A boy gets a pile of manure for his birthday. Gleefully, he dives into it, yelling, “there’s gotta be a pony under it!” Two monks wonder if it is OK to smoke and pray at the same time. They decide to separately ask their master about it. The first one comes back dejected, saying the m

When I was in medical school, I studied out of journals, not textbooks. I felt the latter were dated. I left them at school so I could read Asimov, Henry Miller, Tolstoy, Hugo, Dostoyevsky, etc. I even read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich along with the PBS TV series. It is the b

SPECIAL ISSUE ON WEIGHT LOSS, DAIRY Nearly everyone has tried to lose weight. Often, we fail and/or regain the weight. Why? This issue features two full articles on this vexing problem. If you do not wish to study them, here is a brief summary on why it is difficult to lose weight: de

Three out of five Americans suffer from loneliness.[1] The negative health consequences are far reaching. Ironically, social media offers no relief. Having been lonely most of my life, I ask my patients about it. What can we do to mitigate it? A lot, but I focus on a few principles. O

We all have our favorite philosophers and avatars. I like Calvin & Hobbes, George Carlin and Balsekar. No matter who we are inspired by, the lesson is the same, and quite simple: we are all brothers and we are to love each other unconditionally. No need to look for “the mysteries”

Every week, I get at least one phone call from a patient asking for an antibiotic prescription for a cold, a cough, a runny nose and other assorted respiratory and urinary symptoms. I have never complied with their requests. “My other doctor did it all the time!” “Sorry to hear.” I re

I have to make sense of the forest before I micromanage each tree: I suffer from the Ionian Enchantment. Back around 600 BC, greek philosophers maintained that all knowledge is linked, a concept that Dr. Wilson recently rehashed in his book CONCILIENCE. This is why I became a Generali

Annual Microbiome Issue Most people give up trying to eat healthy because of contradicting information. Take eggs. One year they are OK, but the following year they are not. I am sure you can think of many other examples. What is missing from any discussion on the best diet is the sta