Healthscape: Recent Episodes
Dr. Trevor Campbell, MD, CCFP
The podcast focuses on health rather than disease. The conversation centers on resilience and epigenetics, the study of how other factors like behaviors and environment can influence gene expression. It also highlights daily healthful behaviors and techniques that may reduce the progression and facilitate recovery from chronic physical and mental diseases including chronic pain, addictions and trauma. Lastly, it highlights helpful usable technologies as well as education on current trending medical delivery issues such as over-investigation and over-diagnosis. The aim is to encourage and educate you to take a more active and holistic approach to your own wellbeing. Healthscape can be heard Wednesdays at 12 Noon Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
Part II of a two part discussion on Death with the author Ivan Obolensky, The Anatomy of Death- A Montage
Is there already at least some overlap with Death in our materially focussed lives?
When we die, does consciousness finally get shod of the 'training wheels?
Part I of a two part discussion on Death with the author Ivan Obolensky.
A much needed discussion on an even more greatly avoided subject, our inevitable departure from Life.
As the title suggests, a synthetic (rather than analytic) approach was adopted, using an array of approaches and disciplines, employing paradox and sometimes even anachronism to assemble snippets that shed light on the complexity and scope of this slippery chimera.
But are we even looking in the right direction?
Do we already have more than a foothold?
Dr. Karl Zarse, a double Board certified anesthestist and regenerative medicine specialist, returns to speak about one of the most prevalent problems in medicine, namely back pain.
He addresses episodic, recurrent and chronic pain, highlighting the problems, myths, treatment solutions as well as insights into health daily practices and behaviors to maximize outcomes, functionality and quality of life.
In back pain, self-care remains a staple of treatment, and includes back specific as well as general lifestyle changes such as weight loss, that can be a game-changer. Learn what you can do to ensure a superior outcome.
Evidence- based, accessible and effective direction, clearly presented with a good deal of common sense.
Simply, a winner!
Dr. Pawa provides a lucid overview of mind-body treatment approaches, offering compelling insights and examples. All along the way her incisive intelligence, compassion and obvious love for her calling shine through.
Most of all, she makes the discipline accessible and easy to implement by providing exactly what is needed whenever there is dis-ease that is usually accompanied by fatigue, low energy and anxiety.
Her over-arching message is simple and clear; it is one of hope and possibility, but it is also a crystal clear call to action.
Dr. Bal is a rare and outstanding teacher with the hallmark approach of a true healer.
Hear Dr. Raouf Gharbo, Director of Cardiac and Wellness Integration at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), discuss breathing techniques, biofeedback and heart rate variability (HRV), and the value that these activities can add to your mental and physical flexibility, general health and recovery potential from chronic diseases, including chronic pain, anxiety and trauma.
Simple to perform and highly accessible, this will help you control your brain-body connections, reduce your fatigue and hypervigilance, allowing for greater mental and emotional flexibility.
A fascinating and lucid guide through the importance of the heart brain dynamic, the central role of the diaphragm and the understated but formidable power of authenticity and letting go.
Vitally important, timely and value packed information seamlessly presented.
Dr. Karl Zarse, a double Board certified anaesthetist and regenerative medicine specialist, shares his experience and insights on how to maximize your situation post-injury or when in chronic pain.
The owner of Idaho Spine and Pain Management, he outlines tips to enhance flexibility, strength, sleep and nutrition, helping you to outmaneuver ageing and to flip the chronic injury script.
Learn how to benefit from the potentially massive accumulation of seemingly modest, daily advantages.
In chronic pain, most of the daily changes that need to occur, and the lion share of what has to be done, must be made by the individual personally.
Simply mandatory listening, in my opinion.
Alzheimer's disease is a neuro-degenerative and relentlessly progressive disease causing cognitive, memory and behavioral impairment. It disproportionately affects women and can be of early onset. More typically, it afflicts the elderly, most often having a long pre-clinical period. It is also incurable, and the sixth largest cause of death in the United States.
