Straight Shot Health Talk

Can You Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia in the world. It is also the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Standard medical treatments like medication do not improve or prevent it. In fact, they only delay progression of symptoms for about 6 months. So here are...Read More »

Should health insurance pay for placebo therapies? Some people say “No” especially when it comes to “alternative” medicine. However, what about other more invasive and riskier “placebo” treatments? Hundreds of thousands of these “standard” medical therapies are performed every year… …and in this episode we discuss whether or not insurance pay for them as well. Links for...Read More »

Further reading: Prescription drug facts from the CDC An eye opening account of how a pharmaceutical company marketed misery to make themselves billions of dollars.   Another account of that story is here. Here’s an interesting story about what happened to the people using Oxycontin that Purdue Pharma used in their sales videos (needless to say...Read More »

At some point in life everyone (or almost everyone) will experience back pain. Everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you live in Djibouti (where it’s hot when you hurt) or Russia (where it’s cold…). Back pain happens. Just like it’s been happening to us for hundreds of thousands of years. However, what is a relatively new phenomenon is chronic pain...Read More »

9 of the top 10 largest pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than they do on research and development of new drugs.   Why? Is it because they want to make sure all who might need one of their drugs knows about it (and then can “talk to their doctor about getting it…”)? Yup. And that...Read More »

Why do you see your doctor? This should be a simple question but, like most things when it comes to healthcare, it’s a bit more complex than people think. However, the answer can have a significant impact on what happens next. How? Because the wrong approach can create unintended ripples…    

Imagine you’re walking down the street when suddenly the picture window next to you blows out. You’re shocked and stunned but feel okay…until you feel a wetness at your shirt color. Fearfully you look down and see blood running freely.  And you know it’s yours. What do you do? Well, you’re going to try and...Read More »

If you have back pain please take the “The Back Pain Survey“ (If you don’t have back pain…please share this page with anyone who does whom you care about!). The Back Pain Survey is a chance for you to tell me about your back pain. This is important because there is a TON of misleading...Read More »

What are active therapies? What are passive therapies? Is it even important to understand the difference? The quick answer is “Yes.” And in this episode of Straight Shot Health Talk we talk all about them

Changing your lifestyle to create better health is hard!  (If it wasn’t we would never need New Year’s Resolutions

Jeff Pledger, is a Senior Financial Analyst for Verizon where he has worked for the past 23 years   Despite his busy schedule he is involved in many non-profit organizations.   These have included leadership roles in Verizon’s employee resource group, Disabilities Issues Awareness Leaders (DIAL), which advocates for Verizon employees and customers with disabilities.   He is...Read More »

Dr. David Schechter attended Princeton University and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. Accepted to the medical school at New York University he was on his way to a “traditional” path in medicine. However, after searching for solutions for his nagging knee pain he met Dr. John Sarno…and his career path changed. Dr. Sarno, best...Read More »

Many of us know what it is like to fly but we don’t understand how “flight” works. So when we get on an airplane we trust that the pilot does.   Most of us also know how to drive a car but we don’t understand the mechanics of the engine. So if we have car...Read More »

Thinking about back surgery? You’re not alone. 500,000 Americans have spinal fusions every year and the most common reason is for “chronic pain.” But before you decide to have surgery consider these facts: Right now there are no ‘good’ ways to predict who will get better with these major surgeries. (A flip of the coin is...Read More »

International best selling author of The Cry of the Kalahari, Mark Owens spent over 23 years in the wilds of Africa.  There he found a harsh land of severe drought, violent storms, and sudden brush fires.  He and his wife also survived encounters with curious lions and armed bands of poachers! However, he discovered the...Read More »

When you know you’re sick how come doctors can’t figure out why? It’s not an uncommon scenario.  You feel sick and you aren’t sure why.  So you go to your doctor’s office…but leave with more questions than you started with. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with you…” …but that obviously isn’t true because...Read More »

Diana Keuilian from RealHealthyRecipes.com joins us today to talk about healthy eating. As a parent who knows just how important it is for families to eat healthy…I’m embarrassed to admit my family still has processed food in our house… But my excuse of “we’re too busy” won’t cut it anymore! Why? Because Diana is a busy...Read More »

Do you feel more aches and pains with age?  Are you worried you just can’t do the things you used to do? Are you concerned about ‘getting around’ as you get older or think you’re just “too old?” If so, this is the episode for you. My guest is Dan Ritchie, PhD.   Dan has...Read More »

Health can be hard but here are 5 simple things you can do today to decrease your risk of having a fatal heart attack: 1) Walk for 5 minutes for every hour you sit at work. 2) Eat one extra fruit or vegetable each day. 3) Everyday, be thankful for three good things. 4) Use...Read More »

Hate pills but need to take one? Here are a few techniques to make things a bit easier: The “Pop Bottle Method” for tablets (the uncoated large pills) And The “Lean Forward Method” for capsules (the slick, oval ones). Great animations of both of these techniques are available at NPR.org Link to the original study:...Read More »