Sometimes I think this blog should have a category called “It’s worse than you think” or “I’m really not exaggerating,” or maybe just “More scary news.” Sometimes I even get the feeling that people think I may be overstating the urgency of the diabetes epidemic. So I gathered together a few statistics for you. Continue reading
Category Archives: Prevention
I Like My Patients to be Vertical
Throughout my years of practicing medicine, I liked to say that I preferred my patients vertical. As opposed to horizontal.
If and when I could help it, I wanted to make sure that no one got a disease that could have been prevented. Sure, accidents happen. And illnesses, sometimes serious, are diagnosed every day in the lives of people who did nothing to deserve them, and who could have done nothing to prevent them. But not all illnesses. Continue reading
With Years Come Wisdom, Guest Post by Joe Gardewin
Our recent guest post on aging inspired yet another guest post, this one by long-term reader Joe Gardewin. I hope his words inspire you as much as they inspired me!
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Dear Doc Roxanne,
I may not be an expert on aging but, at 78, I do consider myself aged or, as my friend, Tom Isern, says, “seasoned.” In other words, most of my life is in my rearview mirror. Ha! That is not a bad thing, because I’ve had a pretty full life. But I do hope to live for a while yet and, in all honesty, I think I will. I think that, in part, because I have a good family doc who has now followed me for 20 years. In her words I am “… not the patient I worry about most.”
These are my thoughts on [hopefully] living a long, healthy life: Continue reading
Back to the Basics
Lately I’ve been feeling a desire to return to talking about the basics. The question of how I personally began thinking about wellness, prevention and nutrition is as basic a place to start as any. And while it is very true that my own parents’ commitment to nourishing food, their common sense approach to life, and the fact that they lived their values for almost 45 years on their farm in the New Jersey’s Watchung Mountains set a sure foundation for my interest in fresh food and good health, today’s post is the story of how I made these passions my own. Continue reading
Breast Cancer: My Passion for Prevention
I would like to share with you that I have recently made a big change at work. After many years in general internal medicine, wellness, and prevention-based care, I will now be applying my passion for prevention to the community of patients at increased risk of breast cancer. Lest you think this is not such a big deal, it turns out that breast cancer affects approximately 12% of women, or 1 in 8, over their lifetime. In other words, it’s a public health emergency. And the research has clearly demonstrated that obesity is a significant risk factor for breast cancer. Continue reading
Ten Steps to Preventing Diabetes
Let’s say that you’re not diabetic and, of course, you want to keep it that way. But you have a couple of family members with diabetes, and you’re wondering if it’s inevitable that it’s going to happen to you, too. Not necessarily. Here are some things you can do to dramatically reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes. Continue reading
I Like Patients Vertical
If I can help it, I like patients vertical, not horizontal. I want to make sure that nobody gets a disease that could have been prevented. Sure, accidents happen. And illnesses show up every day in the lives of patients and their families who did nothing to deserve them, and who could have done nothing to prevent them. But not all illnesses. Continue reading
An Object Mindset, by Amital Haas
A very special gift for you this week — an articulate and insightful blog post from my young friend, Amital Haas (Princeton ’21), who spent much of this summer learning about health and wellness. Enjoy —
Ratchet Up Your Breakfast to a New Level
This week I’m going to spend a few minutes talking about the typical American breakfast, namely toast bagels muffins waffles pancakes “cereal” biscuits bread. Basically just white flour and sugar. Stripped carb. I put “cereal” in quotes because the word cereal really means grain (like oatmeal, millet, kasha, bulgur wheat), and not boxes of sweetened, dyed, highly processed products of limited nutritional value.
Something I’ve noticed just in the past few months is that EVEN friends, colleagues and acquaintances who have made the switch to real food, and who have rid their kitchens of items from that list of typical American breakfast foods above (at least most of the time) can still be strongly influenced by the list. Continue reading
Inspiration & Motivation for Your Reading Pleasure
On a regular basis, I have to tell a new patient that their blood sugars are too high. But please don’t shoot the messenger: It’s nothing personal. Not when the latest statistics reveal that fully one-half of the population over age 65 is now diabetic or prediabetic. And certainly not when the stats show that the majority don’t even know. Unbelievable, right? But it’s true. It’s either you or your spouse. You or your next-door neighbor. You or your best friend. Fifty percent. It doesn’t have to be this way. Continue reading