Michael Moore’s SiCKO explores a seamy underside to the American health care system: the self-serving collusion between the US federal government and the immense powers within medical care.
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SiCKO Part Three: More on Michael Moore’s Important Documentary
When I was in China this summer, I began a conversation with our group and our Chinese guide. We compared health care in China with that of the US. Most of my fellow travelers were Canadians, Brits, and Australians, with a few Scandinavians tossed in for good measure.
SICKO Part Two
This continues my urging for you to see (and act upon) Michael Moore’s movie SiCKO, his devastating critique of our health care crisis.
Our current health care mess really began in 1971 when President Nixon signed a law that ended further debate about government-funded universal health care. Until that point, doctors had been making good money in the now historical fee-for-service system (the only remaining fee-for-service physicians today are cosmetic surgeons). Doctors were fearful to the point of paranoia about so-called socialized medicine, and very worried about what was being created up in Canada.
SICKO Part One
Three movies in my entire life have moved me to tears, and Michael Moore’s SiCKO was one of them.
(The other two? Walt Disney’s Snow White–I was four, the witch–and at 25, Star Wars, utter boredom).
Last month I saw–twice, in fact–this devastating critique of the American health insurance industry and its collusion with the federal government. Health insurance is a very sensitive issue for me. Every hour of every day the endless confrontation of doctors and their patients with the health insurance industry increases everyone’s stress and interferes with decent medical care.
Still Smoke?
A pharmaceutical rep came into the office the other day with a product for my patients with chronic bronchitis and emphysema caused by cigarettes. I told her that I had only one smoker in my entire practice.
Tips for Better Sleep
Studies have shown that people who sleep efficiently not only feel better than everyone else but actually live longer. If you struggle with sleep, start today taking some of these suggestions seriously. In just a few days, you’ll be amazed at the surge in your energy, mood, performance, and mental clarity.
Better Sleep
When the clock strikes midnight, are you usually burrowed into a blanket, deep in a dream, or are you tossing and turning, unable to put aside the stresses of the day and just go to sleep?
Idea Sixpack
Click here for the original post. Six easy ways to reduce stress and feel better: 1. Want a natural stress buster? Aerobic exercises like brisk walking, cycling, or swimming are some of nature’s best tranquilizers. Exercise increases your serotonin, a neurotransmitter (brain chemical) that buffers stress. 2. Finding it hard to get motivated? Set some […]
Sugar
Okay, I am going to start in on sugar. And by sugar, I mean not only granulated cane sugar but also high fructose corn syrup, which seems to be added to just about everything except anchovies these days.
Keeping Your Smarts, Part 2
So it’s been a few days since you read part one of this topic. Tucked in your bag next to your New York Times is the adult education course schedule at your local community college. You’ve finally decided, once and for all, that you’ll learn French.
Keeping Your Smarts as You Age
Click here for the original post. Nobody likes to spend too much time thinking about what doctors call age-related decline in brain function. You can get really worried about the future of your brain until you meet someone like Chicago icon Studs Terkel. Studs is now 95, and although he readily acknowledges he’s as deaf […]
Don’t Forget Your Selenium
And, in point of fact, if you do forget your selenium, you might start forgetting other things as well.
That’s what some epidemiologists from Indiana University recently reported. They selected a fairly obscure village of 2,000 people in China where the people had lived their entire lives and eaten largely the same food. After analyzing hair and fingernail samples for selenium levels, the researchers ran psychological tests on intellectual function.
Q&A: Sleep and Your Immune System
Q: How important is sleep to the immune system? I heard a Navajo medicine woman say that sleep was the key to a good immune system–more important even than nutrition. Is this true in your opinion?
Fast Food Favorites: Spinach
What kind of fast food could I ever recommend? The kind that will make your hair shine and your complexion glow.
You can make easy and enormously healthful choices every day that will make a real difference in the way you feel and look. Yes, your appearance, mood, and stamina are directly tied to the nutrients you take in.
Zzzzz: You’re Getting Sleepy and Your Heart is Happy
Here’s a health tip you may have suspected all along. There’s now “official” medical justification for that most pleasant of human activities: your afternoon nap.
Q&A: Stiff Neck
Q: Lately I’ve noticed my neck seems stiff when I try to back up my car and turn to look right or left behind me. Are there any exercises that would limber it up?
Holiday Stress Rx: Part 3
Click here for the Health Tip link. My patients sometimes have difficulty comprehending the extent to which chronic stress is responsible for their symptoms. Maybe it’s easier to understand how viruses cause a cold or plant spores bring on allergies. After all, both can be seen under a microscope. And yet chronic stress is much […]
Holiday Stress Rx: Part 2
Click here for the Health Tip link. Women play such a central role in family and celebration, to the degree that the stress of holiday demands can make you feel exhausted, anxious, and sick. Taking some time for yourself may seem counterintuitive, but it’s precisely what you need. Here’s another prescription for keeping healthy during […]
Second Opinion
A lot of my patients recently are relating stories of having surgery that I regard as unnecessary. More charitably, these are surgical procedures whose chance for producing symptom relief is iffy at best.
Q&A: Supplements and the Triple Whammy
Q: I unfortunately have all the symptoms of the Triple Whammy. What supplements do I need to take to get on the right track? A: Taking supplements to boost your feel-good serotonin is just one part of the Triple Whammy three-week cure, but it’s an essential component. To increase the amount of serotonin in […]