Tag: Health care

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Are We Medicalizing Normality?

In a commentary published in the October 20, 2011 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, Dr. Eric Hassall cautions that medicine has turned normal function in infants into a disease complete with drug therapy and the resulting list of adverse events.

The problem lies in the fact that many doctors are viewing frequent spitting up, irritability and unexplained crying in infants under the age of one as a medical condition because the symptoms are distressing to parents. This has resulted in an increase in written prescriptions for acid-suppression medication over the last decade. Continue reading “Are We Medicalizing Normality?”

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How to Avoid Being Overtreated

In the field of medicine and health care, research continues to prove that when it comes to treatment – less is more. From a recent article in the NY Times:

More than 40 percent of 627 primary care doctors thought their own patients were overtreated; only 6 percent thought the patients received too little care, according to a survey published last week in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Why so many tests and referrals? Limited time to spend with patients, fear of being sued and financial incentives to do more were among the reasons cited by the physicians. Patients often worry about the cost of overtreatment but fail to recognize the potential harm of undergoing too many tests and procedures. Continue reading “How to Avoid Being Overtreated”

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What You Need to Know About the Flu Shot

As most of you probably know, influenza is a contagious viral respiratory infection.

Symptoms include:

  • Fever / Chills
  • Runny nose
  • Sore throat
  • Cough
  • Muscle aches
  • Fatigue
  • Decreased appetite

Typically, the condition will improve after two to three days of bed rest, although some symptoms may persist for about a week.

What many people do NOT know, however, is that death caused directly by the flu virus is very rare. The vast majority of so-called “flu deaths” are in fact due to bacterial pneumonia – a potential complication of the flu if your immune system is too weak. The elderly and people with other pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, are at higher risk of developing pneumonia after a bout of the flu.

The Flu Vaccine Does Not Prevent the Flu, nor Protect Against the Vast Majority of Flu-Related Deaths Continue reading “What You Need to Know About the Flu Shot”

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Why Whole Food Vitamins?

Are synthetic, isolated vitamins and non plant sourced minerals really that different from naturally occurring vitamins, plant sourced minerals, and other micronutrients? The answer is a resounding YES.

Here is what you need to know. Synthetic, isolated vitamins never grew in the ground, were never energized by the sun, and were never alive. They are chemicals; they are NOT food or nutrients. The tragedy is that under the current standards these chemicals can be marketed and studied as vitamins. They are also what are used to determine daily values and to study potential benefit and harm of supplementing your diet with vitamins. However, ingesting chemical synthetic vitamins does not represent vitamin supplementation; it represents the ingestion of chemicals or drugs. Continue reading “Why Whole Food Vitamins?”

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Consumer Reports: Chiropractic Tops Among Alternative Therapies

A new Consumer Reports survey of more than 45,000 people finds that three out of four Americans are turning to alternative therapies to improve their health. The survey, in their upcoming September issue says readers are increasingly turning to chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, yoga and other alternative therapies for discomfort from conditions such as back pain, neck pain and osteoarthritis.

What’s even more interesting is that the survey also shows alternative therapies are being used successfully to help with a range of conditions including anxiety, allergies, headache and migraines, depression, and insomnia. In addition, the report indicates that medical doctors are more open to alternative therapies than most people assume.

Some responses from the survey: Continue reading “Consumer Reports: Chiropractic Tops Among Alternative Therapies”