Psyche, Soma & Spirit

How Financial Stress Impacts the Immune System

By Kristen Schepker

A recent study of a group of hedge fund traders suggests that the immune system responds to financial stress as if it were a disease. The findings suggest a striking correlation between the human immune system and the volatility of entire financial systems, including the stock market.

“Core” Values: How to Help Patients Build Strength and Improve Balance

By Stacy Collier, Contributing Writer

Balance is an essential concept in holistic medicine. The word is everywhere: we talk about work-life balance, balancing hormones and neurotransmitters, keeping an ideal acid-alkaline balance. All of those are important. But the reality is, many people struggle with the much more basic issue of physical balance. Especially as people age, the ability to stay […]

Mood by Microbe: Stress Response and the Gut-Brain Axis

By Erik Goldman

Multiple converging lines of evidence have shown that the primary cause of chronic systemic inflammation may be the dysfunction of the gut-brain axis. In this presentation, renowned integrative psychiatrist, David Scheiderer, MD, reviews the links between dysbiosis, meta-inflammation, and various psychiatric conditions. Dr. Scheiderer discusses the impact of medications, alcohol, diet, and lifestyle on the […]

Optimizing the Brain-Microbiome Axis

By Erik Goldman

The promise of the “psychobiotic revolution” is that many of the underlying drivers of chronic mental illness can be reversed with relatively simple interventions. “We cannot change the genes in our cells. But we can change the genes in our microbiota. That can have a positive—or a negative—health benefit,” says Ted Dinan, MD, PhD, a […]

Psychobiotics: Your Brain on Friendly Flora

By Grant Jackson, MD

The typical human body contains roughly 1.5 kilograms of microorganisms. That’s about equal in weight to the average human brain. It’s an interesting equivalence, given what we are learning about the myriad ways in which the gut microbiome influences the brain and central nervous system. Many common mental illnesses, including severe depression and anxiety, are […]

The Brain-Gut-Microbiota Axis: A Primer for Clinicians

By Erik Goldman

The brain-gut-microbiota axis provides a bidirectional route of communication between the gut microbes and the brain. The axis involves the vagus nerve, short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan, cytokines and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. New evidence suggests that gut microbes are involved in neural development and function, both peripherally in the enteric nervous system and centrally in the […]

From Overwhelm to Opportunity: How We Transformed Our Quarantine Experience

By Madiha Saeed, MD, Contributing Writer

March 2020 changed our lives forever. In a blink of an eye, our hugs and social routines, our business travel and vacations were taken from us. Almost overnight, the world shut down, filled with fear of the unknown, fear of sickness, fear of interaction. Digital meetings replaced social gatherings and conferences. Online classrooms replaced schools. […]

It Was 20 Years Ago, Today…. Reflecting on HPC’s First Two Decades

By Erik Goldman

On October 15, 2000, the first edition of Holistic Primary Care rolled off the presses at Democrat Printing & Lithography in Little Rock, Arkansas, and into 60,000 doctors’ offices across the country. And just like that, an idea had back in 1986 had suddenly become a tangible reality, giving voice to a movement aimed at […]

Healing Primary Care’s Moral Injury

By Erik Goldman

For decades, the United States has failed to invest in primary care. The result is a situation that has sorely compromised the health and well-being of patients and practitioners alike. Though it consistently accounts for 50% of all annual medical visits, primary care represents less than 7% of the nation’s total healthcare expenditures, and receives […]