Medical

There has been an expanding trend over the last few years toward barefoot running and the use of a “minimalist” shoe.  The movement seems to have been largely triggered by the popular book, “Born to Run,” by Chris McDougall.  The author developed an interest in the Tarahumara Indians, from Mexico.  The Tarahumara have gained some fame for their endurance running, doing so with a simple tire-soled sandal.  McDougall has raised to question why orthotics and hi-tech running shoes are necessary, and if they could be the very source of many of the common-day maladies that afflict our population, such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis.  If the Tarahumara can run in simple sandals, why can’t we?  Aren’t we all “born to run?”

Nearly 45,000 annual deaths (one dies every 12 minutes) are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published online by the American Journal of Public Health.  That figure is about two and a half times higher than an estimate from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2002.
The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.

“We had a ‘goodbye kidney’ party.  I was okay because I let go, gave it up, and smiled in my heart,” my 24 year-old patient told me after I asked how she felt about her missing kidney.  I usually don’t ask questions like that, but Mary had gentleness in her eyes that interested me.
Mary started flying back and forth from Los Angeles to Phoenix, Arizona to care for her older sister, Martha.  Diagnosed with kidney failure, Martha a mother of a two-year-old son became short of breath.  This led to heart failure and she became incapacitated and was subjected to hemodialysis.  Wouldn’t you know that Mary was the perfect match!

As millions of avid golfers get ready for another season of pars and bogeys, they should be aware of potentially serious foot problems that can result from years of playing the game.
Although golf is not considered a rigorous sport, the physical act of repeatedly swinging a golf club in practice and on the links can lead to a condition known as hallux limitus, a jamming and deterioration of the big toe joint.

Urination disturbance is manifested by frequency of urination, painful urination and incontinence of urination, resulting mainly from accumulation of heat in the bladder, and sometimes also from emotional factors and deficiency of the kidney.
According to the clinic manifestations, urination disturbance is divided into five kinds, i.e. dysuria caused by calculi, dysuria caused by qi dysfunction, dysuria with milky urine, dysuria caused by overstrain and painful urination with blood.

Continued research on how cavities start and progress has lead to a paradigm shift in the thinking of dentists.  We know that cavities are the result of too many acidogenic bacteria in your mouth.  When we fill a tooth with a restoration we are treating the result of the disease, but not the cause.  The cause is an unbalanced, diseased biofilm on your teeth.  If we can alter this biofilm and its organisms to create a healthier biofilm composed of healthy bacteria that do not produce excessive amounts of acids, we can stop the process. 

People often have difficulty transitioning after a breakup.  Our delay may be as simple as the direction we’re viewing.  We can focus on letting go, or we can focus on moving on.  You may say that there is no difference between the two, but the difference can impact your transition.
When we focus on letting go, our eyes are pointed backwards.  We’re looking at where we’ve been.  By looking back, we see conflicting memories.  The positive ones tell us to hold on, while the negative ones tell us to run.  This conflict makes it hard for us to let go.

In the past, wearing hearing aids has made it difficult to use audio devices like cell phones and MP3 players.  However, today’s latest digital hearing aids combined with Bluetooth technology has changed the way hearing aid users stay connected.  Now hearing aid users can receive sound delivered directly to their hearing aids wirelessly from a variety of devices.

Almost everyone will experience some sort of neck and shoulder pain or stiffness during their lifetime.  Certain occupations appear to cause more symptoms.  Manual laborers, for instance, may have more severe symptoms than office workers, though office workers also fall victim.  A person’s age and their history of twisting and bending during work can contribute.  Workers who have been required to do repetitive tasks with their upper extremities, or who undergo periods of prolonged sitting with their head leaning forwarding (such as typing on a keyboard at a desk) are at risk.

God created light on the first day of the creation.  Light since then has been very important to life.  Today man has learned to harness light beams in medicine and dentistry, for the purpose of treating and healing diseases.

Have you ever noticed that people often get sick with a cold or allergies right around the change of Seasons? It takes energy to shift from one season to the next and if the body’s immune system is already slightly weakened, a cold, virus or allergy has a better chance to take hold. Seasonal Acupuncture treatments boost the immune system and assist the body in making the transition from one season to the next. These treatments have a cumulative effect on the body and with each seasonal treatment the immune system becomes better able to fight off colds, viruses and allergic reactions. Specific acupuncture points are selected on the body to boost the “element” or season that we are transitioning into. The treatments are relaxing and energizing at the same time.

More than half of all family caregivers say their aging relatives are extremely resistant to any kind of in-home care.  This is a real problem for family caregivers worried about the safety of loved ones who might be forgetting food on the stove, or neglecting to take their medications.  If seniors do relent, and are willing to accept help, often it’s only from relatives.  Which can put undue pressure on family caregivers who have other demands on their own time… such as work or family.

Q. Are the needles disposable?
A. Yes.  They are disposable and come in pre-sterilized sealed packets, then discarded after use.  These needles are made from the highest quality stainless steel.  FDA has deemed acupuncture needles are safe and effective.
Q. Does acupuncture hurt?

The appearance of sun-damaged skin is well recognized and is different from changes seen with normal chronological aging.  Fine and coarse wrinkles are seen on sun-damaged skin.  There is a roughness to the skin and a laxity or looseness in advanced damage.  Sun-damage of the skin, also known, as photo damage can be either acute, with sunburn or gradual changes in the skin caused by the accumulation of sun exposure throughout one’s life.  Changes to the skin warrant medical and health concerns such as pre-cancerous lesions and skin cancers.  

When treatment of the entire body is required for breast cancer there are three options.  I have reviewed hormone therapy previously, and will review new types, often called targeted therapy next month.  The third category is chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is a loosely applied term for what is also called cytotoxic therapy.  In its earliest years it meant medicines that would kill cancer cells, but at the price of doing some damage to normal cells. 

Many people complain of voice problems.  The human voice is the outward expression of our inner emotions.  Most people use their voices to make a living and many people may experience difficulties with their voices over the course of a lifetime.  Singers, actors, lawyers, athletes, teachers, preachers, and parents all commonly struggle to get their voices to do what they need them too.  People in all different stages of their lives can suffer from vocal problems and it can be a tremendous source of stress and unhappiness.

RapidArc™ is a revolution in cancer care which is a faster and more precise method of radiation therapy delivery. It is a new approach to delivering intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) that results in a more conformal treatment to the tumor with less radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissues. RapidArc™ technology permits the use of existing treatment machines to deliver more precise IMRT treatments. Combined with the use of daily image guidance (IGRT), which uses imaging to pinpoint tumor location, RapidArc™ enables remarkably precise radiation treatments.

Q. Is there a safe way to tan?
A. There is no safe way to tan.  A tan damages the skin.  Chronic exposure to ultraviolet light, both natural and artificial, results in a change in the skin’s texture, causing wrinkling and age spots.  Thus, tanning to improve appearance is ultimately self-defeating.
Every time you tan, you damage your skin and this damage accumulates over time.  This accumulated damage, in addition to accelerating the aging process, also increases your risk for all types of skin cancer.