President Nixon declared war on cancer 40 years ago by signing the National Cancer Act of 1971. The goal is to “eradicate cancer by 2015”. We are far from achieving this goal. Research in and approach to cancer is limited to cut, burn, and poison. Two major aspects are missing: integrating CAM (detoxification, addressing the internal environment with nutrition, lifestyle changes, etc) and spirituality. Life with cancer is a battle. Either you …
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What to Do When Feeling Blue: Ruscombe Round Table on Depression
This article was prepared as collaboration between practitioners at the Ruscombe Mansion Community Health Center in Baltimore. To learn more, attend our annual free Open House event, September 18, 2011. As we “listen to your story” at Ruscombe, we find that depression is a common complaint, often affecting people with chronic health conditions. But when depression is the sole condition, it can also be severely debilitating. One practitioner …
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Medicine then, now, and in the future
I just finished reading “The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England” by Ian Mortimer. Boy, am I glad that I live here and now! In medieval England life was violent, sexist, boxed in a rigid and unfair class and legal system, traveling was a life threatening adventure, and sickness was deadly. Only the lords and ladies could afford hygiene, i.e. baths on a regular basis. Although public bath houses existed, their services were more for …
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The Power of Losing Weight
Recently I visited family and friends in Switzerland and Italy. It was a true vacation: great company, great food, great weather, and great scenery. I returned to Baltimore with new energy and 4 more pounds of–no, not luggage–body weight. This did dampen my spirit a little considering the already annoying extra pounds that have piled up around my waist after andropause. Therefore I decided to lose weight. …
Tetanus
Tetanus or lockjaw is an awful disease. It is due to contaminated wounds and causes muscle spasms that affect the jaws, extremities, back, abdomen, and diaphragm, making breathing difficult. Without treatment, one out of four infected people dies. In WW1 many soldiers died of tetanus. Clostridium tetani, the bug that causes tetanus, only survives in anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions deep in the soil. The soldiers in WW1 dug deep trenches, fought …