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Like most bright ideas, this one was sparked while sipping a mojito – why am I not growing mint? Well, this “little project” turned into a full-blown garden last year. So my challenge this year is to share with you how to grow some culinary herbs.

Why Growing Herbs at Home is Great…

• It’s fun. Trust me, the smell of basil straight from the ground will take your mind on a direct flight to southern Italy.
• It’s economical. How many times have you purchased a ginormous bunch of parsley, only to use a few sprigs? Having live plants means you can take as little (or as much) as you need, when you need it. One $3 basil plant can save you well over $20. You will waste less, and likely will use herbs more frequently since they will always be available.
• It encourages creativity. When you have an assortment of plants begging to be used, you might take a handful of each and add it to the recipe. You can create endless combinations of herbs and spices to a variety of dishes.
• It’s easy. Whether you have an amazing boyfriend that will yank rose bushes to make room for your gardening experiment, a balcony that sees the sun, or just a naked windowsill, you really can grow herbs anywhere.

Getting Started…

You may be hearing more talk about standardization in medicine these days. What does it mean and why is it important to everyone? People who are not in the medical field may worry that standardization will result in their care being less personalized and more “cookie-cutter.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

For several years, medical providers, healthcare administrators, healthcare quality experts and others have been talking about improving medical care and health outcomes through increased use of data and standardization. The term “evidence based medicine” is used to indicate that medical recommendations and decisions are based, to the extent possible, on data – rather than just doing things because they have always been done that way.

Data can be obtained through clinical trials (where patients are randomized to various treatments and then the outcomes are compared), observation (where the outcomes of various treatments are analyzed to see which are more effective), or expert opinion (where experts in the field agree on best treatments based on experience or “best practices”).

Standardization means that patients will be offered treatment based on the best available knowledge. Those treatment recommendations are also influenced by the patient’s individual situation, so that care is personalized.

For breast cancer patients, this may be evident in various ways. We know that ...

Happy National Nurses Week. On behalf of all of those who you have provided pain relief and comfort for, thank you.

Being in the hospital has many negative connotations and can be an incredibly humbling experience. Nurses have the ability to magically bring warmth and tenderness at a time when we are vulnerable. It takes a special person to do all the little things that make a hospital feel less scary and somehow manage to create a serene environment.

Simply put, nurses make hospitals less intimidating. You care for us when we are at our lowest points and ‘nurse us back to health.’ From all the minor things that we can’t do for ourselves during our hospital stay to all the major things like keeping our hearts beating so that we can get back to a normal life, you go the extra mile because you have a special gift.

Thank you this week, and every week, for all that you do!

We are lucky to have so many birth control options available to us. Not all methods will be ideal for all couples, so how do you figure out how to pick a method? Here are some features to consider – but keep in mind that not all features will be important to you in your personal circumstances.

Effectiveness: How well will a particular approach work to prevent pregnancy?

There are some times in life where avoiding pregnancy is more important than other times, so most effective forms should be selected when it is critical to prevent pregnancy.

There are two scales of effectiveness, typical user effectiveness and perfect use rates. Some birth control depends a lot on...

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and the same goes for your health. Sometimes the process of improving or maintaining health may seem difficult, if not impossible. It may seem like a journey of more than just a thousand miles even. But keep in mind, there are little things—baby steps—that you can do every day to make that journey to health an achievable and enjoyable one.

The key is to think small and realistically. Ask yourself, what is your overall goal? Do you want to manage diabetes? Do you want to be able to run a 5k? Do you want to quit smoking? Whatever your goal, even if you don’t have a map, it helps to know your destination and have your shoes strapped on before you head out on the journey.

To figure out if you’re ready to take steps towards your health goals:

• Make a list of pros and cons, such as “pro: eating more vegetables will help me lose weight, con: I don’t know how to cook vegetables that I like."

• Get a journal or find a friend and walk through all the pros you listed. They don’t just have to be health-related. For instance, will increasing the amount of sleep you get each night help you do better at work?

