Click here for the Health Tip link. Let’s say that you’re among the numerous unemployed whose COBRA benefits are expiring. Or you’re among the under-employed who aren’t eligible for your employer’s health insurance. For the first time in your life, you realize you don’t have health insurance. Maybe you lie awake at night wondering what […]
Category: Knowledge Base
Our Missing Nutrients
Click here for the Health Tip link. “Empty calories.” “Overweight and undernourished.” These are the phrases used to describe millions of Americans. Waddling though our now half-empty shopping malls, chowing down on a Mrs. Field’s cookie for the energy to get us to that distant food court, we wonder, “What, in this Land of Plenty, […]
Can You Trust the NYT?
Click here for the Health Tip link. After three patients and health tips readers sent me copies of a decidedly smug article in the New York Times blasting the public’s gullibility regarding vitamin supplements, I felt I had to say something. The article reports that the public seemingly ignores numerous large “well-controlled clinical studies” that, […]
Anti-Aging Supplements
In a previous health tip, I discussed what I considered to be the pointlessness of spending your hard-earned money seeing a specialist in anti-aging medicine. This tip is for those curious about anti-aging supplements. But first, a quick list of the current theories about why our bodies age: Genetic Genes are probably overrated, but if […]
Breast Thermogram
Click here for the Health Tip link. We’ve had so many inquiries from women about breast thermograms during the past year that we decided to do some homework before offering it to our patients. The test’s complete name is “digital infrared thermal imaging,” or DITI. For the test, your breasts are photographed with an infrared […]
Your Bones Need More Than Calcium
Click here for the Health Tip link. Most people know that calcium supplements are recommended for healthy bones. If you’re really up on the latest data, you’re also adding a good dose of vitamin D3 and magnesium to the mix. However, bones are living tissue and require many other nutrients as well to maintain a […]
Toxic Food Syndrome, Part 2
Posted 02/06/2009 What surprised me most about toxic food syndrome (TFS) is the number of chronic medical conditions that have been linked to it. Now certainly not every person with one of the following conditions can attribute the symptoms to toxic foods, but if I or a family member was suffering from any of these, […]
Toxic Food Syndrome
Posted 02/03/2009 • A 35-year-old woman who has had two unsuccessful sinus surgeries and still remains chronically congested.• TR, 44, described by the rheumatology department of a leading Chicago teaching hospital as having “seronegative rheumatoid arthritis,” meaning she had all the features of rheumatoid arthritis but her blood tests were negative for the condition.• A […]
Less Stress: Aromatherapy
Click here for the Health Tip link. You’ve probably seen one of those aromatherapy displays in health food stores and thought, “One of these days, I’m going to learn something about aromatherapy.” I admit that confronting the 40-odd different oils put me off aromatherapy for a long time. Too many options paralyzed me into indecision. […]
St. John’s Wort as Effective as Pharmaceuticals for Mild Depression
Several years ago, the herbal antidepressant St. John’s Wort (SJW), best known for its excellent combination of effectiveness and absence of side effects, was dealt a serious and unfair blow by the US pharmaceutical industry. But there’s a hopeful end to this tip, so read on. In an example of how the industry’s greed will […]
Oprah: Poster Child for My Book, The Triple Whammy Cure
Click here for the Health Tip link. It comes with being a doctor, I suppose. I just can’t keep myself from reading about illnesses of the rich and famous. So when I saw Oprah’s name linked with the words “depressed,” “overweight,” and “thyroid,” I had to explore further. You can read about her major health […]
Mayo Clinic Sells Its Soul
Click here for the Health Tip link. The moment I saw the title of the “research” article comparing the effectiveness of the non-generic statin Lipitor to the generic version of the statin Zocor on the cover of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, I knew its conclusion without reading it. My first thought had to do with the […]
Q&A: New Year’s Resolution
Click here for the Health Tip link. Q: Dr Edelberg, if you could recommend one new year’s resolution to your readers and patients, what would it be? A: Let’s face it, 2008 has been a very rough year and we keep hearing that it may be a walk in the park compared to 2009. During […]
Holiday Cheer
The holidays are fast approaching. For most people, this is a time of great anticipation, and also a lot of work. There are presents to buy, decorations to put up, preparations for travel or for guests, and this year, there is the added financial uncertainty. So, as wonderful as this time of year is, it […]
Our Governor the Sociopath
Click here for the Health Tip link. For many amateur and professional psychologists, Rod Blagojevich’s diagnosis was a snap. I myself muttered it aloud as the indignant US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald related what he had overheard in those fateful wiretaps. A day or so later, in a New York Times op-ed piece, former TV talk […]
All Your Vegetables Soup
Click here for the Health Tip link. The Triple Whammy Food Plan focuses on eating a wide variety of nutrient-packed fruits and veggies. Carbohydrate timing using complex carbs is at the heart of eating the Triple Whammy way, to help your body generate feel-good serotonin all day, keeping energy and mood up. Read more in […]
Holiday Food…and More Food
Click here for the Health Tip link. Weight gain around the holidays is an American tradition. Let’s face it, we work and live in a giving society, where the gift of “bulge” comes in the form of holiday cookies, cakes, candy, care packages, office parties, holiday dinners, and desserts. Making healthy eating choices this time […]
Crestor: To Take or Not To Take
Click here for the Health Tip link. When drug research like the recent Crestor study makes headlines in the Chicago Sun-Times and the national media, I know I’ll be fielding questions from patients. The very day after the Crestor study, in fact, the perky Crestor drug reps arrived in my office, barely able to contain […]
Pre-diabetes Prescription Drugs
Click here for the Health Tip link. Q: My doctor told me I need to take drugs for something he calls pre-diabetes. After reading your tips on the pharmaceutical industry, can you give me any advice on whether or not I need to take them? A That’s a great question because it exemplifies how doctors […]
Anti-Aging Industry
I just received a flyer announcing the 16th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine to be held next month in Washington, DC. The way this brochure reads (“3000 participants, 300 exhibitors, 60 speakers, global market of anti-aging products to reach $115.5 billion by 2010, your Gateway to Opportunity”), you’d think any doctor failing to become […]