The Center for Disease Prevention & Reversal Blog

Many patients come to my office for sexual dysfunction (SD). SD can look like painful intercourse for women and erectile dysfunction (ED) or Peyronies for men. While
there are many reasons for SD, one commonality among patients is an underlying dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The exception is ED caused by vascular damage or induced by drugs.

Most women with chronic pain are told they need hormones, or need to be on very specific diets and do not find much improvement even with these measures. Men with Peyronies are often given painful injections and are not better after those tortuous treatments.

One of the other common symptoms I find in patients with underlying autonomic dysfunction is sleep disorder. Chronic difficulty staying or falling asleep is a sure sign the neuroendocrine system or the autonomic system is not working as it should be.

I have now treated numerous women with sexual dysfunction and men with ED and Peyronies successfully with minimal intervention. However, the intervention used is addressing the abnormalities with deep seated stress or anxiety.

Treatments consist of activating the nervous system by opening up the meridians as well as communicating thru the sympathetic chain directly with the hypothalamus of the brain.
I also use nutrition and supplementation in the cases of those who are deficient.

Phosphatidylserine and phosphorylcholine are supportive substances for cell membranes and they have been shown in numerous studies to support the stress response in ways which create improved resilience and hence less stress on the system physically and mentally.

In addition to reduced perceived stress, studies have shown reduced cortisol levels, improved brain function and improved nerve-muscle communication as well as better levels of acetylcholine, a neruotransmitter involved in many functions including sexual response.

I find after one or two SCENAR treatments, all that is needed for maintenance is nutritional support. Daily breath work or meditation is also a fabulous way to reduce the stress response and improve resilience, something we all could use a little more of.

For more information on our body's electrical system and the sexual response, watch my lectures and interviews posted.

This is a high protein, nutritious and easy to make soup meal, a type of meal often requested by my patients who either taste my lunch or hear about my cooking or attend my food prep classes. And, who have patiently been waiting for a cook book (ugh, don't hold your breath)!

Measure a cup of dried split green peas, place them in a rice cooker along with 2 and a half cups of water and turn the device on (I love the Sanyo digital as it is free of aluminum and teflon and works efficiently).

Slice two large leeks, carrots and parsnips and set aside. In a soup pan, heat organic, extra virgin coconut oil with a tablespoon and a half of high quality curry powder. Once hot, add the leeks until a little golden brown. Then add the parsnips and carrots.

After a few minutes of sauteing the vegetables, add 3 cups of water, two tablespoons of Bragg's amino's and two organic and vegan bouillon cubes and let sit.

Once the peas are cooked and the device switches off or to the keep warm mode, add the peas to the soup. Then take a hand held food processor and puree the whole mix.

For a thinner soup, add more water.

The texture for split pea should be thick and not brothy. This soup is mostly savory but has a sweetness from the parsnips, leeks and carrots. The Bragg's gives it a deep, rich undertone which tends to satisfy even those who "must have their meat".

This is a high protein soup and can be served just with a fresh green salad. If bread is desired, I recommend my chickpea/lentil flour quick bread, recipe as follows:

Measure one cup each of chickpea and lentil flour. Chick pea flour can be found at WF but I prefer to buy it at the Indian markets where I can also find lentil and mung bean flour and the prices are better!
Add enough water to stir the mix, about one to one and a half cups of water.

Sprinkle crushed curry leaf (about ten leaves) crushed pecans, a teaspoon of curry powder or paste (red or green) and a teaspoon of salt and stir well.

In a large cast iron pan, add two to three tablespoons of coconut oil and heat the skillet and oil at 375 degrees. Once pan is hot and oil is melted, pour in the mixture and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until sides are turning brown.

The bread is also high protein and can be used as a protein source alone with a salad for a quick meal.

Curry leaves are found at the Indian markets and make for a wonderful savory flavor, the aroma is savory and enticing and creates a subtle exotic flavor which is not overpowering.

I would balance out this meal with an easy raw kale and apple salad, pre-dressed in mashed avocado, olive oil, salt and lime juice.

Bon Apetit, Btai Avon and enjoy!

The CDC likes to advertise that every year approximately 36,000 people in the US die of flu.
Is this true or is it marketing fear in order to promote a vaccine they are heavily invested in promoting?

The deaths reported as flu deaths, are actually deaths from all pneumonias as well as deaths from any complication of hospitalization or medications given to those with "flu like syndromes" meaning any virus or respiratory infection. A good example of what percentage of these are actually attributable to flu is to look at the stats put out by the CDC for the 2001-2002 "flu season".

