In 1985 at the age of 10, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), more commonly known today as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). My symptoms manifested most in my academic performance. While I didn’t exhibit the hyperactivity aspect, I found school frustratingly boring, and the monotony of the classroom almost more than I … Read more
Tired of being tired? You’re not alone – as many as 70 million Americans have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep and 45% of the adult population reports having insomnia at least once a week. And moist of them report their sleep is poor quality. We all need sleep, deep restful sleep, for 7 to … Read more
Yes, I was once one of those compulsive women who sanitized everything to the max. You know the type: bleach on the counters, bottles of hand sanitizer in the car, sluicing down grandchildren multiple times daily. I guess I was germophobic! And I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, what I was doing with … Read more
When your child has a cold or the flu, you may be tempted take her to the doctor and get a prescription for antibiotics. Heck, we frequently do the same for ourselves. It’s a choice that science now shows us can have far-reaching and dire consequences. When penicillin was discovered in 1928 and sulfa drugs … Read more
From What Doctors Fail to Tell you About Iodine and Your Thyroid by Robert Thompson, M.D. Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation worldwide. What if a pregnant woman consumed a handful of pills that costs a few cents and protected her baby against mental deficiency and a crippling disease called cretinism? That’s … Read more
Most of us think sugar adds sweetness to life, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Sugar is an artificial food that is not only addictive, it causes diabetes and weight gain. Ask anyone who “needs” that boost of a Coke at 4 p.m. or who can’t get through a day without a donut … Read more
Last weekend, I had the great fortune to accompany three teenaged girls on a horrific bus ride from our town in Western North Carolina to Raleigh, about five hours drive to the east. I won’t go into all the details, but the painful journey began with meeting them and their mothers at 2:45 a.m. That … Read more
I recently saw a cute cartoon showing a very pregnant woman conversing with her doctor, comparing calendars and attempting to select the most convenient date for the birth of the woman’s baby. “The 17th is too busy for me, how about the 18th?” the mother inquires. I’ve always believed that babies come when babies are … Read more