This challenge only inflates as life expectancy in developed countries increases, heralding yet another burgeoning health crisis.
Hear the enlightening and deeply moving story of Carlen Maddux and his family's courageous and epic odyssey after his wife Martha was diagnosed at age 50.
Sobering, memorable and inspirational.
Have we reached a point of 'crisis overload,' both at the societal and global level? We seem to trip through the caveats while the larger challenges seem intractable.
We are already well aware that unbridled stress increases the risk of or worsens most physical and mental disease.
But this time it's different. In previous decades, our guiding light was a credible media that mostly portrayed a journalistic 'best efforts' approach, in which many could have confidence. Not long ago, news became commodified, veracity taking a back seat to ratings, agendas and groupthink. A casual approach to the truth made truth itself the first casualty.
In the age of the Everything Crisis,' more than ever, trust and lucidity alone can save the day.
A fascinating revelation of how our hearts and brains communicate by Dr. Rollin McCraty, Director of Research at the Heartmath Institute. Learn how this is reflected in our heart rate variability (HRV) and why this metric is so vitally important.
It turns out that the heart has a nervous system of its own, a 'heart brain,' that sends nine times more the information to our intracranial brains than it receives from it, in this bi-directional flow.
HRV reflects the functioning of our nervous system and can be used as feedback, enabling us to reach a state of coherence, that is, a more optimal state of mental, emotional, and creative functionality, even improving our equilibrium and intuition. In this mode of enhanced self-regulation there are also numerous health, behavioral and cognitive benefits.
Backed by hundreds of studies, the phenomenon operates not only at a personal level but also at a societal one, even having a global reach.
Given the punishing, unrelenting global stress levels of the last two years, this much needed, vitally important information could hardly be more timely.
Listen to Dr. Taryl Felhaber describe the suboptimal way that menopausal issues are currently dealt with in family practice. Poor physician undergraduate education and a paucity of continuing medical education offerings in the field for practicing physicians are but part of the problem.
Too many family physicians under treat the often debilitating and life intrusive symptoms on the basis that hormones are 'unsafe,' some citing a twenty year old study purely on preliminary data.
It needs to be remembered that with increasing life expectancies, especially among women, some may live a third to almost a half their lives in this situation.
Discover other interesting facts and insights in this informative, timely and much needed interview.
While today’s subject is not a conventional choice for Healthscape, there are a good deal of lessons that can be learned from this discussion by those who have chronic diseases and chronic pain as they know better than most, all about feeling stuck.
What would it be like if one brought one’s full consciousness and awareness to the table when making decisions.? Do we perhaps sometimes have to break a fixed pattern of behavior or thinking in order to solve a challenging problem and what does it mean to be stuck and arrested in a particular conundrum?
Well, the jury is already out on these subjects with regard to chronic pain and disease as we constantly are required to do things that are counter-intuitive to us such as exercise a body part that is painful and socialize when we least feel like doing it. We also know that we can totally change unhelpful thinking patters by reframing situations and questions that in itself can lighten the stress load if not actually help resolve the issue. We call this kind of psychotherapy, CBT.
The lesson is that a seemingly intractable problem may more easily be resolved by the ways we present it to others but even more importantly by the way we approach it ourselves.
The disclaimer here is, that none of the discussion today should be viewed as therapy, much less as replacement therapy by any particular listener. You have your family physician who best knows your medical history. However, the insights presented remain important as it shows us that we can change certain things when we feel stuck, and this in itself can increase motivation by kindling hope.
In this episode, we discuss emerging topics in Family Medicine like polypharmacy, over-medicalization as well over-diagnosis. We also reflect on the value that family physicians add, particularly at this time when their discipline is under significant threat, both in terms of staff shortages, expanded responsibilities, technological demands and burgeoning paperwork, some of it questionable and much of it unpaid.
Generalists, like family physicians, too infrequently receive due credit in an age of innovation and specialization, yet they remain the faithful gatekeepers and the backbone of the western medical delivery networks. Most importantly, they provide ongoing longitudinal care, often at a trans-generational level, a service that is invaluable, particularly when we as patients age.
