CNN’s feature on the documentary film Escape Fire: the Fight to Rescue American Healthcare was nominated for an Emmy. Escape Fire is a documentary worth seeing that highlights the critical need for a paradigm shift in healthcare. Dr. Donald M. Berwick, an internationally recognized expert on healthcare reform, established the term “Escape Fire” in a […]
Treating Pain: A New Ontology is Needed
In the 19th century, phrenology was viewed as a respected science that based its findings on measurements of the skull to determine a person’s character and mental capacity. Few follow phrenology today. Contemporary neuroscience utilizes brain scans to detect correlations between the body and the brain. Yet, both sciences lack explanatory power when it comes […]
Six Health Tips I’ve Noticed About The Super Bowl XLVIII-Bound Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are playing in the upcoming Super Bowl for only the second time in their 38-year history. What makes this team different from the 36 Seattle teams that never made it? I suspect it has something to do with the mental attitude fostered by coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider. These […]
Needed: New Ways to Relieve Pain
“My husband served honorably, with pride and dignity, not to come home and die on the couch!” These were the tearful words of army specialist Scott McDonald’s widow in a special CBS report last September. After five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, McDonald returned home with chronic pain and after one year overdosed on prescribed […]
The Placebo Effect: A Conversation With Dr Irving Kirsch
“Explosive” was the word 60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl used to describe the scientific conclusions of Harvard’s Dr Irving Kirsch in the episode titled “Treating Depression, Is there a Placebo Effect?,” which aired February 19, 2012. Dr Kirsch, the associate director of the Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter hosted at the Beth […]
Book Review: “The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine” – Part 2
Is love good medicine? When it comes to maintaining health, how does love compare to hygiene or diet? In “The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine,” author Anne Harrington provides some interesting answers. In her chapter, “Healing Ties,” she highlights the famous 1945 studies of psychiatrist Rene Spitz whose data proved love to be […]
Health care, we have a problem
Here’s an interesting post from Russ Gerber, Media Manager for the Christian Science Committee on Publication. Enjoy! November 15, 2010 In case you were having doubts, here’s a reminder: health is normal. It’s easy to lose sight of that given all the books and reports and advertisements insisting that it’s not. Gloomy statistics fill in […]