According to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), "influenza and pneumonia" took 62 034 lives in 2001--61 777 of which were attributed to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was flu virus positively identified. Yes, you read that correctly, out of the 62,034 deaths claimed were caused by flu only 18 cases tested positive for flu.

It is interesting to note the CDC fails to mention the increased risk of pneumonia from taking acid blockers or anxielytics. a 2005 study (JAMA 2004;292: 1955-60[Abstract/Free Full Text]) found that stomach acid suppressing drugs are associated with a higher risk of community acquired pneumonia, but such drugs and pneumonia are not compiled as a single statistic, so why compile flu stats with all pneumonias and other respiratory stats?

According to quite a few researchers in the field, the CDC is hyping flu to sell vaccines and protect the industry. While in congress,my own mayor, Rahm Emanuel, proposed a bill entitled "the flu protection act of 2005" which would have forced tax payers to pay for any unsold flu vaccine directly to the manufacturer. It did not pass but the federal government is trying its hardest to sell the vaccine.

The few charts of these deaths,which have come my way have shown some very disturbing trends. Patients start out with an upper respiratory infection, given a barrage of medications, often tamiflu, antibiotics, ibuprofen, acid blockers and often steroids, all at once. Many of the patients develop vomiting and diarrhea (all side effects of the drugs), in two documented cases, the patients died of intestinal ruptures (again medication induced) all the symptoms and deaths are then reported as flu deaths when in fact, the complications were caused by the very drugs the patients were "treated' with by their doctors.

In one case of a child "dying of flu" he was on the above deadly cocktail of drugs and died from an intestinal rupture. The around the clock ipuprofen, steroids, tamiflu, acid blockers and antibiotics are all known to contribute and in the cases of ibuprofen and tamiflu, cause intestinal bleeds. His story was used as a public service announcement for the state of New York to scare parents into giving their children the flu vaccine.

If you noticed, in the beginning of this article, I mentioned the last big year for a major "flu" season. It was the 2001-2002 season, 11 yrs ago. This happens to be a pattern which is correlated to solar flare cycles which peak every 11 years and reduce the available UVB on earth, thus leading to lowered vitamin D conversion during the summer leading to depletion by the later fall. It is no coincidence bad flu seasons typically occur the winters after the peak of solar flares. The season for upper respiratory infections start earlier and hit harder due to less than normal vitamin D levels.

Studies show the relationship between low levels of Vitamin D with upper respiratory infections, including influenza. There has yet to be independent studies showing the effectiveness of flu vaccine against upper respiratory infections.

While this season has been particularly bad for viral illnesses, not all viral illnesses with fever are actually influenza.

In a typical year, only about 7% of those labelled as having flu, actually have influenza. This year could be a very different percentage. we won't know until the "flu" season is over. I would not be surprised if it was much higher than the 7%. However, we have, so far, as many confirmed cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) as we have confirmed cases of influenza in much of the east coast states with the most reported flu cases. So far, approximately one quarter of those tested are positive for influenza.

All cases of upper respiratory infections associated with fever is reported as flu to the authorities. Most centers do not bother to do the nasal swab to test as to whether it is actual influenza. All hospitalizations and deaths due to any respiratory illness whether it is bacterial pneumonia, RSV, or other pathogen is recorded as due to flu.

The true numbers are posted on CDC web pages and are looked at state by state.
The CDC maintains that children are the main hosts and transmitters of influenza. Hence, the statewide mandate for the past several years in New Jersey for all preschool and school age children, annually.

If we look at the reported and documented numbers of flu in New Jersey in any given year, it is on par with all the states in it's designated CDC region. This year is no different. NJ has some of the highest flu rates in the east and is no different than the others in it's region yet, it has been vaccinating it's children for years.

While I am not surprised at the data, I think many are. We all want an easy fix, we all want a simple vaccine to spare us from the flu, we want it so badly, we are willing to ignore science and statistics. But to what end? All vaccines come with a risk. They are all legally listed as "unavoidably unsafe" and, whenever we take a healthy person and perform a procedure that comes with any risk, we better be sure the benefit is worth the risk. In this case, it isn't. Every year the vaccine court awards families who have either lost loved ones to the vaccine or suffered permanent neurological damage. So, if there is no proven positive effect showing lowered rates of the flu, ethically, losing even one person to the vaccine is not tolerable.

