Whole Health Chicago

WHC Health Tips

• March 9, 2010 - Europe’s Healthcare System

  I’m writing this health tip to respond to a question I get almost daily from my patients, who ask not my opinion of the current health care bill, but rather whether or not I’m worried about “government control” or “socialized medicine.” Since most Americans haven’t studied how health care is financed elsewhere in the world, here’s... » read more

• March 2, 2010 - Help for Your Fading Sex Drive

  In last week’s health tip, I talked about Big Pharma’s predilection for creating illnesses to fit new chemicals, and how the controversial hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) was a “perfect match” for a failed antidepressant called... » read more

• February 23, 2010 - Your Sex Drive, the FDA, and Big Pharma

  Strange trio, right? But keep this health tip in mind a few months from now when you’re watching a sexually charged TV commercial for a (yet unnamed) prescription libido enhancer as your wonder “Didn’t I read about this... » read more

• February 16, 2010 - Healthcare PTSD

  A new syndrome is on the rise, and I call it healthcare PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I’m seeing more and more examples of it among my new patients and it’s got me worried. Why? Patients are coming to me with symptoms of depression/anxiety and/or obsessive thinking triggered by having entered the health care system. Our US health care... » read more

• February 9, 2010 - The Sadness of Happy Meals

  Remember poor Morgan Spurlock, eating nothing but McDonald’s for a month in his documentary Super Size Me? As meal followed meal, lubricated with gallons of Big Gulps, he became fatter, his liver turned to a greasy mush, and he felt simply terrible. If you listened carefully to the voiceover, he also sounded fatigued…and... » read more

• February 2, 2010 - 48,328 Diet Books

  That’s the number of titles that pops up when you enter “diet books” into amazon.com, and this reflects only books still in print. Diet books have been regularly published for more than 100 years, including such gems as the Cigarette Diet (“Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”), The Drinking Man’s Diet, The Beautiful People’s Diet,... » read more

• January 26, 2010 - Can I Quit My Heartburn Drug?

  “As long as I’m trimming my daily prescription drugs,” remarked Mary, who had recently quit her cholesterol-lowering statin after shifting to healthful eating, “what about this Nexium? I admit I have some misgivings about stopping anything that seems to be working so well!” I hear that a lot. Some patients have been taking a chronic... » read more

• January 19, 2010 - Do I Really Need My Antidepressants?

  A patient I’ll call Schuyler, 31, had been using one antidepressant medication or another for more than four years and wanted to stop. As I mentioned last week, getting off prescription drugs is a fairly common reason people make appointments with us at WholeHealth... » read more

• January 12, 2010 - High Blood Pressure

  One of the most common reasons people give for coming to our practice is to see if there’s “something other than all these pills” they’ve been prescribed for a medical problem. I frequently hear sentences such as, “I read the side effects of this drug and think: but those are the symptoms I’m being treated for,” or “I take all... » read more

• January 5, 2010 - Gluten Sensitivity

  For years doctors were taught in medical school that gluten sensitivity and its severest form, celiac disease, were rare, identified mainly in children who were unable to absorb food. In photographs, youngsters with celiac disease looked like starving children because in fact they were starving, for nutrients. Once the diagnosis had been made and... » read more