We have a mindset that says it’s bad to have an illness, and that health is the absence of illness. This isn’t always true. Fever is the healing flame, the great cleanser of the body, and a critical part of developing a child’s immune system.
Dear Pharmacist, Heart disease runs in my family so naturally, I’m worried. A friend told me that brushing your teeth can prevent heart disease. I was polite, but I don’t believe him. Can this be true? –K.M., Sanibel, Florida Answer: You’re friend is right so how important is oral hygiene? In a word, very. In […]
The problem of elderly people taking too many medications is not new, but continues to pose a serious risk to health as well as contribute significantly to rising Medicare costs. The fact is that nearly 20% of adults aged 65 years and older who are not hospitalized take 10 or more medications daily. This number is not the result of shoddy care, but rather achieved when doctors simply follow practice guidelines for several common, co-existing conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, for example.
The cornerstone of treatment for the great majority of cancers is the surgical removal of the primary tumor. The rationale for this approach is straightforward: if you can get rid of the cancer by simply removing it from the body, then a cure can likely be achieved. Unfortunately, this approach does not take into account that after surgery the cancer will frequently metastasize (spread to different organs). Quite often the metastatic recurrence is far more serious than the original tumor. In fact, for many cancers it is the metastatic recurrence—and not the primary tumor—that ultimately proves to be fatal.
When we look past the hysteria and controversy created by the new government task force guidelines for mammography screening, what we find is that it’s all about the money, and not about women’s health.
In her landmark CHOIICE study, Dr. Stephenson’s approach to bioidentical hormone replacement shows clear benefits for heart disease risk factors. In this interview, Dr. Stephenson explains how the study was conducted and gives us the specific results.
It’s all about prevention, but how can you even begin to address prevention when the real implementers of prevention aren’t even part of the discussion? I’m referring to the doctor-patient relationship which ultimately makes or breaks the entire system. Remember Dr. Welby? Remember when doctors were beloved and patients were respected and cared for? Those were the days when the cost of healthcare was not prohibitive. In those days genomics and MRIs were scarce but good will and health were abundant. What changed?