The flu vaccine has never been proven in any study to prevent flu. The term thrown around is a number, some percentage of its efficacy. Efficacy is not effectiveness. Vaccines are the only product the FDA approves and allows to make effectiveness claims without having to prove effectiveness. They only have to show efficacy or antibody response rate.

It has never been shown that an antibody response to flu is protective. In fact, many viruses are fought with the "innate" immune system. This system has much more to do with NK cells
as opposed to the induced immune system which uses memory antibodies. To date, we have studies showing the innate immune system being induced to fight influenza and elucidating the importance of the innate immunity over the induced (antibody) system as the first line of defense in respiratory viral infections including influenza

If the innate immune system is actually the gate keeper for the upper respiratory tract and viral infections, it would seem improving this system would make more sense than anything else. As of now, all we have is adequate vitamin D levels to maintain an alert and healthy innate system and this is not a patentable item. Therefore, no one entity is going to spread this news around. There has been some very decent research involving compounds that also work very well but they are not yet commercially available.

While the CDC website cites studies looking at effectiveness using a placebo group, and they say, in parenthesis, saline injections, this is not ever the case.
The only flu vaccine study that showed a positive outcome for the flu vaccine used a placebo which was a combination of three different vaccines. The outcomes were measured by how many hours each group reported having fever in a a prescribed period of time. Nowhere was influenza ever documented nor were patients examined, the placebo group had approximately 10 hours more of fever for this time period than the flu vaccine recipients. For any trained pediatric nurse, pediatrician or plain old parent, we know that children receiving three vaccines or more at once are expected to mount a febrile response. In fact, studies have shown the febrile response is necessary for any possible immunity. So why was the placebo group given a a tripple dose vaccine while the test recipients only received a flu vaccine? why weren't patients examined once they had a reported fever? This is a poorly designed study from the start which was intentionally set up to see some fever in the placebo group. And, yes, it was supported by drug company money.

What I can recommend for this season of viral illnesses is be sure you are taking approximately 50,000 IUs of vitamin D weekly for the average slim adult and up to 70,000 weekly for bigger adults. Children need their dose titrated from 50,000 for an adult weighing at around 130 lbs.

Many of my colleagues and I have commented on the common homeopathic remedies that have helped. Early on with the aches and pains, eupatorium perfolatum, severe chest pain and having to sit up to not cough or bring up mucous, bryonia. spastic coughing, headache, irritability and gagging with cough has responded well to nux vomica.

In my office I have had amazing success with a SUJOK activation method with a SCENAR device which knocks out the headache, body pains and sore throat, if performed early on.

There is no replacement for adequate rest, sleep and fluids. And, I highly recommend inducing a temporary fever to jump start the immune system by sitting in a hot bath and drinking hot liquid with either chilli, ginger or some other warming herb. Once sweating and body temperature is elevated, it's time to bundle up and get under the covers for a long night of sleep. If difficulty breathing is ever an issue, a visit to the ER or urgent care is required

A spastic cough is what has been lingering for many past the initial febrile phase. It is annoying and can respond to remedies but remember, it's annoying and is in the upper respiratory tract, the bronchus. It is a spasm and not life threatening. Bronchospasm is dangerous for small infants but in larger children and adults it is an annoyance and induced by our response to a virus or irritant. The bronchospasm is expressed by spastic coughing it can be induced by our immune system in response to an infection. Studies have shown it to be related to increased parasympathetic response in the bronchus due to the sensory fibers. Because the bronchospasm can be due to autonomic dysfunction, it can be affected by a scenar treatment for the bronchus.

RSV, influenza and most winter viruses can stimulate a spastic cough that lingers. Antibiotics will not touch this. A productive cough and pain in the chest deserves an exam with a stethescope to be sure there is no pneumonia which does need to be treated with antibiotics. But remember, spastic coughing for a few weeks is the norm and the biggest mistake I see is patients prescribed one round of antibiotics after another, to no avail. An inhaler would make more sense, possibly even a short course of steroids once over the infection phase but antibiotics will never touch viral induced bronchospasm.

So many patients ask for my recipes and not everyone can make it to my cooking classes.
For an easy holiday meal that feels like cozy comfort food I'm sharing my favorite quinoa-lentil dish.

This dish, a one pot, meal wonder, is a super easy and really yummy dish without being high glycemic or un-healthy in any way.

I recommend using a rice cooker to make the whole thing at once. If you don't have a rice cooker, you an use a crock pot.

I have a large automated rice cooker that is anodized metal and non aluminum. I can't recommend this appliance enough, I make all my quinoas, lentils, beans and rices in it.

