The whole world awaits a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The irony is that the worse the condition gets, the easier it becomes emotionally for the patient–and the more wrenching an experience for the caregivers. In fact, if you are a caregiver, please join a support group. Don’t tackle Alzheimer’s alone. Doctors generally acknowledge Alzheimer’s as hopeless, and the only approved drugs are marginally effective at best. In light of this bleak outlook, the integrative team at WholeHealth Chicago believes that we all need to be especially alert for anything new on the horizon.
Allergies
Your immune system, designed to protect you when bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances enter your body, sometimes seems to get confused. It becomes unable to differentiate an enemy from something harmless, like pollen, dust, certain foods, drugs, cosmetics, animals…the list is enormous. The result is an allergic reaction in your body, an allergy for short, with some fairly predictable symptoms ranging from the mildly annoying to the genuinely life threatening. Although conventional medicine provides many ways to deal with allergies, some of the therapies (like allergy shots) are inconvenient and expensive, while others (like antihistamines) cause unpleasant side effects. Our WholeHealth Chicago integrated approach just might allow you to control your allergies all by yourself.
Alcoholism
Whether you’re the relative, friend, or physician of an alcoholic, following the gradual decline of a person with a serious drinking problem is an emotionally wrenching experience. A college student chugging more brews than his buddies; a business executive needing a daily three-martini lunch; an empty-nester hiding fifths of whiskey behind the vegetable oil in the pantry–they will all suffer the effects of alcohol.
Aging
Now it’s the baby boomers turn, as that vast generation starts to come to grips with the uncomfortable possibility of growing old and actually dying. Evidence of a surge of interest in anti-aging is everywhere: in the numerous “anti-aging” book titles; in the physicians (unhappy with the HMO grind) who’ve become “specialists” in “Anti-Aging Medicine”; in the emergence of cosmetic surgery as a standard big-ticket household expense.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Most of us have heard about ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in kids. It’s often cited as a major cause of learning and behavior problems at schools. But what most people, including many doctors, don’t realize is that ADHD is also a big problem in adults. In fact, since the condition is estimated to affect 5% of the population, ADHD may well be the single most common chronic unrecognized mental health disorder in the United States.
Acne
Because their bodies are adjusting to the hormonal changes of adolescence, virtually every teenage boy and most teenage girls develop some form of acne. This may range from the common pimple (“Oh God! Another zit!”) to the large inflamed nodules of cystic acne.
Swine Flu
Click here for the Health Tip link. The first nervous e-mails from patients began arriving over the weekend. While there are many unknowns, this swine flu A H1N1 virus is brand new–it’s not been detected in North America before now. If you’re curious about the facts on swine flu, click here for the CDC’s rundown. […]
Yoga: Getting Started
Clinical studies from around the world have shown that students of yoga are healthier than the rest of the population. They have more energy, better strength and joint flexibility, are more relaxed, have lower blood pressures, slower pulses, stronger hearts, better sleep, improved digestion, and more positive outlooks on life. Emotionally, yoga students have increased self-awareness, better coping skills, and a more relaxed approach to any stress, whether on-the-job or in a family crisis. This may be partially due to the slew of feel-good endorphins, including serotonin, released during yoga postures.
Stress Less: Yoga
Click here for the Health Tip link. If you want to take a major step in reversing whatever problem ails you, sign up for a yoga class and stick with it. There are now classes in virtually every community large enough to have paved roads. Even if you live in the middle of nowhere, you […]
My Annual Smoking Rant
Click here for the Health Tip link. You needn’t bother reading this if you’re a non-smoker or you don’t know a soul who still smokes. If you do know a smoker, do a favor and forward this piece. You never can tell. Your forwarded e-mail might trigger the decision to quit and believe me, an […]
Saving a Bundle on Healthcare, Part 2
Click here for the Health Tip link. If you use nutritional supplements and alternative therapies as part of your health care, you may finally be compelled to thank the Republicans for something you’ll like (that was not an easy sentence for me to write). It was during the Bush administration that the concept of Medical […]
Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care
Click here for the Health Tip link. A recent public survey revealed that the most pressing problem with our health care system was not that so many people were either underinsured or without insurance altogether, but that health care–all aspects of it–was just too expensive. Patients, including doctors themselves when they or their families become […]
Laugh Your Troubles Away
Click here for the Health Tip link. It’s been one tough day. Your boss chewed you out for something that was clearly her own doing and your computer crashed. The dry cleaner lost your favorite suit. Your car is making an odd but expensive-sounding noise. But wait–don’t pull a blanket over your head or reach […]
I Went to the Doctor and I Left Feeling Much Better
Posted 03/10/2009 At WholeHealth Chicago we view health care differently than most conventional doctors, so when patients share sentiments like the one in the headline, it makes our day a very good one. Following the original definition of the word “doctor,” we see ourselves as teachers, not body mechanics (or in my case, someone who […]
Saving A Bundle on Your Health Care, Part 3
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 […]
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 […]