This health tip is especially exciting for me as I have the pleasure of announcing that a new physician, Kristen Donigan, DO, has joined WholeHealth Chicago and is available for appointments. After a decade of trying to find my first physician associate, I felt blessed when Casey Kelley, MD, joined us, though I was concerned […]
Category: K
Dr. Casey Kelley and Integrative Medicine
There’s a most exciting development at WholeHealth Chicago this week, but first let’s take a brief look at the 20-year arc of what we know as alternative medicine. Since the early 1990s, when data started appearing about the unexpectedly wide use of alternative therapies by the US public, there’s been a nonstop conversation about what […]
Keeping Busy is Good For You
My days, probably like many of yours, are extraordinarily busy, and they’ve been that way for decades. I start early, end late, and it does seems as if the day goes by in a finger snap. Weekends, for most of us, is catch-up time for all the stuff we couldn’t squeeze in on weekdays.
Spirulina and Kelp
For thousands of years, traditional healers in China and other parts of the world have looked to the water for healing remedies. Spirulina and kelp were two key finds.
Spirulina is a small, single-celled microorganism that’s rich in chlorophyll, a plant pigment that gives so many lakes and ponds their dark blue-green color. Kelp, in contrast, is a brown algae that grows only in the sea. The name refers to any of the numerous long-stemmed seaweeds that belong to the order Laminariales or Fucales.
Kudzu
When the twining kudzu vine (Pueraria lobata) was introduced to the United States from Asia more than a century ago, it proceeded to flourish and spread rapidly through the warm and humid southern region of the country. In fact, many now consider this tenacious, high-climbing vine a nuisance.
Kava
A member of the pepper family, kava (or kava-kava) is a natural tranquilizer that soothes jangled nerves and eases anxiety with few of the mind-dulling effects of prescription relaxants. Its Latin name, Piper methysticum, means “intoxicating pepper,” and indeed, on the South Pacific islands where it is grown, kava is made into a traditional beverage that is drunk at ceremonies and on social occasions–as alcohol is in other societies–to relax people and induce a sense of well-being.
Kidney Stones
My guess is that there’s never been a human being in the history of mankind who ever answered “Yes, sure, okay!” to the question “Would you like to pass another kidney stone?” We’re not positive why some people get stones and others don’t, but stone formation does run in families, and has less to do with diet than we once thought. When the stone, which forms in the kidney, decides to move, it’s during the l-o-n-g passage down the ureter (the tube from the kidney to the bladder) that causes so much pain.
Arthritis in Your Knees
You may not have a problem with arthritis in your knees now, but if your mom or grandmother has knee pain–or you yourself do–you might want to read this.