Whole Health Chicago

WHC Health Tips

• August 31, 2010 - Meet Elaine

  So twice a year I head to Florida to visit my 88-year-old aunt. Except for the fact she’s a Fox News Republican, we enjoy each other’s company by agreeing to avoid political arguments. I might add she’s a former nightclub singer and makes a mean... » read more

• August 24, 2010 - Will Alzheimer’s Skyrocket?

  In 2006, the very dark comedy Idiocracy played local theatres for what seemed like a few hours before disappearing into DVD bins and obscure cable channels. Its Rip van Winkle story involves a not particularly bright Army librarian, recruited into a Pentagon hibernation program, awakening centuries into the future and finding himself the most... » read more

• August 17, 2010 - De-Cluttering Your Life

  My staff people were chatting up the TV show Hoarders, about people who obsessively hoard stuff. I think you can’t really use the word “enjoy” or even “be entertained by” reality TV. At best the German word schadenfreude might apply, which loosely translates as “secret pleasure in watching the misery of... » read more

• August 11, 2010 - You! Off Your Duff and On Your Bike!

  Yes, I mean you. You were the one complaining about your weight, right? Yeah, I thought it was... » read more

• August 3, 2010 - “You Are Corn”

  Since you’ll never find the film King Corn in theatres, I strongly urge you to rent this important independent documentary (netflix has it here). It certainly was an eye opener for me. I’d always known that high fructose corn syrup is bad for us, but King Corn reassured me the problem was actually much... » read more

• July 27, 2010 - Bedbugs! (and a PS on Ticks)

  I could sense anxiety in her e mail: These…things…on my skin. I don’t know what they are. Red itchy blistery things. They just appeared. Because they’re all in a line up my leg, a friend said she thought it might be shingles and to contact... » read more

• July 20, 2010 - Lyme Disease Attacks Local Physician (!)

  During these lovely summer days we’re tempted to be outside enjoying nature, but beware: predators lurk in the weeds. Here in the Midwest, we’re in a Lyme disease area so I thought it might be a good idea to let you know what symptoms to watch for, a task made sadly easier when my associate Dr Rubin, known for his love of the outdoors and... » read more

• July 13, 2010 - Hypnotized by Big Pharma

  Virtually every day, a fax arrives asking me to participate in one market research study or another on some medical issue related to Big Pharma. If I happen to be interested, I call a phone number, am asked a few questions to determine if I qualify (they especially like primary care doctors), and am scheduled for an appointment. Sometimes I arrive... » read more

• July 6, 2010 - Big Pharma, Bad Medicine

  Great title. Too bad it’s not my original, but this link will take you to the current issue of the Boston Review, and figuring we don’t see much of this magazine in Chicago, I’ll summarize its key points and hope (if you care a smidgen about your well-being) you’ll then read as much as you can endure without... » read more

• June 29, 2010 - Health Risks of the Oil Gusher

  I still have t-shirts in a drawer somewhere from the 1980s: “Everything You Know is Wrong,” “They are LYING to You,” and “Question Authority.” These came to mind when I see that everyone who fancies him or herself an “authority” on the deep-sea Gulf oil gusher--spokespeople from university medical schools, government agencies,... » read more