Letting go of time

The Importance of Play

Think of those times in your life when you were alone doing something you love; those times you remember being filled with nothing but sheer joy…maybe immersing yourself in a hobby, creating something new, walking through a serene landscape or simply sitting in silence. How did you feel? Most likely, you weren’t thinking about your… Read more »

Lauren Del Sarto

Coming Together

You know what I love about our beautiful Desert community?  The sense of unity. Everyone seems to come together to support each other. Whether it’s a project, cause, social function, initiative, or simply a pat on the back, it’s exceptional and unlike most places I have lived. I’d like to think that our goodwill and… Read more »

Your Health Matters - with Janet Zappala

Bariatric Surgery

Most of us are keenly aware that dieting can be a constant yo-yo. In our quest to maintain a healthy weight we’re often motivated to try just about any diet that’s been shown to have at least a modicum of success.  Now take it a step further, when weight becomes such an issue that our… Read more »

punctual plugs

Could Your Tearing Be a Plumbing Problem?

The common problem of watery eyes has many causes which are most easily understood if we approach it like a plumbing issue.  Tears are produced in glands (lacrimal glands) located in the outer corners of the upper eyelids, just underneath the bone above our eyes. The tears flow out of the gland through ducts in… Read more »

Shay’s Story

Do You Believe in Miracles?

It was early November and there was an itch near the top of my breast that would not go away. I vividly remember how annoying the itch was and thinking I felt a lump. During a boot camp workout, I asked my friend what she thought it might be, and of course she said what… Read more »

What HEAL Offered Me

The HEAL academy (Health and Environmental Academy of Learning) is not the average high school academy. By giving students opportunities and experiences to work in their community, the academy helps students like me prepare for a career either in health care or in the environmental health field.  I have been in the HEAL academy for… Read more »

Hypnosis for Parkinson’s Symptoms

Clients with Parkinson’s disease share the stiffness, shakiness, slowness, pain, fear, anxiety, dementia and sleeplessness that they experience with the disease. As part of integrated medical care, clinical hypnosis is a safe and drug-free approach for treatment that has shown to be effective in reducing these and other symptoms of Parkinson’s. In one National Institutes… Read more »

Inaugural Prostate Health Initiative

Where were you this past September when we honored men with a prostate cancer diagnosis? Did you know that an estimated 174,650 U.S. men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 286,600 new cases of U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2019? In short, 1 in 9 men will hear the… Read more »

Dental Care During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting time for any mother, but it often comes with questions about what is safe and important for oral health and dental care. During pregnancy, as hormone levels change, there can be an effect on the oral cavity. One of the more common occurrences is “pregnancy gingivitis” where the gums can become… Read more »

Stem Cell Treatment for ED

Erectile Dysfunction (ED), is a debilitating issue for many men after age 40 which includes the inability to obtain and maintain an erection or simply a soft erection. I have used a variety of procedures to treat erectile dysfunction, including extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) using staccato-like sound wave pulses along the shaft of the penis;… Read more »

Gluten Free with Tiffany

Surviving the Holidays Gluten-free

The numerous holiday invitations making their way onto your calendar about now can pose some challenges, or even anxiety, when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet. The last thing you want during this busy and festive time of the year is to accidentally eat something that doesn’t agree with you.  There is no doubt… Read more »

Stop the Dopamine Food Cycle

For most of us eating is a pleasurable experience, but for some it is a double-edged sword that leads down a path of emotional cues, cravings and bad choices. In previous issues of Desert Health, I discussed the neurotransmitter dopamine and how it drives us toward foods and substances to fulfill pleasure to get us… Read more »

Energy Medicine in Harmony with Western Medicine

“Humans are made out of energy and sustained by energy. Our bodies are ever changing dynamic fields of energy, not static physical structures. They are a hologram in which every part contains information about the whole.” — Christiane Northrup, M.D. Conventional Western medicine, at its foundation, focuses on the biochemistry of the physical body: cells,… Read more »