Given the breadth and scope that is both expected and required of them, they manage to survive and navigate the enormous burden of uncertainty that they inevitably have to bear.
Hear Dr. Robert Barrett, sociologist and author of Hardwired: How our Instincts to be Healthy are Making us Sick, discuss the problem of authenticity in our current social climate.
Poets, philosophers, bards and society itself exhort us to be authentic, Shakespeare, in his play Hamlet, urges us to thine own self be true, but society itself often lacks authenticity, and while it trumpets the virtue, regularly penalizes them that would be authentic.
While our well-being and mental health benefit from personal authenticity, we consequently also also have to navigate significant social challenges where perceptions and 'optics' often eclipse realities.
Social stressors are a major source of distress and chronic disease exacerbation. How will the young contend with the anomalies and mixed messaging of our rapidly changing social landscape?
What discipline or institution will grapple and ameliorate this problem?
When enmeshed by a tangle of complication, the answer is sometimes surprisingly simple, under one's own feet. Perhaps our best chance to save the day is increased awareness, will and collaboration at a grass roots level.
I interview Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith, author of “The Well- Gardened Mind”- The Restorative Power of Nature. She is both a psychiatrist and a gardener. The utility and value of this book can hardly be overemphasized, given the pressurized and frankly pathogenic or illness inducing-lifestyles that many of us lead today, often while being quite detached from Nature or Source. The Well Gardened Mind, is a work that both educates and delights. It is a cornucopia of facts, stories, anecdotes, and possibility. Like gardening itself, it opens up the mind and the heart.
Moved by a familial connection to gardening involving her grandfather’s recovery and rehabilitation after captivity as a prisoner-of war, and her own personal experience of the physical and mental benefits of gardening, Dr. Stuart-Smith illustrates the significantly positive effect gardening may have on mental recovery and equilibrium with regard to stress management, mood, and anxiety disorders. Frequent close contact with Nature allows one to reconnect with others as well as with life itself, gardening having been useful in the rehabilitation and treatment of addictions and chronic pain, as well as in mental hospital and prison programs.
Gardening teaches us that we are never entirely in control. It slows us down in order to adapt to Nature’s pace, tending to steer us towards contemplating time in a cyclical manner rather than in our usual linear way. Gardening is ultimately a transcendental experience and arguably also a spiritual one, as it connects us to something greater than ourselves and offers us a higher meaning that goes way beyond anyone's individual life.
By learning to prefer ‘generativity over stagnation,’ we may become more collaborative than competitive. Nature, after all, need not explain herself. She simply exists and prevails.
This is an absolute ‘must read’ in my opinion.
Spirituality is innate in all of us, yet it often causes discomfort and even aversion when the topic comes up in conversation.
The mystery, suspicion and misinformation with which (for some) it appears to be enshrouded, does little to reduce any of the unease.
Hear Dr. Richard Miller, clinical psychologist and spiritual teacher, dismantle some of the myths, and misunderstandings. He further walks listeners through a brief guided meditation that once again highlights and reminds us exactly how intrinsic spirituality is, even though it may lie dormant in some individuals, having shrunken and possibly been buried by disuse.
Insightful, inspirational and memorable. A much-needed approach in a stressful and often 'pre-veritable' age.
Shauna Sky Romano, kinesiologist, athlete, and coach to elite athletes believes that “while the principles of high performance and science don’t change, the art is the application of those principles through movement, and the magic lies in developing a love for movement.”
Her clients include people recovering from injuries as well as those with chronic pain and chronic disease. Exercise, of course has a central role in this, and the problem has always been durability, or how to get clients to maintain their exercise routines. A similar situation is also of course also seen with dietary advice, where, although the rationale for the prescribed diet is sound, adherence to the plan doesn’t always necessarily follow.
So, what do we do? The traditional response is usually along the lines of getting therapists and coaches to come up with new and innovative motivational strategies.
