Music can be good medicine
Jan Stouffer, who works as a board certified music therapist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, uses music to help control patients’ pain and anxiety, to ease their adjustment to the hospital setting, and to promote physical rehabilitation. “Health is a dance back and forth between physical and emotional needs, so the […]
Small changes to upgrade your health
Here’s a secret: It’s easier to outsmart human nature than to overcome it. To do that, try these easy-to-adopt habits to help you live healthier every day. Pack your workout clothes Keep a grab-and-go set of workout clothes or walking gear nearby at all times. That makes it easy to be spontaneous about working out […]
The truth behind standing desks
Harvard Health Letter Are you reading this while standing at your desk? There’s a good chance that you are — standing desks are all the rage. These desks allow you to work at your “desk job” while standing rather than sitting in a chair. They can be custom built (for thousands of dollars) or you […]
Walk your way to health with these 5 tips
By Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D., and Joyce Hendley, EatingWell You probably know why you should exercise more. Weight management and stress relief are just two advantages of the many advantages of staying active. But finding the time and motivation to stay in shape can be tricky. Here’s the good news: You don’t need to […]
Eight ways to lower blood pressure besides cutting sodium
EatingWell.com When it comes to “natural” ways to improve blood pressure, sodium restriction snags the spotlight. Most experts agree that limiting sodium is a smart strategy for those looking to lower blood pressure, but why focus on what you can’t — or shouldn’t — have? Shift your emphasis to positive lifestyle changes you can make […]
Exercise: It does so much more than burn calories
By Elizabeth Pegg Frates, M.D. Harvard Health Blog If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ve surely heard that you need to “eat less and exercise more.” The more you move, the more calories you’ll burn — and you’ll lose weight. But as it turns out, the effect of physical activity on human physiology may be […]
Health Mastery
Pain: A Love Message from the Body of You Dear Self: I would like to address your so-misunderstood and overlooked sensation of pain. Before I do, though, I’d like to clarify who I am. I am not just (as in only) a body, such as those hollow, plastic ones of your Barbie and Ken dolls, adorned and controlled […]
Diabesity: Giving a name to the abusive relationship between obesity and diabetes
By Dr. Gena Vennikandam Ever hear the biblical proverb, “If you find honey, eat just enough.”? These words to the wise warn of overindulgence and gluttony, which can lead to illness. Unfortunately, for many, this warning goes without heed, and obesity that leads to diabetes is becoming commonplace. Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death […]
Doctor’s Orders
Shattering the Stigma of Depression By Dr. Gena Vennikandam Since the mid-20th century, when cognitive psychotherapy was being introduced, depression has been talked about in hushed tones in small circles. Sadly today, depression can still be seen as the elephant in the room, a condition that is not getting the light it deserves and is gravely […]
Swap This For That: Healthier Eating
By Megy Karydes “There are many ways to kick-start healthy eating,” says Kim Gracen, executive chef, Heartland Café in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. Hint: It doesn’t start with the food we eat. “When we think of nourishment, most will correlate that to nutrition,” says Gracen. “However, we humans eat for many reasons, only one of […]
The Prevention Column
Fitness Tips for the Traveler By Anthony Bonazzo Just because you are traveling, doesn’t mean that your fitness routine needs to go out the window. The old adage that “failing to plan is planning to fail” will ring true but can easily be avoided with minimal effort. First, call ahead. If you’re staying at a […]
Chemical Deal
Chemicals in Our Products are Wreaking Havoc on Our Health By Megy Karydes Most of us blindly buy products sold in major stores, certain that they have been tested for safety. Why would we think the soap we use to bathe our kids or the products we clean our homes with might be slowly killing […]
The Prevention Column
The Hard Truth on Soft Drinks By Anthony Bonazzo There’s a great concern about the amount of sugary soft drinks that Americans consume and its effects on our national health. So much so that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried banning NYC restaurants and stores from selling sodas or sugary beverages larger than 16 […]
Probiotics
One Bug You Want On Your Side Our guts are teeming with billions of bacteria essential to our gastrointestinal health and our ability to ward off chronic disease. When these bacteria work in our favor, we don’t give them a second thought. But when our natural balance is off, many of us question the role […]
Health Mastery
Vibrant sex through the years Ladies! Really? Booty duty? Have we climbed the corporate ladder, become super athletes and supermoms only to become victims of self-perceived obligation in the bedroom? No way.It’s time to saturate in pleasure and sensuality, and create for our enjoyment—in bed and out. Move into your forward with vibrancy; it’s the […]
The Prevention Column
Back Pain is Crippling America By Anthony Bonazzo Back pain has become a trendy ailment in American culture. Many people diagnose themselves with having back pain, but the problem is that the majority of self-diagnoses are wrong because most of the time, people don’t understand what is going on with their bodies. In many cases […]
Too Hot To Handle
A reality check to help cool down summer stresses that can ruin the season and harm your healthBy Donna Shryer “During the summer, there’s more pressure to get out and enjoy every minute. But for many of us, we lose perspective.” So says Dr. Jennifer Klapatch, PhD, BCBA, director of Applied Professional Practice, department of […]
The Menopausal Appetite
By Nancy Maes For some women the triumvirate of binge eating, weight gain and menopause are intricately intertwined. This excessive uncontrollable overeating, the accumulation of too much body fat and the changes that occur during the natural biological process of menopause influence each other in various ways and become part of a never-ending cycle. “Binge […]
Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative announces major changes in Chicago
By Riley Andersen First lady Michelle Obama is kicking off the third year of her Let’s Move! initiative this week with a two-day national tour that includes a stop at McCormick place in Chicago on Thursday. The tour will promote the progress of the last two years and announce new ways to battle childhood obesity. […]
