Lately I have been thinking about my role as a physician.  I have harnessed more than two decades of medical training to make health recommendations for my patients.  And with so many careers, unexpected turns and changes have come along the way; however, none of these changes have been detrimental.  
 
Each has formed its own component of my current medical “personality” – weaving the fiber of the doctor I am today.

So you and your physician have decided that the best thing for your health, your wellness, your sexuality, your cognition, your erections, your stamina or your menopausal symptoms is to initiate a course of hormone therapy.  You have hopefully discussed the risks and benefits of therapy, and with a physical exam in conjunction with appropriate laboratory testing have chosen a dose of hormones that will be initiated.  This all seems pretty simple, and you leave the doctor’s office with a prescription in hand, or with a call being made to your preferred Walgreens (although I would recommend that the call be made to the closest compounding pharmacy).  The salient question is now; have you been placed on an appropriate dose and delivery route of the hormone, and do you have a plan in place to monitor this medical regimen safely?

My daughter is almost 15 years old, and is a competitive rower in her high school.  She recently approached me to discuss the possibility of overseeing a weight loss program to allow her to make weight for a four woman contest.  She and three of her friends are hoping to make the weight class.

​The terminology used to define different styles of medicine can bring on a certain degree of confusion. Especially around the era of “natural” foods, cosmetics, fabrics, etc. There’s been a growing consumer drive around these products and service, but what defines “natural?” How does this translate to the practice of medicine? Is Functional Medicine equivalent or different from Natural Medicine? 

There is no reason why a medical blog wouldn’t promote the use of new or descriptive vocabulary word, particularly when it is exceedingly appropriate for the medical topic at hand.  The word for today is “perfunctory”.  It is pretty useful, particularly when discussing some of our daily routine (traffic, daily progress reports, computer passwords, kid’s lunches), or for the upcoming high-school SAT taker. Sadly it is far too relevant in respect to the delivery of today’s health care in the country today.
 

Anxiety.  This is one of the vague symptoms that are often very difficult to clearly characterize.  As with dizziness and fatigue, a patient’s anxiety promotes little insight into the cause from a mainstream medical practitioner.
 
The patient is anxious.  They need to be treated.  They need drugs. 
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In today’s blog I’ll be discussing the concept of Work.  In an earlier post, The Energetics of Food, work was reviewed as a force of energy or physics. The amount of energy that might be required to push a heavy round boulder up a hill.  This reflects Newtonian physics, seen with such disciplines that deal with numbers and absolutes, there is little room for subjectivity and debate.  The force is there or it isn’t.  The work required to lift the boulder up against gravity is sufficient or not.  There is little soul and heart, and no emotion. 

Do I need Testosterone Replacement? The question of low testosterone is one of the most common concerns that I hear from my male patients.  Unlike women in this country, who have been indoctrinated into the habit of seeing a physician routinely, most men don’t seem to make it to the doctors office until the chest pain becomes unbearable, the growth gets too large, or something begins to happen that really gnaws at the heart of their identity.  

So you and your physician have decided that the best thing for your health, your wellness, your sexuality, your cognition, your erections, your stamina or your menopausal symptoms is to initiate a course of hormone therapy.  

“What is food and why is it needed?” 

Different perspectives and interpretations stem from this broad question. The first step is not to see food simply as something we stuff in our mouths when we are hungry or bored -- see it as a vehicle for the transfer of energy.