It’s not uncommon for medical groups like WholeHealth Chicago to have their patient charts audited by health insurance companies “for quality.” After all, insurers want to see how their money is being spent and since they’re for-profit businesses with egregiously overcompensated management teams, they do want doctors to keep costs as low as possible. Some […]
Category: Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Vitamins, & Herbal Remedies
Medical Flip-Flopping
I don’t know how you all keep from going slightly bonkers over the endless reversal of opinion from the “experts” in the world of medicine. Over the last few years, medical journals/websites (and the newspapers nobody subscribes to anymore) have reported policy changes on issues that I personally was just beginning to wrap my head […]
Porochista Khakpour’s Ongoing Battle With Lyme
In novelist Porochista Khakpour’s memoir Sick she describes her struggle with chronic Lyme disease and her uphill battle with the US healthcare system. Likely she had been bitten as a child by a long-forgotten tick, which is quite the usual case, the average age of acquiring Lyme disease being about 11. As a result of […]
The Stealth Bug From Hell: Chronic Lyme Disease
Last week we discussed the stealthy nature of Lyme and other infectious organisms, like chickenpox. To start, this week I’ll say by now everyone should be familiar with the basics of avoiding acute Lyme disease. When you’re in the woods or tall grass wear long pants tucked into socks and a long-sleeved shirt, spray DEET […]
Revealed: Why Susan Can’t Lose Weight
Susan sat across from me and I could see her chin quivering as she tried to hold back the tears. “I am trying so hard to lose weight, doctor! Look at my diet diary. I’m at the gym almost every day. My thyroid numbers are perfect. And so what happens? This past month I actually […]
Controversial Diagnosis #5: Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
You’d be surprised at the degree of controversy surrounding this seemingly innocuous topic, not only among doctors but also patients (and best not to bring it up with anyone in the baking industry). This diagnosis has generated entire aisles of gluten-free products in grocery stores and GF selections on restaurant menus. And just perhaps you’re […]
Ten Controversial Medical Conditions: An Introduction
Consider this list.• Fibromyalgia• Chronic fatigue• Candida overgrowth• Leaky gut• Non-celiac gluten sensitivity• Chronic Lyme disease• Intestinal parasites• Black mold illness (including sick building syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome)• Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)• Chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) Back in medical school, the only one of these I’d actually ever heard of was […]
Reversing Mental Decline Part 4: Nine Immediate Steps to Prevent Dementia
We’ve covered a lot of scientific territory in this series, from the basics of Alzheimer’s to the tests used to evaluate risk. This final installment is something you can follow up on right now, regardless of where you fall on the risk spectrum. Concerning your brain, let’s say you’re in one of these four situations: […]
Reversing Mental Decline Part 3: Tests For Alzheimer’s Prevention
Dale Bredesen, MD, author of The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program To Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, refers to the tests you should undergo if you’re concerned about brain health as a “cognoscopy,” sort of a colonoscopy for your brain. Perhaps thinking back on your own colonoscopy, it’s reasonable to ask, “Do I really […]
Reversing Mental Decline Part 3: Tests For Alzheimer’s Prevention
Dale Bredesen, MD, author of The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program To Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, refers to the tests you should undergo if you’re concerned about brain health as a “cognoscopy,” sort of a colonoscopy for your brain. Perhaps thinking back on your own colonoscopy, it’s reasonable to ask, “Do I really […]
Reversing Mental Decline and Preventing Alzheimer’s, Part 2
Last week I explained the current thinking about cognitive decline, whose worst manifestation, Alzheimer’s disease, occurs because a protein called amyloid accumulates in the brain, destroying delicate brain cells. Focusing on clearing out amyloid as a treatment of Alzheimer’s has been unsuccessful. The answer is prevention. In his important book The End of Alzheimer’s: The […]
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 […]
130/80: What The New High Blood Pressure Guidelines Mean For You
You might not have known it, but last Monday, November 13, 2017, you may have awakened with high blood pressure (hypertension). Don’t feel alone. A massive increase in the number of people with hypertension occurred overnight when the definition of high blood pressure was officially changed from 140/90 (and higher) to 130/80 (and higher). I’m […]
Functional Medicine 101 + Introducing Dr. Alaina Gemelas
Functional Medicine is without a doubt the fastest growing medical specialty of the 21st century. Public interest in it and public acceptance of it continues to please me. Every day I hear the sentence, “I made this appointment because I wanted a functional approach.” When I ask patients how they learned about it, the answer […]
Your First Step For Any (Any!) Chronic Symptoms
Here’s an unfortunate trend: more and more young people (at my age, everyone under 50 is young) are troubled by chronic physical and emotional symptoms. Sometimes there’s a diagnosis: rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s, fibromyalgia. But just as often there are plenty of symptoms and no diagnosis. I can’t count how many times patients have […]
Case History: The Madness of Overmedication
You’d think knowing that the fourth leading cause of death in the US is correctly-taken prescription drugs would push physicians to prescribe fewer of them. But the facts haven’t entered the collective brain of the medical profession. Big Pharma advertising controls both that brain and yours with its ubiquity of magazine, internet, and TV ads […]
Meet Our New Naturopathic Doctor: Caley Scott, ND
It wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t know much about naturopathy. There aren’t many naturopaths in the US and the 5,000 or so we do have are mostly located along the east and west coasts, seriously outnumbered by 800,000 MDs and 100,000 DOs (osteopaths). Just to remind you: these are difficult days for health care […]
Ten Drugs Doctors Should Consider De-Prescribing
Physicians use the word polypharmacy when a patient is taking five or more prescription drugs daily. A recent survey showed that half of women Medicare recipients were taking five or more drugs daily, and 12% of them were taking ten (!) or more. New patients frequently arrive at WholeHealth Chicago carrying bags stuffed like piñatas […]