Right up there with the very well-marketed Paleo diet, intermittent fasting (IF) has achieved popular attention in the past year for its potential role in achieving rapid weight loss. But now there is mounting evidence that this approach to eating may have specific benefits for those with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Intermittent fasting can be implemented in various ways. Common …
Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are common plants in the genus Rhus, found throughout the United States and in Africa, often near hiking trails. Four in five people are allergic to urushiol, a compound found in the plant’s sap that causes a itchy and painful allergic rash on the body in any spot that it comes into contact with.
Horse chestnut seed extract has been shown to have some effect when used orally for symptomatic treatment of chronic venous insufficiency, such as varicose veins. It may also be useful for relieving pain, tiredness, tension, and swelling in the legs. It contains a number of anti-inflammatory substances, including escin, which reduces edema and lowers fluid exudation by decreasing vascular permeability. …
The original description of Behçet’s syndrome included recurring genital and oral ulcerations and relapsing uveitis. This disease is also associated with cutaneous hypersensitivity; 60%–70% of patients will develop a sterile pustule with an erythematous margin within 48 hours of an aseptic needle prick. It is more common in Japan, Korea, and the Eastern Mediterranean area, and affects primarily young adults. The …
There’s a growing body of research supporting the methodologies we use in our medically supervised Quant Coach Program here at My Doctor Medical Group. If you get violently ill every time you go on a roller coaster, what do you do? Unless you are a peculiar breed of masochist, you likely avoid roller coasters at all costs. The avoidance of …
The consumption of bone marrow and bone broths have become more commonplace, and even hip, with the rise in popularity of the Paleo Diet, Perfect Health Diet and GAPS Diet. Bone broths are meant to be a staple in evolutionary-type diets as a rich source of calcium and other minerals. It is made by submerging bones and any other uneaten …
You sprain your ankle badly, and aren’t sure if it’s broken or not. It’s 6pm on a Friday evening, so you head to the ER to have it x-rayed. At triage you ask “how much might this cost me?” Typically, nobody working in the hospital at that moment will be able to even take a guess. A new study out …
Required reading for everyone who lives in the United States, or who is thinking about doing so: Stephen Brill delivered an amazing piece of investigative journalism last week on the U.S. health care system in Time Magazine. Hopefully everyone will read it before they develop a serious illness, but regardless it lays bare some of the reasons why the health care …
I often see patients who are concerned about gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. Indeed, that is a common problem and many people do feel better if they removed processed foods, and gluten in particular, from their diet. The problem is that it matters how you go about investigating your body’s response to gluten. What is celiac disease? Celiac disease is …
Excerpt from an article on The Medtech Pulse blog: “Many of the people who come to my office…have come because modern medicine has failed them in some way, or they have used up its power to help them and they know not what else to do.” —Rachel Naomi Remen, MD A couple of weeks ago, at Stanford Medicine X, Paul Abramson MD …
