Mold-related illness was first described almost 50 years ago when it was labeled sick building syndrome. It was met with incredible hostility from the medical profession (because there were no positive test results to verify any diagnosis) and from employers and building owners (who thought affected people were seeking financial gain or special favors). What […]
Most people who are ultimately diagnosed with chronic inflammation triggered by black mold have heard somewhere “mold can make you sick.” However, only a few make the connection between their years of ill health and the water damage in their basement or attic, behind their kitchen sink, in their car, or around the upstairs neighbor’s […]
Last week I wrote about mold-related illness, yet another commonly overlooked diagnosis. It’s surprising how regularly mold issues fly under the radar of conventional physicians. When you consider how often homes and workplaces have a leaky roof, unless something smells moldy or we discover creeping black stains somewhere we often don’t think of mold. Moreover, […]
If you believe you’re suffering some of the chronic symptoms caused by mold exposure, you’ve probably also heard the discouraging mantra, “We can’t find anything wrong with you—all your tests are normal.” You’ve told your doc that you’ve read about toxic mold. You point out that you’ve had some water damage, that some rooms smell […]
I think black mold makes us nervous because we can see it, clinging to the bottom of the shower curtain, lurking in the corners of the recently flooded basement. You almost expect it to throb or make a vaguely humming noise. However, far more dangerous as a home hazard is the radioactive gas radon, but […]
The cover of the New York Times Magazine August 6, 2026, was bright red. The title, ” Is Everything Inflammation?” pretty dramatic. “Hmmm,” I muttered, “That sounds familiar,” checking my WholeHealth Chicago files. Yep, there it was, September 22, 2013, “The Evidence is in: Inflammation Shortens Your Life.” Scooped the NYT again! So, this Health […]
It’s good for you to know a little something about ‘cytokines.’ ‘Cyto’ is Greek for ‘cell,’ ‘kine’ for movement, like ‘kinetic.’ ‘Cytokines’ are molecules released by cells during episodes of ‘stress,’ like an injury, an infection, or fighting a cancer. Some cytokines increase inflammation, imaginatively called pro-inflammatory cytokines, others decrease it: anti-inflammatory cytokines. They cause […]
I’m sure you’re aware, just about every roadblock to corporate pollution initiated during the Biden administration (there were more than 100 of them) has now been reversed by Trump in favor of the polluters. Really disheartening how his EPA lackeys finalized a rule that specifically states that before any reversal of an environmental hazard can […]
This all started with a postcard I received from Northwestern, “Do You Have Difficulty Walking?”, beckoning me to enter the FIRST research study. This is not “first,” like “first, second,” but an acronym (not mentioned on the card) for quite a mouthful: Fisetin to Reduce Senescence and Mobility Impairment in Peripheral Artery Disease. “Fisetin?”, I […]
As a quick introduction: when I write theses Health Tips, I usually flip through medical journals and medical libraries. Most often I’ll refer (or rather I sadly once referred) to the National Library of Medicine. This astonishing resource of worldwide medical research is now history. Here’s what appears when you click to it. Trump cut […]
This is really important. Your longevity, the number of years you’ve got left this side of the sod, and equally important, how you will physically feel during those years, what diseases you may (or may not) develop will pretty much depend on the state of your inflammation. Did you ever wonder why some obese people, […]
If there’s one single symptom that brings patients most frequently into the offices of WholeHealth Chicago, it’s this: “I’m tired all the time and doctors can’t find anything wrong.” The “can’t find” you all are experiencing is the real problem of today’s health care system. It’s that notorious fifteen-minute medical encounter of primary care medicine: […]
We’re living in a time of major, worldwide breakthroughs when it comes to understanding how we age and also the steps we can take to not only slow down aging, but even reverse it a bit. A reader suggested she was tired of the term ‘anti-aging’. She wasn’t against ‘aging’, and in fact, rather enjoyed […]
Last month, our occasionally misguided Director of Health and Human Services stated something factually incorrect, namely that immunity from MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine wanes at 4.5% a year (it does not) and that “older people are essentially unvaccinated.” They are not. “Older people” (whatever that means) are usually very well protected from measles. If a person […]
If you’ve been troubled by any of the symptoms listed below and your doctor(s), including your neurologist, has told you, “We can’t find anything wrong,” you probably should get tested for ‘leaky brain’ syndrome’ (LBS). It’s the same mechanism behind the familiar ‘leaky gut’ (a/k/a intestinal hyperpermeability) which took conventional physicians decades to accept as […]
The full name is “Myalgic Encephalomyelitis”. “Myalgic” is a medical term for chronically painful muscles. “Encephalomyelitis” means your brain, spinal cord and nerves are inflamed, cause unknown, although the current thinking is the trigger is some sort of phenomenon occurring after a viral infection (‘mono’, ‘flu’, COVID). The result is “chronic fatigue”. You are tired […]
The statistics are dreadful. Almost four million Americans are estimated to suffer this chronic and debilitating condition (almost a million more were added as victims of “long” COVID). Of these millions, seven out of ten remain undiagnosed (“we don’t know what’s wrong with you”). And, since there are no specific diagnostic tests for ME-CFS, they […]
If there’s one single symptom that brings patients most frequently into the offices of WholeHealth Chicago, it’s this: “I’m tired all the time and doctors can’t find anything wrong.” The “can’t find” you all are experiencing is the real problem of today’s health care system. It’s that notorious fifteen minute medical encounter of primary care medicine: […]
The uptick in “brain fog” as a complaint among new (and many returning) patients at WholeHealth Chicago offices really began with the COVID pandemic. As the numbers were being collected, first nationally, then globally, that one out of five people who had experienced COVID also had “long COVID,” with “brain fog” as a major long […]
High on the wish list (probably highest, actually) of a new patient coming into WholeHealth Chicago for “wellness” is not just “longevity” but “longevity plus ‘brains/wit/wisdom’” a la Betty White, Norman Lear, George Burns, late Chicago actor Mike Nussbaum. So let’s talk “brain” and say you’re in one of these four situations: 1. There’s dementia […]
