DrH Blog-Newsletter

Moorestown Day has come and gone!

2010-06-07T15:06:00.005-04:00

June 7, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Moorestown Day has come and gone!

I would like to thank everyone who stopped by our booth Saturday, for Moorestown Day.

We had a few volunteers who chose to speak with us about our medical wellness philosophy and services. We also performed blood pressure screenings as shown below.

As with any outdoor event, we were at the whim of Mother Nature. While she spared us any rain, she did not spare the heat and humidity.

It was hot!! Luckily, the gentleman shown above was in the neighboring tent, and he had a nice display of sunrooms, windows and doors. So when it really got hot out, he nicely opened the windows for us to allow a breeze ; )

There was plenty of downtime. Jessica, our whirling dervish of a medical assistant always needs something to do to pass the time. Here is a picture of what she does best.

Shopping!

But it was not all downtime.

The busiest time of the day, as usually happens, occurred at lunchtime. Now most of you know I have fairly strong views on diet and health. You also know that I prefer to keep to a low processed carbohydrate diet. Now, not everyone is perfect, and most people who try to be, tend to get frustrated and irritable. I do not like to be frustrated or irritable, and I am human, just like you! So, I get to rationalize my Moorestown Day food choices, to allow myself an exception that is hard for me to say "No".

Can anyone guess what it was?

Here is a clue.
It rhymes with tomato.
It is not Gumbo, nor Merlot or Bordeaux.
It is usually deep fried in peanut oil.
If you guessed French fried "potato", you are correct!

My addiction to french fries began in my youth and has lasted with me throughout my adulthood.

Thank you Mom and Dad!

It In fact, I once came close to firing an employee for throwing out extra french fries before offering them to me. Remember, I said close!!!

So what do french fries have to do with Moorestown Day?

The largest crowd of the day happened to arrive at lunchtime. When I know that I will be confined to a 10 x10 area for six hours, my survival instincts take over and I tend to "carb-it" when I am hungry. Please do not look up "carb-it" in the dictionary. You will not find it. But, as luck would have it, as soon as I put a french fry into my mouth, literally, as soon as I started to eat a french fry, someone comes to our tent and asks to speak to the "Wellness doctor"? So what did I say to this individual, looking for better health and wellness? Simple! I asked if he had any ketchup for my fries ; )

I could look for nice nutritional things to write about french fried potatoes, and I could provide many internet links. But instead I will just say that I enjoyed the fries, and I am still looking for a french fry support group! I had belonged to one before, but it disbanded after one meeting. It did not help that the meeting was held next to McDonalds.

As I tell all my patients who have taken part in my Healthy Weight Program. It is important to put the right foods into your body. But if you strive for absolute perfection, you will probably fail. I find it best to find a good balance between safety, health and happiness! This balance is another of the many reasons I founded the Institute for Medical Wellness.

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Red Meat- Good or Bad for you?

The answer is ---- Both!

Now wasn't that helpful?

Ok.

When we talk about red meat, we may be talking about a steak.

We may also be talking about a hamburger or a hot dog.

They are all considered red meat, but they are very, very different foods.
Without getting into any gory details, a good carnivore usually enjoys a steak. There is minimal food processing, and if you buy organic and grass fed, it is even closer to an ideal protein and healthy fat source.

How bout hamburgers and hot dogs you say?

They are definitely a different story. Hamburger meat is usually heavily processed, but not as much as a hot dog. Here is a link to a youtube video showing how hot dogs are processed. And most hot dogs have other ingredients, such as preservatives that have been shown to increase your risk of many diseases. These preservatives can be very powerful stuff. I recently spoke a retired school teacher, who used to take his students on a field trip to the local garbage dump. This is probably no worse than taking them on a trip to the United States Congress.

Sorry bout that!!

An interesting thing occurred at the dump. The students were testing different items to see how fast they decomposed, and which items were most biodegradable. Would you believe he found that hot dogs were less biodegradable than some plastic cups? So if hot dogs do not biodegrade in a dump, what is happening to them in your colon?

The healthy pearl of the day.

Red meat that is minimally processed, without added chemicals, hormones or preservatives may indeed be healthy for you.

Red meat, such as hot dogs, that are heavily processed, probably are not!!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,

Board Certified Family Practice

Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness

128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two

Moorestown, NJ 08057

Phone 856-231-0590

Fax 856-294-0311

www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive future editions in your email box, please sign up here.

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out our patient testimonials.

Why I love ADD/ADHD!!

2010-05-11T14:01:00.005-04:00

May 11, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Why I love ADD/ADHD!!

I had a long time patient who I shall call Addie, come in for an evaluation this week. Her name for this newsletter has been changed to protect the innocent ; ) Addie and I discussed a "medical condition" known as ADD, ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Now some people believe that ADD is akin to a learning disorder, but my opinion differs. It is my belief that ADD helps many individuals succeed in life. Click here for a link to famous people who have been purported to or admitted to ADD. Click here for a list from Parenting magazine of other celebrities diagnosed with ADD who have used its gifts to succeed in life.

In speaking further with Addie, she has, in fact, succeeded in many areas and suggested I write a book about her ADD addventures. My answer, after almost falling off my chair laughing, was that I can barely get out a newsletter, let alone write a book! So after I picked myself off the floor, and brushed off a smudge on my old ripped jeans, we went back to discussing the many upsides of ADD, as well as some of the downs. During the discussion we continued laughing, and decided that instead of fighting ADD, it was time to embrace the good aspects, and work towards minimizing the bad.

I am not of the belief that you either have ADD or you do not. I am of the belief that everyone has ADD traits, just to different extents. I find that a large majority of ADD individuals are extremely bright and talented. It is when they learn how to utilize the strengths of ADD for their education and career paths, that their full potential is unleashed. I did not write a newsletter to poke fun at those with ADD beyond control, as can be the case, but rather to poke fun at myself and find some humor in the brains we, and I have all been dealt with.

In situations where ADD is preventing success and advancement in life, there are many behavioral and medical options available. But just as in other medical diseases, I first prefer to investigate and try more holistic options, as this can be accomplished without side effects. But as holistic options do not always work, I always try to keep an ace in the hole, so I have a very good relationship with a doctor who specializes in conventional treatments for ADD ; )

Always the optimist, I have found that the best way to minimize the bad feelings that come from ADD is to humble them with humor. So what better example than to share some of my favorite ADD jokes and sayings.

Here goes.........

Q. How many ADDers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Let's go bicycling!!!
---
I stopped to think, and forgot to start again!
---
I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.
---
As seen on a T-shirt: ADHD- Don't make me get HYPERFOCUSED on you!
---
I never finish anyth
---
"You have my DIVIDED attention!"
---
The other day I was taking out the trash and I saw a crow on the roof of my garage just SCREAAMMMING at me, so I went back in the house and saw the pen I needed to write down that telephone number and, what was the question?

And my all time favorite:

My mother says I have ADD. But I do not believe her. Hey, Look, a chicken.....

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There are also some great things about having ADD.

Can meet someone, fall deeply in love, marry, fight, hate, and divorce,
all in about 35 minutes or less.

Can see all of your worldly possessions at one time...because they
are all over the floor.

Make far reaching analogies that no one else understands and write
them off as "Deep Thoughts"

Able to tie seemingly unrelated ideas together.

Honestly believes that anything is possible.

Pro vides jobb sicuritty four riterz of Spehl Chek programms

OK. Now what was I writing about??

Oh yea.....

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Interesting Article:

I came across a very interesting and informative blog article that discussed the many benefits of Omega 3 fats, found in fish, while also discussing the downsides of Omega 6 fats, found in many vegetable oils. The article can be found here. The follow-up article can be found here. As I pursue this further, and validate the articles findings, I hope to incorporate a more balanced omega-3 diet into our Healthy Weight Program.

We already offer testing for a balanced omega-3 diet. The Omega-3 index is a part of our Healthy Heart Program, but can also be offered separately for $149.00. The results can and will be used to better individualize your diet and supplement needs.

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Speaking of supplements......

Institute For Medical Wellness Supplements of the Month:

My supplements of the month offer for May 2010, includes two supplements that help with decreasing inflammation and maintaining proper gut flora, which may be linked to helping improve our immune systems ability to function properly.

For May 2010,

Vitamin D3- Liquid 2000iu per drop, 900 drops per bottle- regularly $20

plus

Probiotic Pearls- ProFlora Immune- 30 pearls, regularly $20.

Purchase these two supplements together for $30, a 25% savings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Addie for the inspiration to write this newsletter.

Now, where did that chicken go????

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com
To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive future editions in your email box, please sign up here.

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out our patient testimonials.

Chocolate and Depression

2010-05-03T11:53:00.006-04:00

May 3, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

First things first.

Did everyone enjoy their peek at summer weather?

I hope it put a smile on everyone's face, especially after our brutal winter.

If it did not, maybe you need a mood enhancer?

How bout some chocolate ?

===================================================
Chocolate and Depression

Yep!

I am back to chocolate yet again.

I wrote a previous post about chocolate that can be found here.

The definition of a chocoholic is: a person who loves/is addicted to chocolate.

I really have a taste for chocolate, but I am not convinced that I meet enough criteria to be labeled a "chocoholic".

You see, there are many days that I turn down a Hershey's kiss.

But today is not looking good! And tomorrow is not looking much better ; )

Oh well!!

Now let's look at the study.

First they screened 1018 individuals for depression. Of these, 694 were men, and 314 were women.

First question: How did they get twice as many men as women for a chocolate study???

The study allowed 931 of the 1018 into the study, as these individuals were not presently on any antidepressant medication. These 931 subjects tracked their chocolate consumption as well as being tested for mood using a depression screening scale.

The study results were as follows.

There were three patterns which were grouped according to the depression scales.

The individuals who scored high on the depression scales consumed 55% more chocolate than those not positive for depression.

Even more interesting was that the individuals who scored the highest on the depression scales consumed over twice the amount of chocolate as those who scored not positive for depression.

There was no statistical difference between men and women.

These results can be viewed a few different ways.

1) Since depressed individuals eat more chocolate, maybe the chocolate is causing the depression.

I sure hope this is not the case, as I do not want to give up my chocolate ; )

2) Depressed individuals self medicate by eating chocolate, as chocolate is high in polyphenols which can raise serotonin levels in the brain. The prescription drug Prozac also works by raising brain serotonin levels. Here is a link to more information on why chocolate may help with mood.

I can see the slogan now.

"Feeling down or depressed? Eat a Hershey's Kiss. It's natures Prozac !"

I guess that could be good or bad for Hershey's chocolate sales???

And the third reason,

Drum roll please ...................

3) Some people just enjoy the taste of chocolate!!!

Being in the medical field, my personal theory agrees with both #2 and #3. I am a firm believer that you are what you eat. I also believe that we have subconscious cravings for different foods dependent upon their nutritional value. This is very evident in the diets of pregnant women, but occurs in everyone, just to different degrees. In that vein, here is a link to the top ten scientific reasons why chocolate is the world's perfect food, and why you may also crave chocolate.

P.S.

Don't tell Jessica, my medical assistant, that I ratted her out, but I think she is a chocoholic !!!!
So if you want to get on her good side, you know, to get that script called in quickly, or to get a copy of your recent test mailed to you, chocolate goes a long way ; )

======================================================
Institute For Medical Wellness New Offers:

I came across a very interesting blog article. The article discussed how our gut flora, the billions of bacteria that live in our digestive tract, get out of balance. This can occur with natural aging, as well as a result of our lifestyle choices which include diets, stress, and use of prescription medications, among others. I will not go further into this theory here, other than to say that to slow down aging, I agree with the blog author that we need to decrease inflammation in our body. As lifestyle accommodations can take years of trial and error to perfect, I like to focus on supplements that help our bodies immune system to properly control inflammation.

Soooooo........................

My supplement of the month offer for May 2010, includes two supplements that help with decreasing inflammation and maintaining proper gut flora.

For May 2010,

Vitamin D3- Liquid 2000iu per drop, 900 drops per bottle- regularly $20

plus

Probiotic Pearls- ProFlora Immune- 30 pearls, regularly $20.

Purchase these two supplements together for $30, a 25% savings.

This offer can be used with other Institute For Medical Wellness supplement discount offers!!

====================================================

Don't forget that a massage makes a wonderful Mother's Day Gift.

For more information on our massage services please click here.
=======================================================

And now for an important announcement.

I have added an Announcement page to our website.

This page will include recent and new happenings concerning the Institute For Medical Wellness, including new programs and special offers, which sometimes may be good discounts. So please check out the Announcement page every so often.
Other Institute For Medical Wellness Programs and Events:

1) Healthy Heart Program
2) Healthy Weight Program- Lite Edition
3) Traditional Wellness Plan

4) I am pleased to announce that the Institute For Medical Wellness is a Silver Sponsor of Moorestown Day 2010.

Please look for our booth on Main Street in Moorestown on Saturday June 5, 2010, between 9AM-3PM.

I hope to see you there, and please wish for good weather, that is, no rain!

It is no fun being outside in the rain!!

To Good Health!
Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Hearts, Fish, Sugars and a back!

2010-04-29T11:24:00.001-04:00

April 29, 2010

Hearts, Fish, Sugars and a back!

I just came across a study about coronary calcium scores.

Hmmm.

I heard something about that test before.

I think I heard about it here, and I think I included this test as part of the Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart program.

The study indicated that using coronary calcium scores enables a better stratification of risk for heart disease.

I hope you agree with me that it is better to prevent your first heart attack, than to treat you after you have had one.

The coronary calcium score is also available separate from the Healthy Heart program. And if you are already enrolled in a Wellness Plan and have this test performed, we will give you a one year free membership in the Track Your Plaque program, to help you halt or even reverse your risk of heart disease.

If you have any questions about coronary calcium scores or would like to have the test performed, please call our office at 856-231-0590 or email me at drhorvitz@drhorvitz.com

We have all heard recommendations to take fish oils.

But what about other oils used as supplements, as well as in food preparation and cooking.

Well, I could write many, many newsletters on this subject, but I found a web article that beat me to the punch and it can be found here.

While the web article starts by discussing how omega-3 oils, found most commonly in fish oils, are good for the skin, it goes much further and discusses other types of oils and whether they are healthy for you, or just hype.

So I hope this article starts you in thinking that fish oils can be of benefit to your health.

But how much fish oil should I take is the next question?

That was always a tough question to answer, but no longer.

There is now a test, called the Omega-3 Index, that actually measures the amounts of Omega-3 oils in your bodies cells. It compares the healthier Omega 3 levels to the unhealthier Omega 6 levels to give us an Omega-3 index. The higher the index, the lower your risk of a heart event, such as sudden cardiac death. That is why the Omega-3 index is included in our Healthy Heart Program.

And just like the cornary calcium score, I have decided to make this test available outside of the Healthy Heart program. Unfortunately, at this time insurers do not cover this test. Then again, insurers do not like to cover many of the newer preventative tests that we offer. But I will try not to digress.

The Omega-3 index is performed by drawing a tube of blood and sending it out to a reference laboratory. We are able to offer this test for $149. The beauty of this test, and why I feel it is worth the expense, is that it will provide us with actionable lab values which we can use to both modify your dietary and supplement dosages of fish oils, which has been shown to lower your risk of sudden cardiac death.

Changing direction now.....

One of the common misconceptions about sugars, fat and cholesterols is that dietary fat raises your cholesterol and carbohydrates and sugars do not. Unfortunately this statement is a fallacy for the majority of individuals. A recently published article in JAMA, the Journal of The American Medical Association, finally suggested that added sugars in the diet increases TRIGLYCERIDES, raises LDL (BAD CHOLESTEROL), and lowers HDL (GOOD CHOLESTEROL). All of these markers are moving in a direction of increased risk for heart disease.

Wow!

Does JAMA finally get it, because they are usually pretty far behind the times?

Or could JAMA be helping the government set up a "food police", along the likes of a ban on trans fats, lowering of salt intake, and a California county outlawing give-away toys with McDonald's happy meals. ??

I have my own views on diet, which are probably at present in the minority.

Please focus on the words, "at present". In the not too distant future, these views will be a majority.

My views on diet are based on real life metabolism and human physiology as well as almost two decades of patient results.

What I give is advice.

I do not give ultimatums, nor pass laws.

So what you eat is still your choice. I just hope you let me help you to make the best choice for your health!

So do not forget about our Healthy Weight Program-Lite Edition.

Some of you already know that I have what I consider a "bad back". I never had a bad injury, but my many years of playing tennis during high school and college have worn me down and set me up for occasional bouts of aches and pains. A few weeks ago I "re-tweaked" my back, but in a different location than my norm.

I re-learned a few important lessons from my recent ordeal:

1) No matter how good you think you used to be at a sport when you were younger, do not dive back in at full force when you are older.

2) Hot showers work well for muscle spasms.

3) Therapeutic massage can work wonders. I had 2 therapeutic massages from Julie Fischer, our therapeutic massage guru. I truly believe that is what put me on the road to recovery.

So while pain meds, muscle relaxers, and muscle creams help to mask pain, I know that the addition of massage therapy truly put my body into heal and restore mode.

So my thanks to Julie !!!!

Don't forget that a massage makes a wonderful Mother's Day Gift.

For more information on Julie's services please click here.

And now for an important announcement.

I have added an Announcement page to our website.

This page will include recent and new happenings concerning the Institute For Medical Wellness, including new programs and special offers, which sometimes may be good discounts. So please check out the Announcement page every so often.

When you are not looking at our web page, why not look for our booth at Moorestown Day on Saturday June 5, 2010.

And please wish for good weather, that is, no rain! It is no fun being outside in the rain!!

To Good Health!
Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Healthy Heart Program

2010-04-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

April 26, 2010

Back in March, I had a survey performed about my practice, and asked for patient feedback about what direction my patient's wanted the Institute For Medical Wellness to go.

Two interesting responses:

1) Over 70% of those who responded would like more specific vitamin and nutrient testing.

2) 50% of those who responded would like more vascular, i.e. heart disease, evaluation and testing.

The survey was back in early March, which reminds me of a funny saying,

" sh.t or get off the pot"

From wikipedia:

"Sh.t or get off the pot" is a common English language colloquial expression, used to imply a person should follow up their stated intentions, with action. It is also used to urge someone to complete a task with a greater degree of efficiency or timeliness than is observed at the time the expression is used. Implicit in the expression is that the person, by failing to act, is preventing others from acting.

I find this relevant because for the past few months I have been promising a new Healthy Heart Program, different from any other program out there. I had hoped to have this program up and running in February, but wanted to wait for the response of the survey. Also, one thing after another occurred, and you know, yada, yada, yada....

So now, I am proud to introduce, by popular demand, after months and months of work and research, the Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart Program.

One of the fears I hear all the time from my patient's is, "I don't want to have a heart attack. What can I do to prevent one?"

The answer has never been simple, but we are learning more and more every day about the multitude of causes of heart disease. Many of these causes are now more easily evaluated, allowing a better gauge of your heart attack risk. In the past, we used EKG's, stress tests and routine lipid or cholesterol tests. While helpful, these tests tend to underestimate the risk of disease. For example, if an EKG is abnormal or inconclusive, the next step is a stress test. If a cardiac stress test is abnormal or inconclusive, the next step would most likely be a cardiac catheterization. While cardiac cath's are still the gold standard for assessing heart attack risk, it comes with many of its own risks, and is a very invasive test. So for diagnosis and prevention of heart disease, there has to be a better way!

There are many factors involved in stratifying your heart disease risk. But the newest technique I use is called a coronary calcium score. This very quick test uses CAT scan technology to measure the amount of calcium in your coronary arteries. The following is an explanation of coronary calcium scores as provided by "Track Your Plaque" website, soon to be introduced as part of the Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart Program.

The calcium score provided by this test gives you an extremely reliable gauge of the plaque present in your coronary arteries, something no other test - even a stress test - can do. The higher the calcium score, the greater the quantity of plaque in your coronary arteries, and the higher the risk for heart attack and other cardiac catastrophes. The coronary calcium score can therefore be used as a yardstick for your coronary plaque. It can also be tracked for its increase, stabilization, or decrease allowing you to tailor your treatment for optimum results.

I like yardsticks.

When a woman thinks she is pregnant and gets a blood test, she wants to know how far along in the pregnancy she is. That is valuable information for her prenatal care. As it relates to heart disease, I like to know, not just yes I have the disease, or no I do not, but if I am at a low, moderate or high risk of developing a worsening of the disease, or worse, of having a heart attack in the near future. The coronary calcium score gives me this information.

I am pleased to announce that coronary calcium scores are an integral part of the Institute for Medical Wellness Healthy Heart Program.

OK. I have had the coronary calcium test. Now what do we do with it?

If your score is moderate or high, indicating an elevated risk, then prevention of heart attack is your ultimate goal. So I have teamed with the Track Your Plaque program to include a free one year online membership. This program will give you loads of information and techniques to not only lower your progression of heart disease, but even possibly reverse it. Please click here for more information on the Track Your Plaque program.

But wait, there is more.

Nutritionally, I have been a big fan of fish oils for prevention of heart disease. But we have not had a method of measuring fish oils in our blood to help with recommending proper supplement amounts. That is, until now!! The Institute For Medical Wellness is now able to offer a simple blood test called the "Omega-3 index". We will use this index to measure your omega-3 levels and to stratify your heart disease risk and allow individualization of your fish oil supplementation doses.

