The (alleged) BIG NEWS in health care last week, that spread through CNN, Prevention Magazine, NYT, Journal of the AMA, etc. etc., was the publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology which compared the cholesterol lowering effect of statins to those of several nutritional supplements (cinnamon, fish oil, garlic, red yeast rice, […]
Category: Respiratory Health
Heart Disease Prevention Part 2: Getting Started
Checking Your Family History Most people aren’t certain what illnesses run in their family and how dangerous these might be. Probably best not to spend much time agonizing about this, unless you’re pretty sure there was an unusually excessive amount of premature deaths (50’s, 60’s) from heart disease. Better to work mainly on yourself. Hearing […]
Covid Distracted Us, But Heart Disease Remains Our #1 Killer
About 700,000 of us will die of heart disease every year; most of which is preventable provided we become proactive patients. But you do need to know that for most “heart patients”, dying does not come quickly, like a dart falling from the sky, fatally nailing you, as you clutch your chest, your friends desperately tapping 9-1-1 on their […]
Covid Compassion Fatigue
Having a practice where just about every patient is immunized has its benefits. Despite being in the midst of Covid-19’s fourth surge with the Delta variant, we’re seeing no new Covid cases. Phew! Other physicians aren’t having such good fortune, as this doctor reports in The Atlantic, the first place I’ve seen the term “ […]
Jonathan Toews, Covid-19, and CIRS
Perhaps you’ve heard about the Chicago Blackhawks captain, his long illness, and the good news that he’s back on the ice. After saying in December that feeling drained and lethargic had kept him from playing, the three-time Stanley Cup Champion said last week that he had CIRS, chronic inflammatory response syndrome. Never heard of it? […]
Introducing Our New WholeHealth Supplement Plans
If you’re a WholeHealth Chicago patient, you’ve likely noticed that we review your list of nutritional supplements during each appointment. Conventional doctors ask what prescription meds you’re taking (and of course we do too), but virtually never solicit a list of supplements. Since our area of expertise lies precisely there, it’s important for us to […]
Commonly Missed Diagnoses: Covid-19 (Covid? RU Serious?)
Leslie, a teacher in her mid-30s, made her appointment with WholeHealth Chicago at the suggestion of her primary care physician, who knows we see a lot of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. He’d ordered myriad tests, including, of course, one for Covid antibodies. Leslie had begun feeling poorly in the middle of 2020, […]
Covid Immunization: Facts, Not Fiction
If you don’t feel like reading one more word about Covid-19, you’ve got my sympathy. However, if you’re inclined, scan this Health Tip and perhaps pick up a fact or two you didn’t know. Want to jump to my take-away? It’s this: When the vaccine is available to you, take it and thank your lucky […]
The Chemical Swill Accumulating In Your Body
I was pleased with the election of Joe Biden, not least because we might end (and start reversing) the more than 100 pollution rollbacks that the Trump administration has initiated in favor of corporate polluters. However, I was genuinely disheartened to learn that his current EPA lackeys recently finalized a rule that will sabotage any […]
The Flu Shot: Now More Important Than Ever
When it comes to the flu shot, I take a far more conventional approach than many WholeHealth Chicago patients expect of a doctor who considers himself alternative/integrative. It’s also worth noting that after reviewing some of the online advice warning people away from the flu shot, it’s my sense that this is frequently followed by […]
Covid-19 Worries
You may have noticed fewer Health Tips about Covid-19 recently, which might have struck you as odd given our dreadful numbers here in the US. Well, there was a reason for this. WholeHealth Chicago was one of hundreds of health-oriented websites that were sent cease-and-desist warning letters from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging widespread […]
Mold Toxicity: A Telemedicine Consultation
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 […]
Should You Get The New Antibody Test for Covid-19?
Before I answer that, let me give you a quick tutorial about your immune system and how it deals with any virus–Covid-19, measles, hepatitis, seasonal flu, even the common cold. The mechanics of your immunity, which has kept you alive all these years, is pretty much the same from virus to virus. If you read […]
Surviving Covid-19…and Beyond
You were coughing, exhausted, achy, and you had a headache. If you breathed in quickly, you coughed a lot. You thought you might be a little short of breath, but wondered if you were just anxious. You actually managed to find a place to get tested. Someone inserted a cotton swab so deeply up your […]
Immune Superstar: Mushroom Blends
To support your immune system, it may be helpful to take one capsule of a good mushroom blend twice daily and eat actual mushrooms frequently, incorporating them into the many meals you’re now cooking at home. According to Paul Stamets, who knows more about fungi than anyone, there are an estimated one to two million […]
We Are Fighting For Our Lives: Covid-19 Update
This Health Tip might contain more about Covid-19 than you’ve read online or heard on a news program. It might even be more than you really care to know. Obviously we Americans we have some real challenges, far greater than many countries smaller and less “powerful” than the US. We’re running out of personal protective […]
DIAGNOSE-IT-YOURSELF: COVID-19
Far and away, the commonest phone call/e mail I receive asks about COVID-19 diagnosis.Just print this out, tape it on your refrigerator door, and stay calm.ALLERGIES• Runny nose• Sneezing• Red, swollen eyes• Itchy eyes and nose• Tickly throat• No fever COLD• Runny nose• Sneezing• Sore throat• Mild muscle aches• Mild dry cough• Rarely a low […]
Preparing for the Wuhan Coronavirus
Seems like only yesterday, though actually it was 2003, that a viral infection called SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) meandered around the world after starting at a live animal market China. For those affected, what first appeared to be an especially bad cold quickly became something ominous, progressing to a potentially fatal pneumonia. Ultimately there […]
The Flu: How To Recognize It and What to Do
It’s here, folks, and this year could be a doozy. How do we know? We keep a watchful eye on Australia, whose winter and flu season occur six months before our own. The New York Times reported that “In 2017, a terrible flu season in Australia presaged an American outbreak in which 79,000 died. Experts […]
Toxic Metals, Heart Disease, and Chelation Therapy
In last week’s Health Tip I reviewed the well-researched health dangers of environmental toxic metals (also called heavy metals). They’ve always been a serious health risk, but with the Trump Administration’s recent rollbacks of clean air and water regulations we can expect even more trouble ahead. Statisticians predict an astonishing 160,000 unnecessary deaths over the […]