Practicing Gratitude Daily

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

November is a reflective time of year, one packed with beauty, splendour, wonder and tradition - a perfect time to ponder gratitude. Whether you are seasoned in the art of gratitude or a novice spending time developing this skill, you will reap huge benefits. The emotional and physiological benefits are numerous. Being thankful and holding that feeling for just 15-20 seconds can actually reduce the stress hormones in your body, relax the coronary arteries and increase the blood supply to your heart. Another bonus, which we are all concerned about today as we face the H1N1 swine flu is that being grateful can actually increase your immune system. Doesn't this sound like a skill that you should spend some time investing in? By contrast, the use of anti-depressant medication has nearly doubled over the last 10-year period from 1996-2005. Currently, 10 percent of the population over the age of 6 is taking some kind of psychotropic drug. Is being "medicated" the new normal? [more…]

A Great Big Public Health Experiment - At What Cost?

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

The powerful topic from BusinessWeek, September 7, 2009 reads: Is Merck Overselling a Cancer Vaccine? This served as a very stimulating topic for my show last week as fresh controversies heat up over the marketing of products to "protect cervical cancer." Great debate exists over the topic of vaccinations in general; however, this particular vaccine is of concern because what is sold is a protection against cancer when in fact it is really a protection against some strains of HPV or the human papilloma virus. As both a doctor and mother myself, this leaves room for great discussion with real facts as well as honest science. I think of the majority of moms who wouldn't even think twice about saying "of course, let's vaccinate" if they were told by their physician this will protect your daughter from cervical cancer. After all, what mom wouldn't? ...based on a physician saying just that. Caution-there's more to the story. [more...]

Debunking the H1N1 Swine Flu

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

The news media is beginning to create hysteria and fear surrounding the H1N1 Swine Flu. I must first say, this is very real and to be taken seriously. However, it is not different than any other health situation where people in poor health are at greater risk. This is always the case! Everyone needs to be aware of building and strengthening their immune system. Infants, babies, toddlers and the elderly have a natural weakened immunity. Obviously, respect the importance of sleep, water, limit alcohol and smoking. Be aware of your body's reaction to stress and limit wherever possible. I suggest everyone watch a very important 60 Minutes video on my Web site and listen to the podcast of my show. You'll also find the suggested quality supplements you'll need. Please before you make any decisions educate yourself. [more...]

We Don't Have a Health Care Crisis - We Have a Crisis in How We Think About Health Care

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

As I sicken myself glossing over the 1,000+ page document supposedly created to “reform” our troubled health care system, the thought of my illness turns from acute to chronic. I become nauseous at the thought of the expense we continue to incur with government-ease attorney writings, which have absolutely nothing to do with health and everything to do with creating more expense with the likes of “judicial review” and so-called “Health Choices Commissioner” as well as the “Health Care Exchange.” Benjamin Rush, MD, a founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence said over 200 years ago: “Unless we put medical freedom into The Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers.” The words I read in this 2009 document certainly sound like an undercover dictatorship - one that was envisioned by a very wise man. [more…]

Unhealthy Bed Partners

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

As promised, this is the first week of the action steps to reverse our current health care crisis. In an industry that spends $50 billion on advertising alone, this first action step requires an honest inventory of the relationship of 'Big Pharma' and the politicians it gets elected to run our government. Unless we get Big Pharma out of medical schools we will never change our present mentality, which has us stuck in a revolving door. The revolving door presents room for the disease model only. Allow me to explain. In our current system, we use a disease model rather than a wellness model for health care. We therefore spend all our time and resources on disease. We look to a pill and/or surgery as the answer to every health problem. Don't get me wrong; we need both pharmaceuticals and surgery. The fact of the matter is that both save lives. The problem is that we abuse them rather than use them. Such faulty thinking eliminates the personal responsibility of the individual. Lack of freedom creates lack of responsibility. This allegiance presents misguided judgments from even the best-intended thoughts. [more...]

America's Health Care Crisis

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

Benjamin Rush MD, a Founding Father and Declaration of Independence signer, stated: "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers. To restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privilege to others will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are UN-American and despotic and have no place in a republic. The Constitution of this republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom."

Over 200 years later, we are living what Dr. Rush envisioned. We must adhere to a dictatorship - a failing one at that. The answers to our health care conundrum lie in freedom of choice - freedom, which rewards all of us personally as well as nationally. The answers are there; however, they require honest politics, dissemination of information free of censorship, closing of the revolving door between the FDA and Big Pharma, education, and the rewarding of positive lifestyle behaviors by each and every American who are willing to restore health to the USA. Over the next several months, I will be proposing an action item a week to reverse our current health care crisis. Stay tuned... [more...]

Food Safety Bill?

By Dr. Evelyn Higgins

If Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has her way, H.R. 875 ("Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009") will be a reality. She introduced this bill February 4, 2009 while the nation was in deep debate over passage of President Obama's "Stimulus Bill." Smart move. DeLauro's bill is supposed to protect the U.S. food supply; however, it leaves a lot of wiggle room. It leaves small farmers, especially organic farmers, at a great disadvantage to the corporate giants. Enter the world of politics. As we all know by now, in politics, everything is premeditated, nothing is by accident. This bill masquerades itself as a food safety bill while cutting the legs out from under the farmers - the blood, sweat and tears behind the family farm in America. You would think we are finally waking up; we are going green (even Washington tells us to go green) but you're wrong. It's only on the terms specified by the giants. So what mega giant business would benefit from knocking out any competition? Monsanto, the giant of genetically engineered food - the same folks that brought us the excitotoxin aspartame, which literally translates to exciting your neurons to death. That one was snuck in under the guise of helping you to lose weight, so of course it's good for you. Interestingly enough Congresswoman DeLauro's husband , Stanley Greenberg, a political strategist, has Monsanto as a client. Change? Where is the change? [more...]