I start with a cup of quinoa of any variety, I add 1/2 cup of lentils (brown for more texture, red for more mushiness) and 3 cups water. I then add two heaping tablespoons of coconut oil, one to two tablespoons of high quality curry powder, like Vaduavan and salt.

I chop two Thai eggplants, one large onion and two carrots in to chunks and add them into the pot as well. I then add one tablespoon of coconut palm sugar (this is optional but cuts the bitterness of the eggplant).

I allow this to cook until the device turns itself off and I serve hot with a large bed of fresh raw salad greens. If a contrast in texture is desired, try throwing some walnut halves into the dish once it's cooked.

It's savory, rich and filling without being heavy.

Please post how you like it once you've made it.

I have been treating women for hormone disturbance in my Chicago area office for almost 20 years. I was prescribing bio-identical hormones way back then. Giving grand rounds at various Chicago area hospitals on the subject, often taking loads of flack by the OB-GYNs who would attend.

Of course, that was then. Now, the OB-GYNs have jumped on the band wagon. It seems whatever those of us are doing in the natural, integrative medicine world, eventually makes it's way into the mainstream 15 years or so, later.

What the mainstream physicians are still behind on, is the need for hormone balancing and the concept that peri and menopausal symptoms aren't always due to low estrogen levels. Often, they're due to unopposed estrogen levels.

Progesterone balances estrogen and it is progesterone that diminishes first, while our cycles become anovulatory. In addition, the brain has many times more receptors for progesterone than estrogen. And, progesterone is the best tranquilizer we have. It is the addition of progesterone that often prompts my patients to call me just to say "thank you for saving my life". Please note, bio-identical progesterone should not be taken orally, it needs to bypass the liver. A sublingual lozenge is the preferred method when taking it to affect sleep.

So while your OB-GYN might be prescribing you bio-identical estrogen, she probably isn't giving you bio-identical progesterone. Synthetic progesterone is completely different from a chemical structural point of view and is associated with an increased risk for breast cancer.While bio-identical isn't.

I often find that my patients actually don't need the estrogen at all. Aside from analyzing the symptoms, I look at hormone levels along with their metabolites. Hormones are all metabolized into other hormone structures and how well one's liver works and what bowel flora is at play are both extremely important in the function of how your body breaks down hormones. Without testing for levels of hormones and their metabolites, there is no certainty that a build up of an undesired substance is not occurring. In some cases, the prescribed hormones can be metabolized into androgens or more estrogen. It is very important to clean up metabolic pathways that may be overly stressed from diet or medications.

In the old days (1990-2005), most OB-GYNs didn't test hormones at all. Now, they often will test for E2, or estradiol and perhaps testosterone, but, they don't often follow up after prescribing hormones. It is vital to follow up with levels when taking any exogenous (outside) source of hormones as doing so, shuts down one's own production and sets in motion metabolic pathways that need monitoring.

So while you might be feeling crazy, it might be a simple imbalance which has an easy and safe fix but be sure that someone is following the effect in your body as you may be throwing yourself out of balance even more, or worse.

Every now and then, I write about facial rejeuvenation techniques such as liquid facelifts, something that sets me apart from the average "filler".

What I'd like to write about today is the use of blunt tipped cannulas for facial filling. While this sounds technical (it is ), it can make a world of difference between someone who leaves the office with downtime and someone who doesn't.

By using a blunt tipped cannula, the risk of breaking blood vessels is diminished, so is the risk of bruising nerves. It allows the physician to make one needle insertion and use the cannula all over the face with the one insertion on either side. It also allows for a pain free experience.

Why most doctors are not using this, is the same reason most doctors are still filling smile lines and wrinkles in place of liquid lifts; patients need to come back more often if just the lines are filled because the filler is placed into an area of motion and won't last. The patient needs to come back every 6 months or so as opposed to every two years. The wrinkle fill type of procedure also gives patients that semi simian, obviously filled upper lip area, and somewhat distorted features.

The real benefit to a cannula over needle is less bruising and ease of filling deep below muscular structures, safely. Lifting the cheeks, adding padding back into the tear ducts and defining the jaw are all procedures made painless and easy with this technique.

Patients appreciate a painless procedure and they really appreciate not having the bruising that sometimes comes with fillers.

Next time you're thinking about a "little work", figure in the safety and downtime associated with it. You might just do better with a more refined technique.

I have mentioned Scenar a few times in my blog mostly regarding pain and injury.
The FDA approval for the device is for pain which has been the most common indication for using the device.

