HealthTap Health Guides

Welcome to the HealthTap Health Guides, where doctors share insights on health topics.

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Antibiotics
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Antibiotics

What is antibiotic resistance?

If you’re reading this, odds are good that you’ve taken an antibiotic at some point in your life.
Antibiotics

Can antibiotics make you feel tired?

If you’ve been prescribed a round of antibiotics, you might be thinking, “Whoa, hang on! Will these make me sleepy?” And that’s a reasonable concern—it’s possible.
Antibiotics

What are the best antibiotics for strep throat?

We all get sore throats and swollen glands from time to time. But how do you know when yours is strep throat that demands special attention? And what types of antibiotics might you need to treat it?
Antibiotics

Do I need antibiotics for a UTI?

UTIs are uncomfortable and can cause serious issues if they’re left untreated and allowed to spread. The treatment involves some type of antibiotic, which means you’ll need to see your doctor.
Antibiotics

Are there over-the-counter antibiotics for my tooth infection?

A tooth infection is no fun to deal with. But before you run out to the drugstore in search of a quick fix, let us save you the trip: over-the-counter antibiotics for a tooth infection don’t exist.
Antibiotics

Should I take antibiotics for gonorrhea?

If you have or think you may have gonorrhea, HealthTap online doctors say antibiotics are a must.
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Meet our Medical Editorial Board

All blog articles are reviewed by HealthTap Medical Editorial Board for medical accuracy.

Angela DiLaura, NP

Clinical Informatics and Quality Manager
Angela DiLaura is a board-certified nurse practitioner with experience providing obstetric-gynecologic services in diverse settings in the San Francisco Bay Area. She completed her nurse practitioner degree and clinical training at Columbia University in New York. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, she had a career in clinical research, including publishing original research. As HealthTap's Clinical Informatics and Quality Manager, she supervises the quality of care delivered in the HealthTap Medical Group. Learn more about HealthTap's Medical Editorial Board at https://www.healthtap.com/about-doctors/

Dr. Geoffrey W. Rutledge

Chief Medical Officer and Co-founder
Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD, FACMI, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder at HealthTap, is a double-board certified physician who practiced and taught medicine for more than 25 years. He earned a PhD in medical computer science from Stanford, was an NIH-funded researcher, and served on faculty at Harvard, Stanford, and UCSD medical schools. Before HealthTap, he created the first consumer health website and PHR at Healtheon/WebMD. Learn more about HealthTap's Medical Editorial Board at https://www.healthtap.com/about-doctors/

Dr. Robert Kwok

Director of Health Informatics
Robert Kwok, MD, Director of Health Informatics at HealthTap, is a board-certified physician who practiced medicine for 28 years. Before coming to San Jose, he trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. In his office practice, he provided primary care for children from newborns to high school students. Dr. Kwok liked and initially joined HealthTap because its public forum let him deliver accurate medical information to people both in his local community and also across the globe. He was for many years a consultant at HealthTap for the Medical Operations team and joined HealthTap full-time after retiring from office practice. Dr. Kwok is the Director of Health Informatics and oversees the quality of the consultations in HealthTap's virtual clinics, plus the quality and suitability of the questions and answers on the public forum. Learn more about HealthTap's Medical Editorial Board at https://www.healthtap.com/about-doctors/

HealthTap Editors

HealthTap articles are reviewed by MDs, PhDs, NPs, nutritionists and other healthcare professionals. Visit https://www.healthtap.com/about-doctors/ to learn more and meet some of the medical editorial board members behind our blog. The information does not constitute and should not be relied on for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment. HealthTap is a virtual-first, affordable urgent- and primary-care clinic, providing top-quality physician care nationwide to Americans with or without insurance. Our proprietary, easy-to-use, and innovative apps and electronic medical record apply Silicon Valley standards to effectively engage consumers and doctors online to increase the equity, accessibility, and efficiency of ongoing medical care for consumers, providers, employers, and payers. In addition, with HealthTap, businesses can offer virtual primary care to employees for less than the cost of free coffee. HealthTap's US-based board-certified physicians are available throughout North America. For more information, visit www.healthtap.com.

