Patients undergoing surgery often experience a loss of control, feeling more like victims than participants. Anxiety, fear of the unknown, fear of pain, dependency, uncertainty, and helplessness are common emotions which can intensify the perception...
There is an accumulation of evidence that chronic hostility and chronic depression are major risk factors in heart disease. For many patients, it may be as important to learn and practice skills for managing these emotional states as it is to quit...
Scientists have known for years that major and minor life stresses interfere with immune function and contribute to disease. Stressful life events increase your susceptibility to several types of infections, from the common cold to tuberculosis, and...
Most illnesses result from a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, behavioral, and psychosocial factors. Rarely is any one of these factors the sole cause of a disease. For example, many people exposed to germs do not develop illness...
Epidemics of parasitic infection from contaminated water and of bacterial food poisoning from chicken or hamburger serve notice that the U.S. food and water supply is not safe, according to Leo Galland, M.D. Pesticides and preservatives provide no...
A study on aging found that for men the frequency of sexual intercourse was associated with lower death rates. For women the enjoyment of intercourse was associated with longer life. In "Sex May Prolong Life" David S. Sobel, M.D. shows us studies...
Have you ever said, or been told, “Let’s just be friends”? This phrase carries some implicit disappointment, as though the blind date you had pinned all your hopes on turns out to be a cousin. While we may enjoy the evening, we...
Patients often only communicate symptoms such as pain, wheezing, swelling, itching. Physicians often remain unaware of how the symptoms impact the patient?s life. Similar symptoms may have very different importance for different patients. It is...
According to an article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the actual difference between optimists and pessimists just might amount to about 12 years of life. There is now proof that it's not the stress that kills us. Rather, it's our perception of stress...
This statement is usually spoken within minutes by almost everyone who calls me. I can hear it in their voice. The words gather momentum as they speak and sentences soon collide with each other. Their breathing is more like panting, as though they...
David S. Sobel MD
Leo Galland MD FACN
Robert Rabbin
Barry Bittman MD