However, while in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010, I discovered patients describing having more energy and feeling a lifting of their depression and anxiety.

Upon returning the first trip from Haiti, I immediately headed over to Boston University where I was to begin my masters in disaster medicine and informed the department head of my findings. We decided to study the device in research involving returning military personnel who are suffering from anxiety disorders. Fatigue and depression are two complaints which often accompany the disorder.

The research is underway in Boston and a second site at ASU, Texas has been added to look at pilots, and firefighters. In the meantime, I have treated numerous cases of patients suffering rom anxiety, depression and fatigue with startling results using Scenar.

One of the bigger observations I have made is that those on a fair amount of medications, require more treatments until they are cured while those on little to no medication, seem to have immediate, long-lasting results. I believe the medications often block the natural response of the body. Scenar, like acupuncture or homeopathy is initiating a response in the body. It stimulates the brain to pay attention to the autonomic nervous system and the area treated.

Trauma, physical or psychological, both involve the stimulation of the "fight and flight" or sympathetic arm of the autonomic nervous system. This allows us to move quickly, clot our blood, inflame or bring certain chemicals to the area with more blood flow. This response is necessary to save life. However, healing can not occur until the "rest and relaxation" or parasympathetic arm of the autonomic nervous system is stimulated. This allows other chemical changes to happen in order for tissue to heal or the nervous system to relax.

The common denominator in those suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, panic attacks or insomnia, is persistent fight and flight tone in the body. Depression often has an element of anxiety and fatigue which is why it also responds so well.

At the Australiasian conference where I was just speaking, I saw research from the Russians and clinical patients in one of the busiest outpatient Scenar clinics in the world, on the "activation method" This method is amazing and sets in motion the body's healing response quicker than anything else I have seen.

I saw a Vietnam veteran with a history of depression, insomnia and fatigue for the last decade. After only his first treatment he was able to sleep, after his second, his depression lifted and after his third, he was back on his surfboard, riding the surf. His level of energy and well being improved so dramatically and so quickly, anti-depressants could never come close to bringing about results like this.

I am treating patients in the Chicago area with Scenar and the devices can be prescribed for home use if necessary. The device is listed as a class two prescription medical device by the FDA.

As I was preparing to speak at a conference in Australia on the future of electromagnetic medicine, I reviewed some of my more recent cases of homeopathy. While I didn't present any specific case as the lecture was on the general nature of all medical paradigms using energy as opposed to chemistry, I did mention the basic principles of Homeopathy along with Ayurveda and Acupuncture.

The simplistic nature of treatment in Homeopathy never ceases to amaze me.
One of my more recent cases was of an 18 month old male who had a persistent red rash in the diaper area, no speech, not even "mama", would grab food out of anyones' plate with his hands and banged his head on the floor when frustrated, which was often.

He sweat on his head when asleep and he seemed to not be too happy for too long.

This was a fairly easy case, I prescribed cascara sulphuricum 200c of which he received 2 doses in total. I informed the mother his rash would resolve within a few days and he would begin to speak within two weeks. I was contacted 4 days later by the mother to be informed of the lack of rash for the first time since his birth and again ten days later only to be apprised of the fact he had started saying mama.

Within another week, he began using a spoon to feed himself and was developing his vocabulary. His mother was amazed.

In addition, the mother had been suffering from chronic mastitis since the birth of the child. She had been in to see the surgeon who informed her she needed surgery to drain the cysts and clear up the chronic infection as nothing was draining and she was in constant pain.

I took the case of the mother over the phone: she had chronic pain, fatigue and had purulent drainage in the past. I prescribed hepar calc sulphuricum 200 c. Within 3 hours of taking hepar sulph, as it is known, her cysts began to open and drain, within two days, the cysts had completely drained, her fatigue was gone and she had no more discomfort. She phoned her surgeon and cancelled the appointment.

This patient and her child were new to using homeopathy but had such amazing results with their first experience that homeopathy has two new fans.

In reality, we saved the mother, antibiotics and surgery, we spared the child several more months or years of frustration as he appears to be a much happier baby according to both parents.

I recently ran into a patient of mine at the local market. I inquired if she was still with her husband. She had expressed extreme dissatisfaction with him during the last few visits to my Evanston office, complaining he was completely selfish.

During the conversation at the market, my patient informed me that the behavior of her husband completely changed after trying oxytocin. An integrative behavior specialist in Missouri had suggested and prescribed it for him and it made a world of difference.