On the other hand, perhaps it’s simply time that our communal attitude towards exercise and movement needs to radically change.
Also learn about the potential of dance therapy in health maintenance, chronic disease, and neuro-degenerative disorders.
A lively and inspirational discussion that uncovers and contemplates possibility.
A Spiritual quest invariably starts with a journey inwards. We are sometimes drawn into it and sometimes nudged, but the inevitable reward is the ability to live an enriched life more fully and more freely.
Our passage further compels us to accept and fulfil our role in this elevated reality, showing us that we need to transcend, rather than deny our own cherished ideas of who we are.
Learn how Dr. Richard Miller, clinical psychologist and Spiritual teacher, integrated western psychology, neuroscience, and the ancient wisdom of eastern thought; Yoga, Taoism, Buhhism and other disciplines to develop the research-based iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation.
iRest is a highly accessible form of meditation designed for modern day living that allows for a new level of healing, wellness and wellbeing.
Effective in the treatment of several mental disorders, chronic pain and PTSD, it is also recommended for everyday healthy living and life balance.
Part 1- Personal reflections on the practice of meditation and mindfulness, and the value that this adds not only in health wellness, but in all chronic disease, especially mental disease and chronic pain.
Part 2- An overview of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), the relationships and the inevitable interactions between our thoughts, behaviors and mood. How gaining better control over out thinking patterns can reduce our daily stress levels and the potential for self-sabotage of our recovery efforts.
Child abuse is pervasive and shocking and it's toxic reach may endure for decades when not frankly lifelong. It may include physical, psychological and sexual abuse in any combination, but it also encompasses neglect and willful deprivation.
Once again, the causation is usually multi-factorial, including conditions like mental illness, substance abuse, personality disorders and a whole constellation of possible stressors.
You will be fascinated and moved by Dr. Arcuri's account of his troubled upbringing at the hands of his mother, how he coped and navigated an early exit, later strengthening his position to overcome and triumph, while realizing all his adult goals.
His book Toxic Mothers: A Son's Guide to Healing and Moving On encapsulates all the sentiments and strategies he himself used together with 'loving boldly.' His recovery is highlighted by the fact that he was his mother's caregiver during her last six months when she was ill with cancer.
It is encouraging and uplifting to learn that reconciliation was secured on several fronts.
Dr. Tanguay clearly explains how untreated mental trauma is a common confounder in the treatment of mental health conditions. What is often labeled as treatment-resistant depression or anxiety disorder, for example, may well turn out to be driven and complicated by untreated mental trauma.
Aversive childhood events and mental trauma often lie at the root of mental disorders, yet these are either overlooked or more surprisingly, left untreated. Any mental illness that co-exists with untreated trauma, rarely has a favorable outcome, the trauma continuing to drive, exacerbate, and aggravate the mental condition.
In this episode, you will learn more about early mental trauma and its effects, not only in chronic pain, addictions, and an array of mental disorders, but also how it increases one’s susceptibility to a range of physical diseases and increases the risk of suicide and reduced life expectancy. There are two key, age-old adages in medicine; number one, “first do no harm,” and the other is most applicable in this very situation, which is to “firstly try to remove the cause,” when possible.
Learn too, about the new advances in the treatment of trauma and the role and importance of meaning, acceptance, increased functionality, and a return to purposeful work and a healthy lifestyle for recovery. He also addresses the vitally important societal issue of inter-generational trauma.
Dr. Tanguay’s innovative approach at the Newly Institute is ground- breaking, as it includes the assessment and treatment of mental trauma, addictions, chronic pain, and other psychiatric conditions all at one location, providing timeous, comprehensive, and highly customized treatment plans delivered by an inter-disciplinary team, setting a whole new standard in mental health care delivery.
Hear Dr. Raouf Gharbo, Director of Cardiac and Wellness Integration at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), discuss breathing techniques, biofeedback and heart rate variability (HRV), and the value that these activities can add to your mental and physical flexibility, general health and recovery potential from chronic diseases, including chronic pain, anxiety and trauma.
