Prepare yourself for a genuinely frightening Health Tip. I bought Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, by investigative reporter Kris Newby, this past Saturday at 10 am and finished it at 8 pm. It reads more like a thriller than non-fiction and is chilling in its implications. First, some background: The […]
A Lifetime Of Experience With Abortion
The past two years of a Trump administration have produced an ugly upsurge in controversy over women’s rights, from the serial sexual predation revelations of the #MeToo movement to yet another state following the lead of the 25 white male Republicans (for their photos, click here) who voted to ban abortion in Alabama and send […]
Chronic Epstein-Barr Infection: Diagnosis and Self Treatment
Once, maybe long ago, you came down with variation of mono, what your doctor called infectious mononucleosis. You have the antibodies in your blood to prove it. These are antibodies to a specific human herpesvirus (called human herpesvirus 4), better known as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Back then, you may have felt a sudden onset of […]
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV): Trouble On The Horizon
A quick blood test will verify that 98% of you are carrying an inactive form of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), one of several herpesviruses (human herpesvirus 4, to be exact) that can rest quietly in your body. You hope. That high percentage is confirmed by testing large populations for the presence of EBV antibodies, produced by […]
Bartonellosis: Your Kitten Is Really Cute, But…
This is all about Bartonellosis, an illness you may never have heard of even as doctors are thinking it’s more widespread than anyone thought. Here’s why:–30% of US households have one or more cat.–The estimated US household cat population is 86 million.—Feral (outside, not domestic) cats add another 50 million. 136 million cats is a […]
Ozone Therapy: What It Is and How It’s Used
I’ll spare you a migraine. Don’t google “ozone therapy” as you’ll get 2.1 million results in 0.35 seconds. And while this is a mere fraction of what happens when you search for “migraine” (80 million in 1.19 seconds), just reading about the controversy over ozone therapy in first 20 entries might be enough to give […]
I Feel So Inflamed!
And among other symptoms, indeed she was. Julia, a bright 40-something, had written “fatigue,” “pain,” “bad digestion,” and “brain fog” on her WholeHealth Chicago intake paperwork. She’d been ill for years and brought with her two binders full of medical info on herself. The thicker of these contained accumulated medical records, lab tests, imaging studies, […]
“I’m Really Confused About Sun Exposure”
Julie was heading for an all-inclusive week in Cancun to loll on a vast expanse of beach, soaking up rays and having someone named Juan bring her endless pina coladas (she planned to get her money’s worth). Sounded pretty nice to me. After months of Chicago overcast/gray, it seemed like a perfect way to put […]
Here’s What You Should Know About Lyme Disease
In H.G. Wells’s novel (and Steven Spielberg’s movie) War of the Worlds, aliens invade Earth, fully intending to destroy it. Despite our best efforts to defend ourselves, we’re clearly losing until suddenly all the aliens start dying off. Scientists later discover the aliens had no immunity to Earth’s bacteria. The evil aliens were out of their […]
Welcome, Neeti Sharma, MD + A Functional Medicine Primer
I’m truly delighted to welcome our newest WholeHealth Chicago staff member, Neeti Sharma, MD, a board-certified internist (like me) who earned additional postgrad training in integrative medicine at Dr. Andrew Weil’s program at the University of Arizona Medical School. She also has a special interest in Functional Medicine. Any health-conscious patient with reasonable skepticism about […]
A Nasal Spray For Depression? Yes!
It began with a phone call from a patient. “Are you prescribing the new nasal spray for depression?” “Ah!” I thought. “The FDA finally released esketamine.” And then I saw two emails from patients asking the same question. I checked online and, yes indeed, Janssen Pharmaceuticals had completed all the clinical trials and received FDA […]
Meet Our New Integrative Nurse Practitioner Wendy Ploegstra
WholeHealth Chicago is extremely fortunate to welcome Advanced Nurse Practitioner Wendy Ploegstra into our group. Let’s take a look at her credentials. First, she starts in nursing, receiving her bachelor’s at Calvin College in Grand Rapids before moving to Chicago and enrolling at Rush University, where she receives her master’s as a nurse practitioner (with […]
A Good Schvitz: Alternative Medicine At Its Finest
Head west on Division from Ashland and in the 1900 block, on the north side of the street, you’ll see a building that looks like an old bank. While the neighborhood was once a bit risky, it’s now completely safe, upscale, and laden with the telltale sushi places, sports bars, and coffee houses of urban […]
Protect Your Child From The Dangerous Anti-Vaccine Cult
Recently on NPR I heard an interview with a young man who has the unusual occupation of being a Facebook content moderator. For eight hours a day he reads the crazy stuff people post and deletes it. The conspiracy theories (as in 9/11 was perpetrated by Jews), the Holocaust deniers, you know what I mean. […]
April Sale: 20% off Four Elements Organic Herbals Tea Blends
Celebrate the arrival of spring with 20% off Four Elements Organic Herbals tea blends. Based in central Wisconsin, Four Elements has been dedicated to organic growing for nearly three decades. These herbal tea blends are made with their hand-harvested organic herbs and packaged in oxygen-bleached paper. – After Dinner Fennel Mint Tea – to comfort and support healthy digestion – Joy, […]
Nutritional IV Therapy, Part One
You’ve probably, at some point in your life, had an intravenous (IV) line. You felt the tiny pinch of the needle, watched as an adept nurse’s hands taped the needle in place, and then stared, perhaps a bit apprehensively, as a bagful of fluid dangling above coursed through a plastic tube and into your body […]
Taking Steps Toward Cancer Prevention, Part 2
Last week we began a short series on preventing cancer. Obviously there are no guarantees when it comes to your health. You can do everything exactly right and still get cancer while the next guy lives a life on the edge and dies at 104 with a whisky in one hand and a cigar in […]
Taking Steps Toward Cancer Prevention
According to the latest epidemiologic data, half of you reading this Health Tip will, at some point, hear a variation of the phrase “You have cancer.” If you die (cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US), the type of cancer will appear on the cause-of-death line of your death certificate. It […]
Spring Equinox: Shamanic Healing Clinic
Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 5:45 – 7:30 PM With Healing Touch practitioner, Katie Oberlin, HTCP/1 $55 course fee As winter gives way to spring, it’s time to clear stagnant energy and expand into the new possibilities that this time of year represents. This workshop will include: -How to incorporate shamanism into contemporary life -Teachings about […]
My Sad-Happy Health Tip
Just about a year ago my business partner of 20 years, chiropractic physician Paul Rubin, began our private Monday morning meeting (This Week at WholeHealth Chicago) with an ominous “I think I should tell you something important.” Naturally, I froze. He’d never use that tone if it were simply a broken heating system or phones […]