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Nancy’s articles

Thrive Carolinas / Nancy’s articles

Mindful Thoughts on Gratitude – Our Thanksgiving Gift

“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy. Every moment is a gift. Whatever life gives to you, you will respond with joy. Joy is happiness that does not depend on what happens. It is the grateful response to the opportunity that life offers you at this moment.” ― David Steindl-Rast Thanksgiving is that time of year when we show gratitude for family, friends, and lives well lived. For a short period of time, we feel happiness-counting our blessings with an overall sense of contentment. Then, when Monday rolls around, it is business as usual. If we reaped any benefits from the holiday weekend, they quickly disappear with the return of stress, negativity, depression, and loneliness. Our lives focus on the materialistic,...

More Evidence to Support Primary Prevention in Breast Cancer

More Evidence to Support Primary Prevention in Breast Cancer Dr. Nancy A. Palermo MD A landmark study published in BMJ of Oncology by researchers at the University of Edinburgh looked at the impact of 29 cancers in individuals ages 14 to 49 in over 200 countries over 30 years. The data was disturbing as it showed a 79% increase in the incidence of cancers in individuals less than age 50 over the 30-year period. This accounted for over 3.26 million cases. The researchers postulated that it is not genetic factors contributing to this increase but rather environmental factors like our diet high in processing and added sugars, alcohol use, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, and environmental toxins and influencers. Our genes have not changed in the past 30 years, but...

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The Undeniable Health Benefits of a Plant-based Diet

By Nancy Palermo Lietz, MD “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame in diet and the cause and prevention of diseases. “ Thomas Edison Americans have an obsession with nutrition, diet, and weight loss. Countless books on the subjects hit the bestseller list, only to be replaced by the next publication in print. It should be no surprise that Dr. Colin Campbell’s book, The China Study, quickly hit the bestseller list. His epidemiologic project demonstrated thousands of associations between dietary factors and disease. The most relevant finding, however, was that those individuals who ate the most animal-based foods had the most chronic disease. More importantly, his findings launched thousands of studies in nutrition that...

Why Magnesium Matters: FDA Announces New Qualified Health Claim

On January 10, 2022, FDA announced in a letter of enforcement discretion a newly qualified health claim for magnesium and reduced risk of high blood pressure. Both health claims and qualified health claims characterize the relationship between a substance and a reduction in risk of contracting a particular disease or health-related condition and are reviewed by FDA through a petition process. Qualified health claims are supported by less evidence than the “significant scientific agreement” standard that governs unqualified health claims. Therefore, qualified health claims require a disclaimer or other qualifying language to avoid misleading consumers as to the strength of the scientific evidence supporting the claim. In January, the FDA reviewed health claims related to magnesium. A review of multiple studies did show some benefits with respect to hypertension, but the...

Medical Marketing: The Big Business of Healthcare

Healthcare is big business. Americans spend more on medical services and products than consumers in other countries. In 2021 healthcare costs increased by over 4% to $4.3 trillion or $12,530 per person. This now accounts for 19.7% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The problem is health care costs are growing faster than the economy. Given the events of the past few years, one might think spending increases were related to the pandemic, but this is not the case. Most of the increases in spending were indirectly related to a massive increase in marketing, especially direct-to-consumer marketing. It is estimated over 30 billion dollars will be spent on direct-to-consumer marketing in 2021. Such promotions can be seen in drug advertising with disease-awareness campaigns. These have grown exponentially...

Akkermansia Mucinophila: Your New Best Gut Friend

[caption id="attachment_4067" align="alignleft" width="251"] Dr. Nancy Palermo[/caption] In the past 15 years, there has been a great deal of attention on the gut microbiome. In fact, since 2013 there have been over 19,000 published papers on this topic. If you search PubMed you can see that numerous studies have shown associations of the microbiome with disorders like obesity, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune disorders, cancers, liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and even neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Recent genetic tools like DNA sequencing have helped researchers further characterize the composition of microbes in the gut and successfully delineated their specific roles. In 2004 researchers first isolated a gram-negative anaerobe called Akkermansia mucinophila in the Netherlands. They now know a great deal more about this gut bacteria and what they have learned...

Pros and Cons of the 7-minute doctor’s visit

Depending on your medical needs, the 7-minute doctor’s visit could be a time-saving relief or a frustrating experience. This type of appointment is usually a general checkup, though you could also get a 7-minute doctor’s visit when you aren’t feeling well and need a prescription from the doctor. Before you schedule a 7-minute doctor’s visit, there are some pros and cons worth considering.   Pros   The most obvious advantage of this appointment type is that it saves you time. Research from Harvard Medical school found the average medical visit takes 121 minutes. However, most people only see the actual doctor for 20 of those 121 minutes while the rest is administrative time or due to other appointments running long, increasing the wait time of patients with appointments later...

Thriving to Be Optimal – Let 2022 be your year of Self-Care

Elevate your Mind and Body. Elevate your Health. Elevate Your Life By: Nancy Palermo, MD Why do we all feel such discontent? We keep searching for our outlook and situation to improve and blindly look to those around us to make the world better yet are often left feeling deprived-the victim with no control stuck in a hole with no way out. We blame others for failing us and not living up to our expectations. Our family, our leaders, and our friends cannot get us out of the hole. Why can they not fix the situation? What we fail to see is that change is only within our own control. As we come to the end of 2021 (happily for many of us) we tend to think of the new year and...

Mindful Holiday Health Tips

[caption id="attachment_4832" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nancy A. Palermo MD[/caption] By: Nancy A. Palermo MD   The holiday season can be difficult for anyone trying to make healthy choices. With the added time constraints, many of us struggle with getting in exercise, maintaining healthy sleep habits, or limiting the intake of processed and sugary foods that abound at this time of the year. The added burdens of 2020-2021 - COVID, political and social stressors-have cracked our resolve and discipline even more. Many will be entering the holiday season with some extra padding. The pandemic lockdown has introduced bad habits into our everyday life. Many of us are entering the 2021 holiday season with an extra 10-20 pounds and still blaming it on COVID. Americans already gain an average of 5 -10 pounds...

Laughter can be the best medicine, particularly during a Pandemic

The last 18 months have been a challenge for all of us in ways we are still understanding. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic left many feeling like victims, powerless against this deadly virus. We became dependent on a government and a healthcare system that used fear to drive our decisions. The exposure of CNN Technical Director Charlie Chester’s death toll ticker was formulated to keep people in fear and to drive up ratings by keeping people glued to the TV. There was no compassion. His explanation? “If it bleeds it leads”. The government and healthcare system have also driven the learned helplessness and victim mentality with promises to “Save the Day” with a vaccine and government funding which will miraculously get us out of the pandemic. Here...

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