When it comes to health care, there are many options of providers and specialists. This is to your advantage, but it can all be so confusing. This article is intended to clarify a few of the different types of medical doctors and common terms. While not an exhaustive list, it is meant to aid you… Read more »
Barbra Angel (Romanowska) is a musical prodigy. As a child, her world was a symphony. Everyday sounds filled her head in a chorus of pitches that made it hard to focus on schoolwork and socializing. She lived in a world of her own which helped save her from the harsh reality of growing up in… Read more »
Microscopic nutrition is the study of your blood, cells and plasma. It offers the opportunity to see how healthy these life liquids are and what is really going on inside your cell body. The process involves a small prick of the finger to obtain a few drops of blood, which is then viewed under a… Read more »
Music has always played a critical role in celebrating cultural traditions, sporting events, holiday celebrations, civil rights protests, and entertainment. Music therapy has been in practice for centuries, but today, is increasingly recognized in the medical community as a treatment for depression, anxiety, and trauma. It is now being administered in hospitals, nursing homes, recovery… Read more »
Cysteine is an amino acid your body uses to create collagen, the major type of protein in connective tissue. Besides building your hair, skin and nails, cysteine helps convert glucose to energy and is a component of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. Cysteine is classified as “conditionally essential,” meaning your cells can create it if other… Read more »
Youthfulness and longevity is the ultimate health goal, right? It’s no wonder anti-aging supplements and products are popping up everywhere. We all strive to feel and look amazing, but many of these marketed products aren’t backed by scientific research and can potentially be a waste of money. One product that many naturopathic and functional medicine… Read more »
Most people try to avoid surgery or aggressive treatment if possible. Conservative care, which may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, exercise therapy, nutritional counseling, chiropractic, talk therapy, home management and over-the-counter medications, offers less invasive options and may be beneficial as a starting point or in conjunction with more aggressive treatment plans. Conservative care… Read more »
Now more than ever, people are suffering from anxiety. In a time when our normal routine has been turned upside down and the ways in which we typically process our experiences (community, exercise, being outdoors, etc.) are less accessible, this makes complete sense. Let’s zoom out and discuss the perspective that makes up our experiences… Read more »
Spring is often a reminder of the annual cleaning of our homes, but what about our bodies? We accumulate environmental by-products and toxins throughout our lives, and over time, we carry a load of unwanted baggage that may take special attention to eradicate. I’m noticing that most of my patients have toxins hidden away in… Read more »
Blood sugar testing with a glucometer is a great tool for anyone to assess their body’s unique response to food and lifestyle choices. We normally associate blood sugar testing with diabetes, but this tool can be helpful to support health goals such as improving body composition, making exercise and diet changes, identifying your carbohydrate tolerance,… Read more »
Millions of people have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the numbers, which include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, eczema, psoriasis and celiac disease to name a few, are increasing rapidly. With so many people affected and very little time and attention offered by traditional medical doctors, most people are left feeling helpless. However,… Read more »
The devastating loss of human life from COVID-19 has recently highlighted the immense power of tiny, invisible microbes to shape our human experience. Microbes are microscopic organisms, including a variety of widely diverse species of bacteria and viruses. Bacterial species are highly adaptable to surviving almost any habitat, be it boiling geysers, the depths of… Read more »
When I created Desert Health 10 years ago, one of the primary objectives was to elevate the work of our valley’s naturopathic doctors. Their philosophy of identifying the root cause of disease versus simply treating symptoms and “whole- person care” approach, taking time to understand and address lifestyle patterns, is significantly more effective than the… Read more »
Sometimes it takes a personal struggle and a hero emerging from it, to teach the rest of us (doctors included) that we can and should do better when it comes to our health. Terry Wahls, MD, founder of the Wahls Protocol, did not seek to practice medicine in a way other than how she was… Read more »
Chronic diseases are a recent part of human history. In the past, people only went to healers, physicians or hospitals when they became sick, generally due to infections, injuries or other maladies. Even cancer was very rare in the past as described by Mukherjee in The Emperor of All Maladies (2010). The concept of chronic… Read more »
While many look negatively at China and their cause and effect of COVID-19, there is much we can learn from their actions, insights and use of both Eastern and Western medicine. One of my teachers, John Chen PhD, OMD, is a pharmacist and fifth-generation Chinese medicine doctor who graduated from USC. He explained that China… Read more »
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has wide ranging actions on our body as an antioxidant, immunomodulator, co-factor for collagen and hormone production, and as a pro-oxidant burst in high doses.1 Vitamin C is well established for its treatment of infections and has been shown to shorten the duration of the common cold as well as reducing… Read more »
Terry Wahls could be considered a miracle. Bound to a reclining wheelchair with progressive multiple sclerosis, she reversed her condition and, today, enjoys an active lifestyle, returning to her medical practice and leading research to help others. However, her methods are far from miraculous; they are simply a change in nutrition and lifestyle that reduced… Read more »
Ozone therapy has a wide range of clinical applications. While most clinical studies have focused on cardiovascular disease, ozone therapy also plays a role in the management of diabetes, cancer, chronic infections, auto-immune disease, aging and pain. Topical or local injections also are effective for dermatological infections, cystitis, colitis, osteoarthritis, rotator cuff tears and spinal… Read more »
We are familiar with daily self-care practices for our physical body – brushing our teeth, eating healthy food, regular exercise, solid sleep – but did you know it is just as important to maintain a daily self-care routine for our energy flow? Our physical body consists of energy systems and fields within and around us… Read more »
