Physician | Journalist
You’re finally eligible and got one of those elusive appointments! Or maybe you’ve been on the fence, and have finally decided to join your vaccinated friends. Congratulations. Here are some tips for how to have the best vaccine experience.
No less a magazine than Mother Jones recently published an account of an alternative medicine researcher claiming the truly horrifying: kale might be bad for you. His patients, otherwise healthy, started presenting with digestive problems, fatigue, and skin and hair problems. He found that a lot of them had elevated thallium levels — and that a lot of them ate significant amounts of brassicas, the plant family that includes kale and cabbage. When he had some patients remove these foods from their diet, their thallium levels dropped and their symptoms improved.
The world seemed to rejoice when dark chocolate was pronounced a “healthy” food. Finally, after decades of every edible pleasure being slapped with a “DO NOT EAT” sign, we have something that’s delicious, luxurious, has a little caffeine and might prevent heart attacks.
In January 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported alarming numbers of positive COVID-19 tests from popular businesses including Home Depot, Target, and Costco, with hundreds of staff members infected. Seven Costcos in the area had at least 15 infected staff, according to the Times.
The infected workplaces highlight a troubling fact: Despite social distancing messages outside and long lines to get in, simply going to get a bag of dog food or a new faucet could be a deadly exercise in Los Angeles.
One of the biggest conundrums of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the simultaneous panic-hiring of medical professionals in hot spots and significant downsizing of staff across the country.
Roberto Devereux is a lesser-known Donizetti confection, and erstwhile Artistic Director Plácido Domingo was set to hot-ticket this tale of Queen Elizabeth and her lover Essex that likely hasn’t been an opera question on Jeopardy! See my review here.
Check out my review of LA Opera’s Eurydice, performed in February 2020.
Did you know that black raspberries are having a moment in medical research? Multiple studies have shown that black raspberries have unique aspects that make them good little cancer-fighters.
Sitting is bad, and standing is good. That’s been the message of 2015 — that even if you go for a run after work, the amount of time you sat helped to increase your risk for diabetes and death. Yikes.
While allergies might seem inevitable, a healthy dose of prevention may well keep you away from your usual medicines. Ask yourself these key questions to start:
Earlier this month, Parton posted a video of herself getting a COVID-19 vaccine to social media, with the caption “Dolly gets a dose of her own medicine.”
Many commenters lauded the country music superstar for her efforts to help fund the Moderna vaccine. Others pointed out something else, entirely: her shirt.
Idaho Statesman features my Tweet about the shirt Dolly Parton and I both wore to get the COVID-19 vaccine, here.
Forbes quotes me in their article about popular fast food chain’s recent shut-down.
Monya De, MD MPH 