Whenever a patient tells me about calling her doctor with symptoms of a urinary tract infection and being refused an antibiotic because he “never” prescribes one without a urine culture, I know the doctor has never experienced a UTI himself. Let’s face it….bladder infections are a girl thing, and most doctors are, well, male. So they haven’t experienced constantly racing to the john with this uncontrollable urge to pee, then managing to squeeze out a few drops of seemingly liquid fire.
Ulcers
Gone are the old days of ulcer treatments with their incredibly restrictive diets, hourly swigs of Maalox, and sending of patients off to surgery–thank heaven. Today, we know a lot more about the little sores found in the lining of the stomach (gastric ulcers) or the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum (duodenal ulcers), than we used to. Although still associated with the stressed executive (stress increases acid flow), we now know that ulcers are caused by a specific bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. We still don’t know for sure how people become infected in the first place. But it’s a very democratic germ: Anyone can get an ulcer. And drinking alcohol or too much coffee, or taking aspirin (or NSAIDs), or being overstressed–all simply make the situation worse.
Thyroid Disease
Here’s a section you can read to gather some information on your thyroid, a vital gland located in your neck that controls how fast or slow everything (but everything!) operates in your body. Compare it to the gas pedal of your car, with the gearshift in neutral. Too slow, and the motor dwindles and grinds to a halt. Too fast, and you’ll burn your engine out. Although most thyroid disorders are treated either by replacement hormones or prescription drugs, an inappropriately operating thyroid places all sorts of burdens on the smooth functioning of your body. Many of these can be helped with dietary changes and selected nutritional supplements.
Sunburn
Most people have had at least one vacation ruined by sunburn. Usually, they then smarten up and remember that heading outside means putting on sunblock. Children are frequent victims of sunburn, their time in the sun flying by as sandcastles get bigger and bigger. We grown-ups can be caught unaware, too. Whether skiing, backpacking, or just sprawled on the chilly deck of a cruise ship, we just don’t notice until it’s too late how the dazzling sunlight has baked our pale arms, legs, and face into a glowing lobster red.
Stroke
It’s a reflection of the body’s remarkable power to recover that most people do quite well after a stroke. We know that actors Patricia Neal and Kirk Douglas went back to work, but so do teachers, doctors, and cab drivers.
Even more remarkable is how each year the number of people who have strokes declines. This is a dramatic statement about how medications for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, low-fat diets, and regular exercise are finally paying off.
Stress
An interesting transition in any primary care physician’s career occurs when he or she realizes that the real culprit filling up the office every day is stress. It’s not “disease,” like you’re taught at medical school. In fact, people under age 65 are remarkably free of disease these days. So why the waiting room crowds complaining about headaches, skin rashes, back pains, colds, stomach distress, insomnia? Of course, all these people undergo “tests” to rule out the diseases they’re worried about. The results are routinely normal. So you, the doctor, having to do something, write out a prescription for medication to mask the symptoms. Years later, tired of fighting off decades of unrelenting stress, the body falls prey to real ulcers or genuine heart attacks.
Sprains and Strains
For some of us, a strained or sprained muscle (if it’s mild) can be a badge of honor. We feel proud that at 40-something we can rub a shoulder dramatically and complain we played too many innings of baseball or too many sets of tennis. I remember treating the strained shoulder of an octogenarian who was bursting to tell me how it had occurred during an evening of vigorous sex. More serious strains and sprains are too painful to occasion boasting. Instead, they may require specialized medical help. Sprains particularly can take a long time to heal, and ligaments (bands that connect bones to each other at the joints) that are injured may remain weak and prone to reinjury.
The supplement and lifestyle suggestions we offer at WholeHealth Chicago are helpful for both mild and serious muscle strains and sprains, and they can complement any medical treatment.
Sore Throat
You know the sensation. First, it’s an uncomfortable little “awareness” in the back of your throat, and the thought crosses your mind, “I hope I’m not coming down with something.” Slowly, over the next few hours or so, your awareness increases. Then the next morning, you awaken with the sensation of having swallowed a blowtorch. And, since a sore throat is all too often the first act of a bad cold, you know what the next few days are going to be like, and wonder what you can do to prevent things from getting worse. Here are some suggestions from WholeHealth Chicago.
Sinusitis
In my town, doctors refer to it as the “Denver drip,” but of course the “Chicago crud” or “Manhattan mucus” serve just as well. In fact, that decidedly unpleasant, back-of-the-throat, thick-as-molasses post nasal drainage is simply your sinuses, endlessly trying to empty themselves. What with clogged heads, tickly coughs, constant nose blowing, and voices perpetually needing a “harrumph!” to clear them, it’s little wonder that sinus sufferers are willing to undergo repeated surgeries for temporary relief. Or borrow somebody’s old antibiotics. Or fantasize about plunging a Craftsman power drill up their nostrils.
Shingles
Since almost everyone gets chickenpox as a child, most of us are susceptible to developing shingles as adults. Each illness is caused by the same virus, which is called varicella in children and herpes zoster in adults. After the chickenpox ends, the virus goes into hibernation in the nerve cells along the spinal cord. Then, many years later, when the immune system is weakened in some way–by age, stress, certain drugs, illness (even the flu)–the virus awakens. At some point along the spine, it travels along a nerve, producing a painful rash along the band of skin served by that nerve. Herpes zoster means “belt of fire”–the name is apt.
