Breast Cancer: Perspectives and Strategies

Basmaa Ali,  MD

A friend who survived cancer in her 20s once told me, “My body used to be part of me but the cancer made it an adversary. I don’t trust my body anymore”

National Cancer Institute data shows the 5-year survival rate for breast cancer to be 89 percent. By survival measures, breast cancer is the poster child of cancer success stories. Newer pills with fewer side effects and more targeted action allow women even with advanced stage cancer for to live productively for many years.

Regardless of this success in improving survival, the psychological and emotional toll of the disease remains high. Read more

Nutrition: How to Eat Well

Basmaa Ali,  MD

Our ancestors lived on the edge of starvation. In an effort to consume enough calories, we ate a wide variety of foods, which amply serviced the robustness of our immune system, maintenance of our bones and joints, regulatory needs of our mind and a host of housekeeping functions in our bodies integral to health. We took the nutrient density and biochemical diversity of food for granted.

Evolution favored those who were well adapted to calorie scarcity. Most of us, therefore, developed a fondness for sweet and calorie-dense foods. It was to our advantage to gorge on them when we rarely came across them. We intimately knew our food and lived in synchrony with its geography and seasons. Read More

Depression:  The Untold Story

Basmaa Ali,  MD

Poets refer to depression as malaise of the soul, or a grayness of being. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) describes it as “persistent depressed mood and/or pervasive loss of interest/pleasure” for most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks accompanied by three of more of the following symptoms:

• Sleep disorder
• Change in weight or appetite
• Fatigue/loss of energy
• Impaired cognition, judgment, reasoning and/or decision-making
• Difficulty concentrating/indecisiveness
• Guilt/low self-esteem
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is the most common mental ailment in the western world. However, it is the quantity rather than the quality of symptoms that separates those who need professional help from others who need a friend. About 20 percent of us will experience an episode of major depression during our lifetime, but almost all of us will experience depressive symptoms at some point. Read More

Reclaim Your Life from Anxiety

Lee McCarthy, Lic.Ac.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed by worry to the point of physical illness you are not alone. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2008) 18% or almost 40 million Americans have an anxiety disorder. This equates to about one adult in five that experiences an anxiety disorder in a given year.

Anxiety disorders refer to states of irrational fear and worry about real or perceived threats or impending danger. According to the diagnostic standards of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV) the main criteria used to distinguish normal anxiety from an anxiety disorder is the level of impact it has on one’s social, occupational and cognitive functioning. Read More