Most people figure they must be getting older based on how they feel and look. We wince at our first grey hair, deepening wrinkles, and shifting body fat. We huff and puff climbing the stairs, forget names, and occasionally leak fluids. We relate to the line from a Leonard Cohen song, “I ache in the […]
Category: H
The Heartburn That Wouldn’t Quit
Dierdre had written “I want to get off my heartburn medicine” on her WholeHealth Chicago intake form. This, by the way, was a tele-med appointment. I’ve actually never met her in person. We changed Dierdre’s name to respect her privacy, but her story is worth sharing. Dierdre was in her 30s and had been working […]
Heavy Metal Toxicity and Your Health
For those who were otherwise preoccupied that day long ago in high school chemistry, the heavy metals refer to a group of especially dense metals or metal-like substances (called metalloids) found in the environment. These metals–specifically lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum–can all be absorbed by your body and stored there. Our environment is already […]
Hey Doc, When Are You Going to Write Up My Case?
I hear this question virtually every time I see Alan, an extremely healthy, energetic man in his forties who could easily pass for someone in his twenties. He comes to the office once a year for a check-up (he’s always just fine), but since we cross paths at our health club I’m reminded about his […]
Heal Your Gut…Now
Last week I discussed how naturopathic and functional medicine practitioners usually begin their healing process (and prevent future health troubles) with careful attention to that 30-foot food tube meandering through you from your lips to your anus. The essence of good gut health is essentially how well you’re digesting, absorbing, and using the food you […]
How To Not Gain Weight
Please note this Health Tip will not tell you how to lose weight. If you want to browse the offerings on that topic, go to amazon and search for diet books. Once our largest bookstore attempted to track the numbers, but when they surpassed 95,000 it apparently gave up and now tell us that the […]
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 […]
Healing Adrenal Fatigue
In last week’s Health Tip I described the exhausted state of Patricia, dragging herself through the day and crashing completely in the afternoon. At first, Patricia was oddly supercharged in the evening, unable to relax or sleep. Later, this energy burst vanished and she simply couldn’t sleep. She was tired all the time. Before her visit with […]
How To Get Off Statins
Getting off statins is easy. Stop swallowing the pill. If you’re not in a potentially high-risk group (as described below) and your doc prescribed a statin to get your cholesterol down a bit, you won’t have a heart attack or a stroke that day or week or probably that decade.
Health Care For The Romantic
Because the word “romantic” can be fraught with misinterpretations, it’s very important that we get our terms right. It may seem strange, but I’m not referring to the relationship type of romantic you’re most familiar with, the story that starts as eyes meet (across a cocktail bar, a garden party, an operating room table) and […]
How Did I Get Here?
This week’s Health Tip is from our newest WholeHealth Chicago practitioner, Christine Savas, who is a clinical mental health counselor. We asked her to write about her approach to a new client. Because one day that client might be you, I thought this would be a helpful piece for the new year. David Edelberg, MD […]
How The President’s Eating Habits Might Affect Your Longevity
The recently published book by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski describes the president’s routine eating habits: a quick gobbling of two Big Macs, two Filet of Fish sandwiches, and a chocolate malt. A fourth food group, if available, is pizza. Bags of salted crunchy snacks are always available between meals and Trump’s routine dessert […]
Health Screening Offers: Should You Bother?
Like most people, you’ve received one of those brochures in the mail with a headline screaming something like “Health Screening Can Save Your Life!” They’re filled with photos of happy, healthy people on golf courses or with their grandchildren and are liberally sprinkled with quotes like, “Dan’s alive today because an ultrasound revealed his aneurysm.”
HPV Immunization: Mired In Controversy
Patients with pre-teens and teenagers have been asking my opinion on the HPV (human papilloma virus) immunization, sold as Gardasil by the Big Pharma giant Merck. Young daughters, and now sons, are bringing home handouts from school, being pressured by the family pediatrician, and, oh those TV commercials. Families who go online discover arguments for […]
Healing Adrenal Fatigue
In last week’s Health Tip I described the exhausted state of Patricia, dragging herself through the day and crashing completely in the afternoon. At first, Patricia was oddly supercharged in the evening, unable to relax or sleep. Later, this energy burst vanished and she simply couldn’t sleep. She was tired all the time. Before her […]
Harvard Economists Warn (And So Do I): Beware Of Cowboy Doctors!
At some time in your life you’ll be faced with the very painful decision-making processes discussed in today’s Health Tip. Most likely it will involve an aged relative, but because death and dying are so random, you might be making similar decisions about your life partner, yourself, or (hopefully never) a child. You’ve probably seen […]
How Our Health Care System Created The Nazi Doctor
Last week I reported on the chilling story of Farid Fata, the Detroit oncologist (chemotherapy specialist) sentenced to 45 years in jail for fraud after stealing millions of dollars in medical fees because he administered inappropriate chemotherapy to hundreds of patients, many of whom did not have cancer at all. I mentioned that Fata’s crime […]
How Safe Is Your Sushi?
There’s been some completely unnecessary bickering between conventional and integrative physicians the past few years over mercury, and to a lesser extent lead and other toxic metals like arsenic and cadmium. While everyone agrees that these substances are poisonous, they aren’t unanimous on the best ways to diagnose and treat toxic metal poisonings. However, there’s […]
How Many Women With PMS Does It Take To Screw In A Light Bulb?
(Snarl your answer) “JUST ONE! ME! HEY, BUDDY–YOU GOT SOME SORT OF PROBLEM WITH THAT?!” Ah, PMS. Even if you don’t ever want a baby let’s see if we can fix things so you don’t have to put up with this crap for 30 years. I can write about PMS, and over the years have […]
Homeopathy and Children
About 25 years ago, when my boys started being born and getting acquainted with Chicago–and also before I became involved with alternative medicine–the oldest began to get ear infections. At the time, I was medical director of a big group of very conventional doctors and had access to some really good pediatricians. My son was […]