Stress Can Take All the Merry Out of Christmas
Whatever your spiritual roots, winter brings a time of celebration and ritual that is supposed to give greater meaning and peace to your life. But how do you find real good tidings and joy in the daunting seasonal rites of bumper-car mall parking, stampeding shoppers, frenzied gift-buying, frantic wrapping, nonstop cooking, baking and entertaining relatives you see only once a year (for good reason)? Try remembering that the holidays are about celebration, not performance. It's not about perfection. It's about what works for you and your family.

Supplemental Health Insurance Is Making a Comeback
Supplemental health insurance, designed to fill gaps in major medical insurance policies, is making a comeback after falling into disrepute and even being banned in several states in past decades. Such policies can cover everything from accidents to cancer to disability. Rising health-care costs are behind the trend. But the question remains: Are such policies a good deal? The answer: It depends.

Patients Value Communication Along with Good Health Care
Given the choice, most patients would rather have a doctor who pays attention and explains things clearly than one who can memorize the latest medical journals. Patients dissatisfied with the communication accompanying their health care are more likely to switch doctors and less likely to follow the doctor's instructions, which tends to make them less healthy. Does your doctor need help understanding this? You can help. Don't be shy. Ask questions. Make a list ahead of time. Rephrase the question if the answer isn't clear.

Mini-Strokes Seen Bigger Danger Sign
Mini-strokes that involve brief lapses in blood flow to the brain may be a bigger danger sign than previously thought. Doctors have long known that mini-strokes, or transient ischemic attacks (TIA), can be an early warning of a full-blown stroke. But a new study suggests the danger may be much more imminent than doctors believed. Researchers were surprised that half of the strokes happened within just two days of the initial attack. TIAs need to be taken very seriously by the patient and by the hospitals.

Dr. Galland's Integrated Medicine
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body, a necessary co-factor for hundreds of enzymes, and the most critical mineral of all for coping with stress. Stress-related diseases which run rampant through modern society, like heart attacks and high blood pressure, are often accompanied by magnesium deficiency. Unfortunately, most Americans consume diets that fail to meet the government's RDA for magnesium, and magnesium intake is even lower than average among people who develop heart disease, according to Dr. Leo Galland in his column "Magnesium: The Stress Reliever".

The Healer Within
One of the self-healing methods of the ancients that is easy and inexpensive yet absolutely profound is breath practice. In his column "Exhale to Compress the Organs" Dr. Roger Jahnke reveals a breath practice that is quite remarkable. This method takes the exhalation of the full chest and abdominal breath to a radical extreme that dramatically shifts the pressure in the pelvic, abdominal and chest cavities. The exhalation continues, until it feels as if the body and organs are compressing toward the center. This practice has a profound effect on the nervous system and the lymphatic elimination of waste from the tissues. It unleashes a powerful healing energy. It takes just a few moments, costs nothing, is always with you, just a breath away.

Dr. Weil Self-Healing
In a culture that seems to value youth, growing older is often cause for apprehension, with fears of declining health and reduced capabilities. In his column "HGH: Forever Young?" Andrew Weil, M.D. states that it is no surprise to him that anti-aging remedies of all sorts are flying off the shelves. He expresses his concerns about heavily hyped human growth hormone (hGH) and sites conflicting research results.

Mind Over Matter
Yes the holiday season is upon us again. For some this time of the year is not about gifts and family get-togethers. Rather it's about loss and loneliness and despair - the loved-ones we miss, the relationships that remain severed and our perceived personal failures that mounted during the preceding months. In the column "The Holiday Season: a time to go the extra mile" Barry Bittman, M.D. encourages you to find a friend, a loved-one, a co-worker, a neighbor or even a stranger on the edge, who needs more than the Christmas gifts under the tree. They need - through you - a smile, a positive gesture, the touch of a hand extending a life-saving connection, a vital tug in a direction that shifts their balance toward choosing life rather than giving up. This is your chance to truly discover the joy of making a positive difference in another person's life.

Mind Boosters
Ashwagandha is a shrub cultivated in India and North America whose roots have been used for thousands of years by Ayurvedic practitioners as a folk remedy. In the column "Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)" Ray Sahelian, M.D. alerts us to several recent studies that indicate that ashwagandha has antioxidant properties and influences brain chemistry.

Understanding Homeopathy
Are you interested in experimenting with homeopathic medicines? In the column "Ten Common Homeopathic Medicines" Dana Ullman, M.P.H. selects a well-rounded assortment and explains how each is used. His list includes Allium cepa, Arnica, Chamomilla, Hypericum, Ignatia, Magnesia phosphorica, Nux vomica, Pulsatilla and Rhus tox.

"Power to the Patient" With Lowell Levin, Ed.D., M.P.H.
In "Power to the Patient" Tom Ferguson, M.D. interviews Lowell Levin, Ed.D., M.P.H., who's training in both education and public health allows him to look at the intersection of the two disciplines with unusual insight. He views school health education as a real disaster area. "Not only are we not teaching our kids much that is useful, we may be actively destroying their innate abilities to care for themselves." He feels we desperately need to transform our so-called health classes into experiences that genuinely promote increased self-care, self-discovery, and opportunities for increased control of one's own life. Dr. Levin recommends giving our kids a good solid education in clinical medicine, just like we do in reading and arithmetic, so they can develop into assertive, educated adults who understand and believe they can and must participate in what's going on with their health care.

