Overcoming Depression & Anxiety

It’s surprising to learn of the number of people in our community who don’t greet each new day with a smile. For them, mornings are a struggle, and the bright desert sun may be shaded by dark thoughts and feelings that cloud their mind and deplete their energy. They are of different ages, shapes and… Read more »

Alternative Therapies for Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is on the rise. Once prevalent only in the northeast, the infectious disease has now been reported in every state in the US, and throughout the world. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported 30,000 cases annually, only to revise that statistic to 300,000 in 2013.1 The probable stats are due… Read more »

We are so Excited!

We are so excited! The Desert Health® Wellness Awards are finally here. We hope you will join us in celebrating those nominated by their peers and supporters for their contributions in moving health and wellness forward in our community. Everyone is welcome to attend the festive event, and the Official Program can be found on… Read more »

When Mammography is Not Enough

I always fill out the forms quickly in the doctor’s waiting room. Do you have a history— No. Have you ever— No. I didn’t have a family history of breast cancer or any cancer. But a year ago this past December, my mother was diagnosed and ended up receiving a double mastectomy. The key is… Read more »

Handshakes Shouldn’t Hurt

Do you stiffen up even at the mention of the word “arthritis”? May is National Arthritis Awareness Month, and according to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 50 million Americans are living with the condition. Despite how common arthritis is, there are a lot of misconceptions about this disease – namely, that it’s just a fact… Read more »

Preservation of the Patient Doctor Relationship

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.”  – Hippocrates The patient doctor relationship has long been revered. However, there are many challenges currently assailing this time honored relationship. Modern times have brought new factors into consideration. Lack of timely access to care and the high cost of medicine… Read more »

Dis-Ability Health

If you don’t have a disability (or at least won’t admit to having one) or you don’t work in the disability industry, it is unlikely this is a topic of conversation you are likely to have over coffee and a croissant. But it is a discussion to be held across our valley if we are… Read more »

Middle School Students JUMP at Careers in Healthcare

HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) – JUMP (Junior Upcoming Medical Professionals) is a student-led organization designed to be a stepping-stone for 7th to 8th graders interested in entering the health science and medical technology field.  Through the program, HOSA-JUMP members have the opportunity to participate in career exploration through guest speakers, field trips, and… Read more »

“Honey, I Can’t Hear You!”

“Get your hearing checked!” My friend Pam and I had each heard this from our husbands for several years. But she is only 45 and I just turned 50, so we thought we were way too young to be losing our hearing. It must be them. But when my mom chimed in, I listened. She… Read more »

The Eye is the Window to the Soul

They say the eye is the window to the soul.  While this may indeed be the case, what I see when I peer into a patient’s eye (and I have seen a lot of eyes in my career), is essentially a map to an individual’s health.  When your doctor dilates your eye to examine the… Read more »

Off-Label Drug Use

Many physicians use medications that are approved and marketed for one condition in order to treat alternative or other conditions. This practice is not only permissible; in fact, it’s good medicine. The Alliance of Specialty Medicine’s position states that “the FDA acknowledges that physicians may prescribe any legally marketed product for an off-label use, as… Read more »

Clearing Negative Energy for Positive

Reiki is a complementary health approach in which practitioners place their hands lightly on or just above a person and channel energy with the goal of facilitating the person’s own healing response. It is based on an Eastern belief in a universal energy that supports the body’s innate or natural healing abilities. Although the therapy… Read more »

The Gift of Flowers

Seamus (“Jim”) McDonnell will spend Mother’s and Father’s Day giving over 100 hugs and bouquets of flower to gracious recipients in retirement homes throughout the Coachella Valley. Many won’t even know his name, but will lovingly refer to him as “The Flower Man.” For 13 years, Seamus has been bringing flowers, and much joy, to… Read more »

Dissolving Trauma through Mindfulness

How can a traumatic event or set of events from earlier in life create a present desire to scarf down cookies, drink wine every night, or partake in other obsessive behaviors? The answer lies in how our brains and bodies record experience and respond to life situations. Researchers and addiction specialists are finding more and… Read more »

TCM for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

We all get tired, but sometimes “tired” is insufficient to describe a serious condition. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is far more than just being tired.  This baffling and little understood affliction is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue, often associated with muscle and joint pain. It may worsen with physical or mental activity and… Read more »

Tools for Training a Positive Brain

You’ve heard the term “knee jerk reaction”? Well, our brains do the same type of thing. Throughout our lives, our brains create neurological pathways which connect thoughts to reactions. These reactions manifest as emotions and physical experiences. Until recently, it was generally accepted by medical professionals that once the brain was formed, these neurological pathways… Read more »

The Whole-Wheat Fallacy: Diabetics Beware

Gluten often takes the blame when it comes to health concerns these days. Unfortunately, gluten isn’t the only problem with your whole-wheat bread. Americans essentially traded fat for wheat when we started the low fat craze. This diet change, not so coincidentally, marked the beginning of our obesity and diabetes epidemic, both of which are… Read more »