Simple to perform and highly accessible, this will help you control your brain-body connections, reduce your fatigue and hypervigilance, allowing for greater mental and emotional flexibility.
A fascinating and lucid guide through the importance of the heart brain dynamic, the central role of the diaphragm and the understated but formidable power of authenticity and letting go.
Vitally important, timely and value packed information seamlessly presented.
On Healthscape, we often discuss chronic stress and how to deal with it. However, prevention of, and reduction in stress are equally important.
Once a much appreciated and relished activity, the conversation appears to be in decline, A 'simple conversation' these days is seldom simple, and rarely very conversational. The proliferation of emotional triggers, and a lower threshold of tolerance, have made conversations more brittle, often tipping these into hostility.
Recent increased societal stress levels and social polarization have been blamed for this phenomenon and a good deal of flak has hit the shifty shoulders of social media.
Ivan Obolensky suggests some earlier, lesser known causes that have aided the fall, such as the role of propaganda, the policies governing the communication of matters scientific, as well as population density.
Perhaps 'Time Deficit Disorder' is yet the greatest culprit of all in the degradation of conversation, as we are so busy making our way in the world and trying to get ahead, that insufficient time is allocated to nearly everything we do.
We take less time to listen, less time to understand and reflect, and are quick to deliver our opinion as a judgement.
An interesting, cerebral and at times quirky tour through an array of perspectives.
Resilience is our ability to return to our former state prior to a major setback or onslaught, or to 'bounce back' to what we were. This may be in response to a physical, mental or emotional assault.
Over the last few decades, never before has this been a more prized and necessary skill in the community at large.
Often a calamity will hit like a bolt from the blue, but sometimes we are ambushed by repeated trauma, and we are too stunned to intuit a way out or thrash a path through to clarity. What can one do in such a case? These salvos don't arrive with instructions or a manual.
Denise Wozniak once found herself in this position. Through increased awareness, gratitude for what remained, acceptance and dogged determination, with time she made her way to a more peaceful and kinder place that once again permitted optimism.
Her profound healing and recovery is encapsulated by her international advocacy work on behalf of children living with HIV/AIDS, that made her the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Gold and Diamond Jubilee medals.
A fascinating revelation of how our hearts and brains communicate by Dr. Rollin McCraty, Director of Research at the Heartmath Institute. Learn how this is reflected in our heart rate variability (HRV) and why this metric is so vitally important.
It turns out that the heart has a nervous system of its own, a 'heart brain,' that sends nine times more the information to our intracranial brains than it receives from it, in this bi-directional flow.
HRV reflects the functioning of our nervous system and can be used as feedback, enabling us to reach a state of coherence, that is, a more optimal state of mental, emotional, and creative functionality, even improving our equilibrium and intuition. In this mode of enhanced self-regulation there are also numerous health, behavioral and cognitive benefits.
Backed by hundreds of studies, the phenomenon operates not only at a personal level but also at a societal one, even having a global reach.
Given the punishing, unrelenting global stress levels of the last two years, this much needed, vitally important information could hardly be more timely.
Based on her remarkable work, Rock Your Midlife-7 Steps to Transform Yourself and Make Your Next Chapter your Best Chapter, Dr. Ellen Albertson, psychologist, dietician, national board-certified health and wellness coach, besides the many other hats that she wears, lays out a treasure trove of helpful evidence -based detail with a healthy mix of kitchen-table advice nuggets, deliciously peppered with her own infectious humour.
Dr. Ellen walks us through the realization when one feels one may be stuck in life and that things need to radically change, showing us a path to acquiring the skill to surf the waves of change. Her keen mind guides us through the need to be authentic (needing to shed what is not ours, rather than trying to become something else) and from there how to navigate the accompanying challenges like fatigue, self-loathing and destructive selflessness, viewing them as portals and opportunities for change, the requisite switchover in the journey being the movement from WE to ME.