Rosacea
You’re in your thirties and confident that those former anxieties about teenage acne are ancient history. Then you begin to notice something. Hmm… your cheeks…your chin…and the bridge of your nose seem to redden easily, especially when you eat some spicy food or drink alcohol. At first you think nothing of it, and don’t mind when friends comment about your “healthy glow.” But then, this odd redness just doesn’t seem to go away. When you examine your skin carefully, you see lots of tiny blood vessels. Your face appears a little swollen, and it definitely feels tender. Since the resemblance to Santa Claus is getting a bit unnerving, you decide it’s time for some help.
Raynaud’s Disease
People with Raynaud’s disease are at the other end of the spectrum from people who blush at the drop of a hat. But, instead of having blood vessels that open readily, they have vessels that constrict too easily, usually in response to something cold. When you have Raynaud’s, you can walk into an air-conditioned room or even reach into a picnic cooler, and suddenly your fingers feel oddly cold, even numb and tingly. As you watch, the tips go dead white, then blue, and (after you frantically warm them up again), a bright, throbbing red.
Psoriasis
When I was a kid, there used to be a magazine advertisement that began “Do you suffer the heartbreak of psoriasis?” I couldn’t understand the connection between a skin rash and a broken heart until I began actually treating people with this skin condition. Psoriasis, which affects about 6 million Americans, is indeed a frustrating disorder, for both patient and doctor. Although the exact cause is unknown, we do know that new skin cells reproduce and accumulate faster than they can be sloughed off. The condition can range in severity from a few small patches to large and unsightly thick plaques that appear just about anywhere on the body.
Prostate Problems
I’ve had many male patients over age 40 who are not only inconvenienced by an enlarged prostate (usually in the form of a more frequent need to urinate), but who are also concerned that they either have cancer of the prostate or that cancer is right around the corner. I’m happy to report that most of their symptoms turned out to be related to a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. And it is indeed benign: “Hyperplasia” simply means an overgrowth of cells.
PMS
After having heard the details of PMS (otherwise known as premenstrual syndrome) from hundreds of women over the years, I continue to be surprised about how most regard PMS as their lot in life and don’t seek any help for it. I guess most women believe there’s nothing they can do, and consequently they’re often amazed to learn that an integrated approach can really help. I am of the opinion, shared by many of my colleagues at WholeHealth Chicago, that getting PMS out of your life requires a strongly committed proactive “self-care” stance, something you can easily do without much reliance on your conventional physician. Generally the complexity of PMS–and there are numerous symptoms associated with it–takes a lot more time and attention than the standard 7-minute physician office visit can provide.
Perimenopause
As you’re probably aware, menopause is that phase of a woman’s life when her ovaries no longer produce the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. Well before then, however, a woman’s hormones begin to fluctuate from month to month, often causing many unpleasant symptoms. This process may take from five to 10 years. This is perimenopause. During this time, even though periods are still occurring, symptoms associated with menopause, including hot flashes, mood swings, brain fog, and sleep disturbances begin. Yet with periods persisting, most doctors are reluctant to start prescription hormones that would stop these symptoms in days. Furthermore, since her hormonal status fluctuates, she may not need prescription hormones every month. So what’s a person to do?
Osteoporosis
A decade ago, most women had never heard of osteoporosis. Now, as the baby boomer generation approaches menopause and doctors have analyzed the statistics, articles about osteoporosis are appearing everywhere. Osteoporosis presents a health danger because as bones age they absorb less calcium. This leaves them thin and pitted, and more liable to fracture easily. With a third of all post-menopausal women suffering some degree of bone deterioration, this translates into a lot of hip, spine, and wrist fractures. Sadly, a third of all elderly women who suffer a hip fracture die within six months.
Muscle Aches and Pains
By and large, if we take reasonably good care of ourselves, most of the so-called degenerative illnesses–heart disease, cancer, diabetes–usually wait until we’re in our sixties or so. So just accept the following as a given: Before age 60, most medical problems will involve your musculoskeletal systems. Which I guess is why the waiting rooms of chiropractors and osteopaths are so crowded. If to stay healthy we keep active, and by active, I mean anything from taking a regular walk to winning bowling trophies, we will inevitably experience some muscle aches and pains.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis can seem like the cruelest disease. We’ve all heard of cases where a young adult, once in the bloom of health, becomes disabled and confined to a wheelchair. And while it’s true that MS attacks healthy young people, fortunately very few cases lead to rapid disability. By far the common MS “story” is one of flare-ups followed by very long disease-free periods, so that disability, if it does occur at all, may not happen for decades. Although the cause of MS remains unknown, physicians believe it’s an autoimmune disease, where the immune system winds up attacking its own central nervous system. Doctors are far less helpless in the face of MS than they once were. Disease “modifiers” such as the interferon-based medications Betaseron or Avonex and the drug glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), all have been shown to reduce flare-up rates dramatically and delay the time to disability.
Migraine
Nearly every week, I get patients who assume that any time they have a really bad headache, it must be a migraine. Not true. In fact, migraines are a specific condition, with symptoms, causes, and treatments that differ from other headaches. To begin, what sets migraines apart is the throbbing pain–often on one side of the head–which can be intense and even incapacitating. At WholeHealth Chicago, we find a two-prong approach to migraines is often the most successful: Deal decisively with the pain of an attack (including using prescription medications, if necessary) and also find the best strategies to prevent these headaches from happening in the first place.