I am not finished yet!!

The Institute For Medical Wellness will also be offering specialized comprehensive cardiac risk assessment testing to even further elucidate your heart risks. Some of these tests include the VAP cholesterol profile, triglycerides, homocysteine, insulin levels, glucose, Lp-PLA2, Vitamin D, C-Reactive Protein-hs, HbA1C, Thyroid testing, apoB levels, and even a gene test, called the Apo E Genotype, that will even further allow risk stratification, and individualization of your risk factors.

Now I know this is all a lot to swallow and the learning curve is a bit steep. Hey, five years ago, over half of these tests were even beyond my scope of practice. But when I decided to make prevention and wellness a hallmark of my practice, my scope needed to expand, and expand it did.

Still not finished!

Have you ever wondered if you were deficient in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids? If you have, we are now offering a comprehensive micronutrient test to help achieve optimum levels. This comprehensive test tests for:

Vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, Biotin, Folate, and Pantothenate
Minerals: Calcium, Magnesium and Copper
Amino acids: Asparagine, Glutamine, Serine
Antioxidants: Alpha lipoic acid, Coenzyme Q10, Cysteine, Glutathione, Selenium and Vitamin E
Fatty Acid: Oleic Acid
Metabolites: Choline, Inositol and Carnitine
Cabohydrate Metabolism: Chromium, Fructose Sensitivity, Glucose-Insulin Metabolism
Spectrox Total Antioxidant Function

The beauty of this test is that it measures intracellular levels of these nutrients, as it is inside the cell that the nutrients perform their necessary functions. The measurements give readings of how your cells have functioned with these nutrients over the past six months, which allows for a much better evaluation of your overall health. This powerful tests fits perfectly into our Healthy Heart Program.

So let me take time to review:

The Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart Program includes:

1) Coronary Calcium Score.
2) One year membership in "Track Your Plaque Program" to reverse your heart disease risks.
3) Omega-3 index testing your levels of omega-3 fish oils.
4) Comprehensive VAP cholesterol testing.
5) Comprehensive Cardiac lab testing looking for new markers of heart disease.
6) Apo-E Genotype testing.
7) Advanced Vitamin and Nutrient Testing.

And thru May 2010, our Healthy Heart Program will also include:

8) One month free of our Healthy Weight Program - Lite Edition
9) 20% discount on all Institute For Medical Wellness supplements for one year.

All this testing should cost a fortune. If purchased individually, these tests would cost over $1,300.

However I am able to offer the complete Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart Program for $799. If you prefer, for $150 more, or a total of $949, you can upgrade your coronary calcium score to a full Wellness Scan, which includes a coronary calcium score, as well as a scan of your lungs and abdomen.

And if you are already a Wellness Plan member, your cost for the Healthy Heart Program is only $699. For $100 more, or a total of $799, you can upgrade your coronary calcium score to a full Wellness Scan, which includes a coronary calcium score, as well as a scan of your lungs and abdomen.

The Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Heart program is not for everyone, and is definitely not meant to be an annual expense. What I hope is that individuals 50 and over, or if you are 40 and over with current risks of heart disease, you will look closely at this program. This program is also best for individuals with Diabetes, High blood pressure, High cholesterol, Obesity, or a Family history of Heart disease.

My goal and yours, is to use this program to uncover previously hidden risks of heart disease, that we can then work towards reversing and resolving.

By detecting hidden risks at an earlier time, we have a much greater chance of truly preventing future heart disease!

If you need further information about our Healthy Heart program, Traditional Wellness Plan, or any other Institute For Medical Wellness program, please email Dr. Horvitz at DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com .

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Institute For Medical Wellness Special Offers:

Our supplement of the month for April continues to be Dream Protein.

Dream Protein is an all natural whey protein powder, available in both vanilla and chocolate. It is very popular when used to help with both weight loss and muscle growth. I have used it on an almost daily basis for the past 6 months, during which time I lost 15-20 pounds, all from my waist. This protein supplement does not work alone, and results will always vary. It is one of the better whey protein supplements on the market that I have used.

Regular cost is $45.

For the month of April, Dream Protein will be available for $36, a 20% savings.

Any suggestions for the supplement of the month for May???

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Please look for our booth at Moorestown Day on Saturday June 5, 2010.

And please wish for good weather, that is, no rain. It is no fun being outside in the rain!!

To Good Health !!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Hey Doc, they said........

2010-04-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

April 9, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Hey Doc, they said........

One of the more common reasons people come to visit me at my office, starts with, "They said......"

"They said that cholesterol is bad for you"
"They said that you should drink more water"
"They said that butter and saturated fat are bad for you"
"They said that taking cholesterol lowering medications is good for you"
"They said that eating more grains is good for you."
"They said that being out in the sun is bad for you."
"They said that a lowfat diet is healthy for you."
"They said that a lowcarb diet is bad for you."

I could go on and on and on and on and on and on........, as there are so, so many experts in the world today.

But do "They" actually know "you", and can "They" actually give "you" advice?

I think it works better when someone who actually knows you and your medical and health history has a say in what is good and bad for you.

And just who is that someone?

It is actually two someones. And it is the someones who can better lead you to good health, at least a lot better than the "Theys".

The first and most important someone is you, as no one knows you better. But you need some help in getting through the tsunami of health information available today. That is where the second someone comes in.

Can anyone guess who that is?

Below is a recent email testimonial I received.

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Hi Dr. Horvitz,

This is Sue.

I want to thank you for suggesting I take Dream Protein. I make a shake every morning for breakfast instead of eating cereal. I lost those 5 pounds and took 2 inches off my waist. It's very filling and satisfying. I also eat an egg or cheese. Maybe once a week I'll have half the cereal I used to eat. My stomach is so much flatter. I now exercise 5 days a week and continue with my dumbells and stomach exercises. I can't believe how easy it was to lose that weight and keep it off. I want to stay this weight and continue to lose inches from my stomach.

Thanks again.

Sue

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Emails like that are always good for an ego boost, but egos are not my thing.

My thing is to change the way of family healthcare by partnering with my patient's to steer them towards optimal health. A big part of that comes from my Osteopathic education.

As an Osteopathic physician, I am a strong believer that the body can heal itself, if we do not get in its way. If we do need to step in and provide or prescribe a treatment, it is usually because the body is moving in the wrong direction. My job is to steer your body away from danger and back in the proper direction, towards waht I like to say is towards, safety, health and happiness.

This is why the Institute For Medical Wellness is leading the way in South Jersey. The Institute For Medical Wellness, through its many Wellness programs, puts a major emphasis on each individuals unique lifestyle. Using a thorough medical history, along with different testing modalities, we look for weaknesses that affect your health. Then, our first strategy rarely relies on medication. Instead we look for lifestyle and nutritional adjustments, sometimes supplements, as well as other therapeutic modalities to enable a healthier you. Be assured that if a medication is prescribed, then we have exhausted other safer alternatives.

So you can go to a traditional medical practice, and spend more time in the waiting room, than with your doctor.

You can go to a traditional medical practice and get prescribed another blue or red pill.

You can listen to all the "Theys", who do not know you, and continue with the status quo. Or, you can enroll in our Traditional Wellness plan, and truly work on steering your body in a healthier direction, with less reliance on the "Theys", and more confidence in yourself, as you move towards better health.

Some of the many ways the Institute For Medical Wellness differs from other medical practices can be found below.

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Institute For Medical Wellness - Yearly Wellness Plans

Our Wellness Plans are growing fast this year. We are adding more individuals, couples and families every month. Our Wellness Plans include a comprehensive yearly wellness exam along with unlimited follow-up evaluations for well or sick care. The emphasis in our wellness plans is on optimal health, not just treating you when you are ill. And so, year to year, their popularity continues to build, as evidenced by a greater than 90% renewal rate.

If you have not looked closely at these plans, more information can be found here, as well as the cost of the plans listed below.

Individuals Ages 6-24: once yearly fee of $399.
Individuals Ages 25 to 29: once yearly fee of $449.

Individuals Ages 30 and up: once yearly fee of $549.

Married couples: once yearly fee of $999.

Family Plan: once yearly fee of $1199.

Monthly payment options are also available

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Institute For Medical Wellness Special Offers:

Our supplement of the month continues to be Dream Protein.

Dream Protein is an all natural whey protein powder, available in both vanilla and chocolate. It is very popular when used to help with both weight loss and muscle growth. I have used it on an almost daily basis for the past 6 months, during which time I lost 15-20 pounds, all from my waist. This protein supplement does not work alone, and results will always vary. It is one of the better whey protein supplements on the market that I have used. This is also the protein supplement used in our Healthy Weight Program.

Regular cost is $45.

For the month of April, Dream Protein will be available for $36, a 20% savings.

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Healthy Weight Program - Lite Edition

Dream protein is a part of our Healthy Weight Program, and many have had similar to success, like Sue.

This program fits best after your yearly physical, as review of laboratory testing give valuable information about your metabolic profile, which helps to determine your proper program. The main part of your program will be your online Healthy Weight Notes, which we will privately share via a personalized google document. You will use this document to keep a diary of your food intake, as well as anything else pertinent to help you achieve your goals. I will be monitoring your IMW-Healthy Weight Notes, and giving what I hope to be good instruction and comments, as well as other helpful information, including any links to articles that I feel will be helpful to your success.

I will instruct you to weigh yourself on your home scale intermittently, to monitor your progress. At the end of each month, you should come to the office for a weigh-in. If you are doing well, and want to continue, you may renew the plan on a month-to-month basis. I believe that you will learn enough within the first month or two, that two months on the program will probably be sufficient for you to learn how to continue with your healthy weight goals. But if you need more help and guidance, you can continue for a longer period.

The cost for the Institute for Medical Wellness Healthy Weight Program-Lite Edition is, as its name includes, pretty lite at just $99 for the initial month, and $79 a month thereafter. To make this program even more effective, I suggest you combine it with exercise guidance with our affiliated personal trainers. I hope you use the training sessions to further move yourself towards your goals. For just $175 for the initial month, you can get both the Healthy Weight Program-Lite Edition and three one hour personal training sessions.

So no time is better than now to start working towards your healthy weight!

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Sorry, almost forgot about the Institute For Medical Wellness Therapeutic Massage:

You can enjoy as little as a one hour massage, or 3, 5, and 10 hour discounted packages are also available.

And if you are enrolled in a Wellness Plan, your first massage is half price!

To schedule a massage please call Julie directly, at 609-504-2783.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive future editions in your email box, please sign up here.

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out our patient testimonials.

The Ronald

2010-04-01T20:41:00.000-04:00

April 1, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Before I get into the topic of the day, let me first announce that I will be retiring at the end of this month!

April Fools!!!

Sorry bout that!

With a daughter in 6th grade, and college tuition to save for, I do not think I will be retiring anytime soon. Besides, I can actually say I really love my job!

So now, on with the topic of the day!

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The Ronald

Sorry for another McDonalds post, but I couldn't resist.

Did anyone hear about the calls for Ronald McDonald to be fired?

No, the Donald, i.e. Donald Trump, is not firing the Ronald!

The argument is that Ronald McDonald, the clown that he is, makes people want to eat at McDonalds. Well Duh!!! Isn't that the purpose of a good advertising campaign?

McDonalds does not make anyone unhealthy. You, of your own free will, get to choose what you eat. So if you are gullible enough to eat at McDonalds, due a big clown with red hair, then maybe you deserve whatever you get.

But what exactly do you get?

Some say a heart attack waiting to happen. That could be true. But the evidence is not all against McDonalds. As alluded to in a previous newsletter, you can eat at McDonalds and lose weight.

While I am not a McDonalds fan as an adult, I certainly enjoyed their "food" as a child. But it was never due to Ronald McDonald. I have never been a fan of clowns, not at the circus, not at health insurance board meetings, not in the US Congress, and certainly not at a restaurant. But I would never ask for The Ronald, as I like to call him, to be fired. And with unemployment in America so high today, think of all the clowns that will be out of work if the Ronald is fired. Who will be at all the kids birthday parties?

Will they have to bring back the Hamburglar? Or maybe the Grimace, Mayor McCheese, or Captain Crook?

So while the highly processed McDonalds ingredients leave a whole lot to be desired, and may not truly qualify as real food, firing their top clown would not be a wise decision. There are plenty of other top clowns that should be fired, but I will not digress.

So do me a favor.

Because you deserve a break today!

So, get up and getaway to, this other funny blog post about an interview with Ronald McDonald himself!

Next time you are in the office, ask me about my favorite McDonalds slogan.

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Institute For Medical Wellness - Yearly Wellness Plans

Our Wellness Plans are growing fast this year. We are adding more individuals, couples and families every month. If you have not looked closely at these plans, more information can be found here, as well as the cost of the plans listed below.

Individuals Ages 6-24: once yearly fee of $399.
Individuals Ages 25 to 29: once yearly fee of $449.

Individuals Ages 30 and up: once yearly fee of $549.

Married couples: once yearly fee of $999.

Family Plan: once yearly fee of $1199.

Monthly payment options are also available!

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Healthcare Reform Update:

I have decided to refrain from further reform updates in these newsletters. Instead I have set up a separate blog that will give my opinions of what healthcare reform will mean now and in the future. So for those of you who are interested in my opinions on these issues, you can find this new blog here, which will not be sent out as a newsletter. Instead, I encourage you to sign up on the blog to receive new issues as they are published.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive future editions in your email box, please sign up here.

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out our patient testimonials.

Duets

2010-03-24T16:40:00.002-04:00

March 24, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Duets

There have been many in our time.

Many I understand, and some not quite as much.

First there was Adam and Eve.

In the Entertainment industry there was Laurel and Hardy, and Sonny and Cher.

Let us not forget Mickey and Minnie, or Batman and Robin.

Raising a daughter, I got to know Bert and Ernie as well as Ken and Barbie.

Politically speaking, we can not forget about Bill and Hillary or their television clones Homer and Marge ;0)

The latest duet, however, comes from New Zealand, and is a highly unusual pair, if I may say so myself.

Would you believe Weight Watchers and McDonalds !!!

You see, Weight Watchers has come to an agreement with McDonalds in New Zealand to endorse some of their products, including Chicken McNuggets and their Filet-of-Fish sandwiches.

I am told that McDonalds Chicken McNuggets are just 12 Weight Watchers points, whatever that means.

Now most of you know that I am not a believer in eating processed foods.

So let us take a look at the ingredients in McDonalds Chicken McNuggets and Filet of Fish, from McDonalds website, and decide if they contain processed ingredients.

Chicken McNuggets®:
White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.
CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK.

Fish Filet Patty:
Fish Filet (Hoki and Pollock), water, food starch-modified, yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, salt, whey, dextrose, dried yeast, sugar, sodium polyphosphate, potassium polyphosphate, cellulose gum, paprika and turmeric extract (color), natural flavors (plant source). Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.
CONTAINS: FISH (HOKI AND POLLOCK), WHEAT AND MILK.

Yum Yum.

It is like eating something I concocted in high school chemistry lab!

Just what I want to eat for good health and weight loss??

I don't think so !!!

I prefer to eat real non-processed food, where the ingredient list is 4 items or less, and contains real food, not items such as autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphates, food startch-modified, sodium acid-pyrophosphate, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ, and on and on and on......

Actually I find Weight Watchers name is actually very appropriate. You join weight watchers and watch your weight go down a little, and then up a little, but do you ever really get anywhere? For those of you who do lose weight on weight watchers, how much of your loss is actually fat loss, as opposed to water or muscle? A truly healthy weight loss for overweight or obese individuals should compose of greater than 90% fat loss. This can be easily measured in our office with a body fat analyzer and is a part of our Healthy Weight Programs.

Achieving a healthy weight can be difficult, but the know-how to achieve a healthy weight should not be. That is what our Traditional Healthy Weight Program, and our Healthy Weight Program-Lite edition are all about. Teaching you how to alter your diet for your individual lifestyle and metabolism.

Now, you actually can lose weight eating fast food meals, if you alter the meals by avoiding the carbohydrates. Have a Big Mac, but eat it open-faced, without the bun, even if draws some funny looks. There was a very funny movie I viewed recently, Fat Head, and I highly recommend it. In the movie, which is actually a documentary, the writer actually lost weight and fat while eating nothing but fast food. So he proved you can lose weight eating at McDonalds, but at what cost? All the processed ingredients and chemicals, preservatives, etc, etc, may end up costing him in the end!

I guess my major issue is more with Weight Watchers than with McDonalds. We all know McDonalds is in business to sell you food. Weight Watchers, is supposed to help you lose weight, and to be on your side, not beholden to any corporate interests. Can you tell me that the dollars moving from McDonalds to Weight Watchers corporate office for their endorsement will not cause any conflicts of interest? Is it any different from big political donors bribing coercing politicians to vote a certain way?

I don't think so!

If you have any other duets you find amusing, please let me know!!!

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Institute For Medical Wellness New Offers:

Phone Consults have been available at The Institute for Medical Wellness since January 2010.

While many patient's take it for granted that doctor's will prescribe treatment over the phone, it is not always good sound medical practice, nor the best for patient care. But many patient's in my practice have strongly requested these consults. Thus, I have added phone consultations to the services I offer, in the hope that when used in the proper circumstances will be of benefit to you. Phone consultations simply consists of phone time spent with you evaluating your health complaints, and prescribing treatment. For example, if you are feeling ill, but stuck at work or home, you can arrange a phone consultation.

The following fees will be charged dependent upon the time spent on consultation or if treatment is ordered or prescribed:

5 minutes or less without treatment prescribed = No charge
10 minutes or less with treatment prescribed = $45
11-15 minutes with treatment prescribed = $75

Any consultation that would require more than 15 minutes requires an in-office evaluation. Phone consultations will most often be used to evaluate and treat recurrent illnesses such as allergies, sinusitis or urinary tract infections. This service is not available to new patient's, nor to any condition that requires an in-office evaluation. Phone consults also need to be scheduled during regular office hours.

To schedule a phone consult, please call our office at 856-231-0590. A valid credit card is required.

Telephone consult fees are not applicable for the following:

* Quick follow-up phone conversations about a recent office evaluation.
* Wellness plan members, as these services are already included as part of your plan.
* As Medicare rules are vague on telephone consults, this service is not available to Traditional Medicare patients.
* Routine requests such as pharmacy refills, appointments or non-physician requests.
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Healthcare Reform Update:

I have decided to refrain from further reform updates in these newsletters. Instead I have set up a separate blog that will give my opinions of what healthcare reform will mean now and in the future. So for those of you who are interested in my opinions on these issues, you can find this new blog here, which will not be sent out as a newsletter. Instead, I encourage you to sign up on the blog to receive new issues as they are published.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Defining the Healthcare Reform Debate:

2010-03-21T16:26:00.002-04:00

March 21, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Defining the Healthcare Reform Debate:

The debate has raged for over a year now. The vote will be taken today. As this newsletter was written and sent prior to the vote, I do not yet know the outcome, yet I fear that this reform bill will pass. While our healthcare system has many faults, the reforms that may become law are more like the San Andreas fault.

Here are a few words, that I feel aptly describes the healthcare reform debate, taken from a few different online dictionaries.

1) Oligarchy: An oligarchy (Greek ?λιγαρχ?α, Oligarkhía) (oligocracy) is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, military might, or religious hegemony.

Opinion only: Public opinion has been against this reform bill. Yet the Congress may yet make it law. Is our present day Congress an oligarchy?

2) Collusion is an agreement, usually secretive, which occurs between two or more persons to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage. It is an agreement among firms to divide the market, set prices, or limit production. It can involve "wage fixing, kickbacks, or misrepresenting the independence of the relationship between the colluding parties. As another example, collusion may involve cooperation between competing sellers, in the form of an agreement, express or tacit, limiting competition, or a merger or other means to raise the market price above the competitive level.

Opinion only: At first, I thought this was about health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies fixing prices to benefit the profits of both. But after watching healthcare reform pushed through our Congress, it appears that our politicians are even better at collusion, and have colluded with just about every special interest and industry around, leaving individuals without representation.

How many private backroom political deals were struck to buy get votes?

This bill was originally written in large part by politicians in collusion with health insurers. So the major benefits are political, and for the profits of the large insurance companies. All the demonizing of insurance companies was just a tactic to try to swing public opinion in favor of reform. It did not work. We all have issues when we fight an insurer to cover a treatment. Our biggest threat is legal, supposedly with the power of the government at our sides. With the collusion between the insurers and the government, just whose side will our government be on during our next battle with the insurers?

Individuals may soon be mandated to purchase insurance, and their choices of policies to purchase will be regulated and limited by the government. What the government fails to understand is that it is the government regulations and mandates that increases the costs of healthcare. They are just doubling down on bad policy!!

I will stop here, but not because I have run out of opinions.

But first, here is a link on healthcare reform from one of my volunteer crackerjack patients researchers.

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After the above reform discussion, I feel the need to lighten it up a little, and no better way then some HMO humor.

