Category Archives: Family Medicine

Prenatal Smoking Increases Mental Illness in Children

    A study conducted in Finland at the Ruku University Hospital by Mikael Ekblad, found that smoking during pregnancy may increase a child’s risk of developing a psychiatric disorder during childhood and young adulthood.  It was recently presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting held in Vancouver, British Columbia.   Substantial evidence already ...…

High Hospital Occupancy Linked to Higher Patient Deaths

    A  University of Michigan study, published in the March 2010 issue of Medical Care, researchers compared a set of critical factors that can affect hospital deaths: hospital occupancy, nurse staffing levels, weekend admission and seasonal influenza.   Hospital admission when beds are filled to capacity can lead more deaths.  The study found a ...…

How to Help a Sick Loved One

    Hospital admission and stay are very difficult and extremely stressful times.  In addition to being sick, distressed, and oftentimes in pain, the hospital experience is wrought with uncertainty and the sense of helplessness.   A patient is dependent upon the hospital staff for treatment, food and human contact. And being uprooted from the daily activities ...…

Green Tea Reduces Tooth Loss

A recent study conducted in Japan found that drinking a cup of green tea daily may cause a 20 per cent reduction of the risk of tooth loss and improve oral health.  Also, drinking additional cups creates additional reductions of risk, with five or more cups a day associated with a 23 per cent risk ...…

Can We Halt the Obesity Epidemic?

 One of the greatest health issues of our time is the health risks caused by obesity.   Here’s an outstanding lecture given about the tremendous health crisis it has caused in our country.  Jamie Oliver, well known chef was given an award by TED for his efforts to help Americans eat healthier and reduce the ...…

Meditation Improves Cognition in People with Memory Loss

The results of a University of Pennsylvania study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease  found that a specific meditation, Kirtan Kriya performed daily for eight weeks increased brain activity in areas important to memory and actually improved their cognitive function in people suffering from memory decline.   Kirtan Kriya (KK), originated in the Kundalini ...…

How Adequate Vitamin D Levels Can Eliminate 75% of Breast and Colon Certain Common Cancers Deaths and Prevent over 100,000 cases annually!

  Interview with Dr. Garland     Several prominent Vitamin D research studies have found that higher blood levels of the active and circulating form of Higher serum levels of the main circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), are associated with significantly lower rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, aggressive prostate and ...…

Violent Video Games Desensitize Children

I’ve always suspected that violent video games were unhealthy to the mental health and well-being of children playing them.   New research in the field of video games investigated how violent games affect the emotional behavior of children and how it impacts their response to life events.    Playing video games that are violent, for ...…

Sleep Deprivation Causes Teen Suicidal Thoughts and Depression

Teenagers sent to bed earlier by their parents are protected from depression and suicidal thoughts.  A study by James Gangwisch, PhD, of Columbia University in New York, examined data from 15,659 adolescents. A total of 1,143 teens (7.3 percent) suffered from depression and 2,038 (13 percent) had suicidal thoughts.  Teenagers whose parents mandated bedtimes at ...…

Acupuncture Found Effective in Treating Depression during Pregnancy

Presenters at the recent Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, held in Chicago, IL, unveiled findings that show that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for depression during pregnancy.   “Depression during pregnancy is an issue of concern because it has negative effects on the mother and the baby as ...…