Healthy Recipes
Fabulous Functional Foods recipes from Chef Oscar Umahro Cadogan of Denmark brings you "Tomato Cream" to use as a base for soups, dressing, sauces, or as a spread. The taste is something entirely different than canned tomatoes: Much purer and intense and less acidic. But be forewarned. Once you become accustomed to using fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes loose all appeal.

Healthy Bookstore
God is not a person or a thing but rather a process, according to world-renowned author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra. The purpose of "How to Know God: The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries" is to assure readers that anyone can engage in this process. Chopra is a gifted narrator, able to make human anatomy and quantum physics understandable while also keeping spiritual and metaphysical discussions grounded. As he drifts through the cloudy realms of ESP, telepathy, clairvoyance, miracles, obedience, loyalty, evil, ego, addictions, and mentors, readers can trust that there is a competent pilot at the helm, deftly guiding this excellent book.

Healthy Travel
2001 Winter Cruise to the Caribbean is "The Ultimate Mind/Body Spa-At-Sea". Relax and rejuvenate in a paradise for Mind, Body, Heart and Soul March 18-25, 2001. Travel on the world's first smoke-free floating superliner. Visit Nassau/Paradise Island, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas/ St. John. Share the warmth and wisdom of over a dozen leading authors and experts in holistic living and natural health - including Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., Susan Miller, and Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D.

Healthy Child Update
Coughing is a common symptom and one of the main signs of respiratory tract diseases. The treatment of coughs is one area where the use of certain herbal remedies remains common. In "Treatment of Coughs with Herbal Remedies" Francis Brinker, N.D. talks about the cough reflex, then explains how the various treatment options work - cough suppressants, bronchial relaxants, stimulant expectorants, aromatic relaxants, inhalation therapy, and topical treatments.

Healthy Woman Update
Research reveals that one out of three Americans is obese, making overfatness nothing short of a national epidemic. The incidence of obesity has increased by 25 percent in the last 15 years. What's the answer? In the column "Fit or Fat?" Wayne Westcott, Ph.D. and Jane Guy, M.Ed. comment "First, exercise works, but too few people are doing it. Second, everyone is dieting, but diets don't work." They recommend exercise programs with strength training which add lean (muscle) weight, increase resting metabolism, and burn calories all day long. Getting back to basic exercise may be the key for women (and men) who want to attain, and maintain a desirable bodyweight and body composition.

Professional Referral Network
The Professional Referral Network contains searchable directories for 20 leading professional associations in complementary and integrative health care, with over 16,000 professionals. Looking for a healthcare professional specializing in progressive dental care? The Dentistry section includes the Holistic Dental Association member database.

Medical Cybrarian Research Service
Medical librarians were formerly only available through a hospital or university medical library. Now referred to on HealthWorld Online as a "Cybrarian," this librarian in cyberspace can help you locate the really hard-to-find material on diseases and their treatments.

The Cybrarian offers you personalized research service, searching the Internet, books, MEDLINE and other databases, to find EXACTLY the information you require. The Cybrarian can custom design research for individual patients or healthcare professionals, as well as healthcare industry business people, including information on diseases, treatments, products, market research or statistics for alternative, complementary and conventional medicine. For reasonable fees, the Cybrarian carefully gathers and selects the information or points you to useful web sites and other sources, with the speed and searching techniques acquired from many years of professional research.

Participate in our Online Community--Join our Discussion Forums
The Qigong and Taiji Forum has a request from a man in the Midwest looking for qigong teachers familiar with "Empty Hands" and its clinical use in Oriental Medicine. Can you help him?

Join in the ongoing discussion in our "Health Freedom," "The Vaccination Question," "Genetically Modified Foods," "Issues in Integrated Health Care," "Mind-Body-Spirit Health," and "Qigong and Taiji" forums.

Association Network -- Hot Pick
The American Herbalists Guild (AHG) is a peer-review organization for professional herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants. AHG promotes excellence in herbalism, serves as an information referral center for the herbal community, and serves as a liaison that interfaces with professional associations and regulatory agencies.

Visit American Herbalists Guild

Global Health Calendar -- Hot Picks

Anti-Aging Conference and Exposition
8th International Congress on Anti-Aging and BioMedical Technologies
Las Vegas, NV USA
December 15-17, 2000
Contact: American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine - 312-345-7919

Trans-Cultural Interdisciplinary Medicine
Beirut, Jabal Lubnan LEBANON
December 26, 2000
Contact: CME Travel World - 702-871-0592

The Maha Kumbha Mela World Event
Honesdale, PA USA
January 5-30, 2001
Contact: Himalayan Institute - 800-822-4547

Retreat in Tepotzlan, Mexico
Join artist Karl Barnhardt & psychologist Dr. Beverly Nelson
Tepotzlan, Mexico MEXICO
January 15-26, 2001
Contact: Outward Journeys for Inward Development - 972-733-4827

National Health Care Summit
Addressing health care issues for northern and remote communities
Prince George, British Columbia CANADA
January 18-20, 2001
Contact: City of Prince George - 250-614-6648

Victoria Health Show
Victoria, British Columbia CANADA
January 20-21, 2001
Contact: Canadian National Health Shows - 604-885-0960