HMO Jokes Segment

•The problem is that 99.99% of the HMO's make a bad name for the rest of them.
•Title for the meeting held in Michigan was an excellent example for oxymoron: "Managed care ethics."
•Q: What is the difference between an HMO and a car battery? A: The battery has a positive side.
•Q: What's the difference between an HMO doc and a seagull? A seagull can still make a significant deposit on a Mercedes.
Disclaimer: I have never owned a Mercedes, and my car is now 12 years old!!!

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Blogroll

For those of you who are not internet savvy, a blogroll is not a type of sushi. But they are part of the many sources I research for new, old or changing information concerning your health.

I have many blogs that I follow, some of which are listed below:

http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/ Diabetes Update

http://www.fathead-movie.com/ Fat Head- You've been fed a load of bologna

http://nephropal.blogspot.com/ Health and Medicine from an Evolutionary Standpoint

http://www.paleonu.com/ paleolithic nutrition - duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu

http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/ explores food, fitness, pharmacy, freedom, and philosophy using an evolutionary paradigm. Primal Wisdom refers to the accumulated wisdom of our pre-agricultural ancestors as well as the innate wisdom built into the modern human organism through millions of years of evolution.

http://robbwolf.com/ Intermittent Fasting, Fitness, & Paleolithic Nutrition

http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/ Self-Experimentation, Scientific Method, the Shangri-La Diet, etc.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ The Blog of Michael R.Eades, M.D., A critical look at nutritional science and anything else that strikes my fancy

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/ Measure, track and control coronary atherosclerotic plaque

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com A blog about health, food, wholesome living and whatever else captures my interest.

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Conclusion:

So if healthcare reform passes and is signed into law, what do I see happening?

I really do not like making predictions, but since you asked:

I will limit my predictions to the Institute For Medical Wellness. We will continue to offer patient-centered, non-rushed medical care focusing on prevention of illness regardless of any reform bill, because it is what is demanded from my patient's and what is best for your health.

So if and when millions of individuals are forced to purchase insurance, and find their way into physicians offices, my question becomes, are there enough physicians? The answer is NO! So these newly insured will find themselves waiting in long lines at doctors offices or emergency rooms. But the era of the 8 minute doctor visit will be over. It will be replaced with a 5 minute visit, as doctors will need to see many more patients each day. Please tell me how can that be accomplished while maintaining high quality care?

The Institute For Medical Wellness will continue as is.

•Our routine office visit will remain at 20 minutes.
•Yearly wellness exams will continue at 45-60 minutes.
•Same day appointments and minimal if any waiting room time will continue.
•Wellness Plans that are less expensive than your cell phone bill or gym membership!

When we can no longer continue meeting the above conditions, we will stop accepting new patients. We value every individual in our practice, I hope as much as each individual values themselves!

So you are all still free to decide, regardless of healthcare reform, where to obtain your healthcare. You can remain in the present healthcare system, where doctor visits last 5-8 minutes, and it can take a week for a sick visit. Or you can join with The Institute for Medical Wellness for healthcare delivery the way it should be, where the focus is always on you!!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Introducing our Healthy Weight Program - Lite Edition

2010-03-17T16:19:00.001-04:00

March 17, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Introducing our Healthy Weight Program - Lite Edition

Our Traditional Healthy Weight Program has many popular items, including many in-office consultations, as well as a starter package of supplements and protein shakes included. But by popular request, we are now able to offer our Healthy Weight Program, in a sleeker, Lite Edition.

The Lite Program benefits those who are "too busy", and do not have the time to spend on the Traditional Healthy Weight Program, and is also good for individuals who need the guidance, but less hand holding, to meet their healthy weight goal.

This program fits best after your yearly physical, as review of laboratory testing give valuable information about your metabolic profile, which helps to determine your proper program. The main part of your program will be your online Healthy Weight Notes, which we will privately share via a personalized google document. You will use this document to keep a diary of your food intake, as well as anything else pertinent to help you achieve your goals. I will be monitoring your IMW-Healthy Weight Notes, and giving what I hope to be good instruction and comments, as well as other helpful information, including any links to articles that I feel will be helpful to your success.

I will instruct you to weigh yourself on your home scale intermittently, to monitor your progress. At the end of each month, you should come to the office for a weigh-in. If you are doing well, and want to continue, you may renew the plan on a month-to-month basis. I believe that you will learn enough within the first month or two, that two months on the program will probably be sufficient for you to learn how to continue with your healthy weight goals. But if you need more help and guidance, you can continue for a longer period.

The cost for the Institute for Medical Wellness Healthy Weight Program-Lite Edition is, as its name includes, pretty lite at just $99 for the initial month, and $79 a month thereafter. To make this program even more effective, I suggest you combine it with exercise guidance with our affiliated personal trainers. I hope you use the training sessions to further move yourself towards your goals. For just $175 for the initial month, you can get both the Healthy Weight Program-Lite Edition and three one hour personal training sessions, and you will receive 10% off of all Institute for Medical Wellness supplements for the length of your program.

So no time is better than now to start working towards your healthy weight!
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Healthcare Reform Update:

Below is an email I sent to Congressman John Adler yesterday concerning the healthcare reform debate.

To Congressman Adler:

I write to encourage you to oppose government-run health care and any legislation which might broaden the federal government's control over my health care, and the healthcare I provide to my patients. The current health care legislation, if passed and signed into law, will result in higher insurance premiums, lost health insurance and lost jobs for the American people which will push us deeper into recession. It will force many individuals, who execute their freedom of choice to not purchase insurance, into buying health insurance that they do not want. Many of these individuals are in their 20's and 30's and can not afford insurance, regardless of any government stipend they may receive.

I hope that you fight against health care legislation that would drive up costs, diminish quality and limit access. As a private solo primary care physician, I know all too well the problems with our healthcare system! I also am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the bill before you will only make it worse. So you have a decision to make. If you side with your political party, instead of with the people who you are sworn to represent, do not expect to be re-elected in November. I am not a politically active person. I am too busy trying to provide quality medical care to my patients. But please know that if you vote for this government takeover of healthcare, not only will I speak up to every patient in my practice, but I will encourage and help every other doctor in my area to speak up as well and elect your opponent in November. Physicians rarely get involved politically, but the healthcare debate that has occurred in Washington D.C. has awoken a sleeping giant. Ask your friends and neighbors who they trust more about healthcare, their doctor or their Congressman. I do not think you would fare to well in that poll!

To have politicians and special interests dictate to me how to best treat my patient's is ludicrous and insulting. If you are ill, would you rather call me, as your physician, or your political party officials and special interests? I hope your answer is you would rather call your physician! If so, then make it happen by voting NO on this reform bill!

I would welcome a response directly from you, and not by way of a form letter. You may call me at my office at 856-231-0590. Better yet, I invite you to come visit my office and see how healthcare is actually delivered in a patient-centered and cost effective manner.

If you want my support in November, and I am a registered Independent, you not only need to vote NO on this reform package, but you need to show some leadership and speak out against this monstrosity of a bill to other members of Congress. Do not fear your Congressional leaders. They can not vote for you. I can, as well as all the patient's in my practice and my community that you are sworn to serve.

So I urge you again, to not only show some backbone and vote NO, but tell the truth about these reforms, that they are bad for individuals, bad for business, and catastrophic for our country.

Sincerely,

Dr. Steven Horvitz
128 Bortons Landing Rd
Moorestown, NJ 08057-3011
Phone 856-231-0590

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So what do you think?

A: Form letter response
B: Personal Email response
C: Phone call to meet at my office
D: No response
E: Other

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Bortons Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

A Hearty Dose of Calcium???

2010-03-12T16:11:00.002-05:00

March 12, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

A Hearty Dose of Calcium???

Everyone always asks, Hey Doc, What type of calcium supplement should I take? You know, I don't want to have weak bones or Osteoporosis.

But does calcium supplementation help you or hurt you?

To answer this question we need to go back to a term mentioned a while back in an older, more ancient newsletter. The term or concept is called NNT, or number needed to treat. This is, to me, a very valuable statistic. It tells me how many people we need to treat to help or to hurt one person? I then convert that number into a percentage to see the actual percentage of people helped, or hurt, by a treatment.

Here is an example:

If 11 people have strep throat, and I give an antibiotic to all 11, on average, 10 people will be cured and 1 will not. The NNT is 10/11, or a 91% success rate. In healthcare, that is pretty good odds, especially for a treatment that is very safe.

Before I get to calcium, let me provide another NNT, this time for one of my favorites, the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Lipitor has an NNT of 100 to prevent one cardiovascular event. So it helps 1 out of every 100 people who take it, or 1%. I'll bet that is not what you see or hear on the television advertisements.

Now let us look at NNT for calcium supplementation in a few different ways.

Over five years,to prevent one symptomatic fracture in one person, we need to give calcium supplementation to 50 people. That is an NNT of 50, which means 1 out of 50 or 2% of people may benefit. That also means 98% do not!

Now, can calcium cause any problems?

In the above population, the NNT of individuals who took calcium supplementation over 5 years and went on to have a heart attack, otherwise known as an MI, or myocardial infarction, a coronary, or acute coronary syndrome, or coronary thrombosis .............

Sorry bout that! I sometimes get carried away!

The NNT of individuals who took calcium supplementation and went on to have a heart attack was 44. This means that 1 out of 44 individuals or 2.3% went on to have heart attacks. Here is another study on Vitamin D, calcium and prevention of cardiovascular events.

Things that make me go Hmmm!!!

2% of people benefit from calcium by not developing a symptomatic fracture, while 2.3% had a heart attack. More had heart attacks than prevention of fractures.

I do not exactly like those odds ; (

So the benefit of calcium supplementation appears to be overblown!

But I can still take one of those Osteoporosis drugs to prevent my bones from weakening. They will help because I trust Sally Fields!!! Sally would not lie to me!!

Full disclosure time: The only movie I ever liked with Sally Fields was Smokey and the Bandit. But that was a long, long time ago!!!

Below are the NNT's for prevention of hip fractures over 3 years for 3 common Osteoporosis drugs, as well as for low dose Vitamin D supplementation and hormone replacement therapy.

1. Risedronate (Actonel): 77
2. Alendronate (Fosamax): 91
3. Zoledronic Acid (Reclast): 91
4. Vitamin D 800 IU daily: 45
5. Hormone Replacement Therapy: 385

The lower the number, the better.

It appears that low dose Vitamin D was twice as effective as Fosamax or Reclast.

My suggestion.

Eat a well balanced diet, low in processed carbohydrates, with an abundance of colorful vegetables, meats, chicken, fish and eggs. Throw in some nuts, butter and olive oil. Get some summer sunshine for Vitamin D, or take a Vitamin D supplement.

And "just say No", to calcium supplements and Osteoporosis drugs!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

HDL Cholesterol- Is something fishy??

2010-03-08T16:02:00.001-05:00

March 8, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

HDL Cholesterol- Is something fishy??

HDL, otherwise known as the good cholesterol, is one of the types of cholesterol that makes up your total cholesterol measurement. Unlike certain types of LDL (type-B small dense LDL's), HDL cholesterol is generally good for you! While small dense LDL's can go through your bloodstream and get taken into the vessel wall, where it can cause blockages, HDL does the opposite. HDL cholesterol, due to its even smaller size, is able to get through the vessel walls, and acts as a transport vehicle, or bus, to takes the bad cholesterol out of the wall and recirculate it back to the liver for processing. That is why I call HDL, the Happy Cholesterol!!!

So that brings up a nice math problem that I do almost every day at the office.

Almost on Monday, almost on Tuesday, almost on Wednesday.

Sorry bout that. I always liked that joke ; )

One of the first things I look at when reviewing cholesterol values is what I call the Total/HDL ratio. This ratio is defined as the Total Cholesterol divided by the HDL cholesterol. A good ratio is 4 or below, which indicates a less than average risk of developing heart disease. A ratio greater than 5 puts you at above average risk for heart disease.

So who do you think has the lower risk of heart disease based on the below cholesterol levels?

Patient #1)

Total Cholesterol = 240
HDL Cholesterol = 60
LDL Cholesterol = 145
Triglycerides = 110

Patient #2)

Total Cholesterol = 180
HDL Cholesterol = 30
LDL Cholesterol = 115
Triglycerides = 100

Patient #1 has higher levels of all the cholesterol components and triglycerides. Patient #1 also has a ratio of 240/60 = 4.0

Patient #2 has lower levels of all the cholesterol components and triglycerides. Patient #1 has a ratio of 180/30 = 6.0

Patient #1 has a lower risk of heart disease based on the ratio of 4.0 .

As already mentioned, the HDL or good cholesterol, goes through the body and scavenges up or cleans up after the bad cholesterol or LDL. So the more HDL you have, the better. Some medications have been shown to raise HDL. Niacin, sold as prescription Niaspan, has some very good studies showing just this effect. Unfortunately for niacin, the high doses needed to exert this effect, has some very annoying flushing, itching and other skin side effects, and is rarely tolerated. Niacin also has an annoying habit of raising diabetics and prediabetics sugar levels.

My advice on the best way to improve your ratio is to lower your processed carbohydrate intake, increase your healthy fat, protein and fiber intake, increase your exercise, and if able, supplement with fish oils. This will raise the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) and lower your ratio to healthier levels. Our Healthy Weight Program is one way to help you lower your overall risk. A new Healthy Weight Program-Lite edition, will soon be available to help you further.

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Fish Oils and PCB's

That leads to a perfect segway into our next subject.

Fish oil supplements, when used correctly, have been proven beneficial in prevention of heart disease, arthritis and some mood disorders. Other benefits have been reported, but I like to wait for more data to come in before making any recommendations.

I was asked to comment about a recent news story from Good Morning America (GMA) concerning fish oil supplements and PCB content. PCB's have been proven in the past to increase one's risk of cancer. A lawsuit has been filed against some fish oil manufacturers related to PCB's in fish oil supplements.

What is my take on this?

The GMA segment appeared to be well balanced, and the physician interviewed stated that only ten fish oil supplements were studied, which is a very small sample size. Concluding that all fish oil supplements are hazardous, from that sample size, would be equivalent to throwing out all the eggs at your supermarket due to a dozen or so bad eggs. Still, it will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out.

I can also take a conspiratorial view of this lawsuit. There is presently talk in Congress about further government regulations on the nutritional supplement industry. This lawsuit may be the trial balloon, pun intended, to drum up support for further government regulations. These regulations would put a big damper on individuals freedom to purchase supplements on their own.

The Institute For Medical Wellness, for the past seven years, has had available for purchase, Carlson's Fish Oil. Here is what is written on the Carlsons Fish Oil label.

THIS PRODUCT is regularly tested (using AOAC international protocols) for freshness, potency and purity by an independent, FDA-registered laboratory and has been determined to be fresh, fully potent and free of detectable levels of mercury, cadmium, lead, PCB's and 28 other contaminants.

I would not let the GMA story scare you away from fish oil supplements. But you should, as I always recommend, do your homework before starting or purchasing a supplement for use.

The Institute For Medical Wellness has a select list of supplements available, chosen based on efficacy, reliability, safety and cost. If a supplement does not meet those specifications, I do not recommend it.
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Funny Times at The Institute For Medical Wellness:

We all have days when we get tongue-tied, myself probably more than others. But here is a funny that I need to mention.

When I asked a long-time patient, who I shall anonymously refer to as "The Man", what insurance he had, for laboratory testing purposes only, the response given was,

"Blue Cross- Blue Cheese"

Maybe I caught him after lunch at Salad Works ????

Special thanks to "The Man" for his good wit and great sense of humor!!

And for all the hassles of health insurance today, maybe they should change their name to Blue Cross-Blue Cheese !!!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

LDL Cholesterol- Is it truly a villain?

2010-03-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

LDL Cholesterol- Is it truly a villain?

In my previous newsletter, I discussed the meaning of a Total Cholesterol reading as it relates to your risk of vascular disease. If you missed that newsletter, I'll update you.

Total Cholesterol is meaningless.

I'll say that again.

Total Cholesterol is meaningless!!

You see, total cholesterol is made up of many subfractions.

There are two common subfractions we usually hear about.

One that we measure is called LDL, otherwise known as low density cholesterol or BAD cholesterol. A simple way to remember LDL is bad is that L is lousy or bad.

A second that we measure is called HDL, otherwise known as high density cholesterol, or GOOD cholesterol. A simple way to remember that HDL is good is that H is happy or good.

So while two individuals may have the same Total Cholesterol, the amounts of the HDL and LDL may differ.

Today I will focus on LDL which has long been blamed for heart and vascular disease. What you may not know is that just as Total Cholesterol has subfractions that are both good and bad, LDL cholesterol also has subfractions. These subfractions are not all bad for you. Unfortunately, a routine cholesterol or lipid panel does not break down LDL into its subfractions. That is why at the Institute For Medical Wellness, we order a more detailed lipid panel to include these measurements. These added LDL subfractions enable us to better stratify your risk for heart and vascular disease and guide you towards a healthier diet and lifestyle to match your levels.

The first LDL subfraction I will call Type B LDL, otherwise known as small and dense. The small dense Type B LDL's tend to be more problematic. A simple way to understand this is to imagine a cholesterol doorway that is only 25 nanometers wide. Only LDL cholesterol particles smaller than 25 nanometers can fit through the doorway. Type B LDL tends to be 25 nanometers or less and can fit easily through the doorway. Unfortunately this doorway leads the cholesterol towards increased plaque formation and a higher risk of heart disease.

The second LDL subfraction I will call Type A LDL, otherwise known as large buoyant or big and fluffy. These big fluffy Type A LDL's tend to be much less problematic, as they tend to be larger than 25 nanometers in size, and do not fit easily through the cholseterol doorway. This makes the Type A LDL's not as dangerous.

OK. Now let me put this all together for you. Just as measuring a Total Cholesterol level by itself tends to be meaningless, measuring a total LDL is not very helpful without the subfractions we now call big fluffy and small dense.

So, I know people do not like to be call big and fluffy. But when we are talking about LDL cholesterol, big and fluffy is what you want to be.

For more information about this type of cholesterol testing, please visit the following website.

Unfortunately, there is a caveat. One insurance company, Aetna, is way behind the eight ball when it comes to lipid measurements, and refuses to allow payment for this testing. But I am always looking for a way to guide you through or around the health insurance quagmire. Presently I am in discussion to get this special testing at a reduced price for Aetna patients.

Stay tuned.

Next in the cholesterol series, in an upcoming newsletter, will be HDL.

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Healthcare Reform Update:

Yes, here we go again!

First let me say that my views on healthcare reform are not meant to be political, as healthcare should never be held hostage to politics. Your healthcare and the decisions you make about your health should be yours to make, and yours alone. Unfortunately too many outside interests (insurers and politicians) have gotten in the way. It was not always like this.

My whole life has been centered around healthcare. I started my medical education in 1988, but I grew up in my father's medical office. My father was an independent family doctor who practiced for 25 years, before the insurance companies or the government took over control of the system. Insurance premiums were much more affordable during that period. The doctor-patient relationship was paramount when I would visit my father's office and see the interaction between him and his patient's. There was no concern for what insurance a patient had. So the problem, as I see it now, is not that there is not enough government and third party control of your healthcare, but too much. Way, way too much!!

So when I discuss the healthcare reform debate, it is personal. Healthcare costs, as I see it, have skyrocketed due to government and insurance control, so how will giving them more control of the system lower costs?

I am not part of any political party. I am not a republican or democrat, and I do not belong to a tea party. I am proud to be just as independent politically as I am independent in my practice of medicine. My views on this healthcare reform issue gravitate towards what I personally feel gives the most control of healthcare decisions to patient's and their physicians. Any reforms that try to intrude on the doctor-patient relationship, I will oppose, and oppose strongly.

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Institute For Medical Wellness Planning Stages or what we hope to offer in the near future.

•Healthy Weight Program- Lite edition- pun intended!
•New Heart and Vascular Wellness to focus even more on prevention of heart disease.
•More In-Depth Nutritional Testing

If you have any ideas for future newsletters please let me know!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Heart Attacks and Healthcare reform- What truly causes them and can we prevent either??

2010-02-28T20:14:00.003-05:00

February 28, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Heart Attacks and Healthcare reform- What truly causes them and can we prevent either??

This will be the first in a series about cardiovascular disease testing.

Today will focus on total cholesterol measurements and what it really means.

When I first meet a patient, I generally spend a good deal of time reviewing their medical history. This generally accounts for about 20 minutes of our first visit. And what makes the Institute For Medical Wellness distinct from other offices, is that it is I, Dr. Horvitz, that takes the history. I do not rely on paperwork, assistants, or prior records. It is extremely important to get to know each patient, and the initial medical history is the most important step in that process.

What I always find amusing about the initial history, is when I question about previous testing.

Can you guess what testing patient's almost always bring up first?

It is none other than one of my favorite topics, cholesterol!!!

I have had patient's come in to my office scared because they were told their cholesterol was over 200. I have had patient's smile proudly and announce that their cholesterol levels were under 200. I always ask why that is important, and the routine response is, "Well isn't cholesterol bad for me, and shouldn't I try to lower it?"

Many still believe that they need to lower their Total Cholesterol below 200 to reduce their risks of heart attacks, strokes, and other vascular disease. Now, what would you say if I told you that:

Of all people who suffer heart attacks, 50%, that means half, have Total Cholesterol levels above 200 !!!

Sounds pretty ominous ????