• Try to imagine how you will handle the cons that come with change and make a plan. For example, if your goal is to exercise at least thirty minutes a day but you find it difficult to make time, physically block out time on your calendar (at work, on your phone, etc.) If you miss a day, what will you do to make up for it?

When the pros outweigh the cons, you’ll have a better chance at successfully making that change. Just remember that the larger journey is the product of many smaller steps and often some wrong turns or setbacks. Thinking ahead about what you will do when you take a wrong turn and breaking down your goal into small steps will help you achieve the bigger health goals you set for yourself. If you want to cut down on the number of sweets you eat, cutting them out all at once (trying to leap ahead a thousand miles) is going to be much harder than choosing to eat one cookie after dinner instead of five (taking a single step).

Here are some tricks to help take the baby steps that will move you forward on your journey to better health:

Everyone is talking about their allergies at this time of the year, so I thought it would be a good time to write about seasonal allergies.

Seasonal allergies occur only at certain times of the year and are usually caused by exposure to pollens from plants, trees and grass. They affect a large number of people of all ages and are seen mostly in urban areas. They are uncommon in children less than 2 years of age. Some patients may have similar symptoms year around and this is usually due to exposure to insects (cockroach), dust mites and animal dander (dogs and cats).

Most people do not react on exposure to these substances, but people with allergies hyperreact to these substances when exposed, and they subsequently develop these symptoms.

What are the symptoms of seasonal allergies?
Usual symptoms in children include runny nose, nasal congestion, itching of the eyes, nose and throat and occasionally cough. Sometimes these symptoms may interfere with sleep and thus cause fatigue, fussiness and tiredness during the day....

A little perspective as we head into the weekend:

Life does not get easier as we get older; we take on more responsibility at work and at home. In this economy, it often feels that we are living on the edge and all it would take is one thing to tip the scales and throw our life off-balance. Taking time to slow life down can sometimes help. Here are some things that may help:

Acid reflux, heartburn and indigestion are all forms of gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. This common problem afflicts over 20 million people in the United States on a daily basis. As a surgeon who treats patients with some of the most severe symptoms of GERD, I was recently struck by the fact that very little has changed in the treatment of the debilitating problem over the last several decades.

Medications have always been the primary treatment for patients with GERD. TUMS, Rolaids, alka seltzer are easy over the counter remedies that could provide instant but only short-term relief. More potent medications called H2 receptor antagonists (commonly known as Zantac, Pepcid AC) brought about longer lasting relief. These medications were great but many patients experienced a relapse of symptoms.

The newest medications for GERD...

 Here are five things you should know to help you have a more comfortable allergy season:

 (Read part 1 of this ‘Spring Cleanse' series here for more on how many calories you actually need, how to track your intake, and what you need to know about fluids.)

The Cleanse…

There are thousands of books out there, everything from an intensive fasting period to a detailed 21+ day program. Pick one that seems like it would yield the highest degree of success for you, but remember these basic parameters of all detoxes and cleanses:

• Don’t go less than 1200 calories a day. (Doing so stimulates a decrease in your metabolism, which unfortunately won’t immediately correct once the cleanse is completed. )
• Don’t expect more than 2 pounds of weight loss per week. If you see this on the scale, it means you are losing lean muscle mass (not a brilliant idea since this tissue is most metabolically active = your best friend in the battle of the bulge) or you are under-hydrated. The goal is gradual fat loss, hydration maintenance, and preservation of lean muscle mass if you want your results to last.
• Avoid junk (caffeine, alcohol, sodium, artificial sweeteners, refined sugars and refined grains). You want to get the biggest bang for your caloric buck, so opt for whole grains, fruits and vegetables rather than processed food.
• Assess your tendency for withdrawal. This can be from caffeine, alcohol, salt, refined grains/sugars, or simply the habit of heading for frozen yogurt on weekends.

What you should know about….

• Caffeine: