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The blood supply in the US is critically low. Donations dropped off so dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic that the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis. And since donated red blood cells only last about six weeks, supplies cannot be stockpiled in advance. A severe shortage could require difficult decisions about who …

Blood donations are down — so why restrict blood donors by sexual orientation? Read More »

When I worked at Greenpeace for five years before I attended medical school, a popular slogan was, “Think globally, act locally.” As I write this blog about climate change and hay fever, I wonder if wiping off my computer that I’ve just sneezed all over due to my seasonal allergies counts as abiding by this …

Save the trees, prevent the sneeze Read More »

Most people want to feel energized and experience a sense of vitality. In the 1970s, Dr. John Travis created a spectrum of wellness, with illness on one side, a point of neutrality in the middle (when a person has no signs or symptoms of disease), and on the other side wellness. Wellness is a state …

Moving to wellness while practicing body neutrality Read More »

Discovering the cause of a disease is not easy. One reason is that the vast majority of diseases do not have a single cause. Instead, most diseases occur because multiple factors combine to cause the disease. One factor is genes. Some people are born with one or more genes that make them vulnerable to a …

A common virus may be one contributing cause of multiple sclerosis Read More »