OK, then let me take it one step further, by asking what about the other 50% who suffer heart attacks?

Of all people who suffer heart attacks, 50%, that means half, have Total Cholesterol levels below 200 !!!

So how accurate is a Total Cholesterol level in calculating your risk for a heart attack?

It is as accurate as guessing heads or tails when flipping a coin !!!!

I will continue with cardiovascular disease testing in a future newsletter. I hope to show what truly predicts your future risk and what does not!!

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Healthcare Reform Update:

The healthcare summit is over. For those of you who watched it, What did you think?

I'll tell you what I think, but first go back to my previous newsletter with my prediction about the summit. As of now, most of my predictions have come true. Everyone had their talking points, with the president, as usual, speaking the most. But he has that right, because, if I can quote him, "I am the President".

Unfortunately, the two political spectrums are diametrically and philosophically opposed to each other in respect to healthcare.

The democrats want government to exert more power and control over the system.
The republicans want the government to set up rules that would allow individuals and businesses greater leverage when purchasing health insurance and healthcare.

The democrats want a system where politicians and bureaucrats will have the ultimate decision making authority about what type of health insurance is available to you, which leads in the future to what type of treatments will be available.

The republicans want a system left open to the free market, with less political mandates from Washington and state governments. This would allow insurance companies to develop insurance plans that better meet the needs of its subscribers, and lowering the costs.

There is more but I prefer to sum it up this way.

The president wants a plan with heavy, heavy control of your healthcare choices residing in Washington. The president believes that government knows better what you need, and will make better choices for you, than if you could make them yourself. The president wants a healthcare plan where you need to rely on Washington and all of its politics.

The republicans do not want a big reform plan. They want small incremental changes that would allow the power of healthcare decision making to remain with individuals. They want reforms that promote true competition for your healthcare dollar, thereby lowering your costs and improving innovations in treatment. The republicans want a healthcare plan where you rely on yourself and your community, not on Washington politics!

Now to be fair, everything does not always work out exactly as feared or planned.

But it is "intentions", that affect our behavior and beliefs.

It is my view that the president's intentions are to set the stage for a future full government takeover of the healthcare system. It may not occur during his presidency, but he wants to start pushing the car without brakes down the hill towards a full government system. The problem I have, is that once the car starts moving downhill, it becomes very, very hard to stop!

If you did not watch the summit, or the follow-up media highlights, I urge you to watch the following video. Dr. Tom Coburn, a republican senator and physician, gave a republican address concerning the aftermath of the summit. It can be viewed here.

As a disclaimer. I do not like any politician or political group that puts themselves or their party ahead of the constituents they are meant to represent. That is why I am a registered as neither a republican or a democrat, but as an independent.

My views on healthcare has not changed. Please read a newsletter from two years ago, prior to today's healthcare debate.

If you are against the present reforms, click here to sign one of the many petitions seeking a total fresh restart of the reform debate.

No matter what your views on healthcare reform, speak up and contact your political representatives!!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive future editions in your email box, please sign up here.

Healthcare Words Of The Day

2010-02-24T16:55:00.001-05:00

February 24, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

First word of the day is oxymoron.

An online definition:

oxymoron
a rhetorical device or figure of speech in which contradictory or opposite words or concepts are combined for effect. — oxymoronic, adj.

Now please read the following segment below:

In a previous newsletter, I wrote about a French premier who traveled to our country for healthcare. In particular, he had heart surgery in Florida after his Canadian doctor's recommended it. As per a Canadian Press article, Mr. Williams was quoted as saying,

“My doctors in Newfoundland indicated to me that I should go out of the province to get it done,” Williams said in an interview broadcast yesterday with the NTV network. “This is my heart, it’s my health, and it’s my choice.”

So a French Premier chose, of his own volition, to come to America for healthcare, more specifically, heart surgery. There are heart surgeons in Canada. But they did not perform the less invasive type of surgery performed by some surgeons in America.

But that may not have been the only reason Mr. Williams came to America, according to the Canadian press article.

"Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada. "I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said. "(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

OK. He could have had the surgery in Canada. But the surgeons would have cracked open his chest, instead of going in laparoscopically, a much less invasive procedure. And, if he stayed in Canada, and had the surgery, he either would have had to wait in line, and risk permanent heart damage, or use political connections to get pushed to the front of the line.

Things that make you go Hmmm....

A politician using political connections to get special favors. That could never happen in this country??? I also have a bridge in New York to sell you!!

But he chose to have treatment in our country, yet still believes the Canadian system is better??

Can you say oxymoron???

So while I truly respect our neighbors to the north, I want no part of their top-heavy government controlled healthcare system. Our system may be expensive, but that is a result of too much government, third party and political intrusions into the system, not too little. So anyone who wants to debate where to get the best and most advanced medical care in the world, get in line behind Danny Williams from Canada.

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OBama's Healthcare Summit

That brings me to the second word of the day, Summit.

An online definition of summit.

sum·mit (smt)
n.
1. The highest point or part; the top.
2. The highest level or degree that can be attained.
3.
a. The highest level, as of government officials.
b. A conference or meeting of high-level leaders, usually called to shape a program of action.
v. sum·mit·ed, sum·mit·ing, sum·mits

If we actually believe that politicians meet the above definitions and that they can fix the healthcare system, then, well ......

Here is my prediction for how the healthcare summit will go.

President Obama will thank everyone for attending the first ever televised and transparent healthcare summit to attempt to solve our nations healthcare crisis. He will mention how we have the best doctors and hospitals in the world, but are trapped in a system that costs too much and leaves many without healthcare. He will then demonize special interests, especially the health insurance companies and Big Pharma. He will take a stand and review his proposal for reform, that is a compilation of the Senate and House's bills that, if you follow public opinion polls, has been widely rejected by a majority of Americans. He will talk about bending the cost curve of healthcare, and making doctors and hospitals more efficient through the use of electronic health records and a comparative effectiveness research commission. He will ask that his proposal be the framework or template that the rest of the day's summit focuses upon. He will call for an end to bickering and political games and ask that the republicans end their partisanship in the name of healthcare reform.

Boy would I love to be at this summit, and debate the president on healthcare reform. I am so, so tired of politicians screwing up the healthcare system, blaming doctors and hospitals for increasing costs, and then making it worse with more political rhetoric.

So since I will instead, be working at my office, providing healthcare, let me rebut some of the above statements.

1) There is no healthcare crisis. There is a political crisis on what to do to fix a system that previous governments also screwed up, yet they will use the word crisis as a way to have the government exert even more control.

We do not need more government control of healthcare, but less. Everyone has access to healthcare. No one can be turned away from an emergency room. The real issue is the cost of health insurance, not actual healthcare. To lower the cost of health insurance, we need to get rid of government mandates, encourage high deductible insurance policies with tax free medical savings accounts to promote some individual responsibility for one's own health, and enable more competition among insurers by allowing real competition across state lines. By freeing the insurance companies from political state mandates, the cost of insurance premiums will decrease. The states with the fewest mandates, have the lowest insurance premiums. Yet the presidents reform proposals will likely increase mandates on insurance companies, which will only lead to higher insurance premiums. That is why Massachusetts, with a state sponsored system, has one of the highest insurance premiums in the nation. The president's proposals will result in a "bending of the cost curve" in the wrong direction.

2) Big Pharma is not one of my friends, but they are also not one of my enemies. Their marketing schemes leave alot to be desired, and I call them on it all the time. But they do produce medications and treatments that prevent illness and save lives. Instead of demonizing them and calling their profits obscene, change the system to make them deal directly with individuals. At present, they do not sell their products to individuals. They sell them to insurance plans and pharmacy benefit companies. If they had to sell their products direct to you, don't you think they would have to lower their prices to stay in business? You can still have a prescription plan, if you choose. But the plan would reimburse you after you bought your medication, thereby ending the backroom wheeling and dealing that drives the costs of medications higher. The presidents plan is for more third party intrusion into your prescriptions, which will only make the costs higher in the end. Again, the president's proposals will result in a "bending of the cost curve" in the wrong direction.

3) Electronic health records (EHR) do not make doctor's more efficient, nor do they save money. Doctors spend so much wasted time documenting every little hiccup, that they lose focus on the patient. EHR's only make the matter worse as the learning curve for these systems can be pretty steep, as well as the operating costs being very high. The return on investment for most doctor practices is negative. The president's proposals will result in a "bending of the cost curve" in the wrong direction.

4) The Comparative Effectiveness Research panel was put into law at the time of the first "stimulus bill". This panel is actually a ploy to put the government in charge of deciding what treatments are worthwhile and will lead eventually to what treatments will be covered. So the newer, higher priced treatments and procedures will eventually be stymied by lack of coverage. For example, let us go back to Premier Danny Jackson. If the heart surgeon was not able to learn to perform the less invasive surgery, due to the higher initial costs during the early years of the procedure, Mr. Jackson would still be in Canada, waiting to have his chest cracked open. Mr. Jackson's choices that he was quoted above would have been limited. Is that the type of healthcare system you want??

I could go further, probably to number 212, but then this would be more like a book, then a newsletter.

So let me conclude by stating my hope, as a physician who prefers to have third party government and insurers out of my exam rooms, is for the Republican party to stand strong against the President's proposals. I also hope they are joined by Democrats to demand the summit start fresh with a totally open slate, and begin again with reforms that give freedom and choice to individuals, with a system designed to lower both insurance premiums, individual costs, and government costs. This will allow the continuation of the best healthcare the world has ever known, while truly bending the cost curve downward.

Unfortunately, I believe the Democrats in Congress, believe they know better than the American public, and will still try to shove this reform plan down our throats. If they do, they will certainly pay the price during the November 2010 elections!! So let us hope they come to their senses, and end the present reform charade.

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Wellness Network Update:

Just a reminder. Everyone enrolled in a Wellness Program can receive one therapeutic massage at half price. That is $35 for a one hour massage, and $50 for an hour and a half.

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Institute For Medical Wellness New Offers:

Our supplement of the month for February 2010 is Revitalize. Revitalize is our once daily multivitamin that contains an abundance of vitamins and minerals, along with small amounts of antioxidant, and liver detoxifying herbs. Revitalize comes in a bottle of 90 capsules, with most people taking 1-3 a day. I find that one a day is sufficient for most, and also allows the bottle to last for 3 months. Through the end of this month, Revitalize will be available for $5 off its regular price. For more information on Revitalize and the other supplements we offer, please visit here.

I have not yet decided on a supplement of the month for March.

Any ideas or suggestions???

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

What do you eat Doc?

2010-02-22T17:04:00.001-05:00

February 22, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

What do you eat Doc?

I often get asked, "What do you eat Doc?" What type of food do you eat?

The question should really be, "Doc, what do you not eat?"

The answer has changed over the years. But over the past ten years or so, I have come to the conclusion that a more natural, ancestral or "caveman" based diet is the healthiest way to eat.

No, I do not have Fred Flintstone as my personal chef, and I do not eat Brontosaurus burgers. Although I have been known to have a Five Guys burger, minus the roll of course!

When I go grocery shopping, I always read the ingredients. I refuse to eat food with ingredients I can not pronounce, or that I would not eat by itself. That goes for beverages as well.

So here is a quick quiz. I am going to list the ingredients of 5 popular beverages. See if you know the name of each. Answers will be at the end of the newsletter.

A: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor.

B: Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (preserves freshness), citric acid, natural flavor.

C: Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (to protect taste), natural flavors, citric acid.

D: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate( preservative), natural flavors, caramel color.

E: Vapor distilled deionized, and/or reverse osmosis water, cane sugar, crystalline fructose, citric acid, vegetable juice (color), abscorbic acid (vitamin C), natural flavor, berry and fruit extracts (acai,blueberry, pomegranate and apple), magnesium lactate (electrolyte), calcium lactate (electrolyte), monopotassium phosphate (electrolyte), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (b5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (b6), cyanocobalamin (b12).

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Interesting Article:

Please click on the link below for an interesting article.

Being happy, contented linked to reduced CHD risk

We have known for a long time about the link between depression and early heart disease, so this study is no surprise. I guess it is easier to study happy, contented people, than grumpy old men ;)

Click on this link for some audio to help get you in the right frame of mind!

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Healthcare Reform Update:

This week President Obama is hosting a Healthcare summit. At this summit, republicans and democrats will be putting forward their ideas on reform. Good idea, but terrible execution. If this summit is truly to be bipartisan, and is in response to the publics wishes for reform, then there should be no predetermined plan or template to start debate. The debate should be started with a totally clean slate. Then put everything on the table and hash things out to see if an agreement can be reached.

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Wellness Network Update:

Just a reminder. Everyone enrolled in a Wellness Program can receive one therapeutic massage at half price. That is $35 for a one hour massage, and $50 for an hour and a half.
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Before I give away the answers to the earlier beverage quiz, let us look at some of the ingredients, and I urge you to ask yourself, would you eat or drink any of these ingredients alone??

1) high fructose corn syrup- In my view, one of the worst types of sweeteners
2) caramel color- I wonder what this beverage looks like without it??
3) sugar- natural/, or heavily refined and processed??
4) phosphoric acid - yummy, that must taste good all by itself.
5) caffeine- natural, but this was an additive into the beverage, not present in its natural state.
6) citric acid - found in most citrus fruits.
7) aspartame- otherwise known as Nutrasweet
8) potassium benzoate- a preservative- what exactly are they preserving?
9) natural flavors- just what is "natural flavors" and why don't they list what they really are?

OK.....

I have made you wait long enough.

The answers are below:

A: Pepsi --- carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor.
Not a significant source of other nutrients. What is it a significant source of????

B: Diet caffeine free pepsi ----carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (preserves freshness), citric acid, natural flavor. 0 calories; states on label- Not a significant source of other nutrients. What is it a significant source of????

C: Diet caffeine free coke ----- carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (to protect taste), natural flavors, citric acid. --- 0 calories; states on label- Not a significant source of calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, sugars, Vit A,C, calcium and iron. What is it a significant source of????

D: Canada Dry Ginger Ale ----- carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate( preservative), natural flavors, caramel color. 12 oz can = 140 calories- 36 grams of carbs

E: Vitamin Water-XXX ---

vapor distilled deionized, and/or reverse osmosis water, cane sugar, crystalline fructose, citric acid, vegetable juice (color), abscorbic acid (vitamin C), natural flavor, berry and fruit extracts (acai,blueberry, pomegranate and apple), magnesium lactate (electrolyte), calcium lactate (electrolyte), monopotassium phosphate (electrolyte), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (b5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (b6), cyanocobalamin (b12) - contains less than 1% juice- in a 20 oz bottle- 2.5 servings gives you 125 calories, all as carbohydrate, 25% of RDA of Vit B3,5,6,12, 250% of Vit C, and 50mg of berry and fruit polyphenols.

I have also included some other labeling from the beverage containers. Look at Pepsi and Coke.

Just what type of nutrition do they add to our bodies? The diet products contain no calories, but plenty of acid and artificial sweeteners.

Yuck!!

Ginger Ale and Vitamin Water provide calories, but all, 100% from carbohydrates, which as we all know now is sugar!!

I remember an ad campaign for Coca Cola in 1980.

"Coca Cola. It's the real thing". Now look at the ingredients above for Coke or Pepsi, as they are virtually identical, and tell me one thing that is real about either of them!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

The Verdict on Artificial Sweeteners

2010-02-14T15:42:00.006-05:00

February 14, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

The Verdict on Artificial Sweeteners

Sugar became very popular with the song lyric, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."

But spoonfuls of sugar also goes down to your abdomen, hips and thighs.

From previous newsletters, you may remember that all carbohydrates get converted to glucose, or sugar. Insulin then acts to store the excess sugar in our cells, by converting them into triglycerides and then fat.

I'll say it again.

It is excess carbohydrates and insulin that causes fatty weight gain.

So when I tell my patient's this, they respond with:

"O.K. That means no sugar. Can I use Sweet-N-Low, Splenda or Equal? You see Doc, I have a sweet tooth, and I need my sweets!!"

Boy do I hate being the bad guy!

But for now, I need to play the Good Doc, even if it means telling you that both sugar and artificial sweeteners are not good for your bottom line, your hip line, or your waist line!!

You see, our brains are interesting organs. It seems they only need to sense a sweet taste, to increase the release of insulin, even if the sweet taste is artificial.

So eating or drinking anything with a sweet flavor, regardless of whether the sweet is natural or artificial causes the insulin-->fat deposition-->weight gain, and usually an increase in the production of cholesterol, especially the more harmful small LDL cholesterol.

So the pattern is now:

Carbohydrates or sweet tastes --> increased insulin--> increased fat deposition --> increased weight gain--> increased bad cholesterol --> increased risk of heart and vascular disease.

Sounds promising? NOT !!!!

The next question or statement is usually: "Well fruit must be O.K. I mean, fruit is natural, and I have always been told that fruit is good for me."

My answer.

Yes and No!

First- Yes.

There are many vitamins and minerals in fruit.

Second- No!

Unfortunately, for those of us who do not tolerate excess carbohydrates, too much fruit gives us the apple body shape, with abundant weight gain around our middles. There are some tricks to prevent weight gain, but it entails keeping an accurate account of your food intake. That is why the food diaries in our Healthy Weight Program are so important. Individuals in this program use the diaries to find the weak parts of their diets, and learn how to change or alter these choices and poor food seeking behaviors.

But let me get back on the topic of the newsletter.

I am not a fan of any artificial sweetener!!!

No pink packet!! No Blue packet!! No yellow packet!!

Sugar?? No way!!

The verdict on artificial sweeteners is guilty. They are guilty of causing the same metabolic changes that sugar causes, including, obesity, high cholesterol, and increased risk of diseases caused by increases in insulin.

But we can change the outcome. By changing your diet, either on your own, or through our Healthy Weight Program, you can get your sugar and sweet cravings under control, lower your insulin levels, and start on your way to better health!!

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Link section- where you find more info and articles to guide you to better health.

In the past, I have also complained about so-called experts giving out advice, when the logic and facts do not back up their advice.

Here is a link to an article on diet, diabetes and the diet war.

And here is another link about all calories not being equal, and discusses the carbohydrate-protein-insulin response in weight management.

There is a website called Sweet Poison , great name, isn't it?, with more information on the potential dangers artificial sweeteners.

And saving the best for last, please go here for last years Valentine's Day newsletter.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com
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I would like to thank everyone for their confidence in my professional abilities and referrals of new patient's to the practice as well as to the Wellness Plans. If you are presently in the Traditional Wellness Plan, and refer a new patient to this plan, you will receive 1 month added on to your plan for the first referral, and two months added on for every other new patient you refer. Just my way of saying Thank You for your confidence!!

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out our patient testimonials.

President Clinton and Heart Disease

2010-02-12T15:26:00.001-05:00

February 12, 2010

President Clinton and Heart Disease

With Presidents Day just a few days away, former President Bill Clinton is not celebrating. Unfortunately, he is having heart issues again. About six years after having quadruple bypass surgery, he went back to the operating room. This time he avoided open heart surgery, but did have 2 cardiac stents placed to open a blocked artery. I wish him well and a speedy recovery. But I also hope he does not listen to the advice I heard from the media pundits and television docs. These TV docs have decided to blame the former president's high cholesterol levels as the cause of his recent heart trouble. Furthermore they advise that he go on cholesterol reducing medications to lower his risk of further problems.

But before we condemn cholesterol, perhaps we should first understand the role of cholesterol in our bodies. Cholesterol performs many important functions in the body including:

*forming and maintaining cell walls and structures
*helping cells adjust to changes in temperature, as well as being used by nerve cells for insulation.
*Cholesterol is also essential for synthesizing a number of critical hormones, including testosterone, progesterone and estrogen.
*Bile, a fluid produced by the liver from cholesterol, aids in the processing and digestion of fats.
*My favorite vitamin, Vitamin D, is made from cholesterol and sunlight.

It sometimes makes me want to bang my head against a wall that the majority of doctors still believe that the lowering of cholesterol, by pharmaceutical means, is helpful.

Why???

I'll tell you. While cholesterol is present in cardiac blockages, so are other inflammatory substances. A very important, but not well known fact is that heart disease is influenced by many factors other than cholesterol including:

*age
*gender
*smoking
*physical inactivity
*obesity
*low serum antioxidant levels
*elevated levels of inflammatory substances
*among many other more technical factors.

But we do not always hear much about these!! All we ever hear about is cholesterol is bad, cholesterol is bad!! Too many people in the healthcare field have been brainwashed by Big Pharma and their demonization of cholesterol.

Now let's get back to former President Clinton. After going through bypass surgery, don't you think his cardiologist already placed him on cholesterol lowering medications, as that was and still is the standard of care?

It worked real well for him, didn't it??

The standard of care needs some fixing!! Lowering cholesterol by pharmaceutical means may make lab reports look pretty, but it does not prevent heart disease. To get my point across, I'll use a high school SAT tactic.

Elevated cholesterol on a lab report is to seeing a blizzard on radar

as

the use of cholesterol medication to lower cholesterol is to turning off the radar.

The blizzard or snow storm is still approaching, but with the radar turned off, we just no longer see the warning sign. So when we use cholesterol lowering medications, we no longer see a risk factor as most medications are potent enough to "normalize" our levels,

So why do we even check cholesterol levels?