Angela DiLaura, NP

Clinical Informatics and Quality Manager
Angela DiLaura is a board-certified nurse practitioner with experience providing obstetric-gynecologic services in diverse settings in the San Francisco Bay Area. She completed her nurse practitioner degree and clinical training at Columbia University in New York. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, she had a career in clinical research, including publishing original research. As HealthTap's Clinical Informatics and Quality Manager, she supervises the quality of care delivered in the HealthTap Medical Group. Learn more about HealthTap's Medical Editorial Board at https://www.healthtap.com/about-doctors/

Geoff's second opinion

Dr. Geoff Rutledge is a double-board certified physician who has taught and practiced medicine for over 25 years.

Virtual Primary Care is a new type of care delivered by primary care physicians who manage a panel of their patients exclusively via virtual (video) consultation and text chat to deliver personalized ongoing care.
Dr. Geoffrey W. Rutledge

Dr. Geoffrey W. Rutledge

Cofounder and Chief Medical Officer

Read all Geoff's second opinions

More Doctor Insights

Doctor Insights

Small fiber neuropathy

At the quarterly HealthTap Doctor Network Webinar, Dr. Bennett Machanic, an experienced neurologist who has been with HealthTap since 2010, gave an excellent presentation on small fiber neuropathy.
Doctor Insights

Summer rashes: How to protect against & treat common skin irritations

How to protect against and treat common summer rash skin irritations: poison ivy, sumac, swimmer's itch, heat rash, sun allergy, lime burn / Club Med dermatitis, sea bather's eruption & more.
Doctor Insights

New year, new health goals

This year, make health a priority. Instead of setting goals that might be hard to achieve alone, consider setting smaller health resolutions that can be supported by a personal doctor.
Doctor Insights

Grocery shopping for your health: The ins and outs of processed foods

Grocery aisles are peppered with processed foods that seem appealing and easy to grab, but it’s worth the time and effort to know which foods are best for your health and which ones to avoid.
Doctor Insights

Reevaluating our understanding of comorbidities and risk factors

This article by Harold Kennedy, MD, examines our understanding of comorbidities and risk factors and notes how they have changed.
Doctor Insights

Patients presenting with headaches, by Dariush Saghafi, MD

Neurologist Dariush Saghafi, MD, presented an informative and engaging presentation on how to evaluate headaches in primary care.
Read more articles

All articles

Virtual Care

HealthTap, Ubie team up to provide same-day virtual doctor visits

HealthTap and Ubie team up to provide same-day virtual doctor visits to millions of users.
Cholesterol

Diet and lifestyle changes for treating high triglycerides

By living a healthy lifestyle, a person can help keep their triglyceride level (TG level) at an optimal value and lower the risk of developing medical complications.
Cholesterol

Healthy dietary changes to treat high LDL cholesterol

By living a healthy lifestyle, a person can help keep cholesterol numbers at optimal levels and lower their risk of getting heart disease, poor circulation due to narrowed blood vessels, or a stroke.
Allergy

First aid for severe allergic reactions

A person can suffer a severe rapid allergic reaction (anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock) after exposure to something they are allergic to, such as food, medication, insect sting, chemical or material.
Cholesterol

What are the signs and symptoms of hyperlipidemia?

Hyperlipidemia, an excess of lipids or fats in your blood, is not always readily apparent. It rarely causes symptoms, so hyperlipidemia is considered a “silent disease,” somewhat like hypertension.
Cholesterol

How do you fix hyperlipidemia?

Here are seven ways you can address hyperlipidemia effectively.
Cholesterol

Does cholesterol cause hyperlipidemia?

Short answer: Eating foods high in cholesterol by itself does not cause hyperlipidemia. In this article, we delve into the connection between cholesterol in the diet and hyperlipidemia.
Cholesterol

Is hyperlipidemia the same as high cholesterol?

Two related terms, cholesterol & hyperlipidemia, are sometimes confused for each other. There are key differences and it is crucial to understand the distinction between the two for heart health.
Virtual Care

10 things primary care doctors want you to do

10 things primary care doctors want you to do to ensure better health.

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