effects of sitting

Sitting Is the New Smoking

If you’ve been one of those fortunate enough to be able to work at home during the pandemic, you’ve probably been glued to your chair for eight or more hours a day. At least at the office you might have been able to walk around from desk to desk, or take the stairs, or take a walk at lunch.

Whereas at home, our concierge doctors are guessing that you get very little chance to move at all. And that could be detrimental to your health.

Read more
chocolate good for you

Check Out Chocolate for Your Health

Let’s face it—this has been a lousy year. We’ve either lost or postponed so many of our normal pleasures, it’s no wonder that we’re feeling deprived. But our concierge doctors have a prescription that can help cheer you up: chocolate.

And ‘tis the season for it, after all. Not to mention that, as we’ll explain below, it can be healthier than eggnog, frosted cookies and cakes, and all the other sugarplums we’re inclined to consume this time of year.

Read more
wearing a mask

CDC: Masks Protect Wearer, Too

As Florida closes in on the unenviable milestone of nearly a million confirmed cases of COVID-19, our concierge doctors wanted to share a bit of good news. We’ve mentioned before how critical it is to wear face masks in public to help keep others from becoming infected. People can be contagious for up to two weeks before they begin to show symptoms, which accounts for the rapid spread of the disease.

Now a new scientific briefing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms what researchers had long suspected: Masks protect the wearer as much as those around them. The revised guidance, released late last month, cites several studies. These show masks reduce the risk of contracting the virus by up to 79 percent.

Read more
benefits of supplements

Supplement Benefits: All In the Mind?

It sounds so easy: Pop a pill (or pills) every day and enjoy radiant health. Unfortunately, our concierge doctors have to caution you that it may not be not that simple. And, according to a new study, the claimed benefits of taking supplements might not even be true.

The study, published this month in the journal BMJ, suggests that the perceived benefits of over-the-counter (OTC) vitamin and mineral supplements may largely be due to the power of the mind.

Read more
smoking and covid-19

Smoking and COVID-19: What You Need to Know

The annual Great American Smokeout is set for this week, November 19. So our concierge doctors thought this would be a good time to look into what we know about the combined effects of smoking and COVID-19.

This is especially important because there has been some confusing information on the effects of cigarette smoking on the disease, with some early reports even suggesting that cigarette smokers who contract COVID-19 actually fare better than non-smokers. Subsequent studies have found the opposite: that smoking increases the risk that the virus causes more damage in smokers.

Read more
safely celebrate holidays

How to Celebrate the Holidays Safely

As we head into the holidays, our concierge doctors are concerned that pandemic fatigue might tempt people to throw caution to the winds and just celebrate, starting with Thanksgiving.

The fact is, we’re all fed up with the “new normal.” People want more than anything to return to the way our lives were before this scourge attacked the world early this year. Pandemic fatigue is not only real, it’s totally understandable.

Read more
Halloween Safety

Is Trick-or-Treating Safe This Year?

From a small Celtic festival in the British isles around 2,000 years ago, Halloween has morphed into an annual tradition of costumes, parties, haunted houses, and, above all, door-to-door trick-or-treating. According to a recent Harris Poll, 80 percent of those surveyed said handing out treats on Halloween is their favorite way to celebrate the holiday.

Read more
flu shot twindemic

Flu Shots Can Help Avert a ‘Twindemic’

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends all adults and children older than six months receive a flu shot by the end of this month. The CDC says it takes at least two weeks for the vaccine to become effective. Then it won’t reach its peak effectiveness until another week after that. And children who are being vaccinated for the first time need two vaccines spaced a month apart to become fully protected.

Therefore, our concierge doctors suggest you get your flu shot for the 2020-21 influenza season as soon as possible. While there have been scattered reports of shortages around the country, The Washington Post recently reported a record number of flu vaccine doses—between 194 million and 198 million—have been ordered. Because the vaccine is shipped in stages, more is on the way.

Read more
help insomnia

Weighted Blankets May Help with Insomnia

Our concierge doctors note the stress resulting from the coronavirus pandemic affects large portions of our population. This has manifested in many ways, including a sharp increase in insomnia.

Even without the pandemic, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that between 30 and 40 percent of the population experiences insomnia regularly. A 2005 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) poll showed more than half of respondents reported experiencing insomnia at least a few nights a week in the past year. Thirty-three percent said they had insomnia every night or nearly every night for the past year.

And since the advent of the pandemic, prescriptions for sleep medications are up 15 percent, according to pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts. The UCLA Sleep Disorders Center reports insomnia complaints have soared 20-30 percent.

Read more
1 16 17 18 19 20 41