Throughout this cancer, I visualized running a marathon. I sat in my chemo chair listening to music and when I closed my eyes I ran up a mountain and down a hill. After the chemo was over, I began visualizing being on a roller coaster (by the way, I hate roller coasters); however, this roller… Read more »
Most men want to have an active sexual life. Unfortunately, as men age, erectile dysfunction (ED) can become a common occurrence. When men have difficulty achieving an erection, they can become anxious about their sexual performance and may avoid sexual activity. Often times, they just aren’t aware of treatment options available. I tell my patients… Read more »
Today we see many different types of alternative sugar sweeteners. Most of these sweeteners have been around a long time, yet still have unclear effects on the body. One of them, Xylitol, stands above the rest in its benefits. Unlike many sweeteners, Xylitol is a natural product, extracted from birch trees. It has many beneficial… Read more »
The incidence of myopia, the ability to only see short distances (nearsightedness), is increasing worldwide. In the United States, the incidence in ages 12-54 has doubled in the last 30 years to almost 40%.1 In some Asian countries the incidence is 80-90% by adulthood. By 2050, it is predicted that half of the world’s population… Read more »
In the last decade there’s been a great push toward the advancement of personalized medicine. Most of the focus has been on genetic studies to assist with selecting medications, personalized screening, and honing detection of disease. But this is only half the story. There must be more we can do above and beyond using someone’s… Read more »
Did you get away this summer? Travel to new places and meet new people? Maybe you are one who packs up each May and leaves the desert for cooler climates. If so, I admire you. Packing up your life and setting up camp in a different location takes a lot of motivation. It also takes… Read more »
Just as every patient trusts his or her surgeon, surgeons must be able to trust their equipment. What happens, though, when the surgeon’s equipment fails? We are not discussing robotic devices or mechanical issues, but rather something significantly more dangerous: the timeless routine of gowning and gloving surgeons before surgery. While this is important to… Read more »
Twenty-five Coachella Valley undergraduate health science students helped advance critical need projects for local health care businesses this summer through the Health Career Connection (HCC) internship program. Hosted for the seventh year in collaboration with the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP), the HCC program offers ten-week, paid summer internships for local college students to introduce… Read more »
This column is a continuation of last issue’s feature story on Shay Moraga who at 39 years old was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. We are honored to have Shay sharing her journey with Desert Health® readers in an ongoing column. When we left Shay, she was close to finishing 20 weeks of chemo…… Read more »
Individuals suffering from chronic pain assume that the pain symptoms are purely physical. There are many times though that clinicians scratch their heads to identify painful symptoms when nothing structural presents itself in an effort to prove a mechanical problem as the pain culprit. Dr. John Sarno, author of Mind Over Back Pain and Healing… Read more »
Most amateur players spend a lifetime trying to attain the perfect golf swing. Today, professional golf has evolved into a game that demands a team approach bringing together the most elite specialists including coaches, nutritionists, and medical professionals to provide tour players with every possible advantage over the competition. Without that luxury, many of the… Read more »
James Bond, Star Trek, Star Wars. We’ve grown up seeing lasers as technology of the future or science fiction, but they are real and their use is changing many areas of our lives as we know it. One of these areas is the health field, specifically dentistry, where their use has led to great advancements… Read more »
This literature review is an important update on the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Over the past ten years, physicians and researchers all over the world – and right here in the desert – have been exploring new ways to detect, diagnose and treat prostate cancer using MRI.… Read more »
The passing of one of the greatest athletes in history, Muhammad Ali, has brought attention to the debilitating condition he suffered: Parkinson’s disease. This neurodegenerative disease affects as many as one million Americans which is more than the combined number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined, according to… Read more »
Neck pain is a frequently encountered problem in society. It is associated with a significant decrease in quality of life and a significant increase in time off work, which is associated with a decrease in national economic productivity. Patients typically present to either their primary care doctor or the emergency room with complaints of moderate-to-severe… Read more »
The Flint water crisis has been one of the most publicized water contamination disasters in several decades. Concerns have surfaced, however, regarding water purity and safety in other parts of the country. In the Coachella Valley, there is apprehension over hazardous chemicals that include chromium-6. Chromium-6 is the carcinogenic agent that was cause for the… Read more »
My experience as a practitioner providing care to dry eye patients has led me to be significantly more cautious about the risk of potential damage to the ocular surface. Nowadays, I am much more judicious when recommending any type of eyelid surgery, especially with patients that have had laser vision correction. The majority of dry… Read more »
Why aren’t more people as productive as they should be? Procrastination seems obvious, but is there more to it? People of all ages simply don’t do the things they could potentially do to deliver their highest quality product or service. Why is this? Often, the best product or service is simply the end result of… Read more »
Since 2012, medical researchers at Duke University’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center have been studying the utility of what was formerly a major threat to the public as the new treatment modality for one of today’s scariest killers. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary brain tumor. Radiation and genetic predisposition are thought to… Read more »
Usually, my goal in writing on various subjects in Desert Health® is to mentor, teach, and provide support. This article on loss is coming from a unique perspective, more of a personal view, since my mother passed away April 15 of this year. As I walk through the steps of grief and loss, my hope… Read more »