Vaccines are now reaching the wider community, and Spring is near. As we emerge from isolation, there are predictions for the “Roaring 20s” ahead. But is this a good time for an assessment of your financial health? If you reach your 90s and are in good health, congratulate yourself. You […]
Author: W. Gifford-Jones, MD and Diana Gifford-Jones
Common Sense Health: Change Your Heart Health in Three Months or Less
It’s said, “Being wrong is acceptable, but staying wrong is unacceptable.” So think twice if you believe a high fish diet alone is providing you with enough essential fatty acids (EPA and DHA) to decrease your risk of heart attack. We were shocked when blood tests showed, despite our healthy […]
Common Sense Health: Keep Blood Pressure Under Control
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” Avoiding disease may be the gift of lucky genetics, but it helps to put some work into managing your chances for health and longevity. Maintaining rubbery arteries is key to the delivery of oxygenated blood to […]
Common Sense Health: Decrease the Risk of the Agony of Shingles
“It was like going through hell,” he said. A friend had developed facial shingles, involving his ear, and despite medication the pain continued for weeks. So what is the best way to prevent an attack of shingles? Take action quickly. If you delay, you’ll wish you hadn’t when the pain […]
Common Sense Health: Eating Disorders Combine Secrecy and Compulsion
It’s plainly evident that many people are eating too much. But several serious eating disorders can be harder to see, especially when they deliberately hide the problem. Recent research indicates that pandemic-related stay-at-home orders have ramped up anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders. With COVID capturing all the headlines, it’s easy […]
Common Sense Health: Can Athletes Escape COVID Virus?
Professional sporting events have never been entirely about the game. Team owners, player sponsorships, media contracts, ticket sales, and merchandising licenses are the playgrounds of big business. But the tiniest of offensive players, the novel coronavirus, has upended the sporting world. It has become a matter of great debate whether […]
Common Sense Health: Depleted Soil at the Root of Poor Health
We recently wrote about the gut microbiome – the remarkable digestive ecosystem that influences how nutrients and bacteria contribute to weight management, organ function, and even our mental health. But did you know there is a soil microbiome, and that this too affects your health? It turns out, we’ve not […]
Common Sense Health: Why Doctors Must Think Like Sherlock Holmes
A 57-year-old woman, receiving physiotherapy for an injured ankle, suddenly suffered a seizure, became unconscious, and was rushed to Emergency. The obvious diagnosis, a sudden stroke. But as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the English doctor and writer who created the fictional private detective, Sherlock Holmes, wrote, “There is nothing more […]
Common Sense Health: Questions About the Ketogenic Diet
What is a ketogenic diet? How does it differ and is it more effective than other diets? Apart from the hype surrounding this diet, what are the medical concerns about it? Recent marketing of the ketogenic diet suggests it’s a new one. But a report from the University of California […]
Common Sense Health: What You Should Know About a Silent Heart Attack
Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, wrote that “Silence is a source of great strength.” Possibly sound advice in some situations. But for people who’ve had a silent heart attack, silence is far from a virtue. In fact, according to a report from the University of California, up to one half […]