Cholesterol levels are important and should be used, but as a marker for heart disease, as opposed to a cause of heart disease.

If cholesterol levels are at an unhealthy level, we should try to lower them, but by dietary and lifestyle changes, not with medication. At the Institute For Medical Wellness, we have been successful in teaching and promoting these dietary changes, and have seen many lab results improve dramatically. I will be sharing some of these results with you in a future newsletter. If you wish to get started on lowering your risk of heart disease, without the use of medications, please consider our Healthy Weight program, which provides in depth analysis of your diet patterns, to help lower your future risk of disease.

Many of you reading this newsletter may believe I am skeptical about cholesterol causing heart disease. You are probably correct. But I am not alone. Please consider the following link, The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics, composed of a society of cholesterol skeptics who have been around a lot longer than I.
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Wellness Network Update:

Just a reminder. Everyone enrolled in a Wellness Program can receive one therapeutic massage at half price. That is $35 for a one hour massage, and $50 for an hour and a half.
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Institute For Medical Wellness New Offers:

Our supplement of the month for February 2010 is Revitalize. Revitalize is our once daily multivitamin that contains an abundance of vitamins and minerals, along with small amounts of antioxidant, and liver detoxifying herbs. Revitalize comes in a bottle of 90 capsules, with most people taking 1-3 a day. I find that one a day is sufficient for most, and also allows the bottle to last for 3 months. Through the end of this month, Revitalize will be available for $5 off its regular price. For more information on Revitalize and the other supplements we offer, please visit here.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Diabetes Guidelines- Are they behind the times?

2010-02-06T16:02:00.001-05:00

February 6, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Interesting Article of the Week:

Diabetes Guidelines- Are they behind the times?

Here is a link to a recent article on new diabetes guidleines from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). In skimming through this article, it reinforced to me how slow big corporations are to change paths, even when behind the times. It also makes me very happy that I work for you, and not any large group practice or corporation.

I'll write about one of the guidelines the ADA has revised. It concerns the use of the Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) test for the diagnosis of Diabetes. HbA1c is a test that measures the amount of glycated hemoglobin in your blood. Glycated hemoglobin is a substance in red blood cells that is formed when blood sugar (glucose) attaches to hemoglobin. The higher your blood sugar over time, the higher your HbA1C. So diabetics who average higher sugar levels will have a higher HbA1C level than a non-diabetic. Now it does not take an ocean and aerospace engineer, otherwise known as a rocket scientist, to realize that HbA1C levels in pre-diabetics are higher than non-diabetics, and that diabetics HbA1c levels are higher than pre-diabetics. So I have been using HbA1c levels to monitor individuals who are trending towards diabetes for over a decade, against the recommendations of the ADA.

Why go against the ADA? Because it made logical sense!! Catching prediabetes at an earlier stage allows for proper time to help reverse the trend away from overt diabetes. But if you look at the ADA guidelines, they just decided that what I have been doing for the past decade works. Why did it take them so long?

Here is a quote from their revised guidelines concerning the treatment of diabetes.

"The most successful practices have an institutional priority for quality of care, involve all of the staff in their initiatives, redesign their delivery system, activate and educate their patients, and use electronic health record tools," the guidelines authors conclude. "It is clear that optimal diabetes management requires an organized, systematic approach and involvement of a coordinated team of dedicated health care professionals working in an environment where quality care is a priority."

Pardon me, but what a crock of patronizing B.S. IMHO, they are trying to make Diabetes sound like rocket science. Is this to make their business entity more relevant? Diabetes is not rocket science. Diabetes treatment in the early stages is fairly straight-forward, especially if you are willing to make the necessary diet and lifestyle changes. I have advised and treated many diabetics. My patient's who followed my advice would end up lowering their medication, if they were on any, all while delaying progression of their disease. I do all of the diet counseling. My medical assistant helps with the in office testing. We do not need an institution, multiple staff, or a complicated delivery system. I use electronic health records, but they do not make diabetic treatment any easier. The ADA's statements about diabetes treatment seem to serve the purpose of their organization, corporation, and all the bureaucracies they encompass, but tend to be behind the times in terms of treatment recommendations.

One of the simplest treatments for Diabetics is proper diet. But please do not follow the ADA's diet recommendations. They are behind the times on diet as much or more than they were behind the times on the use of HbA1C testing. If you are a Diabetic, or prediabetic, our Healthy Weight program is ideal to help you get your disease under control. For more information, please call our office and schedule an appointment to discuss this further. If I can help one person avoid the long term complications of Diabetes, than I am doing my job!

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Big Pharma segment

One of the many reasons that I founded the Institute For Medical Wellness was to be able to maintain a focus on the individual. I wanted to be free of healthcare distractions that offer nothing to help with patient care. The major distractions include health insurers, government regulators and bureaucrats.

Now I will let you inside my head a little more. OK, my mother may say that is dangerous, but we will not get into that now. But time to get my ADD brain back on topic.

When I consider treatment options, I do not first think about insurance medication formularies, whether a test needs insurance approval or if a consulting doctor is in the insurance network. These intruders just get in the way of good patient care, and I want none of them!

But one of my bigger pet peeves lately has not been with insurers or government, but with the training and sales techniques that Big Pharma uses for their pharmaceutical representatives. This is not a shot at the reps themselves. I get along very well with most of them that call on my office. I know they are only doing what they are told and trained to do.

This is a shot at Big Pharma management, and how they let the government and health insurers corrupt how they interact with physicians, thereby sending many reps to our offices with little actual pharmaceutical training.

In the good old days, before health insurers took control of prescriptions, pharma reps would discuss the inner workings of their medications, as well as the costs to patients. Many of the reps were pharmacists prior to taking a sales position and came with an excellent pharmaceutical and medical background. I used to learn alot from our interactions.

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Fast forward to today's physician-pharma reps dialogue:

Rep: Good afternoon Doctor Horvitz. I am here to discuss Drug Costoomuch.

Doctor Horvitz: OK, I have read about Drug Costoomuch and I am familiar with it. I hear it can't be used with drug Muchosideffex.

Rep: Yes, doctor you may be correct, but let me send in an inquiry to my research department about your question.

Doctor Horvitz: No thank you. That information is already available to me. Do you have anything new to tell me about how Costoomuch works, or any new indications for its use?

Rep: No I have nothing new in that department, and government regulations forbid me from answering many of your questions. I can't even give you a cool little pen with Costoomuch on it anymore due to regulations. But may I please show you a list of insurance formularies that Costoomuch is available on?

Doctor Horvitz: NO. I really do not care about insurance formularies. I pick a medication based on how well it will work for my patient. And I always like to know the cost of the medication so the patient can help to make an educated decision on his preference of treatment.

Rep: But the formularies tell you what it will cost a patient for drug Costoomuch.

Doctor Horvitz: No, the formularies tell me what Pharmaceutical companies made backdoor private deals to get their product on a formulary. Now I know where the Senate learned how to negotiate health care reform. But in my opinion, formularies are not based on efficacy or safety, but on cost and profit.

Rep: Thank you for sharing Doctor Horvitz. All I can tell you is that drug Costoomuch is on most of the insurance formularies in South Jersey.

Doctor Horvitz: How much does Costoomuch cost to a patient without health insurance? In other words, what is the cash price at the pharmacy?

Rep: Cash price? Do people actually pay cash price today? Oh, I am not sure. Not many doctors ever ask me that question. I'll have to ask my manager and get back to you. BTW, would you like me to schedule a lunch for your office to discuss this further?

Doctor Horvitz: No thank you. You really do not know how much Costoomuch actually costs?

Rep: No. I am supposed to inform you of formularies, not cash prices, as most patients do not pay full price for their medications.

Doctor Horvitz: Yes, I understand that. And that is one of the big reasons that Costoomuch costs so much, as nobody really knows the actual price, even the reps who sell them. May I sign for some samples now? Thank you for your time. Have a nice day!

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I could go further, but I think you get my drift. When true costs are hidden, as Big Pharma and Big Government like to do, it usually means that prices will be high. When true costs are out in the open, the price will usually be lower. Look at the prices of generic medication today. Many can be purchased for $4 a month or $10 for 3 months, without a prescription plan, and without the many layers of bureaucracy involved with insurance and government formularies.

*Every layer of bureaucracy and management increases the cost of a product or service.
*Every layer of bureaucracy and management increases the time it takes to get a product or idea to market or utilization.
*Every layer of bureaucracy and management adds greatly to the hassle factor of ever using the product or service well.

Pearls of the Day:

Get the third parties out of our everyday healthcare interactions, other than the big ticket items, and you will see healthcare costs decrease dramatically!!!

And maybe, just maybe, I'll get another free pen with the drug name "Costoomuch" on it ;)

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Heart and Vascular Disease: Is cholesterol the culprit?

2010-02-04T16:13:00.002-05:00

February 4, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Heart and Vascular Disease: Is cholesterol the culprit?

For those of you who have had an Institute For Medical Wellness full history and physical, along with complete lab testing, you have had the honor of hearing my speech on cholesterol and heart disease. For those of you who have not, what are you waiting for??

Just kidding.....

Regardless of what you hear from the media, government, insurance companies, or other less than stellar pundits, cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease.

Let me repeat myself.

Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease.

As with most government-industry partnerships in our country, the advice they have given us about cholesterol is just plain wrong. Now, don't take home the wrong message. It is still important to measure your cholesterol levels. In fact, I prefer to use a more sensitive type of cholesterol test, to better stratify your risk of disease. But the key is not to lower your cholesterol, but whether you need to, and if so, how you lower your cholesterol in the safest and most effective manner.

More on the above is part of our yearly wellness plan physical, which is structured for real life results, instead of the propaganda, fear tactics and rhetoric you hear from the government-insurance partnerships. There are many so called experts out there. Make sure you choose your experts wisely, as not everyone fits into the same mold.

For information on what some of the more likely risks of vascular and heart disease, please visit here, for a very informative article.
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Healthcare Reform Update:

Speaking of heart and vascular disease...................

There are many healthcare reform advocates who complain and complain again about our healthcare system. We spend too much! There are too many uninsured. Healthcare should be government run or non-profit! We should use Canada as a model for our healthcare system, after all, healthcare is free up there, and no one is turned away!!

To all the people who claim Canada has better healthcare than the United States, I highly recommend you read the following article, about a Canadian Premier, would be a state governor?? in the USA, who will be undergoing heart surgery later this week. Now I do not live in Canada, and for all I know, their doctors and hospitals may be wonderful. A Canadian Premier should be able to attest to the fact that his country's healthcare system can provide all the necessary care for its citizens.

So what I am getting at??

The Canadian Premier is having his heart surgery in the United States !!!

What does that tell you?

I'll speak for myself instead. When a high ranking elected official of a nation with a government run healthcare system, crosses the border into our country to obtain healthcare, I would say that our doctors and hospitals, stuck in a flawed system, is still the best place to receive the most advanced care in the world!!!
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Interesting Article:

Autism article retraction..

I need to reread this article again. I would advise anyone who has lingering questions on the safety of vaccines to also read this article. On my first read through, I became angry. If a doctor fudged data to help a legal case against a vaccine manufacturer, the doctor should have his license revoked, at a minimum. The study results suggesting an autism link to a vaccine set up an enormous fear of vaccines in general, that may have been unfounded. Parents are always looking to protect their children. Prior to the perceived autism link, vaccines were considered a parent's duty to protect their children. That all changed when the fear of autism arose. Talk about unintended consequences!!

I have seen many vaccines come and go. Most vaccines that have been around for ten years or more are safe for use. Postmarketing surveillance of vaccines has taken many vaccines off the market. But the vaccine fight will not end with the apparent autism retraction. There are still other factors we need to think about before getting a vaccine. Even if an autism link is proven false, other factors such as chemicals and preservatives in vaccines, spacing of vaccines in infants, and proper regulation of the vaccine production will always be an issue. That is why, regardless of the above autism retraction, I only recommend vaccines once they have been available long enough to prove their safety and efficacy.
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Healthy Weight Program Update:

One of the unique aspects of our Healthy Weight Program is our use of a private shared internet document. This document allows for increased communication between our office and you. The document is used for food diaries, diet and nutrition articles, as well as links to other research and helpful dietary information. My hope is that each Healthy Weight Program enrollee, with the use of this document, will learn enough about proper nutrition, that this will be the last weight program they need to enroll in.
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Wellness Network Update:

Just a reminder. Everyone enrolled in a Wellness Program can receive one therapeutic massage at half price. That is $35 for a one hour massage, and $50 for an hour and a half.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Institute For Medical Wellness New Offers:

Our supplement of the month for February 2010 is Revitalize. Revitalize is our once daily multivitamin that contains an abundance of vitamins and minerals, along with small amounts of antioxidant, and liver detoxifying herbs. Revitalize comes in a bottle of 90 capsules, with most people taking 1-3 a day. I find that one a day is sufficient for most, and also allows the bottle to last for 3 months. Through the end of this month, Revitalize will be available for $5 off its regular price. For more information on Revitalize and the other supplements we offer, please visit here.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Horizon Healthcares prescription description

2010-01-26T20:31:00.003-05:00

January 26, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

Horizon Healthcares prescription description

Actually I could call this Horizon Healthcares prescription deception.

If you ever had questions as to why I refuse to contract with insurance companies, please read this letter from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. In Horizon's ever growing need for power and control of your health, they have put new requirements on prescription drugs. Requirements is probably a nice word. The correct words could be barrier, intruder, or pain-in-our-assets.

In Horizon's infinite wisdom, they will no longer approve any brand name drug, unless you have failed one or more of their preferred generics. Yes you heard it correctly! They will no longer approve for payment any Brand Name Medications unless and until you have failed generic medications.

Here is my question to you:

WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A PRESCRIPTION PLAN IF IT WILL NOT PAY FOR THE HIGHER PRICED MEDICATIONS?

Sorry for shouting, but the lunacy of this issue is amazing.

Go to Walmart, Costco, Sams Club, Wegmans, or many of the local independent pharmacies. You can obtain generic medications very cheaply without a prescription plan.

Yet Horizon considers their program as "prescription benefits." Just who is it benefitting???

Next question:

WHY CAN'T WE BUY HEALTH INSURANCE THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE A PRESCRIPTION PLAN IF THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR ANYTHING EXPENSIVE?

Sorry again for shouting. It is probably just my ADD acting up. My mother used to say that I had ADD. But I didn't believe her. Hey Look. A Chicken!!!

Sorry bout that ; )

I'll answer that question now for you.

Prescription plans are big money makers for your insurance company as well as for the pharmacy benefit managers that run them. I'll discuss more about these bureaucratic middlemen, their exhorbitant profits, and their backroom deals to keep their earnings high, and your costs even higher at a later date.

We should call our Congressmen and have them look into this for us. But we know where that will probably get us. Big insurance and pharmacy benefit managers contributions to their political campaigns, which in the end would leave us worse off, as is most healthcare related items when the government gets involved.

My suggestion to you. If you get turned down for a prescription by your insurance plan, call them. Spend as much time as you can. Sit in a nice relaxing chair at home or work. Tell them you have all day to discuss the matter. Continually ask to speak to their supervisor, over and over and again, until maybe, just maybe they will approve your medication. If not, get everyone's name and job description along the way. Let them know that you will hold them personally and their business fully responsible for any adverse medical outcome related to their decision to withhold medication that was prescribed by your physician. They are not doctors. Yet they are changing what your doctor has prescribed. These tactics do not always work, but if enough people start a ruckus, momentum will shift and the proper change can be instituted.

As an aside, there are actually more middlemen starting businesses due to this insurance precert mess. Visit www.mdinsuranceauth.com . They sent me a fax last week. Their business was set up to help doctors "eliminate your time consuming and costly process of obtaining authorizations for your patients."

Only in America. A new business focused on the insurance-government third party debacle!!

I am sorry. Healthcare does not need to be this complicated.

Here is my idea of the ideal healthcare system.

Doctor --------> Patient

You know what? The above ideal healthcare system looks alot like The Institute For Medical Wellness.

Look Again. No middlemen!!

Healthcare costs less when patient's have the freedom of choice, without all the middlemen in the way of better health!

Hey! I can dream, Can't I ??
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Interesting Article:

Low-Carb Diet Effective at Lowering Blood Pressure

This study compared a low-carb diet to the over the counter drug Orlistat- combined with a low fat diet. Over twice as many individuals on the low-carb diet 47%, versus the Orlistat-low fat diet 21%, were able to decrease or come off of their blood pressure medications. So the old saying that, "once on a blood pressure medication, always on a blood pressure medication", has once again been proven false. If you need help with a lower carbohydrate diet, please look into our Healthy Weight Program.

Healthcare Reform Update:

My views on healthcare reform are pretty well known by now. With the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, many pundits felt that the present reforms were dead. Unfortunately it may not be! There are many rumors circulating of more back room political deals to find a way to shove these reforms down our throats. I encourage you to remain involved in the debate, and do not let your guard down.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

2010-01-23T20:42:00.001-05:00

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report

At The Institute For Medical Wellness, we know how to "put out the fires" when it comes to your health. But as Smokey the Bear always said,

"Only you can prevent forest fires"

Hey Doc, "What have you been smoking? What does smokey the bear have to do with my health?"

Let me explain.

When I was in my residency, and cruising the hospital floors, I was often called to "put out the fires". In layman's terms, that meant treating diabetics with high sugars, the elderly with complications of pneumonia, and post-surgical patients with complications or increased pain. My training taught me well and laid the foundation for my further professional skills.

But it is now 19 years since I graduated from medical school, and 16 years since I completed my family practice residency, and I have seen the healthcare system become more and more bogged down, by focusing almost solely on putting out the fires. What I did not see was preventive healthcare. What I did not see was a Smokey the Bear in healthcare helping people to prevent illness.

How bout another quote. This one from Benjamin Franklin.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

In 2008, with the founding of The Institute for Medical Wellness, I decided to bend the curve towards more prevention of disease as I believe that prevention should be the hallmark and the future of family practice. The affordable Wellness Plans we offer are geared towards helping you work on lifestyle changes to prevent further and future illness. Wellness Plans are especially helpful in patient's with Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity, High Cholesterol, or any other healthcare condition that requires more attention.

How about cancer prevention?

The Institute for Medical Wellness has teamed with Myriad Labs to offer genetic testing for patient's with a history of Breast, Ovarian, Endometrial or Colon Cancer.

In fact, Myriad Labs has offered to perform these tests on five (5) patient's at no cost.

Before you get too excited, there are limits and exclusions to this offer.

1) First, you must be an established patient of our practice,

2) Second, you also have to fit certain criteria listed below:

Patients with any of the following personal or family history features may be candidates for hereditary cancer testing:

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome (HBOC)
•Breast Cancer before age 50
•Ovarian Cancer at any age
•Both breast and ovarian cancer
•2 or more breast cancers, one under age 50
•Male breast cancer
•Bilateral breast cancer
•Women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with breast or ovarian cancer at any age
•A previously identified BRCA mutation
Lynch Syndrome/Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC)
•Endometrial cancer before age 50
•Colorectal cancer before age 50
•2 or more Lynch syndrome cancers, including ovarian, stomach, kidney/urinary tract, brain, or small bowel cancer, in an individual or family
•A previously identified mutation
If you feel you meet the criteria above, please call our office at 856-231-0590 to schedule an evaluation. If you are one of the first five to meet the criteria, we will set you up for testing.
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Interesting Article:

I came across this article the other day. The title was "California First State to Shorten Wait Times for Doctor Appointments". It made me laugh pretty hard. It appears that the State of California believes that by mandating insurance companies to shorten the waiting time for patient's to be able to see their doctor's, that it would magically happen.

Examples of the new standards include:
•48 hours for urgent care appointments that do not require prior authorization.
•96 hours for urgent care appointments requiring prior authorization (including specialists).
•10 business days for non-urgent primary care appointments.
•15 business days for non-urgent appointments with specialists.
•10 business days for non-urgent appointments with a mental healthcare provider.
Why do I find it so funny? I do not participate with any of the insurers or their regulations. Yet if you call my office in the morning of a workday, you will be offered a same-day appointment 99% of the time. That is what happens when a physicians office decides to cater to patient's, not insurers or government regulators!

Healthcare Reform Update:

Please click here to read a letter to the editor I wrote that was published in the Burlington County Times on January 22, 2010.

Quote of the day from Massachusetts newest Senator Scott Brown about Washington D.C.

"This is the best place in the world when it comes to solving problems"

While I may not totally agree that Washington D.C. is the best place when it comes to solving problems, I do believe that The Institute For Medical Wellness will continue to grow into being the best place in the Moorestown and the South Jersey area to help you solve your healthcare problems, but always with a strong focus on wellness and prevention.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

Bugs and UPS

2010-01-21T20:50:00.002-05:00

January 21, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness Health and Wellness Report

First a Health Update:

I am often asked, "Hey Doc, are there any infections going around?'

My usual answer is, "There is always something going around" , but today I will mention a few and how you can hopefully prevent "going around with them."

There are three infections that I have seen over the past few weeks, including:

•a nasty stomach virus
•a respiratory virus that sometimes contributes to also contracting pneumonia.
•The emergency rooms have been reporting an increase in RSV, respiratory synctial virus, which is another nasty respiratory virus. And for many years, the seasonal flu becomes a problem soon after RSV peaks.

