded solely by its author and owner, Dr. Jim Gagne. It accepts no advertising or other outside funding aside from fees for purchases referred to the Amazon website.
Updates and Announcements
"If exercise were a drug, it would be a miracle pill." I've wanted to write about the incredible health benefits of exercise for some time, along with some hints about how to get started. The three kinds of exercise that are the most useful are aerobics (the old standby), strength training, and interval training.
Start with the overview of why exercise is so important and how to get started. You'll find additional sections on aerobics and interval training. I'm still working on the piece about strength training.
Even my patients with Medicare, probably the best health insurance available, know something is seriously wrong with the American healthcare system. Last weekend in Inglewood thousands of people waited in line for more than 24 hours to receive care for problems they could not afford to have treated privately. But America's broken healthcare system doesn't just harm the uninsured. Costs are rising out of sight, and the quality of American healthcare is demonstrably poorer than in many other countries. I've written a brief article on some of the things we must consider to fix the system.
Some of my patients have magical beliefs about the power of vitamins and other supplements to improve their health. They're upset if I suggest most vitamins might not do much. But in the past few years, scientific studies have conclusively demonstrated the limitations of these supplements.
I've come to believe that magical thinking is much more common than most of us realize. Teaching about magical thinking has proved helpful for patients at the Canyon at Peace Park, where I am a medical consultant. The new article on Magical Thinking reflects these insights.
Second, new scientific information about dieting raises doubts about how much more more a high-protein diet helps you lose weight. I've extensively modified the section on Rational Weight Loss to discuss these new views.
Finally, previously I had multiple comments sections where I had hoped people would discuss the topics on this site. But people rarely used this feature except to ask questions about personal medical issues. But I can't discuss your particular medical situation without seeing you as a patient. So I've simplified this to a single comments page.
---Jim Gagne, MD---
Yesterday the New England Journal of Medicine published two major studies evaluating whether PSA testing is worthwhile for men over 50. The answer? No significant benefit turned up, but the studies need to continue for a few more years before we're certain. Details here.
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Last updated Wed, Nov 4, 2009
©2009, James Gagné, MD. All rights reserved.