Whole Health Chicago

WHC Health Tips

• 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

• June 22, 2010 - Fibromyalgia: An Almost Natural Approach

  One of the best ways to envision fibro is as a generalized anxiety disorder of the muscles, initially triggered by a stressful event and then perpetuated by the pain of the muscles... » read more

• June 15, 2010 - Fibromyalgia: Conventional Treatment

  Patients and physicians unfamiliar with fibromyalgia are rightfully a bit shocked when they learn the average fibro patient uses five prescription drugs to make it through her day. Not one of these is “for fibro,” in the sense of a cure, the way penicillin cures a strep throat. The medications don’t even actually treat fibro, the way... » read more

• June 8, 2010 - Fibromyalgia: Gender Discrimination and Fibro Pain

  Let me start with a fact that many doctors acknowledge but prefer not to discuss: Numerous well-conducted studies have shown that all chronic pain patients, but especially women, are seriously undertreated by... » read more

• May 31, 2010 - Fibromyalgia: The Fatigue Part

  Right up there with pain, the second most common symptom of fibromyalgia is a constant sense of profound exhaustion. Disability insurance companies, people who don’t have fibro, and (sadly) most doctors can’t appreciate the extraordinary degree of this... » read more

• May 24, 2010 - Fibromyalgia Explained: Why the Pain?

  To understand fibromyalgia and why so many doctors tell their fibro patients, “All your tests are normal,” you need to think about serotonin, the brain chemical that acts as a buffer against... » read more

• May 18, 2010 - Fibromyalgia Explained: Part 1

  Hey, listen. Since May has been declared Fibromyalgia Awareness Month, even if you don’t have it I’d appreciate your plowing through the next couple of health tips and learning something about this miserable condition, which affects more than 15 million people, 95% of them... » read more

• May 11, 2010 - Women + Certain Carbs = Early Death

  This is one of those “Not fair!” studies, an “Is there no justice?” piece of research that underscores the importance of gender in... » read more

• May 4, 2010 - Women, Baseball Bats, Men, and Serotonin

  One morning a couple weeks ago, I opened the Chicago Sun-Times to see photos of two accomplished young women who’d been beaten unconscious by a man with an aluminum baseball bat. They’d both been admitted to an intensive care unit. The perps were tracked down when they used one of the victim’s credit cards to buy... » read more

• April 27, 2010 - Women, ADD, and the Drugs That Help

  In my last couple health tips we’ve been discussing Claire, a woman in her thirties with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Last week we reviewed Claire’s non-medication approach. This week, I’ll go over the conventional medications used for this very common... » read more