So how can you avoid these "nasty bugs"?

1.Wash or rinse your hands if you are in contact with someone who may be sick or just recently recovered from an illness. Surprisingly, soap is not always necessary. Just rinsing your hands under running water is usually enough. The reason being that our skin has many defenses against infections, including the many natural oils it produces. These oils on our skin act as a barrier to infections getting through into the body. Let me give you an example. If our hands contact an infectious organism, it first lodges on the oils of our skin. As oil and water do not mix, if we can run our hands under water, the organism will be rinsed away, hopefully down the drain.

2.Our skin also is populated by many beneficial bacteria that aid in our defense by keeping the bad bacteria under control. If we continually use soap or anti-bacterial soaps, we kill off these beneficial bacteria, thereby lowering our ability to prevent repopulation with the bad bacteria.

3.Respiratory Viruses are usually contracted by airborne particles that we breathe in through our own respiratory tracts. Avoiding breathing in air that has been recently coughed out by someone with a respiratory infection is important. But you need to be on guard, as you never know when someone will be coughing on or around you. Do what I do in the exam room. Act like a boxer trying to avoid a punch, by being ready to move quickly.

4.The simplest way to avoid these bugs is to increase your bodies own immune systems. Healthy lifestyles are important, but as there are many conflicting opinions as to what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, I will instead suggest a few supplements, such as Vitamin D and probiotics. Both of these supplements are available at the Institute For Medical Wellness, and for the remainder of January, Vitamin D is available for $15, a $5 discount from its regular price.

5.If you have not yet been vaccinated for the seasonal flu, we still have a limited amount of vaccinations available, at first come first served.
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Healthcare Reform Update:

What can Brown do for you?

No, I am not talking about UPS. I am talking about Scott Brown, the Senator-elect from Massachusetts.

By winning the special election in Massachusetts, his election may have tipped the scale to ending the present healthcare reform bill, and allowing a "reboot" of the entire process of healthcare reform. In my view, that would be good news for you, and good news for the country. But we have to wait and see what happens in Washington, D.C. I still worry that this reform bill will be jammed down our throats by some mechanism. Let's hope my worries do not become reality.

Even if this reform bill is defeated, it should not end the quest for healthcare system reform. As I have written about in past newsletters, we still need to reform the system. But first. it must be based on the fundamental principle of individual responsibility, that would allow healthcare decisions to be made by yourself and your doctor or other healthcare provider. That would mean no insurance regulator and no political bureaucrat getting in your way to better health and wellness. For this to occur, we need to stop equating access to healthcare with health insurance. If we return to the health insurance of our parents and grandparents, with higher deductibles, much lower premiums, and individual responsibility, the costs of healthcare will drop dramatically, opening up the system to millions of uninsured.

At the Institute For Medical Wellness, your healthcare needs are not determined by your insurance. Our practice encompasses individuals and families from all socioeconomic groups, some with, and some without insurance. Yet it does not matter, as everyone gets the same care, with no third party intrusion. At the Institute for Medical Wellness, we only answer to you!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

Kidney Stones - Part Two

2010-01-18T17:23:00.000-05:00

Institute For Medical Wellness Healthy Living Report January 18, 2010

Today's topic is once again kidney stones.

For those of you who read my last newsletter, you learned I had the unfortunate luck to experience a kidney stone. Tried as I may, I was unable to avoid a short hospital stay. I have always known that hospitals are not wonderful places to be, and they can really put a crimp on your normal activities. All kidding aside, my hospital stay was uneventful, and the nursing staff was superb. But still, my job is too help you avoid hospitals as much as possible.

So how can you avoid kidney stones?

The most common type of stone is one made of calcium oxalate, and this is the type I will focus on today. In general, when we have too much calcium going through the kidneys, or not enough water to keep our urine dilute, calcium can crystallize in the kidney by precipitating out as a solid stone. If we can drink plenty of fluids at this point, we can still pass these small stones without ever knowing we had one. But if we do not drink enough, the stone can increase in size to a point where passage of the stone can be quite painful.

But calcium does not act alone. In calcium oxalate stones, oxalic acid forms around the stone and increases its size. So another good dietary tip, if you are a calcium oxalate stone former, is to keep your dietary oxalates very low. A good list on dietary oxalates can be found here.

Please do not lower your calcium intake. Medical studies disagree on calcium restriction as a means of preventing kidney stones. Also calcium in your diet is needed for many other important functions. If your body does not get enough calcium in its diet, it will take calcium out of your bones. This may lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis later in life.

My number one recommendation to prevent calcium oxalate kidney stones remains:

Drink, drink and drink some more. Drink until your urine is clear with just a hint of yellow.

But what do I do if I have a known kidney stone, of a size that can pass spontaneously, other than drink , drink and drink some more?

I followed the recommendations from a website that uses an interesting method to move a stone from your kidney, down your ureter, into your bladder. It is called the jump and bump method and it can be found here.

While this method may not work for everyone, it may have worked for me. When my stone began causing bad pain, I used this method and within 3 hours, my pain went from my left kidney area to my groin, which usually indicates the stone has moved down to almost the level of the bladder. Once the stone is in the bladder, the horrible pain of renal colic is gone, and passage of the stone out of the bladder is the next step. While this last step may not be very comfortable, it pales in comparison to renal colic.

But remember, the best medicine is still prevention!!
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Healthcare Reform Update:

On Tuesday January 19th, 2010, Massachusetts will be holding a special election to fill the Senate seat once occupied by the late Ted Kennedy. For healthcare reform, the stakes are high. The Democrat in the race, Martha Coakely, has vowed to vote for the present healthcare reforms making their way through private closed door meetings. Her opponent, Scott Brown, a Republican, has vowed to vote against the present reforms. In fact, if he is elected, he would be the 41st No vote in the Senate, which would hopefully put a stop to this massive healthcare scheme.

I am a registered independent, and will vote for the best person for the job. As healthcare is my life's chosen profession, my hope in this race is for Scott Brown. A No vote on the Obama healthcare scheme would hopefully allow us to reboot the entire reform approach and start over again. However I have one caveat. If the present healthcare scheme is defeated, I do not want healthcare reform on the back burner. I want it front and center! However this time, I want the following players around the negotiating table who are likely to care more about individuals than profits:

Individuals- both insured and uninsured. At present we seem to be more focused on the uninsured than those presently insured.
Independent physicians- Independent physicians represent only two parties, patient's and themselves. There is little group-think or corporate interests.
Community based hospitals- large hospital systems tend to be run with their corporate interests at heart, while smaller community based hospitals tend to be closer to their patient's.
Independent pharmacies- similar concept to hospitals mentioned above.
Other independently owned healthcare providing organizations
C-SPAN - at least for transparency

Who do I not want at the table. Well, that answer is simple. Everyone that is there now. The following players care more about their corporations, organizations and profits than patient's.

The following should be barred from further negotiations:

Health Insurers- care more about profits and control than individuals
AMA (American Medical Association)- they no longer represent the majority of physicians views. They are more interested in continuing the status quo to increase revenues to their corporation.
AARP - stands to make many millions in revenues if Obamacare passes. They are in Obama's back pocket.
Big Pharma - they need to be cleaned up and they need to end all dealings with the government and insurers and once again deal directly with individuals. Cutting out the bureaucratic middleman would not only drop the cost of medications dramatically, but most likely increase their bottom lines, allowing more investment in research and development.
Medical Device Manufacturers- ditto above comments about Big Pharma.
Any large corporation- Do they actually have individuals best interests at heart??
Politicians- they got us into this mess, and they will only make things worse. If you want your senator or congressman treating you in the hospital, then by all means support Obamacare. But if you prefer your doctor, then get the politicians out of the way.
Any and every special interest that I neglected to mention. There should be no special interest when a patient is obtaining medical care. The only and supreme interest should be the care of the individual!
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Institute For Medical Wellness Happenings:

At The Institute For Medical Wellness, we combine dietary advice with medical management to help you achieve a healthier weight. That is why our Healthy Weight Program is off to a good start. One thing that sets us apart from other programs is our use of private internet communication, in the form of a shared document that is individualized to you! That means that no two programs are the same.

And due to popular demand, we will be extending our $100 discount through the end of January. So there is no better time than now to let us help you achieve that healthy weight. More information on the Healthy Weight Program can be found here.
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Wellness Network:

This month I would like to introduce you one of our network affiliates, Paula Andersen, who has an acupuncture practice located in Moorestown. Paula is offering Wellness Programs through the Institute For Medical Wellness in the following categories.

Package 1: Stress Reduction and Immune Building

Package 2: Pain Reduction

Package 3: Hormone Balancing

More information on Paula's Wellness Programs can be found here.
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New offers:

We are now able to offer a supplement of the month. For the remainder of January, we will be offering our Vitamin D3 drops, for $15, a savings of $5 each. This offer starts January 18th, and will continue while present supplies last.
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Quote of the day and one of my favorite signs in the office:

" Indecision, may or may not be my problem ."

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com
To follow The Institute For Medical Wellness on Twitter.

How it looks to sit in someone elses chair

2010-01-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

January 11, 2010

How it looks to sit in someone elses chair!

Something surprising happened a few weeks ago. I was diagnosed with a kidney stone. For those of you who have ever personally, or seen a family member deal with kidney stones, it is not fun. As a physician I have helped many patients through the ordeal, but until recently have never had the experience myself.

And an experience it was!!

Let me tell you, it is not something you would wish on your worst enemy. I ended up admitted to the hospital over the weekend for treatment, and while there had plenty of spare time to write down my thoughts.

While lying in my hospital bed waiting for the stone to pass, I wrote down some thoughts, and also took some pictures to make the presentation a bit nicer. And No, I was not on any pain meds during these thoughts. Unfortunately, this is how my mind works on a regular basis ; )

There once was a doctor named Steven,
Whose kidney decided to get even,
He developed a stone,
Called the ER on the phone,
and said "This pain is so bad I think I'm dyin"

He arrived at the ER in pain,
treatment he hoped to attain,
the insurance was payin,
as they filled him with saline,
and the meds made him feel like he was flyin.

One day later the stone was gone,
in a plastic jug, instead of his kidney, it belonged,
his pain went away,
good riddance he say,
And back to work in a day he is eyeing.

Yea, I know, I am no Dr. Seuss !!

This was my first hospitalization as an adult. While my hospital stay was uneventful, it still reinforced my views on prevention of illness, the hallmark of The Institute For Medical Wellness.

Do anything you can do to not ever develop a stone, as its pain is said to be worse than childbirth. Luckily for me, Childbirth pain I will never experience. The most important thing you can do to prevent a kidney stone is to drink plenty of fluids. So drink, and drink some more, until your urine is fairly clear with only a hint of yellow.

Click below for a link on dietary prevention of kidney stones.
From WEB-MD, diet recommendations for prevention of kidney stones.

With round the clock hospital care, you develop a special type of closeness with those around you.

Let me introduce you to a few of my new friends whom I shall never forget:

Please enable picture viewing.

First there is Sally the saline bag,

who kept hanging around with Ivy the IV pole.

In fact they never went anywhere apart from each other, or me!!

Wally the water pitcher was my friend who was always by my side,

but not as close as Rennie the TV remote.

I was not able to get pictures of Lana the lab tech, or Louie the light cord.

And no one got closer to me than my Urologist, who shall forever now be known to me as "fingers".

Enough said.

I look forward to being back on the job on Tuesday January 12, 2010.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Institute For Medical Wellness State of the Practice for 2010

2010-01-02T17:22:00.002-05:00

January 2, 2010

Institute For Medical Wellness State of the Practice for 2010

I know.

Kind of corny.

But why should only our presidents and governors have all the fun! Besides, what I write below is factual and truthful, unlike most political speeches, regardless of party, and this state of the practice newsletter will be given without the use of a teleprompter ;)

So here goes.....

My fellow Americans, Wellness Plan members, patients, newsletter subscribers, and anyone and everyone else interested in achieving better health and wellness, I am happy to bring to you the The Institute For Medical Wellness State of The Practice 2010.

Two years ago, in 2008, I was elected, um, scratch that, I founded the Institute For Medical Wellness to provide healthcare like it used to be, without insurance, government, or other third party intrusion. While the transition has been a true learning experience, by the response I have received from my patient's and the community, it is one I have never regretted. I am happy to report that by bypassing the traditional third party route of healthcare, and instead dealing directly with you, we have been able to drastically decrease our overall operating budget, which allows us to continue to offer and expand our services at truly low costs. I am also happy to report that we are not 12 trillion dollars in debt and our budget is fully balanced. Take that Washington, D.C. and Trenton!!

I would now like to share with you some of the proud accomplishments since our founding in 2008.

*Same day appointments are the standard, with new patient visits available same or next day
*60 minute Wellness exams focusing on wellness and illness prevention
*Zero copay Traditional Wellness Plans- a much less expensive version of Concierge or Boutique practices, and now available with monthly payment options
*Greater than 90% of Wellness Plan patient's continue to re-enroll year to year.
*20% growth of patient's enrolled in our Traditional Wellness Plan
*Welcoming back of many patient's who returned to our practice after leaving during our 2008 transition, after they sampled traditional third party healthcare delivery
*Expanding Wellness network affiliates- from Naturopathy to Fitness, Massage and Acupuncture, more choices are now available.
*Increasing number of subscribers to our free email newsletter

My professional objective in founding The Institute For Medical Wellness is to offer the absolute best care - without compromise, and to serve as your primary advocate for health and wellness by combining holistic care and traditional old-fashioned values with true modern day medical expertise. My primary goal is to make certain that our attention is solely focused on YOU, not your insurance or some government bureaucrat.

In today's economy, providing this type of healthcare can be challenging. Many businesses are reducing services to cut expenses. But I have always been a contrarian, so at The Institute For Medical Wellness, I take a different approach. I prefer to expand and make more services available, some of which I will mention below.

1) New more easily individualized Wellness Programs.

Last year, in my eagerness to offer many different wellness programs, the choices became a bit confusing, even to me. So starting in 2010, wellness programs will be re-organized in a friendlier way. The Institute For Medical Wellness network affiliates will now be offering individual A-La-Health and wellness programs, which can be purchased separately, or better yet, added to our Traditional Wellness Plan. If added to our Traditional Wellness Plan, you will also receive 20% off all supplements purchased from our office.

2) Our new Healthy Weight Program is now available.

This physician supervised weight management programs main focus is on achieving a healthier weight, curbing hunger, while achieving optimum nutrition. It is ideal for treating diet related disorders including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, among many others.

Each individualized program will consist of:

-Full initial evaluation by Dr Horvitz- medical and diet history, review of labwork to determine your metabolic needs, initial measurements and goal setting.
--Follow-up to review labs and start on program.
---An individualized starter package of nutritional supplements geared to your medical history.
----Monthly supplies of Dream protein
-----Twice-monthly office visits to check on your progress and make any necessary adjustments.

*Big discount if combined with our Traditional Wellness Plan.
*Discount of $75 if combined with our 8-Hour Optimum Results personal training program.
*Discounts also available for partners joining together.
*Healthy Weight Programs offered are for 3, 6 and 12 months.

For more information please visit our website here.

3) Nutritional and dietary supplements available at the Institute For Medical Wellness

Nutritional supplements have become a bigger part of The Institute For Medical Wellness. This is not due solely to my health and wellness beliefs, but more to the demands of my patient's. The nutritional supplement industry is not regulated as strictly as pharmaceuticals and there are thousands of supplements available at stores and thru the internet. This is both good and bad. The good is in the greater innovation and less expense in bringing a product to market. The bad is there are less mechanisms in place that make sure you are truly getting what you are purchasing. So at The Institute For Medical Wellness, we only carry supplements from very reputable manufacturers who have put their products through very strict procedures to be certain that you get what you buy. If you want more proof, most of the products we sell have been or are presently being used by myself or my family. Click here for a list of the different supplements we have available. Also note that discounts are available with certain A-La-Health programs.

4) Genetic testing for Breast cancer, Ovarian cancer , Colon cancer and Melanoma are now available at The Institute For Medical Wellness.

I have teamed up with Myriad Genetics and Laboratories, a company designed to help patients and healthcare professionals understand how genetic testing can help identify individuals at risk for hereditary cancer. There are ways to reduce your risk or overcome cancer in your lifetime. If cancer runs in your family, hereditary cancer testing may be an important step for you. Click on this link and take the quiz to see if testing is right for you.

5) Medical Records

Keeping an accurate medical record is one important part of your care. Back in 2004, ahead of most physician practices, I transitioned from paper to electronic health records. While it occasionally makes me pull out what little remaining hair I have, electronic health records also have many positives. One is their ease of access. When we had paper records, the time involved to keep them updated was very costly, both in time and materials. Not as much with electronic records. So we can now offer Wellness Plan patients one digital copy of your medical records per year for personal use if securely emailed as a pdf file. If you prefer a hard copy on a CD, a fee of $15 is required. For all other patients, the fee is $15 for a digital copy and $25 for a hard copy on CD. Please note, fees are different if records are required for legal, transfer or insurance requests.

6) Telephone consults now available

While many patient's take it for granted that doctor's will prescribe treatment over the phone, it is not always good sound medical practice, nor the best for patient care. But many patient's in my practice have strongly requested these consults. Thus, I am adding phone consultations to the services I offer, in the hope that when used in the proper circumstances will be of benefit to you. Phone consultations simply consists of phone time spent with you evaluating your health complaints, and prescribing treatment. For example, if you are feeling ill, but stuck at work or home, you can arrange a phone consultation.

The following fees will be charged dependent upon the time spent on consultation or if treatment is ordered or prescribed:

5 minutes or less without treatment prescribed = No charge
10 minutes or less with treatment prescribed = $45
11-15 minutes with treatment prescribed = $75

Any consultation that would require more than 15 minutes requires an on-office evaluation. If you are seen in the office for the same illness within one week of your phone consult, you will receive $25 off your in-office follow-up. Phone consultations will most often be used to evaluate and treat recurrent illnesses such as sinusitis or urinary tract infections. This service is not available to new patient's, nor to any condition Dr Horvitz feels requires an in-office evaluation. To schedule a phone consult, please call our office at 856-231-0590. A valid credit card or a bank debit arrangement is needed for this service.

These fees are not applicable for the following:

* Quick follow-up phone conversations about a recent office evaluation.
* Wellness plan members, as these services are already included as part of your plan.
* As Medicare rules are vague on telephone consults, this service is not available to Traditional Medicare patients.
* Routine requests such as pharmacy refills, appointments or non-physician requests.

7) Help with insurance reimbursement

We realize that medical billing can be very frustrating, which is one of the many reasons my office stopped working with insurers. But just as medical billing is frustrating to my office, it can be equally frustrating to my patient's awaiting insurance reimbursement. So in 2010, we will now be submitting paid office charges to your insurance to help you with reimbursement. For this process to run smoothly, please make sure we have an updated copy of the front and back of your health insurance cards, as well as your signed authorization.

8) Beginning January 1st, 2010, there will be a $25 charge added to your first office visit each calendar year, with a $40 maximum per family. The reasons for this fee is as follows.

-Upgrading our medical records systems due to the stricter government regulations concerning these systems.
--Increased insurance submission costs. This charge will hopefully be more than offset by any insurance reimbursement you receive by having your paid office visit fees submitted electronically to your insurer.
---Complying with the government's new privacy payment plan law due to take effect in 2010.

*Please note that this fee is not applicable if you are enrolled in our Traditional Wellness Plan or for Traditional Medicare patients.
*This fee is applicable irrespective of whether you have insurance coverage.

9) The Institute For Medical Wellness can now be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IMWHorvitz

I anticipate utilizing twitter for notification of office updates including interesting health, medical and wellness information, availability of flu vaccine, and inclement weather closings. Don't worry, you will not be tweeted about what I ate for lunch today, although I can say, it was probably low in processed carbohydrates, very filling, and very tasty ; )

I would like to thank everyone for their confidence in my professional abilities and referrals of new patient's to the practice as well as to the Wellness Plans. If you are presently in the Traditional Wellness Plan, and refer a new patient to this plan, you will receive 1 month added on to your plan for the first referral, and two months added on for every other new patient you refer. Just my way of saying Thank You for your confidence!!

It is always nice to get good feedback. Good feedback tells me that I am definitely moving in the right direction! So please check out the recent patient testimonials sent to our office.

My New Years Resolution is that you allow The Institute For Medical Wellness to help you make 2010 a healthy and prosperous year!!

This concludes the Institute For Medical Wellness State of The Practice 2010 newsletter. I will now leave the stage quickly, and you will not hear the media pundits restating over and over again what you have just read. Anyhow, it does not matter to me what others say about The Institute For Medical Wellness. As my primary goal is your individual health, the only one that matters when you are in my office, is YOU!!!

To Good Health and a prosperous 2010!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O,
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Obamacare and Bernie Madoff

2009-12-29T21:23:00.002-05:00

December 29, 2009

Obamacare and Bernie Madoff

Sorry again about another healthcare reform related newsletter, but I get mildly agitated when people not in the healthcare field, especially politicians, try to tell me how to do my job.