All along the way, Dr. Ellen gives context and offers solutions that are both practical and accessible. From caterpillar to primal soup to the vital dance of the joyful butterfly, this book extends to a further stage- 'finessing the phoenix' - where change is savoured rather than met with dread.
She also lays out the significant role that spirituality can play in this entire process- truly food for both the brain and heart.
I highly recommend this book!
In this episode, we discuss emerging topics in Family Medicine like polypharmacy, over-medicalization as well over-diagnosis. We also reflect on the value that family physicians add, particularly at this time when their discipline is under significant threat, both in terms of staff shortages, expanded responsibilities, technological demands and burgeoning paperwork, some of it questionable and much of it unpaid.
Generalists, like family physicians, too infrequently receive due credit in an age of innovation and specialization, yet they remain the faithful gatekeepers and the backbone of the western medical delivery networks. Most importantly, they provide ongoing longitudinal care, often at a trans-generational level, a service that is invaluable, particularly when we as patients age.
Given the breadth and scope that is both expected and required of them, they manage to survive and navigate the enormous burden of uncertainty that they inevitably have to bear.
Dr. Raymond Gottschalk, specialist in sleep and respiratory medicine, dissects the nature of sleep, debunking a few myths along the way. He discusses the various sleep disorders, their prevalence, which has markedly increased over the years, and also the relationship of sleep disorders to chronic diseases including obesity and recent maladaptive social and lifestyle habits.
He points out that insomnia is a bio-behavioural and a brain disorder, hence CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy being a gold standard for treatment.
Ground breaking and encouraging developments in the field are also highlighted that could all potentially become game- changers with respect to treatment.
Dr. Robert Barrett, social scientist and author of 'Hardwired,' explains how our survivalist skills that have enabled us to reach our current stage of complexity and abundance now appear to paradoxically be working against our health and wellbeing in our current vastly changed social, economic and technological landscape. Current modes of heath care delivery have not exactly adapted particularly well either to the new reality.
He offers anecdotes, studies and historical examples to make a compelling argument that technologically driven behaviours and changes in the way that we communicate have both highlighted and catapulted the importance of social interaction and discourse with regard to chronic disease and mental disorders. It is likely that never before have social stressors been so pervasive, unrelenting and distressing. More disturbing is that even young children don't escape these harmful social pressures that affect their brain development, attention span and cause mental issues.
His advice is straightforward, 'stay healthy,' which he concedes is more easily said than done, but his knowledge, advice and insights may well highly motivate you to do so, once you better understand the social terrain.
Shauna Sky Romano, kinesiologist, athlete, and coach to elite athletes believes that “while the principles of high performance and science don’t change, the art is the application of those principles through movement, and the magic lies in developing a love for movement.”
Her clients include people recovering from injuries as well as those with chronic pain and chronic disease. Exercise, of course has a central role in this, and the problem has always been durability, or how to get clients to maintain their exercise routines. A similar situation is also of course also seen with dietary advice, where, although the rationale for the prescribed diet is sound, adherence to the plan doesn’t always necessarily follow.
So, what do we do? The traditional response is usually along the lines of getting therapists and coaches to come up with new and innovative motivational strategies.
On the other hand, perhaps it’s simply time that our communal attitude towards exercise and movement needs to radically change.
Also learn about the potential of dance therapy in health maintenance, chronic disease, and neuro-degenerative disorders.
A lively and inspirational discussion that uncovers and contemplates possibility.
I interview Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith, author of “The Well- Gardened Mind”- The Restorative Power of Nature. She is both a psychiatrist and a gardener. The utility and value of this book can hardly be overemphasized, given the pressurized and frankly pathogenic or illness inducing-lifestyles that many of us lead today, often while being quite detached from Nature or Source. The Well Gardened Mind, is a work that both educates and delights. It is a cornucopia of facts, stories, anecdotes, and possibility. Like gardening itself, it opens up the mind and the heart.
