When we strive for peak performance or simply want to help combat the aging effects, muscle maintenance is one area of fitness that needs attention. However, there is more to it than just strengthening sessions and increasing weights at the gym. Communication between your brain and your muscles is an important factor to consider, and… Read more »
Integrative Medicine
We all long for a doctor who takes the time to listen to our true concerns: someone wise enough to have answers, but open to others’ ideas; someone we can count on in good health and bad, a partner in our personal care. And while the movement towards integrative medicine and complementary modalities encourages whole… Read more »
Five exabytes of data were created between the birth of the world and 2003. In 2013, statistics show us that 5 exabytes of content are created every day. To put this into perspective, 5 exabytes of data is the equivalent of all the words ever spoken by mankind. The way that we share information is… Read more »
Giving Cancer Patients a Voice
- By Anita Roark, MA
- January/February 2017
What if you could share your experience of being diagnosed with and treated for cancer–including the emotions you felt and how you coped–and that sharing could contribute to research that will improve the lives of others? Well, you can, through a valuable online resource called the Cancer Experience Registry. As a cancer survivor who just… Read more »
Often we use the word “balance” to describe the illusive horizon of a happy, healthy life. When our priorities are out of order, or we are feeling drained of energy, we think, “I need more balance,” or “My life is out of balance.” I propose that balance may not be what we are truly seeking.… Read more »
Yoga For the Rest of Us
- By Jayne Robertson, E-RYT 500
- January/February 2017
In an ocean of choices, yoga is no exception, and for so many it can also be an ocean of confusion. The media has done a fantastic job of portraying yoga as a practice for a certain person: typically a young, white female, who is lithe, wearing a fabulous two-piece outfit and exhibiting extreme ranges… Read more »
Better Together for Community
- By Gail C. Bardin, MA, LMFT
- November/December 2016
Five highly respected local cancer support nonprofits —American Cancer Society (ACS), Desert Cancer Foundation, Gilda’s Desert Cities, Pendleton Foundation, and Susan G. Komen Inland Empire —are dedicated to serving all those in the Coachella Valley whose lives have been impacted by cancer. They understand that patients as well as their families will need a great… Read more »
Hormones and Alzheimer’s
- By Tiffany Baggs, FNP-C
- November/December 2016
Do we age because we lose our hormones or do we lose our hormones because we age? This is an interesting question because as a population we are living longer than ever before, but the question really needs to be about our quality of life as we age. Today, everyone seems to know someone that… Read more »
A favorite teacher of mine, Robert Fritz, is known as the Father of Structural Dynamics. He teaches two basic truths about advancement in any setting: When we focus on what we want to create, we advance. When we focus on problem-solving, we oscillate. Oscillation is repetitive movement from one end of the spectrum to the… Read more »
Why Absolutely No Situation Is Hopeless
- By Kiran Dintyala, MD, MPH, ABIHM
- November/December 2016
There will be times when life’s challenges will cause extreme misery and sorrow. No matter what you do or how hard you try, you may feel that your situation is hopeless. You feel stuck in the tunnel of despair. Everything around you looks dark and uncertain. It seems as if things are falling apart, and… Read more »
Have any of you wondered about this column’s title, The Paradigm Shift in Medicine Today? What is the paradigm shift it references? Why does this matter? And, why would this be important to me? A paradigm shift is an expansion of perspective to include more information. The revelation that the world was round and not… Read more »
Health Care Professionals Learning to Manage Stress
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- September/October 2016
Health care stress is rampant― affecting its providers (employees and the organizations) and customers (patients and their families) alike. “Most stress in life is unnecessary, though some of it is inevitable,” says Kiran Dintyala, MD, MPH, a board certified internal medicine physician with Eisenhower Medical Center. “There are simple things that one can learn to… Read more »
Support Groups and Therapy Groups: What Is the Difference?
- By Gail C. Bardin, MA, LMFT
- September/October 2016
As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I have worked with many people on a one-on-one basis. I have also led many group therapy sessions and facilitated numerous support groups. Quite often I am asked: What is the difference between group therapy and support groups? Aren’t they pretty much the same? But if not, which… Read more »
SVF for Neurological Conditions
- By Elliot B. Lander, MD, FACS
- September/October 2016
This is the latest story in our series about the uses of fat-derived stem cells for the treatment of degenerative diseases. Stem cells can be derived from your own fat as part of a minor outpatient procedure performed as a type of “mini liposuction” under local anesthesia. The product obtained known as Stromal Vascular Fraction… Read more »
Cancer does not discriminate. It affects people of all ages, races, backgrounds and lifestyles. And sometimes it finds those you’d least expect – those who have lived the healthy, balanced life that we all strive to achieve. This year, breast cancer found Shay Moraga at 39 years old. A yogi who lived a clean, balanced… Read more »
The Dish on Fat
- By Nicole Ortiz, ND
- July/August 2016
It seems straightforward. Calories in equal calories out. If we eat less and exercise more, we’ll lose weight. NOT TRUE! The truth is: Eating calories isn’t the same as burning calories. When you eat sugar and refined carbs (bread, pasta, crackers, chips, cereals), an increase in the hormone insulin occurs. This hormone fuels fat cells… Read more »
One of the beauties of life is the repetition of patterns that serve as teachers of life’s great themes. Nature must know that we humans are slow learners and therefore offers us example after example of this important truth: rhythm is a vital component to virtually every part of our existence. Our heart has a… Read more »
Have you ever audited yourself on the way you plan for your most precious gift: your health? We tend to spend time planning our financial strategy, our travel, our social life, but few of us create a health strategy for ourselves. With the growth of the functional medicine movement, I have pondered its basic premise:… Read more »
Treating Interstitial Cystitis
- By Elliot B. Lander, MD, FACS
- May/June 2016
Painful bladder syndromes are very complex and often poorly understood. Yet, they are a significant public health concern and contribute substantially to health costs and poor quality of life. Painful bladder symptoms may include frequency, burning, and urgency to urinate as well as pelvic pain and interference with sexual function. The most severe of the… Read more »
Less Stress, More Joy
- By Kiran Dintyala, MD, MPH, ABIHM
- May/June 2016
Life is about growth, balance, and passion. Life is supposed to be lived peacefully and joyfully. Alas! How often we are stuck in the stresses and strains, losing ourselves completely in the maze of life…too often. Stress hinders growth, leads to imbalance and breeds dispassion. So, it is very important that we prevent stress and… Read more »