We all have heard about Bernie Madoff, and his, how can I say it, not exactly stellar accounting. Bernie Madoff by way of his ponzi scheme, led what may soon be known as the second biggest swindle in the nation. The first will be either the Senates or House of Representatives healthcare reform bills, which if either of them becomes law, will forever be known as the ObaMadoff healthcare plan.

Understand that our politicians do not play by the same rules that ordinary citizens abide by. We put money in the bank, and can only withdrawal what we have. On the other hand, our politicians, both democrat and republican, spend our money, and more than we have.

Oh, but they can raise more money to pay for all their pet programs you say.

You are correct.

But the politicians do not earn money like we do. They raise money in a few ways.

1) They increase the taxes we have to pay.
2) They borrow money from other countries and ask we, the taxpayers to pay the interest.
3) They turn on the printing presses and print more money, diluting the worth of the dollar and making our money less valuable.

In other words, they spend our hard earned money like there is a never-ending supply!

So what does this have to do with healthcare?

I'll tell you.

Our country is deep in debt, due to all the money spent by our politicians over the past four decades. At last count, our country is over 12 trillion dollars in debt, not counting current and future entitlement obligations. So now, our politicians want us to go further in debt and add a new entitlement to reform the healthcare system, and they will raise the money to finance these reforms in the three ways mentioned above.

So how does this differ from what you and I do to access healthcare?

1) To pay for healthcare, we as individuals have to work and earn income. We can not collect tax money from others to pay for our care.
2) We can borrow money from banks and credit cards, but we are held individually responsible for our debt. Our politicians are not responsible for the debt they place our country in. We are, along with our children and grandchildren.
3) I think we would go to jail if we had a printing press printing money we did not earn. So why does our government get away with it?

This healthcare reform is not the change we believed we were getting during the 2008 presidential campaign. Let us take a look at the president's healthcare campaign promises and how they have changed by looking at the present healthcare bills, their costs and how they are paid for.

House Bill:

Who is covered?

It is estimated that about 94% of legal residents under the age of 65 will be covered. Presently about 83% are covered. There will still be about 24 million people under the age of 65 not insured, with an estimated 8 million of those being illegal immigrants.

Cost: 871 Billion dollars over ten years. That is $871,000,000,000 dollars. That's alot of zeroes.

How It's Paid For:

Fees or taxes on the following: Insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, medicare payroll tax increase on income over $200,000 for individuals, or $250,000 for couples, 10% sales tax on tanning salons, excise tax on high cost insurance plans, and fees for employers whose workers receive government subsidies. I am certain there are more fees and taxes still hidden in the bill that have not yet been discovered.

Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid

Fines on people who fail to purchase coverage.

Senate Bill:

Who is covered?

About 96% of legal residents under the age of 65, leaving an estimated 18 million people under the age of 65 not insured, with an estimated 8 million of those being illegal immigrants.

Cost: 1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years. That is $1,200,000,000,000 dollars. That's even more zeroes.

How It's Paid For:

Taxes on the following: New income taxes on single people making more than $500,000/year and couples making more than $1 million dollars a year, an estimated $20 billion from new taxes on medical device makers, limiting contributions to flexible healthcare spending accounts. As with the House bill, I am certain there are more fees and taxes still hidden in the bill that have not yet been discovered.

Cuts of more than $400 Billion to Medicare and Medicaid.

Fines on individuals and employers who do not obtain health insurance coverage.

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OK, so that is a synopsis, and definitely not the whole enchilada. But let me start breaking this down to what it means for you and how it differs from the 2008 promises made by the president during the 2008 presidential election campaign.

Promise #1 : No Individual Mandate

In both of the above bills, there is an individual mandate for insurance coverage or a fine is imposed. And as we still do not know the extent of government subsidies to help purchase insurance, it appears that many individuals will be coerced or forced by the government to purchase coverage that they may not want, or face the wrath of government fines. In essence, the government wants to pass a law forcing individuals to purchase something against their will.

Promise #2 : Complete Transparency

Need I actually go into this one?
Candidate Obama promised that health care deliberations with Congress and special interests would be transparent to the extreme. To quote candidate Obama: "That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are," Mr. Obama said during his Jan. 31, 2008 debate with Clinton. "Because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process. And overcoming the special interests and the lobbyists who -- Senator Clinton is right. They will resist anything that we try to do."

OK.

I had my TIVO set up as a season pass to record all healthcare negotiations on C-SPAN. Funny thing. Nothing recorded. I called TIVO and asked what the problem was with their service. I found out it was not TIVO. There were not any negotiations broadcast on C-SPAN.

So what actually occured?

Politics as usual, but on steroids. Both bills have been written along party lines, with mucho mucho special interests involved. These special interests do not represent you. They represent their corporations and their businesses. Now in a free market capitalistic economy, that is fair game. But were'nt we promised transparency and an overcoming of the special interests???

Promise #3 : Lower Premiums by $2,500 for a Family of Four

For this one, I'll believe it when I see it. I am pretty good at math, but not an accountant or mathematician. But to add 20-30 million more people into health insurance, and at the same time lower the cost of insurance premiums, you need to be a magician, not a mathematician.

Now back to who is covered, the cost and how it is paid for.

If we go midway between both the House and Senate bills, we will still be left with about 14 million uninsured, at a cost of over a trillion dollars over ten years, paid for by cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and large taxes on many segments of the healthcare industry and individuals. The healthcare industry segments will end up passing along the increased taxes as higher costs to you. As employers and individuals, who, unlike the federal government can not print money, will pay higher taxes, and they will have less money in their budgets to expand their businesses and hire more workers. So the trickle down effect of higher taxes ends up costing everyone, not just those who pay the taxes, while still leaving about 20 million people uninsured.

Question 1: If you are unemployed, do you prefer being forced to purchase health insurance, or do you prefer to get help finding a job?

Question 2: With cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and more people enrolled in these programs, how do we improve care for individuals with these two government plans?

Now, I will attempt to do some math.

Assuming midway between the House and Senate plan, we add 34 million people to the health insurance rolls. The taxes and fines start in year one, while the insurance coverage does not start until years 4 through 6. I will estimate 6 years of insurance coverage for 34 million people at a cost of 1 trillion dollars. That comes out to about $5,000 per year for insurance coverage for each individual, or just under $420 per month. The premiums I pay now are much less than that, and I am not mandated by any government to purchase it!

Question 3: Is the healthcare reform debate about doing what is right, or more about politics?

I'll let you answer that one.

Call your Senator and congressmen and tell them to put a halt to this healthcare reform debacle before it is too late. The legislation currently before Congress was crafted more out of political desperation and not the needs and desires of the large majority of the American people.

One thing I have learned from this debate is that elections do mean something and they do have consequences. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

My hope is that these reforms get stopped, and we reboot the debate and start over. First step, follow the president's campaign guidelines for reforming the healthcare system with true transparency, and a lack of special interests at the table. The table should consists of patient's and healthcare providers and the reforms should focus on individuals and not politics. We can then reform the system one step at a time and move in a direction that helps everyone without adding any costs to the system.

I also truly, truly hope this debate ends so I can spend more time on medically relevant newsletter topics instead of the machinations of our politicians in Washington, D.C.
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I previously wrote about a big conflict of interest concerning the American Medical Association and the current healthcare reforms. A recent Chicago tribune column goes into further detail corroborating my views.
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Our Healthy Weight program will be available starting January 4, 2010. Info on the program and pricing can be found here. Wellness Plan members get a steep discount on this program.

This program combines physician supervision, internet guidance and communication, with optimum nutrition to not only help you attain a healthier weight, but at the same time help to prevent or treat other diet related disorders including Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Heart and Vascular Disease, among many others.

I am excited to help you get a jump start on a healthier you for 2010!!

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com
Previous newsletters can be found at http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/

NJ Physicians views on healthcare

2009-12-26T21:27:00.001-05:00

December 26, 2009

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday.

Today I would like once again to talk about healthcare reform and the disinformation about physicians views on this subject. The president and the congressional leaders like to say that the majority of physicians support healthcare reform. This is, unfortunately, very deceptive, if not an outright lie.

Please read below the Medical Society of New Jersey's letter on this subject from December 22. 2009.
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Dear Colleagues:

The United States Senate has chosen to amass a “Health Care Bill” that, in our opinion, will quickly destroy the ability for physicians to continue the practice of medicine.

The Senate Majority Leader has locked in 60 votes to break a filibuster against the legislation. His reported tacit dealings with Louisiana, Vermont and Nebraska senators for votes are obviously “Washington politics business as usual”. This disrespect for the citizens of our country sickens the Medical Society of New Jersey.

WE CANNOT, AND WILL NOT, SUPPORT THE PROPOSED SENATE BILL BECAUSE IT:
• Lacks Any Tort Reform
• Doesn’t Permanently Fix the SGR Formula
• Will Break the Medicaid System in New Jersey (already the worst in the country)
• Lacks Transparency and Detail on the Effect on Physician Practices

The Medical Society of New Jersey is not supporting the American Medical Association’s position on this issue nor their ineffective approach to this major piece of legislation.
We personally want all physicians of New Jersey to know that the Medical Society of New Jersey is appalled at our representation by the AMA and are not supportive of their leadership.

Very truly yours,

Joseph H. Reichman, MD
President
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To read more opinion from the MSNJ, please go here.

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My opinion:

Point 1) National organizations have lost touch with their constituents.

American Medical Association is in favor of the present reform package, while the NJ state society is adamantly against.

Point 2) Our elected politicians have all elected to vote along party lines, instead of with their constituents. The latest Rasmussen Reports weekly tracking update shows that 41% of voters nationwide favor the bill and 55% are opposed. Yet the politicians still seem bent on voting for reform.

Point 3) Ethics - I know. It is strange to use ethics and politicians in the same sentence.

But I cannot even accept a pen from a drug rep, yet congress can bribe senators with hundreds of millions of sweetheart dollars to buy votes for a reform plan that will effectively decimate the future of american medicine in a very short time. And where does the congress get these hundreds of millions of dollars. I'll tell you where. From the taxes that we pay!

If we want the healthcare system reformed, it is time to ask individual physicians, not national organizations, hospital systems, Big Pharma, health insurers, medical suppliers, or even large physician groups. The larger the organization, the further away from individual thought we get. Large organizations tend to cater to themselves, instead of their customers, in this case, you, the patient. This is another of the reasons I founded The Institute For Medical Wellness, and have remained a solo family practice physician. In my practice, I only answer to you!

No politics.
No lies.
No deceptions.
High ethics.

I could go further, but I have said enough for now.

The Institute For Medical Wellness will continue to operate as it has since 2008. As we do not accept third party insurance, we are somewhat insulated from the Washington D.C. shenanigans. We do however still accept Traditional Medicare, as at present, the government bureaucrats stay out of patient care. But this reform bill may change that. Our participation with Medicare may end, leaving more Medicare patients less options for their care, unless they choose to join our Wellness plans or pay fully out-of-pocket. As many seniors are on fixed incomes, this could create an economic hardship. If that occurs, please feel free to thank Congress and the president for their meddling.

OK.

Enough about politics!

I am still a physician and providing healthcare is what I love to do.

So look soon for the rollout of our new wellness plans, along with our new Healthy Weight Program.

We also now have a list of the supplements we offer which can be found here.

To Good Health!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Take this healthcare plan or else !!

2009-12-18T09:33:00.003-05:00

December 18, 2009

Caution: This newsletter may be a bit opinionated. But then again, people do pay me for my opinions, so here goes!!

Take this healthcare plan or else?

It seems that every day I watch the news, healthcare reform gets sicker and sicker. And now it appears that our elected officials think they know more about healthcare than doctors and patient's. The one thing our elected officials in both parties do know is how to spend money they do not have. And unfortunately, all this borrowed to be spent money will eventually be paid back on the backs of our children and grandchildren. This is just not right!!

Healthcare reform is supposed to bring down costs for everyone without raising taxes. The present Senate bill does not.

Healthcare reform is supposed to bring insurance to the majority of the 47 million temporarily uninsured. The present Senate bill does not.

Healthcare reform is supposed to bend the cost curve down. The present Senate bill does not. Especially when we get taxed for 2-3 years before any reforms start.

What does the Healthcare reform bill do?

It cuts Medicare. So for everyone on Medicare who has paid into the system for the past 20-40 years, tough luck!

It penalizes young healthy individuals who choose to take a risk and not purchase health insurance.

It will also raise the premiums on younger individuals to help subsidize others.

It creates multiple new bureaucracies that will put barriers between you and your doctor.

Now for the scariest part.

When the government puts their power and weight, otherwise known as coercion, into the healthcare system, they do so by telling doctors not only what to do, but what not to do. Health insurers try to do this, and they have partially succeeded. They coerce, also known as twist the arms of doctors to perform tests that may not be necessary, or use medications and treatments that may not work, usually on the basis of possible cost savings. Why would the insurers do this? That answer is simple and closes the loop on the problems with our helathcare system. Insurers are trying to stay in the good grace of Uncle Sam and the bureaucrats who think they know better. The only thing worse than a health insurer telling a doctor what to do, is a government bureacrat doing the same.

So who is left out and forgetten in this government-insurance dominated system?

I'll answer that. You, the patient are left out as you become a number, a statistic, a covered life!

I may be rambling a bit here, but I get very offended when anyone other than my patient tries to tell me how to do my job. When I founded The Institute For Medical Wellness, I went out on a limb professionally. It was my personal and professional risk and I chose to go full steam ahead with a health delivery concept that focuses on individuals, not insurances, and not government bureaucracies. When you are in my office, my attention is focused on you. So a healthcare bill that gives broad powers to the government to decide what care is and is not necessary is an extremely scary proposition. I fear that your care will suffer if you are forced into a government controlled system.

I do not expect everyone to feel the way I do. And I respect all points of view, especially those I do not agree with. I learn alot every day, from hearing how others view their health, what they are eating, how they are exercising, what works for their individual ailments and what does not. I have learned from my 15 years in practice that no two individuals are the same. So any healthcare plan that focuses on numbers and populations as opposed to individuals will never, ever have my support!

I want reform. But I want reform that gives patient's more choices in their healthcare, not less. I want reform that allows patient's and doctor's to decide what is needed for their care, without a 2000+ page federal healthcare bill getting in the way. I want a plan where everyone has access to healthcare not governed and controlled by Uncle Sam.

The Institute For Medical Wellness will thrive and expand regardless of healthcare reform because we focus our care on individuals and families, period. We have no ulterior motives, no insurance quotas in the back of our mind guiding our treatment. We will grow as more people are dissatisfied with the direction of government sponsored healthcare. But I would prefer that The Institute For Medical Wellness grows due to our outstanding care and committment to everyone who chooses us for their healthcare.

My promise to you. No matter what comes out of Washington, D.C., The Institute For Medical Wellness will continue to be where you can go for healthcare that is focused solely on you!

I will end with the mission statement that I wrote back in 2007, while putting the wheels in motion for the founding of The Institute For Medical Wellness. This mission statement describes how I want to be treated when I access medical care, and it is how I will always care for you!

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MISSION STATEMENT

To provide outstanding family medical care to our patients with a focus on comprehensive wellness and prevention.

To inform you of healthcare options that your health insurance carrier may not want you to obtain or know about.

To be an advocate for your medical care without regards to the health insurance bureaucracy.

Where patients go to be treated as a person and not as a commodity.

Where patients go to have a Physician who listens carefully and respects what the patient has to say and encourages the patient to say what is on their mind.

To give patients the ability to see their own Doctor and to make appointments without unreasonable waits.

To provide this care with an open mind, and to make your healthcare a team effort between Dr. Horvitz, his office staff, and you, the individual.

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The Institute For Medical Wellness is now experimenting with Twitter.

If you "tweet" or follow others, you can find us at http://twitter.com/IMWHorvitz

Please email us at DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com to let us know what type of "tweets" you would find useful.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Prelude to your New Years Resolutions !!

2009-12-07T09:21:00.002-05:00

December 7, 2009

Institute For Medical Wellness prelude to your New Years Resolutions!

The new year is almost upon us and I hope everyone is thinking about their New Year's Resolutions. As many resolutions revolve around health, at The Institute For Medical Wellness, we are putting the finishing touches on helping you with a common resolution, with our soon to released healthy weight program.

One of the most common New Years Resolution is to achieve a healthier weight. So we are putting together a program that will help you achieve just that. Many weight loss programs work for a short while, only to become too difficult to continue. These difficulties can be in the program itself, an early plateau of weight loss, or the return of intense hunger and cravings that sabotage your ability to achieve your goal. Our goal is to help you defeat the cravings by giving your body the nourishment it needs. And our program will achieve this with sound nutritional advice and supplements, but without prescription medications.

Why I am so positive about this program?

About four months ago, I tested it out on myself. Now I rarely hear anyone tell me I need to lose weight. But, any weight I would gain would always go to my midsection, the worst area for good health. For this I thank my genetics. I will not get myself into trouble by naming the family members responsible. I know better than that! But central obesity or abdominal obesity is a high risk factor for Diabetes and High Blood Pressure, among other ilnesses. Please refer back to a previous newsletter on how central obesity leads to a deterioration in health.

But let me move on to results. After about 3 months my weight loss peaked at 15 pounds, 10% of my body weight, and is still there today. My waist size is down, and my clothes all fit well again. In my case, 95% of my weight loss occurred from my midsection. The other 5% somehow came from my fingers, so if anyone finds my college class ring in my office, please let me know! My energy level is definitely up. In fact I increased my exercise after I lost about 12 pounds, not before. Exercise is important for good health, but when it comes to weight loss, your diet is the most important factor.

Now, not everyone has the same genetics or metabolism. But most people make the same mistakes when it comes to eating. Most diets revolve around menu plans and portion control. It becomes a mental exercise to determine what you can put into your mouth. It should not be that way, and this is where our new program will help. Our program will revolve more around teaching you what you should not eat, than what you should. Portions should not be an issue, for if you eat the proper types of food, hunger cravings go away. If you choose to follow the media's diet headlines or Oprah's latest diet sensation, then I wish you luck, and I'll still be here to help you when it fails. But I hope that you will give us a chance instead, to help you not only lose the excess weight, but to achieve an overall healthier you!

So look to a future newsletter for the roll out of our new Healthy Weight Program. And start thinking about how The Institute For Medical Wellness can help you achieve your upcoming New Year's resolutions!

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Do you still have money left in a medical or healthcare flexible spending account (FSA) for 2009?

Many of these accounts enable you to put aside money for healthcare for each calendar year. One drawback is that you lose the money if it is not used at the end of each calendar year. Our Wellness Plans put this money to excellent use. So if you have an unused balance for 2009, or looking to budget your account for 2010, check out our Wellness Plans. You can use your 2009 remaining balance to prepay for a 2010 Wellness Plan!

To Good Health!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Please follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/IMWHorvitz

Why I love my job!!

2009-11-18T16:07:00.015-05:00

Why I love my job!!

Yea that's right. I love my job, because, if you have not yet noticed, I do it a wee bit different from my colleagues. You see, most of my colleagues practice what I call third-party healthcare, by contracting with HMO's or other insurers to provide your care. This keeps them very busy. A common misconception in primary care is that a busy office is a successful office and contracting with health insurers almost guarantees a busy office! Well, I have a different belief system. I believe that success in medical practice is based upon the good health and goodwill of your patient's. Do a good job, and you are a success. Do a good job meeting HMO criteria but not your patient's individual needs, and well, that is not so good!

HMO's, otherwise known as Health maintenance organizations, an oxymoron if I ever heard of one, may pay doctor's by what is called a capitated rate. This means that the HMO will pay a doctor a certain amount of $$ per month whether a patient is seen or not. This fee ranges from as little as $5/month to as much as $30/month, dependent upon your insurance plan. And by the way, the HMO insurance industry does not classify you as an individual, but as a "covered life". How icky is that??

The doctor also gets paid your copay if and when you visit the office, and occasionally an HMO bonus for meeting certain criteria. What many doctor's don't realize is that by trying to earn a bonus and meet the HMO criteria, their patient's become caught in a numbers game. For example: Did everyone get their cholesterol checked? Did everyone get a colonoscopy? No! Then call up these patient's and get it done. It doesn't matter whether the test is medically necessary, the HMO wants the test done to prove to another third-party, known as Uncle Sam, that it is providing good care. This is called population based care, and is what the present federal government wants to expand. Fit everyone into the same system, regardless of their individual history and needs. I am sorry, but this just does not work for me!! If I go to a doctor and they treat me as a number, or a statistic instead of as an individual, I am out the door quickly!

My colleagues sign 50-plus page contracts with insurers that they do not read. These unread contracts allow third parties power over your healthcare. Seems a little like the 2000+ page Congressional healthcare reform package that is alleged to be able to improve patient care. The only thing that 2000 page bill will cause is a hernia trying to lift it! And if you ever had a hernia, it hurts!! A 2000 page bill certainly will not improve patient care. But let me not digress. These insurance contracts allow the insurer to set up medical guidelines for your care, such as what type of tests to order, and what medications are covered. In essence they take the doctor and make him or her a robot. Now there are excellent doctor's who work within the system. In fact, I believe that 99% of doctors are highly skilled, competent and can do an excellent job. But if they put themselves in a system that restrains them from providing proper care, well, that is not a system that I care to be a part of!