Moved by a familial connection to gardening involving her grandfather’s recovery and rehabilitation after captivity as a prisoner-of war, and her own personal experience of the physical and mental benefits of gardening, Dr. Stuart-Smith illustrates the significantly positive effect gardening may have on mental recovery and equilibrium with regard to stress management, mood, and anxiety disorders. Frequent close contact with Nature allows one to reconnect with others as well as with life itself, gardening having been useful in the rehabilitation and treatment of addictions and chronic pain, as well as in mental hospital and prison programs.
Gardening teaches us that we are never entirely in control. It slows us down in order to adapt to Nature’s pace, tending to steer us towards contemplating time in a cyclical manner rather than in our usual linear way. Gardening is ultimately a transcendental experience and arguably also a spiritual one, as it connects us to something greater than ourselves and offers us a higher meaning that goes way beyond anyone's individual life.
By learning to prefer ‘generativity over stagnation,’ we may become more collaborative than competitive. Nature, after all, need not explain herself. She simply exists and prevails.
This is an absolute ‘must read’ in my opinion.
Dr. Tanguay clearly explains how untreated mental trauma is a common confounder in the treatment of mental health conditions. What is often labeled as treatment-resistant depression or anxiety disorder, for example, may well turn out to be driven and complicated by untreated mental trauma.
Aversive childhood events and mental trauma often lie at the root of mental disorders, yet these are either overlooked or more surprisingly, left untreated. Any mental illness that co-exists with untreated trauma, rarely has a favorable outcome, the trauma continuing to drive, exacerbate, and aggravate the mental condition.
In this episode, you will learn more about early mental trauma and its effects, not only in chronic pain, addictions, and an array of mental disorders, but also how it increases one’s susceptibility to a range of physical diseases and increases the risk of suicide and reduced life expectancy. There are two key, age-old adages in medicine; number one, “first do no harm,” and the other is most applicable in this very situation, which is to “firstly try to remove the cause,” when possible.
Learn too, about the new advances in the treatment of trauma and the role and importance of meaning, acceptance, increased functionality, and a return to purposeful work and a healthy lifestyle for recovery. He also addresses the vitally important societal issue of inter-generational trauma.
Dr. Tanguay’s innovative approach at the Newly Institute is ground- breaking, as it includes the assessment and treatment of mental trauma, addictions, chronic pain, and other psychiatric conditions all at one location, providing timeous, comprehensive, and highly customized treatment plans delivered by an inter-disciplinary team, setting a whole new standard in mental health care delivery.
Dr. Hoffman, a leading integrative and functional medicine physician, details an added comprehensive, holistic approach to complex and chronic disease that factors in the social, psycho-spiritual, family dynamics and generational issues that often play a role in dis-ease causation.
Early childhood trauma of any kind as well as neglect can enormously impact the pathogenesis of disease as well as the course of recovery.
This approach is foundational to his '7 Stages to Health and Transformation Model (TM), that is fundamental in mind-body medicine.
An educational piece on chronic pain treatment in two parts.
Part 1 - shows how an overly bleak, negative pain story that we present to physicians, family and friends can undermine our best efforts at recovery and how to prevent this.
Part 2 - illustrates how a firm foundation for recovery can be built by establishing: the meaning of our chronic pain, the need to accept 'what is,' and what needs to be done about it, and thirdly the importance of expectation, and how we can reach a place where we can have more positive expectations that are also realistic.
This gives context to our treatment, positions us better for recovery, and removes the feeling that we are operating 'in vacuo.'
Dr. Pawa provides a lucid overview of mind-body treatment approaches, offering compelling insights and examples. All along the way her incisive intelligence, compassion and obvious love for her calling shine through.
Most of all, she makes the discipline accessible and easy to implement by providing exactly what is needed whenever there is dis-ease that is usually accompanied by fatigue, low energy and anxiety.
Her over-arching message is simple and clear; it is one of hope and possibility, but it is also a crystal clear call to action.
Dr. Bal is a rare and outstanding teacher with the hallmark approach of a true healer.
