Helping your children identify and cope with stress
From the moment we become parents, we do everything we can to protect our children both physically and emotionally. We teach them not to touch the hot stove, to look both ways before they cross the street, how to ask for help when they need it. As they get older, those physical risks may seem…
Happy Birthday, Ma!
Today is a very important day for my family. My mother would have turned 80. She would have had a big birthday party with most of her children and grandchildren getting together to celebrate it with her. Instead, we took my father and two brothers and their families to dinner tonight to think of our…
What is EXTRA in extra virgin olive oil? Olive oil and the Mediterranean diet
Last week, my son told me about an NPR program regarding the Mediterranean diet and the benefits of polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) that he listened to on his way home from work. Within an hour, Thu emailed me to say we needed to write about this NPR story she just heard. Having…
Check out our many new postings
If you depend on our emails to let you know about new postings, you might think we’ve been hanging out, enjoying the beautiful weather here in Maryland. It turns out, we’ve just been having technical difficulties! Here are links to some of the articles from the past week. I’ll send the links to others tomorrow….
Seagull Century Ride and the Art of Long Distance Biking
The above picture shows my husband David at mile 85 of the Seagull Century’s one hundred mile bike ride for charity. We dedicated our ride for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society again, as my mom was diagnosed with Lymphoma before she died last year. This last stop was the “grand finale” rest stop where the riders were…
Hormone Replacement Therapy and Heart Disease
In recent years I have seen men have their testosterone levels checked more often than their cholesterol profile. What’s more interesting is the amount pharmaceuticals have invested to create testosterone supplements for men with “low T”: there are gels and rubs and various other products. But what about women? The last anyone talked about our…
Gina’s Story and “The 3 Foot Law”
The picture above was taken shortly after my first triathlon two years ago in Washington D.C. Dr. Diane Laurin and I participated in this fun event where we were to swim a mile in the Potomac river, ride 25 miles and run 6.2 miles. The week before the triathlon took place, hurricane Irene arrived with…
What’s New with Flu (2013-2014) Vaccine?
You’re probably more aware than you care to be that influenza is a highly infectious viral illness. It causes moderate to severe illness in all age groups around the world. Common symptoms of the flu include fever, body aches, fatigue, cough, sore throat and congestion. In recent years, averages of 20,000 preventable deaths and 200,000…
“Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain
I thoroughly enjoyed “Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain, about the 1/3 of our population who consider themselves introverts. It spoke to me because it described me so well. There is a ‘quiz’ on page 13, on which I scored 16 out of 20 for introvertedness. It…
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman, M.D.
How Doctors Think By Jerome Groopman, M.D. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007 This book, How Doctors Think, inspired me to improve my skills as a practicing physician. This fascinating read, written by Dr. Groopman, who is a frequent medical writer and a prominent hematologist/oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, details the cognitive processes that…