Oxytocin, (not to be confused with oxycontin, a narcotic) is considered the "love and attachment" hormone. For the most part, It is produced when we breast feed and during orgasm. It is produced at low levels otherwise. However, those with Aspergers and Autism have very low levels or mal-functioning production centers for this brain-targeted hormone.

Of late, there have been centers prescribing it for this patients population with reportedly good results. While I believe there needs to be some large scale studies, The risk of taking oxytocin is so low that it is worth the try.

Theoretically, I can see the risk being a new felt attachment to others and perhaps lack of experience in feeling "attached". From a health standpoint, there appears to be no drawbacks to replacing oxytocin levels to within normal limits to those who don't produce enough.

Certainly, replacement dosages of bio-identical oxytocin is safer than most of the prescription drugs many of this population is placed on. Specifically, the antidepressants and mood stabilizers that require liver detoxification and can reach toxic levels.

Oral oxytocin lasts only about 3 minutes in the blood stream before being degraded by the digestive tract. Most studies showing improvement in attachment and trust behaviors used intra-nasal administration.

Increasing trust and reducing fear. In a risky investment game, experimental subjects given nasally administered oxytocin displayed "the highest level of trust" twice as often as the control group. Subjects who were told that they were interacting with a computer showed no such reaction, leading to the conclusion that oxytocin was not merely affecting risk-aversion. Nasally administered oxytocin has also been reported to reduce fear, possibly by inhibiting the amygdala (which is thought to be responsible for fear responses).There is no conclusive evidence for access of oxytocin to the brain through intranasal administration, however.

Much like any bio-identical hormone, Oxytocin can not be patented. Therefore, no manufacturer is going to market it to the public or to medical professionals as anyone can produce it. Just as many patients with thyroid disorders fair better on Armour or naturally dessicated thyroid as opposed to a patented drug, there will be patients who improve on oxytocin.

In addition, I have many patients who are able to stop taking their psych meds when manipulate their neurotransmitters with amino acids.

Perhaps our growing population of children and young adults on the autism spectrum do not have to live a life feeling unattached to or fearful of those around them.

Everyday, I notice women in the Chicago area who have had obvious facial filler jobs performed on them. They all look similar. Why is this and is it the only way to rejuvenate one's face?

The answer to the second question is, no. The answer to the first question is twofold: Most doctors use fillers and botox to better their business model and bottom line. If the bottom line is the goal, then fillers are placed directly in the area of movement i.e. the wrinkles themselves, as this gives them the shortest lifespan and the patient will be back for more soon. However, their face is typically distorted and the laxity of the skin just moves backwards.

There are basic and advanced filler and botox techniques and most doctors use the basic techniques as they are faster and many more patients can be treated in a day. Typically, doctors never return for advanced training and are stuck with basic techniques.

I frequently write about less than excellent care in the general medical arena, due to limited time and or knowledge on the doctor's part. This is also true in the medical aesthetic arena.

Thirty years ago, up until the last few years, facelifts were considered by many to be the best option for rejuvenation. This thought is changing due to the vast knowledge we have about facial anatomy in relation to the different types of fillers and collagen-promoters available on the market.

Volume loss is the most prominent feature we see with an aging face, therefore, replacing volume is key to rejuvenation. Understanding facial anatomy and structure as well as the different options of products on the market is necessary for obtaining desired results in one's patients.

While it has been acceptable by many to have distorted features in order to remove smile lines or fine lines about the lip, I have never accepted this. In fact, I find the look displeasing to the eye.

The better options include small amounts of botox, enough to relax tension but not enough to freeze the face in adjunct with collagen promoters or large molecular fillers in the deep areas of the cheeks where the fat pads have been lost with age. However, this method is not as good of a business model for the physician, as patients use less botox and the deeply placed products can last 2 to 5 years. Most offices want the patients to return every few months for refills.

Again, I like to stress, facial rejuvenation should leave the patient looking rested and like themselves, albeit a few years younger. It should not leave them looking like another species or with distorted features.

My favorite products are Juvederm, Belotero, Restylane and Radiesse. The first three are hyaluronic acid which is a naturally occurring substance in our skin and leaves skin soft and smooth with no risk of allergic reaction. The last product is a calcium based material that promotes collagen growth over months and lasts indefinitely.

As far as skin tone and texture is concerned nothing works better than dermal needle rolling. While it sounds like torture, it is not. By inducing micro holes in the skin, blood flow is increased to the skin and the cells which produce collagen receive increased oxygen, resulting in increased collagen production. Products like growth factors or vitamin C can be used to help stimulate repair and reduce sun damage spots. And these products are water soluble so are not capable of working when simply placed on the skin as in a serum, one must needle them in .

