Co-authored by Genevieve Walker, PhD, a medical writer with more than 15 years of medical writing experience and 25 years of healthcare experience. Your guide to coping with hot flashes, weight gain, period changes and more Should your 40s come with a warning label? Angela thinks so. “As soon as I turned 40, I couldn’t […]

We are bombarded with messages about exercising our bodies—how it can improve life longevity as well as boost endorphins, making us happier, better rested, more energized and with an enhanced ability to concentrate. But did you know that the brain needs to be exercised as well? Not only because it can slow memory loss and […]

As horrific as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, it is bringing to bear what leaders and practitioners in health care already knew: our system has a glaring weakness in primary care delivery. A new in-depth report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) provides a crucial roadmap to how we can learn […]

People are creatures of habit. Science shows that self-regulating systems—like people—constantly work to return to the same form and behavior after they have been stressed or traumatized. That automatic rebound response—the same response that fuels healing and recovery—also makes behavioral changes uncomfortable and hard to implement for many people. Let’s face it, we all do […]

For millennia, the therapeutic encounter has remained largely the same: a person who had been functioning normally and without giving a thought to their health now notices that something is wrong—they don’t feel well. They seek someone to help. In various cultures and eras, this “practitioner” may have been called a shaman, a barber, a […]

Six months before her 40th birthday, my patient June began to feel the changes in her body. June noticed that she craved sweets more, had gained a few more pounds than she wanted and was more prone to injury and creaky bones. One weird night’s sleep would have her neck aching for a week. Rather […]

Burnout. More and more, I am seeing colleagues, friends, and my patients fraying at the edges. Some are on the edge of burnout and some are already there. More than a year after COVID-19 first entered our vocabulary, we are still seeing its effects in ways we might not have predicted. Women are leaving the […]

Headaches can be mysterious, frustrating, and painful. Why did it come on? When will it go away? Is there anything I can do to stop the pain? There are different kinds of headaches, and some are more serious than others. When dealing with headaches, we look at symptoms, severity, triggers, frequency, and life impact. Regular […]

I have long been a proponent of spending time in nature as part of an integrative health plan. Even a small amount of time spent outdoors can physically, mentally, and spiritually impact health positively. Especially during difficult times, stepping away from the computer, phone, or TV, and taking advantage of outside activities can benefit your […]

The past 10 months have been a headache and, in anticipation of the long, trying winter weeks ahead, we are focusing on the theme of “protection” and how patients, and providers, can remain healthy—mentally, socially, and, of course, physically. As we’ve touched on several of those topics in the last few blog posts, we wanted […]