Spirituality includes a great number of perspectives, ideas, approaches, and behaviors that usually include two features: a connection with something larger than us, perhaps our potential higher selves, as well as a search for meaning that is universal and not solely limited to our own lives.
Studies have shown that people with an active spiritual life, and this may or may not include religious involvement, have more favorable health outcomes especially regarding mental issues, stress, coping skills and reported quality of life.
Remember that we don't have to seek spirituality out or conjure it up. It is innate, but may be dormant, hidden or buried; we only need to resuscitate it. Spirituality has always been a major part of our consciousness, constantly prodding us for attention ever since we first developed the ability to reflect on our own behaviors and thoughts.
Dr. Raymond Gottschalk, specialist in sleep and respiratory medicine, dissects the nature of sleep, debunking a few myths along the way. He discusses the various sleep disorders, their prevalence, which has markedly increased over the years, and also the relationship of sleep disorders to chronic diseases including obesity and recent maladaptive social and lifestyle habits.
He points out that insomnia is a bio-behavioural and a brain disorder, hence CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy being a gold standard for treatment.
Ground breaking and encouraging developments in the field are also highlighted that could all potentially become game- changers with respect to treatment.
Necie Edward's health journey was triggered when she developed fibromyalgia. Her commitment to understanding the nature of her chronic pain and her persistence with he changes that she knew she needed to make, transformed her initial challenge and reversal into a inspirational story of triumph.
Dr. Robert Barrett, social scientist and author of 'Hardwired,' explains how our survivalist skills that have enabled us to reach our current stage of complexity and abundance now appear to paradoxically be working against our health and wellbeing in our current vastly changed social, economic and technological landscape. Current modes of heath care delivery have not exactly adapted particularly well either to the new reality.
He offers anecdotes, studies and historical examples to make a compelling argument that technologically driven behaviours and changes in the way that we communicate have both highlighted and catapulted the importance of social interaction and discourse with regard to chronic disease and mental disorders. It is likely that never before have social stressors been so pervasive, unrelenting and distressing. More disturbing is that even young children don't escape these harmful social pressures that affect their brain development, attention span and cause mental issues.
His advice is straightforward, 'stay healthy,' which he concedes is more easily said than done, but his knowledge, advice and insights may well highly motivate you to do so, once you better understand the social terrain.
Dr. Hoffman, a leading integrative and functional medicine physician, details an added comprehensive, holistic approach to complex and chronic disease that factors in the social, psycho-spiritual, family dynamics and generational issues that often play a role in dis-ease causation.
Early childhood trauma of any kind as well as neglect can enormously impact the pathogenesis of disease as well as the course of recovery.
This approach is foundational to his '7 Stages to Health and Transformation Model (TM), that is fundamental in mind-body medicine.
Healthscape- Its Focus, Direction and Goals. Wednesdays at 12 PM Pacific
In this show, Dee Daniels, executive producer at Voice America, again interviews Dr. Trevor Campbell, to find out what Healthscape is all about.
As the name suggests, Healthscape will focus more on health issues rather than disease, and will highlight health resilience, self-help behavioral interventions, and the importance of healthful environments, mental focus and thinking patterns that can be utilized in chronic mental and physical disease. This can maximize the overall treatment plan and significantly improve health outcomes.
Healthscape will also shed light on the relatively new subdiscipline of Epigenetics, where various factors like lifestyle, environment and other, ultimately influence the way our genes are expressed.
Furthermore, Healthscape will discuss the emerging ‘bigger issues’ in medicine and health that will include issues that affect medical service delivery and quality, new innovations, and technology.
In this podcast I discuss the medical discipline in which I work, the treatment of chronic pain, a disease that affects about 20% of the population in developed countries. I'm particularly focused on the bio-psychosocial approaches to chronic pain, where we treat the psychological and social issues of the disorder as part of a holistic approach.
Most pain experts claim that this category of treatment must be provided in order for recovery to occur, and yet it is difficult to access outside of expensive multi-disciplinary pain management programs that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, placing it out of the range of most people.