Dr. Darren Clair's blog

Watching a bit of TV lst night, I caught a few minutes of a piece on 60 Minutes about the latest potential cure for cancer. This one utilized radio frequency generators to target tumors injected with metal, the heat generated killed the cancer cells. Don't get me wring, I think it's great to have something to offer those unfortuante patients whose health has been seriously compromised by cancer.

The fourth of July is a great time to remember how fortunate we are to live in this great country, and how dear to us is the notion of "freedom". Let us not forget that freedom extends in all spheres, not just personal liberties. Personally, I cherish the idea of being free of pharmaceuticals!

The great thing about this amazing work of art called a human being is that we possess the ability to very dramatically change ourselves if we so desire. I'm not talking our clothes, we can actually change ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually and we can do it right now. I don't suggest you try to change too many things at once-just as with exercise, when you start a new routine after a long lay off you can be pretty sore the next few days. But I do suggest you take stock of yourself, congratulate yourself for making it this far and then decide what you want to work on.

I am constantly confounded by the thought that hormones, which have throughout our evolution promoted the success of our species and which our bodies require for life are feared by many while pharmaceutical drugs which have been introduced into our bodies only in our very recent history are seen as our saviors. Do people really believe that we can do a better job of maintaining health than Mother Nature?

Did anyone read Business Week's cove story on Lipitor? It seems researchers now estimate that of the millions currently taking the drug, only one in one hundred(!) are benefiting from it! How many of the 99 who aren't benefiting are having adverse effects such as muscle pain, liver abnormalities and lowered CoQ 10 levels?

Shall I, like a hermit, dwell on a rock or in a cell? --Sir Walter Raleigh

Although drugs such as Ambien and Xanax usually work, the side effects they can cause (Ambien is associated with nightmares, sleep walking and amnesia, Xanax cancause drowsiness, poor coordination and is addicting) make me reluctant to prescribe them particularly if the prescription is for more than a few pills and is intended for chronic use.

There's another angle on the steroid issue. Our environment is becoming a cesspool of steroids and its affecting all of us! The hormones in our foods, the pesticides sprayed on our food and act like estrogen in our bodies, the plastic containers that when heated emit estrogenic compounds and more are changing all of us in many often poorly understood ways. I see many men in their early forties with abnormally low testosterone levels seeking help for anxiety or erectile dysfunction-that should be too young for guys to need that kind of help!

"All the best responsibility is taken." —Anonymous

You all have seen and felt the unpleasant power of unhealthy responsibility. When a martyr takes on the burden of someone else’s responsibility, that’s unhealthy. And when a blamer places responsibility on somebody else’s shoulders, that’s unhealthy. The journey of conscious living is a journey of getting the responsibility formula just right: 100 percent for you and 100 percent for me.

After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box-Italian proverb

Our brains are highly skilled at looking for differences. Just to walk across the room, for example, your brain has to make a multitude of decisions about one thing being different from another. To take a step, your brain has to notice the difference between your foot and the floor and then do it all over again a second later. You could even say that we evolved because of millions of years of noticing differences.