The Un-sexiest Disease in the Room
Why is the idea of improving our heart health so unattractive to us? The problem with cardiovascular disease is that it’s not sexy. Upon first hearing this, it seems obvious, right? What could be sexy about bad cholesterol, hypertension or angina pectoris? But let’s take a moment to define sexy. We’ll use Merriam-Webster’s secondary definition: […]
The Chicago Blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder a far cry from clinical depression By Jenny Allen We’ve all been there. It’s the dead of winter. The alarm clock is blaring. We turn to the window with bleary eyes and… total darkness. A long workday lies ahead. Surely the lunch hour will offer some respite, but it’s 20 degrees out […]
Living Too Large
A Look at the Chicago Childhood Obesity Epidemic By Morgan Lord When it comes to childhood obesity in Chicago, there’s good news, and there’s an overwhelming amount of bad news. Here’s the bad news first. “Childhood obesity is definitely becoming a bigger issue in Chicago,” says Dr. Mary Westerholm, a physician at Central DuPage Hospital […]
Health Mastery
Tenaciously Stubborn: How the good kind of stubbornness can actually save our lives By Kathleen Aharoni She kept returning to her gynecologist and insisting that she be checked again. Her doctor, though, kept telling her that her bloating and not feeling like her usual self were just symptoms of menopause. She persevered in her self-advocacy, […]
Thursday’s Great American Smokeout
Tomorrow (November 15), marks the American Cancer Society’s 37th annual Great American Smokeout. This nationwide event occurs every year on the third Thursday of November. It challenges people to stop smoking by providing tools, education and support for smokers to help them quit. On the day of the Great American Smokeout, local volunteers throughout the […]
Take a Breather
Can meditation really help busy people? There is no denying it—we are busy. Overscheduled, multitasked and continuously taking on more than we can, or should, handle. And it’s taking a toll on our minds and bodies, making it difficult, if not impossible, to focus and stay sharp. Our busy lives can eventually lead to sheer […]
Allergic Food Groups
Caring for a child with food allergies requires knowledge and avoidance of parental diagnosis Chicago mother Lourdes Craelius isn’t sure whether her 8-year-old son is lactose intolerant because she’s never had him tested. Her suspicions stem from hearing her son complain of bad stomachaches occasionally after consuming dairy products. And quite often, he refuses them […]
A Crash Course in Celiac Disease and Children
In children, the symptoms are many and varied: chronic diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, abdominal bloating, fatigue, growth problems and failure to thrive. Undiagnosed adults might have a completely different set of symptoms including iron-deficiency anemia, infertility or osteoporosis. Or the disease might be asymptomatic, but still dangerously harmful. Those varying symptoms, seemingly disparate, can all […]
Health Mastery
HPV and Males: Moms and Dads, Let’s Talk Before my son left for his freshman year at college, I, the single mom, pushed myself to have the talk with him. Not that talk. This talk was about HPV (human papillomavirus), and its link to the increasing number of occurrences of head and neck cancer in […]
Crucial Cool
Staying hydrated and managing your body temp is necessary for Chicago summers Cheryl Carl, 33, never suspected that her tendency to overheat would land her in the hospital. A financial specialist in the nursing home industry and an otherwise healthy Chicagoan, Carl was on a Second City walking tour with her husband Ziggy when a […]
Fitness Tips for Winter
With personal trainer, Anthony Bonazzo Chicago’s freezing temps can make working out in winter more daunting and even dangerous. Yet it’s important to stay active and fit during the deep freeze with proper preparation. We talked to personal trainer Anthony Bonazzo and got his top four tips for winter-fitness success. Bonazzo works at the Fitness Formula Club at Chicago’s […]
Health Mastery
Don’t underestimate the power of belief I remember drinking in the elixir of belief as a 4-year-old during the telling of Peter Pan in kindergarten. Tinker Bell was almost annihilated that day by classmate Johnny Sweeney’s half-hearted, floppy-wrist, air-between-the-fingers, don’t-believe-in-fairies clap. But my friends and I believed. We clapped powerfully and with passion. And through […]
Private Wellness in the Workplace
In a society concerned with personal privacy, do wellness programs at work cross a line? In corporations across the country, workplace wellness is the new mantra. Companies are investing in preventive health practices, such as health risk assessments, weight management programs and screenings for blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol. They’re also instituting workplace competitions and […]
Understanding Adult Acne
Half of women fight with adult acne. Doctors aren’t sure of the cause but are finding better treatments. When Donna Bertoncini was in the 7th grade, she developed acne and treated it with the typical over-the-counter products that all teenagers count on. She thought it would eventually go away. She was wrong. “You think you’re […]
Step-by-Step: Emily Randazzo’s Chicago Marathon Training Diary Part IV
Finding Serenity With only a few weeks left before the race on Oct. 9, Emily ran her first 20-miler over Labor Day. The weekend was busy with a friend in town, but she woke up on Saturday morning and, in 80-degree heat, started her run in Evanston. “Shawn moved up there because he is now […]
Know Your Stats
Men can do well in dealing with prostate cancer Most men can rattle off all sorts of statistics about sports; football, baseball, ultimate fighting… But many of them have no clue about a particularly important and potentially life-saving number: their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) score. The PSA score, determined by a simple blood test, may indicate […]
Health Mastery
Hippocrates said, “I would rather know the person with the disease than the disease the person has.” Let me know if I am taking liberties with this quote. I believe that what he’s saying—who we are; how we present ourselves, face and perceive our lives—is integral to our health and to the treatment of what […]
The Anatomy of Health: An Integrative Approach to Wellness
When I was in my very active 20s—dancing, biking, hiking—I had severe back and hip pain. I was studying for a dance degree at the time, and one of my very wise teachers witnessed my pain and frustration and told me that turning 30 would change my life. Yeah, right… Well, she was right. Today, […]
