Bianca Garilli, ND A fiery debate is occurring in homes, schools, research institutes, corporate board rooms, and healthcare organizations across the globe: Are e-cigarettes (e-cigs) harmful? Are e-cigs a healthier alternative than conventional cigarettes? Are e-cigs effective smoking cessation tools? Do e-cigs act as a gateway to more harmful smoking and lifestyle behaviors? In order to answer these questions and more, it’s important to understand the history of e-cigs and how we’ve arrived to this point. History of e-cigs Prototypes…

by Sara Gottfried, MD My granny blinked behind her glasses as she drove us to her home after school, trying to conceal her panic. It was 1975. I was 7 years old, and she was 50. Granny wasn’t sure where to turn her Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme next. The distance between the school bus stop and her home was only 5 miles, but we were lost. When my grandmother’s memory and then her personality drained out of her due to Alzheimer’s…

by Sara Gottfried, MD Behind closed doors, women bear all. Overwhelming fear, feelings of worry, irritability, and tension may plague them, yet the conversation around their anxiety has remained mostly unchanged for the past thirty years in mainstream medicine. Although anxiety is our nation’s most common mental disorder, there are lingering feelings of shame surrounding the condition. Women, who often feel pressured to live up to unrealistic expectations, may suffer silently and refrain from seeking the help they deserve. Anxiety…

Host: Deanna Minich, PhD, CNS, FACN, IFMCP Guest: Scott Bergman, DC, CTN, DAAIM “Exercise breaks the body down. If we keep breaking it down, we never have the opportunity to repair.” – Dr. Scott Bergman In this discussion, Drs. Scott Bergman and Deanna Minich explore factors that impact metabolic performance, not just for athletic gain but for the ultimate day-to-day game – life. Dr. Bergman shares his personal background as an athlete and the connection between autoimmunity and athletic performance he has…

by Sara Gottfried, MD and Annalouise O’Connor, PhD, RD Many women notice after age 45 that fat seems to accumulate readily at the waist. There are even terms for it, like menopause belly, muffin top, or “menopot.” What does the science tell us about menopausal belly fat and how to get rid of it? What are the hormonal drivers and are they amenable to change with personalized lifestyle medicine? Certainly belly fat, specifically subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat, increases during…

by Bianca Garilli, ND, USMC Veteran Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been shown to be a major cause of death and disability in the US, contributing to approximately 30% of all injury-related deaths.1 TBIs can be caused by myriad of events including motor vehicle crashes, falls, and sports-related injuries.1-2 In children and teens, 70% of concussions are related to sports related injuries, while in the elderly falls are the most common cause of concussions.2-3 Previous research has indicated an association…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is estimated to affect nearly 15 million adult women in the US.1 This chronic disease can lead to a host of medical concerns including detrimental effects on bone health, making T2D an independent risk factor for bone fractures.2 A study published in Menopause sought to assess the status of bone mass, bone microarchitecture, and factors associated with vertebral fracture in postmenopausal women with T2D.3 This is a particularly important research query to…

by Sara Gottfried, MD and Christopher Moulton, PhD We’ve been told that cognitive function in healthy individuals naturally declines with age. Or does it? Recent case series have brought this central tenet of the aging brain into question and suggest the hypothesis that cognitive decline may be more mutable than once believed. Dale Bredesen, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and collaborators have advanced a systems-based approach to address the factors that put the brain at…

by Whitney Crouch, RDN, CLT According to the CDC, of the 154 million prescriptions written for antibiotics each year, at least 30% are unnecessary, and the remaining 70% need to be prescribed more specifically for the infection type, including drug selection, dose, and duration.1 The goal of the CDC is to reduce the number of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by 50% by the year 2020.1 The discovery of antibiotics has, no doubt, saved millions of lives, but there are two sides…