Reflections

In Memoriam: Michael A. Stroka (November 5, 1969 – June 14, 2023)

By Erik Goldman

Holistic Primary Care honors the fruitful life, and laments the untimely death, of Michael A. Stroka, co-founder and CEO of the American Nutrition Association (ANA). A tireless advocate for the principle of Food-as-Medicine, Stroka accomplished much in his 53 years. With combined JD and MBA degrees from the University of Virginia, Michael began his career […]

Reflections on the Psychedelic Renaissance

By Maya Shetreat, MD, Contributing Writer

Psychedelics have been hitting the headlines nonstop these days. The New York Times, and other major media, have run a slew of articles highlighting the promise of psychedelics for hard-to-treat clinical conditions like major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. Important discoveries are emerging from prestigious academic centers worldwide that have dedicated millions of dollars […]

Confronting the Challenge Of Pharmaceutical Pollution

By Erik Goldman

The world has a drug problem. A drug pollution problem, that is. Infiltration of potentially bioactive drug metabolites into waterways and groundwater is a widespread and growing phenomenon affecting nearly every region of the planet. According to a recent worldwide study, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have been detected in streams and rivers on every continent, […]

A Clinic on the Edge of Hell: Naturopathic Care at the Ukrainian Border

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

For the past decade, Dr. Decker Weiss has been splitting his time between his home base in Carefree, AZ, and makeshift emergency clinics on the borders of Hell. Weiss, a naturopathic physician (Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine ’97) with advanced training in cardiology, has undertaken multiple medical missions to refugee camps, disaster sites, and regions […]

New Surveys Show Impact of Politics on Public Health

By Kristen Schepker

A massive online survey of more than 5 million Americans shows that political affiliation is a major factor influencing peoples’ decisions about the Covid-19 vaccines. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh, in partnership with CMU’s Delphi Group, culled and analyzed data on vaccine attitudes from a larger national Covid survey […]

A Pandemic of Distrust

By Erik Goldman

Last summer, the Biden administration took an unprecedented and, to my mind, dangerous step when it pushed Facebook to block the accounts of twelve prominent vaccine critics. The move was fueled by a report from the UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) which stated that these individuals are responsible for 73% of all anti-vaccine […]

Single-Payer Healthcare, Just Not THAT Single-Payer

By Grant Jackson, MD, Contributing Writer

Among his many celebrated lines, Scottish economist Adam Smith–the original spokesman for capitalism—wrote in 1776: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest.”  Ahhh, the free market, in which our rational self-interests will keep all of […]

Parasites Lost: Helminths, Pleiotropy, and The Prevention of Dementia

By Michael McEvoy, Contributing Writer

The ability to link specific genetic features with particular diseases is among molecular biology’s greatest achievements. But there’s a downside to that scientific triumph: it has oversimplified the picture of the relationships between genotype, environmental factors, gene expression, and health or illness, and created blind spots in our understanding. The truth is, there are many […]

Loneliness: The Other Pandemic

By Grant Jackson, MD, Contributing Writer

In the late 1950s, toward the end of her life, psychiatrist Frieda Fromm Reichmann sat by a catatonic patient in the hospital.  Inspired by an unexplainable hunch, she asked how lonely the patient was.  The young woman raised her hand with her thumb extended and the rest of the fingers folded under.  Dr. Fromm-Reichmann, an […]