It is perfectly fine to not partake in any facial rejuvenation but if one chooses to receive treatment, choose something that is natural looking and not going to require repeated frequent treatments. Don't settle for looking less-than.

Once again, the mainstream medical PR machine has managed to infuse a reductionistic and myopic conclusion on a study which was set up from the beginning to focus on distracting issues.

The Stanford study on organic food as compared to standard commercial food did look at some important issues including pesticide levels in the children who participated but the PR spin focused on nutritional content and the sound bite sounded a whole lot more like there was no significant difference between eating foods from the two groups.

The two researchers focused on food-borne illness and nutrient content. However, it is easy to conclude what ever you want to conclude, if you don't include stats you like. For instance, to conclude food-borne illnesses are the same in each type of produce sounds as though they did not look at the issue close enough. It is commercial farming of animals that typically contaminates produce grown nearby, organic and non-organic. So to conclude there is no difference between organic and non-organice in terms of food borne illness is misleading.

To conclude that children who ate conventional food had higher levels of pesticide but that the levels where within EPA safety levels, ignores the fact that EPA safety levels of chemicals are often way behind the research and greatly influenced by industry. In 2005, the EPA did not consider Bisphenol A to pose a health threat based on industry's research. Independent research proved Bisphenol A to be highly problematic but the EPA held it's position.

The researchers either don't understand the impact of long-term pesticide levels and the potential links to cancer and other diseases or they don't want to. There was also no mention of pesticide residue in our water table or it's impact to other species. Clearly, toxic chemicals in our water table is an important health issue but was not even a whisper as far as the study was concerned.

The researchers did conclude that antibiotic resistant microbes were more prevalent in meat from conventionally raised animals. This is huge (and obvious) as antibiotic resistance accounts for much morbidity and mortality in this country and is a growing concern.The growing number of severe illness from antibiotic resistance just in the pediatric age group is a major concern. The problem is the PR machine and the media focused on the sound bites regarding the "no difference" between the two types of foods and not the two important issues regarding longterm health and sustainability factors.

What I took away from the study was: an increase in antibiotic resistant microbes, an increase in pesticide residue, a lack of concern for our water table and farm workers and a lack of attention towards pesticides and our growing disease rates. Recently pesticides and Parkinson disease has been linked.

I would like to see the list of donors to Stanford, specifically, if Cargill or Monsanto are among them or if they funded this or any other studies by the two researchers.

While the medical community likes to focus on cancer cures, there are those of us who believe in putting our energies into prevention. So many of our chronic illnesses, including many common cancers, can be prevented.

Much of our focus is on cures because big pharma makes it's profits on selling cures and it's big pharma that funds studies. That's not to say there aren't researchers analyzing data regarding prevention, there are and much of the outcomes are promising and hopeful. But, unlike the tepid outcomes on patented drug treatments which make headlines, the buzz around these outcomes is small as there is no PR machine force feeding the newswire with the information.

It seems I hear about another contemporary diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer on a very regular basis. The disease is becoming an epidemic. Perhaps it's diagnosed better and earlier than in years past, perhaps it is simply more prevalent. While the death rate from colorectal cancers have been dropping in the last 20 years, it is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the US.

What do we know about risk factors and prevention? The most impressive statistic is the one involving daily physical activity. Daily physical activity reduces colorectal cancer risks by 50 %. This is most likely due to a decrease in insulin resistance as all cancers need copious amounts of glucose to propagate. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity and hence improves glucose regulation.

We also know that cooking meats creates carcinogenic compounds that are then exposed to the gastrointestinal tract, compounds such as heterocyclic amines and nitrosamines. Although, the nitrosamines are more involved in stomach cancers.

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to increase risk of many cancers, one of which is colorectal. Excessive iron levels have been shown to increase the risk for colorectal cancer, mostly in those with an abnormal gene involving iron storage, but those with the same gene with normal to low iron levels do not develop the cancer.

Repeatedly, a diet rich in low glycemic foods consistently are associated with lower risks of all types of cancer including colorectal. Junk food is just bad and dangerous in the longterm. Learn to love nuts and low glycemic dark chocolate as your vice, not only will you reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, you'll reduce your risk of diabetes, dementia and chronic inflammation.

As usual, a diet low in animal protein, daily exercise and adequate sunshine all contribute to a lower risk of yet another avoidable disease.

