Health

An attitude of gratitude is a valuable holistic tool.
 
      Dancing joyfully between your life’s mission and your daily tasks, the big picture and the details, your long-range aspirations and recycling your trash is one way to describe holistic living.   When I’m in that holistic zone, I’m feeling really good, dancing inside like Snoopy’s best cartoon
jig.  Then there are those times when I’ve morphed into a Velcro ping-pong ball on a Velcro table: stuck, stuck, stuck.  Doesn’t matter whether it’s the big picture or the little, stuck is characterized by frustration, or angst, or despair, or ___________. (I invite you to fill in your “favorite.”  Seriously, why not grab a pen right now and get personal?  Moving muscles demonstrates willingness, which in turn opens new nerve pathways for new thought patterns.)

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

The symphonic cicadas are an audio background while the sound studio in my mind plays that old tune, “It’s summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime….”   I LOVE THIS SEASON!   Fun opportunities abound ~ from a simple lunchtime picnic during a busy workweek to a sublime summer at the shore.  Mother Nature entices us to savor the outdoors, to stroll the neighborhood on a cool evening, to chill around the pool on the doggiest of days. 

Culinary adventures during the month of November typically involve turkey with all the fixings, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and apple pie. Here is a suggestion - how about exploring a more esoteric culinary delight – pomegranate!   November is National Pomegranate Month. Up until a few years ago pomegranates were an oddity of the produce department. The exotic fruit, which grows on small trees and resembles an apple with a “crown” at one end, generally did not make it into American shopping baskets unless it was commandeered by a person of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent. About five years ago an explosion of news emerged from scientific studies regarding the impressive health benefits of pomegranates. Suddenly, hundreds of new pomegranate products – pomegranate juice, salad dressing, fruit bars and even ice cream and candy hit store shelves. 

Maintaining bone strength as we enter mid-life and beyond is an important goal, not just for postmenopausal women. Men may experience declining bone strength as they age, although generally later in life than women. Most people know that adequate calcium intake is important for healthy bones. It is not widely understood, however, that bone is a complex living tissue continually undergoing a process of building up and breaking down. Strong bones require a constant supply of a variety of nutrients, not just calcium.

Chilly winter weather, blustery winds and fewer hours of daylight send many of us seeking warming comfort foods. Afternoon tea with a friend or relation helps us pass long winter afternoons and brightens a dreary day. As you sip and share stories with friends you may be unaware of the health promoting properties of tea.  Protection against Parkinson’s disease, high blood pressure, vascular disease, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and heart attack and stroke are, in all probability, far from your mind. Yet, according to many studies conducted over the past decade, tea has profound health benefits.

Just what does “holistic” mean?

Let’s postpone this “what” question, and start out with questioning “why” even explore this topic?  Answer: to learn something valuable you can easily apply for Living Well.  Whether the value is simply considering a new perspective or whether it’s cultivating a new habit, you will experience direct benefits from applying it.  These benefits build and grow and sculpt your being, and consequently your life, for the former inspires the latter.  

Question:
     Could you give some advice on fleas and ticks and problems with skin issues in dogs and cats?

Answer:
     After  twenty years of practicing veterinary medicine, I have seen many diseases vary in their incidence.  Twenty years ago the number of cancer cases was minimal. Today it is the number one killer of companion animals.  In my practice the most common cases I treat holistically are cancer followed by skin problems. Most of the skin cases have been to a number of conventional practices for the typical treatment of antibiotics and steroids.  Antibiotics and steroids have their place in veterinary medicine but it is my personal belief that they are overused and just mask the symptoms rather than treating the true underlying condition. 

The quest for the perfect Jack-O-Lantern is a cherished tradition that brings many families to the pumpkin patch each October. Children are delighted at the sight of row upon row of pumpkins, and the challenge of finding their own special pumpkin adds to the excitement. Back at the homestead, mom or dad carefully carves out the prize into a Jack-O-Lantern with a big toothy smile and a diamond shaped nose. But wait! Hold on a minute before you throw the pulp and seeds into the trash! Remember the old saying, waste not; want not. Pumpkin flesh and seeds have tremendous nutritional and health benefits. Perhaps Hippocrates thinking about pumpkin when he proclaimed, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”

In response to studies linking the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer, many post-menopausal women look for alternatives. One of the more popular alternatives to conventional HRT is the use of “bio-identical hormone” therapy (BHRT).