There are some practical steps we can take to get more out of life than what money can buy.“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” –Socrates I had always loved to shop. A lot. I could spend a whole Saturday going from…
Alternatives to the Dangers and Indignities of Colonoscopies
I had my first colonoscopy when I turned 50. It wasn’t fun, but I did what I was told and I believed the common line that it was something I needed to endure. The prep was unpleasant, but I kept good reading material with me all day for those frequent trips to the bathroom. The…
Dying Patients With Rare Diseases Struggle to Get Experimental Therapies
At 15, Autumn Fuernisen is dying. She was diagnosed at age 11 with a rare degenerative brain disorder that has no known cure or way to slow it down: juvenile-onset Huntington’s disease. “There’s lots of things that she used to be able to do just fine,” said her mom, Londen Tabor, who lives with her…
Got Prediabetes? 5 Remedies for Your Health
If you are at risk for Type 2 diabetes or have prediabetes, there are natural remedies that can help you regain control of your health. When your baseline blood sugar level is higher than normal, but you haven’t hit the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis, you may have prediabetes, a condition that often has no…
Tips for Preventing Heatstroke
As a primary care physician who often treats patients with heat-related illnesses, I know all too well how heatwaves create spikes in hospitalizations and deaths related to “severe nonexertional hyperthermia,” or what most people call “heatstroke.” Heatstroke is when a person’s core body temperature rises too high—often more than 104 degrees F (40 C)—because high…
Haiku Productivity: The Power of Limits for Increasing Focus
A decade ago, I wrote about “Haiku Productivity” and how limits can make us more productive, more focused, and better able to prioritize and simplify. The idea comes from haiku poetry, in which the poet is limited to three lines and (essentially) 17 syllables. Such a crazy limit, and yet the poetry that can be…
How Artificial Sweeteners Destroy Your Gut
After years of investigation about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, I wrote a book, “Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” and published it in 2006. Since then, I’ve been warning the world about the ever-growing evidence that artificial sweeteners can damage your health in many ways. Now,…
Can We Help Young Brains Fight Off Anxiety?
Anxiety is one of the most common childhood mental disorders. About 7 percent of children suffer from it at any given time, with nearly 1 in 3 adolescents experiencing it sometime during their teen years. For an anxious child, seemingly normal activities can be hard. Worried kids have trouble adjusting to school, making friends, and learning. They…
Life Assumptions I Don’t Presume to Be True
Beliefs have a powerful impact on the lives we live. They can limit our potential or expand it. The more we believe something to be true, the more likely it is to become so. For example, self-limiting beliefs about our abilities can lead us to not try to grow. That’s why the stories we tell…
Rates of Eating Disorders Surge Amid Pandemic
Doctors are seeing a surge in eating disorders across the country as people try to cope with the stress and anxiety induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Jennifer Wildes, an associate psychiatry professor and director of outpatient eating disorders program at the University of Chicago Medicine, says she’s “absolutely seeing massive increases.” Patients are waiting 4…
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