Summer is a fabulous time for farmer's markets. In my home town of Evanston, we have one of the best farmer's markets in the Chicago area. The organic greens are diverse and plentiful. I have my pick from collards, a rainbow of chards and kales as well as sorrel, dandelions, amaranth and nettles.

I'm a sucker for crunchy, savory foods and love chips. Since I avoid foods that have been cooked at high heat in order to avoid the acrylamides they contain, I try to eat only dehydrated chips. I prefer to make my own chips from all sorts of fresh greens. My favorites have been the obvious kale as well as collards. I choose all types of kale with the Italian La Cinato as one of my favorites. This past weekend, I bought amaranth leaves and made chips from those, delicious!

Amaranth is in the same family as quinoa, chard, spinach and beets, the Chenopodiaceae family of plants. While most think of amaranth and quinoa as grains, they are not, what is used as the grain is actually the seed.

The leaves of amaranth are one of the most nutritious of all leaves, containing more vitamin C, three times more calcium and three times more niacin (vitamin B3) than spinach leaves. (Or twenty times more calcium and seven times more iron than lettuce. They are also pigmented a deep magenta which are categorized as betalains which are shown to have free radical scavenger properties, and are important phytonutrients such as the pigments in beets or red chard. All the leafy greens in this family contain high amounts of oxalates. While those with kidney stones and a few other conditions need to avoid these foods, the rest of us do not.

I tend to feed on my greens as raw chips in the warmer months and sauteed in olive oil in the cooler months. My favorite chip recipe utilizes the environmentally safe, African red palm oil (for its tocotrienol content as well as interesting flavor), nutritional yeast, chili, salt, lime juice and hemp seeds. While my dehydrator trays need a good cleaning after drying this recipe, it is worth it for the amazing flavor.

Whatever leaves you chose, wash and cut and set aside in large bowl. In another bowl, mix red palm oil, salt to taste, yeast, liquid chili such as a Challula or habenero sauce, lime juice and hemp seeds. This makes more of a paste then a dressing. Pour it on the greens and use your clean or gloved hands to disperse the paste well onto the leaves. I recommend playing around with the percentage of each of the above ingredients as how cheesy (yeast), or how salty or spicy you like it is very individual.

I dehydrate these at 115 for 8 or more hours, less time is needed if you flip them off the silicone trays after the first 4 hours.

Not many make it to my air tight containers!

Everyone likes to have good energy. What often attracts people to others is energy: positive energy, "a good vibe". We are all packets of energy, and what we pick up on when we meet others, is how they make us feel. Feeling good mentally, physically and spiritually is the biggest attractant we have. How do we get there?
How can we find our vibrancy and keep it? what are we doing in our daily lives that take detract from our vibrancy?

As I have often stated in my medical lectures; I have never had a patient walk in my office without their head nor have I ever had an isolated talking head without its body (would be quite impossible to walk in). How we think affects what and how we feel, and how we feel affects what and how we think. There is no discreet demarcation between psyche and body.

We make decisions all the time that impact our vibrancy. We can make choices that enhance our energy or we can choose things that detract from our energetic selves. The choice is ours. Knowing what feeds us and what takes from us is the key to living not only an authentic life, but a vibrant one that attracts and positively influences others as well as keeps us healthy and happy.

It becomes second nature to eat the right things when we are aware of how foods make us feel. A ten year study following middle aged people who practice yoga compared to those who didn't, showed those who practiced yoga gained less weight and had less weight issues in general and this was independent of physical activity levels and dietary patterns. The result was hypothesized to be attributed to mindfulness. According to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, and people who eat mindfully are less likely to be obese,. The above mentioned studies were published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

If a daily practice can make us more mindful of how much we eat, can we learn to be more mindful of how we feel from the foods we do eat? Absolutely. While I can't site the research on this specific issue, I can vouch for my many patients who have learned to change their eating habits and gain more positive energy by increasing their awareness, often thru yoga or a zen meditation practice.

For an simple breakfast that doesn't detract from your energy, try a couple of tablespoons of raw nut butter and fresh berries with a cup of green tea, this is an easy place to start and doesn't require mixing or the use of a dehydrator. See how you feel for the next few hours. Do you have more or less energy than normal and does this hold you? If so, do it again the next day. If you're not sure, try doing some yoga or meditation or going for a run, are you more focused? do you find it easier to do any of the above? Make a mental note or start a journal and compare how you feel after this breakfast to when you eat your normal breakfast.

Watch for ideas about lunch and dinner and recipes in the upcoming blog entries.