Unfortunately, several diseases out there still don’t have a cure. Most of them have symptoms which will affect people’s lives to a certain (sometimes extreme) degree. Some of them can be very annoying, crippling, or simply terrifying. Some of them, for example, are sarcoidosis, tinnitus, genital and oral herpes, asthma, myasthenia gravis, menopause, and so on. People with such conditions are especially vulnerable and more willing to be gullible, since they often feel that the medical world “fails them”.

Once upon a time, when I was very young (I would have been 14 or 15), a doctor lost his patience with me. I frankly don’t remember what the consult was about—it’s been quite a few years, and my memory is poor of details. What I do remember, is the sentence the fazed doctor told me: “Please stop playing doctor, let me do my job, “the doctor”, and you do yours, “the patient”. OK?

I agreed. I shut right up, and did what the doctor said. Now, I wish I remembered what the conversation was about, and more importantly if the treatment worked…

We all know the feeling. Something is needed and we don’t know quite what it is. You’re feeling stressed or distracted, anxious or unhappy. Sitting in front of the computer screen, you’re meant to be working and nothing is happening. In the past, it would have been time for a smoke. Nowadays, that’s probably difficult, even if you still want to. So, what to do? You space out for a few minutes, plough on with the work, and whatever it was that was creating a disturbance remains unresolved.

There is another option. Those few unproductive minutes could be used for meditation. What does this mean? Not concentrating on something or meditating over an issue, but taking the opportunity for a few minutes of nothingness. Meditation is taking a little time to encounter that same empty space that we go into in deep sleep. It is here that the deepest relaxation becomes available.

It is no secret that exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. I am not going to devote any of this space to convincing you that you need to exercise when you already know that is true. My goal is to help you bridge that gap between knowing you should be exercising and actually doing it. Here are the steps that I recommend to help you take this very important step.

Fruits and vegetables are known to protect people against lung, oral, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer. The data that supports this statement has been borne out by a number of studies.

In fact, fruits and vegetables are the best source of vitamins and minerals, including antioxidants. These healthful compounds probably work best in combination. Because we don’t know which of the many compounds in these foods are most helpful, the American Cancer Society advises the public to eat at least five assorted servings of produce per day.

Vitamin Supplements

A team approach between the dentist and the radiation oncologist provides care for the patient from A to Z.

There is a well-defined role for radiation therapy (RT) to cure and locally control squamous cell carcinoma, lymphomas, and other malignant tumors involving the head and neck area. The patient’s quality of life during and after radiation therapy is also important. Therefore, a team approach between the radiation oncologist and the dentist is essential to rendering holistic care.

I have recently received this question:

Hello Dr. Hawkes, I found your article by accident and found these forums.

The problem is that no matter what I do, with my wife, everything is wrong. I do the dishes, and there is soap. I try to finish work early, and I didn’t tell her. Every time I do things meant to be nice for her, she doesn’t aprecciate them and instead ends up in a big argument, where she screams and yells. I can’d do things right because I am not careful, I don’t pay attention.

When determining the adequacy of a diet, it’s best to measure outcomes that are tangible. Since there is little benefit in trading one disease that will kill you for another, overall mortality rate is probably the most important outcome to measure.

Of course, dying isn’t the only concern - quality of life may be as important if not more so. But it has been difficult enough to correlate eating patterns with disease and mortality, much less being able to throw quality of life into the mix. It’s generally assumed that a diet that increases life span will increase the number of years of disease-free living.

How is it that we are able to heal each other? Who is it in each of us who knows how to heal? In some it becomes a full-blown passion, a life long love affair with the art of healing. In others it is an affair of the moment, surfacing when it is needed. In everyone, it is present at some essential moment. We do not have to be professional healers to know how to heal.

“What you desire you truly are” – Erica Jong

Radiation therapy is a simple, painless and generally well-tolerated tool for treating and even curing breast cancer. One of the most common side effects of radiation therapy to the breast (after a lumpectomy) or to the chest wall (after a mastectomy) is fatigue. This reaction and its extent is different for every woman. Because radiation therapy is often such an important part of breast cancer treatment, it is important to know how to mitigate its side effects in order to gain the greatest benefit from the therapy.

How do we explain the popularity of homeopathy? This branch of complementary medicine has gained greater public acceptance in the past few years, and homeopathic medicines are now available over the counter from high street chemists and supermarkets. Is this simply part of the growing public interest in all things “alternative”?