Chronic pain impacts over 50 million people in our country and, typically, there are few safe and affordable treatment options. For patients who are not candidates for surgery or regenerative injections such as prolotherapy and PRP (platelet rich plasma), NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), acetaminophen, steroids and opioids are the standard of care. Unfortunately, these medications… Read more »
Functional Medicine
Every day we are bombarded by input: computer screens, telephones, traffic, food, blaring TVs, and everyone else’s energy. Our bodies are constantly challenged to integrate all this information, which can be exhausting. When our bodies are not able to process all of this information, we can experience imbalance that affects our nervous system, resulting in… Read more »
Although naturopathic medicine has been in practice in the U.S. for over a century, I often still get asked, “Are you a real doctor?” In California, Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) are licensed primary care providers, able to diagnose and treat illness as a general practitioner/ family practice doctor. NDs can order lab tests and imaging; perform… Read more »
The festive season is here again, and we look forward to end-of-year celebrations, parties and get-togethers with family and friends. As the days grow shorter and the year winds to a close, we gather together to reminisce and to share our hopes for the year ahead. Yet, this time of year often brings increased stress–with… Read more »
Those who have discovered naturopathic medicine often consider it life changing. Many seek the practice when allopathic medicine runs out of answers or to complement conventional care. Others consider their naturopathic doctor to be their primary care physician preferring the body, mind and spirit approach to medicine. A licensed naturopathic doctor attends an accredited, four-year,… Read more »
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid, or TUDCA, is a water-soluble bile acid produced in our livers to help stimulate the release of bile into the gut. While humans only produce a small amount of TUDCA, the bile of bears is around 50 percent TUDCA and scientists think this may play a role in their ability to hibernate for… Read more »
Medical aromatherapy (also known as clinical aromatherapy) is a practice that is rapidly gaining acceptance in the medical world. Education, awareness and practice-based evidence have been the drivers behind the emergence of this new aromatic healing paradigm. Each plant-derived essential oil has unique uses, benefits and healing properties, and many oils work synergistically when combined.… Read more »
For most of us, work priorities fill our day and finding time to eat, drink and sleep can be quite a chore. It just seems easier to pull up into a fast food restaurant and grab something on the go, instead of taking the time to shop for the week and bring a healthier alternative… Read more »
“My back still hurts and I’ve done everything.” “I’m stressed and anxious and can’t sleep.” “My meds give me side effects and are so expensive.” Do these claims sound familiar? With so much technological advancement in medicine and a cornucopia of prescription drugs, it is not surprising that we have forgotten how much power is… Read more »
When was the last time you walked barefoot on the beach or lay in the grass with your face in the sun? How about camping in the forest or hiking without your shoes? This may be the perfect prescription for what ails you. Of course, this statement is nothing new. We often heard, “Go outside… Read more »
The lymphatic system is often referred to as the “river of life” as it flows with nutrients and substances that bathe our cells and flood the interstitial spaces under our skin. This vital system is key to sustaining homeostasis throughout our bodies, working silently and consistently to maintain fluid balance while serving as a main… Read more »
Karen was a vivacious young woman living the dream. An avid tennis and softball player, she loved doing yoga, had a private psychotherapy practice, and spent time between Redondo Beach and Palm Springs with her husband and their labradoodle Dood. Her family lived in Texas but her beloved sister, Stephanie, a pediatric gastroenterologist, moved with… Read more »
I recently returned from the 9th annual Integrative Medicine for Mental Health Conference in Dallas, Texas. This conference offers health care providers from many different disciplines a holistic approach to successfully diagnose and treat underlying issues contributing to neurological, behavioral, and psychiatric disorders. Research has revealed that many conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety,… Read more »
Wanderlust, the world-renowned yoga lifestyle festival, is coming to Palm Springs with their latest innovation, Wellspring. The 3-day gathering will take place October 26-28 and feature leading health and wellness speakers and a large expo, as well as yoga, meditation and other participatory activities that CEO Sean Hoess calls the “Wanderlust magic.” For those already… Read more »
It has been said that we can only see what we expect to see. If this is true, it poses a difficult hurdle in finding answers to questions about our health and well-being. So often a patient will come to see me because they feel un-well or have specific symptoms for which they would like… Read more »
Jason Fung, MD, taught me how not to eat. I never realized I could skip meals and have greater mental clarity and more energy. In his book, The Obesity Code (Greystone, 2016), Fung, a nephrologist turned obesity physician, describes with great clarity and solid science that obesity is a hormonal illness: the central hormone is… Read more »
In the March/April 2017 issue of Desert Health®, Dr. Lu introduced a pilot program being conducted by a team of doctors at Eisenhower Medical Center. The results of that intervention program follow. It is estimated that 5.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2017. Most people with Alzheimer’s dementia have a long duration… Read more »
The Advantages to Treating You as a WHOLE Person The body is a fantastic network of systems. An incredible realization for me as a physician is that every system impacts every other system in our body. The premise of Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine is that all of these parts need to be treated concurrently… Read more »
How do we reverse the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our country? Indio High teacher, Jason Tate, says to start with the next generation. He knows the value first hand. Over the past ten years, he has been teaching the biology of nutrition and recently created a Health & Wellness Academy at Indio High where pre-med… Read more »
This was the topic of a recent panel hosted by Women Leaders Forum (WLF) and moderated by Desert Health® publisher Lauren Del Sarto. The panel featured a medical doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist/herbologist and naturopathic doctor discussing how conventional and complementary modalities are working together for whole person care. So why the change? Natural medicine has been… Read more »