I strongly believe in preventive care. It was one of the major factors in the founding of The Institute For Medical Wellness. But no two individuals are alike. Healthcare needs to be individualized to the patient's needs based on their personal and family health history. I do not allow any third party to tell me what to do for my patient's. If a doctor signs a contract with an insurer, that insurer is inside his head during every patient encounter. Not my idea of individualized patient-centered care.

So why do I love my job? The answer is fairly simple. I have designed a practice that caters to the individual, without any third party intrusions. I offer yearly wellness-retainer options, or payment at time of service for those that do not want a retainer. The retainer options can be paid all upfront, or with a down payment and monthly checking account debit. This monthly checking account debit is essentially a capitation for my services. But my services are spelled out in a simple easy to read and understand two-page contract between myself and my patient. There are no hidden clauses, no ulterior motives and no third party in my exam rooms. I am capitated, but to my patients, and not to any third party.

I average 10-15 patient visits a day, instead of 25+ when I went by the name of "insurance healthcare provider", which is actually pretty funny. When I was a kid, and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn't say, "I want to be an insurance healthcare provider." I think, no, I am positive, I said I wanted to be a doctor!

And so I am, and I love my job!!

Now take a poll of other doctor's. Ask them if they love their job. You may be surprised at their response.
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Healthcare Reform and the AMA

Yes, another healthcare reform piece. We hear all the time on the news how the AMA, (American Medical Association) supports the present healthcare reforms in Congress. As a doctor, I must ask myself why? My job is to do the best I can for my patient's. That is the oath I took when I graduated medical school. The AMA has no such oath. The AMA, by supporting the present reform bills, is watching out only for their corporate entity. I encourage you to read a short piece about why the AMA has thrown doctors and patients under the bus, in favor a huge income windfall from the government. You will be very surprised to find out who the AMA represents and where they get their revenues. I'll give you a hint. The first name in Uncle and the second name is Sam.

To Good Health !!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

H1N1 Revisited

2009-11-12T16:32:00.001-05:00

H1N1 revisited

The H1N1 vaccine is now becoming available in many schools and community health centers. Whether to get yourself or your child immunized is a decision that has caused much angst. As I have stated in past newsletters, I have strongly supported the use of the yearly seasonal flu vaccine. But I had not, as yet, supported the use of the new H1N1 vaccine. I feel that building up your bodies immunity thorugh a healthy diet and lifestyle, along with an increase in Vitamin D is the best and safest way to prevent influenza. Please look at the following excerpt from the Vitamin D council website on Vitamin D and flu.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-and-h1n1-swine-flu.shtml .

New information has been gathered about the production and manufacturing of the H1N1 vaccine that has lowered my fears about this new vaccine.

So I am now led to believe that the H1N1 vaccine is another option in prevention of H1N1.

Why the change of heart?

A few of my earlier objections to the H1N1 vaccine were:
-the presumed quickened production cycle of vaccine production
-the possibility of untested and potentially unsafe adjuvants (additives that help provoke a stronger immune response)
-newer untested manufacturing processes
-low rate of hospitalizations and death did not warrant a new vaccine
-being a "testee" for a new vaccine

Let me explain how these concerns have decreased.

I viewed a letter from Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of FDA which can be read in its entirety here. This letter calmed many of my objections about the H1N1 vaccine. It stated that the manufacturing process and production cycle of the H1N1 vaccine was followed almost identically to the production of the yearly seasonal flu vaccine. No new adjuvants or untested additives were used in the production. The hospitalization and death rate have not been higher in H1N1 influenza, but this virus strain appears to be more contagious than most. So as a percentage of the population infected, it does not appear more deadly. But as so many more people have become ill with H1N1 than with seasonal flu, there have been many hospitalizations and deaths. More worrisome is that the H1N1 flu is most dangerous to healthy children, due to their strong immune response. It appears that some children's immune response go into overdrive, which results in more hospitalizations and deaths. As with other flu's, it is also dangerous to individuals with weak immune systems, chronic medical conditions such as asthma, cancer or heart disease, and pregnant women. So as I recommend the seasonal flu vaccine each year, I no longer see a reason to oppose the H1N1 vaccine.

But as immunizations are a personal health matter, it is still up to each individual to decide for themselves if they want the vaccine. My office will not be ordering the H1N1 vaccine, as there will be many places in the community offering the vaccine in the future. To find a location please click here. At present, if you choose to get the vaccine, I would stick to the injectable version as I am not convinced that the nasal mist has enough data behind it to be pronounced safe or effective.

Again, whether to receive the H1N1 vaccine is up to each individual's philosophy on health, and I will support whatever decision you choose!

To Good Health !!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

More on H1N1

2009-10-20T16:38:00.002-04:00

The "Swine Flu" or H1N1 virus is here and still spreading.

The H1N1 vaccine is slowly becoming available as distributors have started shipping out the vaccine.

The question still stands: Should I get the vaccine and should I have my kids get the vaccine?

I had a call today from the mother of a family I have known for quite a while.

Here is a little of the conversation we had:

Mom: Thanks Doc for taking my call !

DrH: No problem! What can I do for you?

Mom: My child's school has been hit with the swine flu. Six (6) kids have already contracted the flu and the school will now be offering the vaccine to all student's, with parent's permission. What is your opinion doc?

DrH: Would you like the short or the long version?

Mom: I would like your answer as a parent first.

Wow!!

Score One for Mom!!!

Right to the point!

BTW, I try to make all my medical decisions as if I were treating my own family. I would not give you any treatment or medication that I would not take if I were sitting in your seat.

But back to the H1N1 question.

The H1N1 virus is here and spreading. So far, this virus has not been any worse than traditional seasonal influenza virus. In fact it seems to be less harmful. Unfortunately, any influenza illness will still cause hospitalizations and some deaths. But the H1N1 flu seems to cause more problems for children as opposed to adults. The theory behind this is that the H1N1 virus causes our immune systems to overcompensate. This overcompensation contributes greatly to the severe illness that can lead to bad outcomes. Children's immune systems appear more prone to overcompensation than adults.

That being said, I am not ready to give this vaccine to my child. This vaccine was rushed into production before proper testing. While I understand the "Why's" of it being rushed, that does not mean that I should recommend the vaccination to my family and my practice. If this vaccination program is a nationwide test of the vaccines ability to prevent H1N1 infection, I prefer not to be a "testee". Please, no puns intended!!

There are a few variables that can change my opinion.

1) If the H1N1 vaccine makes it through proper testing showing both effectiveness against contracting the virus and safety equivalent to or better than the seasonal flu vaccine, then I will advocate for vaccination.

2) If the H1N1 virus does morph or change into a deadlier strain, causing increased hospitalization and death, then the pros and cons of getting the vaccine may tilt towards receiving the vaccine.

As of today, neither of the above have occurred.

But, I do not expect everyone to agree with my views.

As George Patton once said, "If everyone is thinking alike, someone is not thinking!"

So if you want to receive the H1N1 vaccine, please click on the link to a Burlington County Health Department update on the H1N1 Vaccine distribution. It will indicate where you can go to receive the vaccine.

There are other options to help prevent contracting the H1N1 flu.

While not proven by large medical studies, Vitamin D has been shown anecdotally to help prevent and treat influenza.

We do have Vitamin D in the office for those that want to try this method.

We use RX Vitamins Liqui-D3, which is an oil based supplement that contains olive oil and Vitamin D3.

The usual dose is between 1-5 drops a day, equivalent to 2,000 to 10,000 iu per day. It is helpful to obtain a blood test to monitor Vitamin D levels if on this supplement, although I have not yet had anyone have harmfully high levels on the above doses.

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

Butter...... Parkay !!!

2009-10-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

October 5, 2009

Butter..... Parkay !!!

Remember that commercial.

I do!

Here is a link to its youtube video !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvM-5LYMohM

I am often asked whether to eat butter or margarine.

Growing up it was cool to eat margarine instead of butter. Better eating through better science, or so we thought!!

Here is how butter is made.
Milk a cow.
Skim off the cream.
Add salt.
Churn the cream until it’s thick and chunky and tastes awesome.

Here is one of the processes for making margarine:
Farmers grow seeds.
The seeds are harvested.
The seeds are crushed to extract some of the oil.
The rest of the oil is extracted by mixing the seeds with hexane, a chemical solvent.
The hexane is (supposedly) all removed.
The oil is pumped full of hydrogen gas and nickel powder.
The remaining oil is subjected to heat and high-pressure CO2 gas.
The oil is mixed with sodium hydroxide and passed through a centrifuge.
The oil is mixed with water and passed through another centrifuge.
At this point, the margarine is a gray, speckled, oily mass that doesn’t smell so good.
The oil is mixed with hydrated aluminum silicate that binds to and filters out the unwanted pigments.
The mix is heated again and the oil is extracted.
The oil is passed through a steam distillation chamber to remove unwanted odors.
Yellow food coloring and artificial flavors are added.

Margarine.

Mmm Mmm good!!!

Not !!!

So what would you rather eat?

Most margarines are chemically altered vegetable oils and contain dangerous and unhealthy trans-fats otherwise known as trans-fatty-acids. While vegetable oils have received good press coverage, most contain an abundance of omega-6 fatty acids, which may counter the healthy effects of omega-3 fatty acids.

So what are we supposed to eat?

Cardiologists say butter is bad, because it contains saturated fat which they argue is responsible for an increased rate of heart disease.

But is this fact or fiction?

Let us look back at history for a moment.

In America, the rate of heart disease soared during a period when saturated fats consumption fell sharply while cholesterol intake remained roughly unchanged.Before 1900, heart disease was rare in America, affecting about 8 percent of the population.

By 1950, heart disease caused 30 percent of all deaths in America. Today, it causes about 45 percent of all deaths.During this period, consumption of butter, which is high in saturated fats, fell from over 18 lbs per person per year at the turn of the century, to about 10 lbs per person per year by 1950.

Today it is even lower, yet the rate of heart disease continues to escalate.In the same period, Margarine consumption rose from about 2 lbs per person at the turn of the century to about 8 lbs per person.

Ok now.

Do we follow the advice of clever advertisers and marketers?

Or do we follow the logic of our ancestors who relied on a very low processed foods diet?

Listen to your ancestors !!!

They ate saturated fats.

They did not eat processed food.

Pass on the Parkay and vegetable oils.

Eat butter!!

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

Hey Ma, No more Foie Gras !!

2009-09-29T20:35:00.009-04:00

What is Foie Gras and how will reading about it help me to understand improved nutrition?

Should we ask The Donald?

Or maybe this Donald would be more apropo!!

Well, my guess is that "The Donald" partakes in foie gras, while "Donald Duck" hopes not to be on the menu.

From wikipedia: Foie gras (pronounced / fwa:gra:/ in English; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage (force-feeding) corn.

Interesting.

When ducks, are force fed a starchy carbohydrate such as corn, their livers fill up with fat.

Does a similar mechanism occur in humans?

I am so glad you asked!!

There is a medical disorder called, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Otherwise known as NASH, this is a chronic condition that affects 2 to 5 percent of people in the United States. NASH involves inflammation or damage to the liver that can be severe and may lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. What I find especially concerning is that NASH may affect about 70 percent of people with Non-insulin dependent Diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes).

The liver has many functions in our body. One of the most important is as a major detox center or sewage treatment plant, helping to remove and make less harmful, many substances in our body. Our liver also plays a part in sugar metabolism. If our bodies sense we do not have enough sugar or glucose to burn, our liver can manufacture glucose for use.

Sounds like a good thing!

It is unless it starts over-manufacturing sugar that we do not need and is one of the mechanisms involved in Type 2 Diabetics and why they have a high incidence of fatty liver. In Type 2 Diabetics, even though they have plenty of excess energy stored in their bodies fat cells, they have trouble converting this fat to energy for use inside their cells. So their liver starts producing more sugar- glucose, which gets into their bloodstream, raising their glucose levels even further, in the hope that their cells can make use of this energy. A big problem with this mechanism is that the now higher levels of sugar in the bloodstream then gets converted into triglycerides (fat) and once again get stored in the liver, furthering the fat accumulation problem. Talk about spinning in circles!!

Sometimes a picture helps to get a point across.

Caution- some pictures below may not be suitable to view prior to a meal.

Below are three different livers which show the progression of fatty liver disease.

normal->--fatty-> Cirrhotic liver

The liver furthest to the left is a normal liver. It is smaller in size and has a deeper-rich and healthy color.

The center-middle liver is a fatty liver. It is somewhat bloated and misshapen, with a dull yellowish color.

The liver furthest to the right is a cirrhotic liver. It is huge and misshapen, with a pebbled appearance and coarser in texture.

OK, ugly pictures to look at, especially before eating!

So what can we do to prevent NASH or reverse it?

1) We must lower the amount of processed carbohydrates we eat to an amount that our bodies can handle. We accomplish this by closely monitoring diet, weight, waist size, and metabolic parameters. Each and every individual has a different "carb-tolerance", so to be succesful you need to find your own.

As we read earlier, to make Foie Gras, ducks are force fed large amounts of corn, a very starchy carbohydrate. In real life, we are feeding ourselves large amounts of processed carbohydrates such as cereals, breads and soft drinks, which act in our bodies just like corn!

2) Increase the burning of excess fat cells by change to a lower carbohydrate diet and if possible an increase in exercise. In other words, change your metabolism from a storer of excess energy (storing fat) to one that burns more energy than it stores ( a burner of fat).

The key to burning fat for fuel, is to limit the amount of glucose available. We accomplish this by a low processed carbohydrate diet.

If you are succesful in this dietary approach, the excess fat stored in your organs may diminish and hopefully allow your organs to once again work efficiently.

So let's recap:

If our bodies are overburdened by carbohydrates and sugar, excess carbohydrates get converted into sugar which gets converted to triglycerides which gets stored in our liver and other internal organs, eventually "gumming up" their efficiency. Consider it like rust occuring on metal. Just as the rust will destroy the metal, the excess fat will prematurely age and destroy our organs.

So that ends this lesson in, Hey Ma, please no more Foie Gras !!!

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So hopefully Foie Gras gives you some added motivation to start a low processed carbohydrate diet. As mentioned in my previous newsletter, we have wellness programs set up to help you with the transition and also to provide extra guidance.
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Other Institute For Medical Wellness Events

Our massage therapist, Julie, is limbering up for the fall season.

If you are enrolled in a Wellness plan, and have not yet experienced the benefits of massage, you can receive one one-hour massage for $35, or one 1.5 hour massage for $50. That is 50% off regular prices.

Package discounts are also available:

A 3 hour massage package, regularly $210, is now available at a 10% discounted price of $189.

A 5 hour massage package, regularly $350, is now available at a 15% discounted price of $299.

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One of our newer network affiliates is Master Ting, from Silver Tiger Tai Chi in Hainesport. Master Ting is now offering one complimentary Tai Chi session for individuals enrolled in any Institute For Medical Wellness plan. More information on Master Ting can be found here.

One of Master Ting's long time students, David, is also offering a Tai Chi class. The Tai Chi classes begin October 1, running from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Classes will be held at the Boudinot Elementary School, corner of Pearl and Ellis Streets in Burlington, NJ.
Call 609-387-5895 to register.

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-031
www.drhorvitz.com

Fall is here and the time is right for....

2009-09-29T17:36:00.003-04:00

Hear ye, Hear ye !!

I have hereby proclaimed October 2009 as Healthy Weight and Lifestyle month at the Institute For Medical Wellness.

Achieving a healthy weight is more than diet and exercise. It takes skill and good sound advice.

Many an individual presents to my office wanting to lose weight.

The most common phrases I hear include, "But my metabolism is slow", or "I am metabolically challenged".

For these "metabolically challenged" individuals or anyone looking to get to a healthier weight, our wellness plans are a "perfect fit" to convert you to a more metabolically energized life!

The following wellness plans are available:

1) Our Traditional Wellness Plan- $525 yearly fee.

2) Traditional Weight Loss Plan- $750 yearly fee includes our traditional wellness plan along with 5 hours of personal exercise training.

3) Holistic Weight Loss Program- for $999 yearly fee, includes our traditional wellness plan along with our Naturopathic physician Dr. Jennifer Phillips to help you achieve your healthy weight and lifestyle needs.

4) Healthy Weight, Body and Life Program- $1500 yearly fee, being reduced to $1400 thru October 31, 2009. This program includes the Traditional Wellness Plan along with 5 hours of personal exercise training, holistic nutritional guidance from our Naturopathic physician Dr. Jennifer Phillips, a one hour introductory acupuncture session with Paula Andersen, and 3 hours of therapeutic massage with Julie Fischer.

All of the above yearly plans are also available with affordable monthly payment options.

So if you have some excess pounds to lose, and need help or guidance without gimmicks,
look no further than The Institute For Medical Wellness.
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As part of proper diet and nutrition, the Institute For Medical Wellness is proud to offer the following nutritional supplements, available individually or in grouped packages. You can view these supplements here.

Supplements available at The Institute For Medical Wellness include:

Multivitamin: RX Vitamins ReVitalize Iron-free 90 caps - $30

Vitamin-minerals: Carlsons Labs B-12-SubLingual 1000 mcg 90 tabs - $15
Douglas Labs Amino-mag magnesium chelate 100 tabs - $12
RX Vitamins Liquid-D3 2000 IU 1 oz - $18

Fish Oils: Carlson's Labs Finest Fish Oil Omega 3 200 ml - $18
Carlson's Labs Finest Fish Oil Omega 3 500 ml - $36
Carlson's Labs Finest Fish Oil Omega 250 capsules - $42

Probiotics: Integrative Therapeutics Probiotic Pearls Pro Flora Immune 30caps - $15

Urinary Tract: Bio-Tech d-Mannose 50 caps - $15

Misc: Coenzyme Q10- 200mg - 60 tabs-capsules or lozenges - $50

We also have supplement packages available at a discount:

General Health Package:

RX Vitamins ReVitalize Iron-free 90 caps
+
RX Vitamins Liquid-D3 2000 IU 1 oz

Buy these together for $43, a $5 savings

Healthy Immune System Package- may help you get ready for the cold and flu season.

Integrative Therapeutics Probiotic Pearls Pro Flora Immune 30caps
+
RX Vitamins Liquid-D3 2000 IU 1 oz

Buy these together for $28, a $5 savings

Healthy Heart Package:

Coenzyme Q10- 200mg - 60 tabs-capsules or lozenges
+
RX Vitamins Liquid-D3 2000 IU 1 oz
+
Carlson's Labs Finest Fish Oil Omega 3 500 ml or Carlson's Labs Finest Fish Oil Omega 250 capsules.

Buy these together for $97, a $10 savings
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Our massage therapist, Julie, is limbering up for the fall season.

If you are enrolled in a Wellness plan, and have not yet experienced the benefits of massage, you can receive one one-hour massage for $35, or one 1.5 hour massage for $50. That is 50% off regular prices.

Package discounts are also available:

A 3 hour massage package, regularly $210, is now available at a 10% discounted price of $189.

A 5 hour massage package, regularly $350, is now available at a 15% discounted price of $299.
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One of our newer network affiliates is Master Ting, from Silver Tiger Tai Chi in Hainesport. Master Ting is now offering one complimentary Tai Chi session for individuals enrolled in any Institute For Medical Wellness plan. More information on Master Ting can be found here.

One of Master Ting's long time students, David, is also offering a Tai Chi class. The Tai Chi classes begin October 1, running from 7pm to 8:30pm.

Classes will be held at the Boudinot Elementary School, corner of Pearl and Ellis Streets in Burlington, NJ.
Call 609-387-5895 to register.

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com
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I would like to thank everyone for sending me topics for future newsletters. While I am not able to accommodate all the requests, I will continue to try. So keep em coming!!
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Please feel free to forward these newsletters to friends and family.

Lies and Thighs.....

2009-09-04T20:01:00.001-04:00

September 4, 2009

Lies and Thighs .........

First the Lies !!!!!

Pfizer pharmaceuticals pleads guilty to a felony for fraudulent marketing of some prescription medications and will pay record fines amounting to over two billion dollars.

You can read the Department of Justice (DOJ) documents describing the settlement here .

Here are some quotes from our federal government gloating over this news:

First, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services was quoted as saying:

"This historic settlement will return nearly $1 billion to Medicare, Medicaid, and other government insurance programs, securing their future for the Americans who depend on these programs. The Department of Health and Human Services will continue to seek opportunities to work with its government partners to prosecute fraud wherever we can find it. But we will also look for new ways to prevent fraud before it happens. Health care is too important to let a single dollar go to waste."

Next we have Michael L. Levy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is quoted as saying:

"This resolution protects the FDA in its vital mission of ensuring that drugs are safe and effective. When manufacturers undermine the FDA’s rules, they interfere with a doctor’s judgment and can put patient health at risk. The public trusts companies to market their drugs for uses that FDA has approved, and trusts that doctors are using independent judgment. Federal health dollars should only be spent on treatment decisions untainted by misinformation from manufacturers concerned with the bottom line."

Now I have also complained about some of the practices of Big Pharma.

Some of my past newsletters on this subject can be found below:

http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/2008/10/state-sues-merck-for-deceptive.html

http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/2008/10/experts-conclude-pfizer-manipulated.html

http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/2008/09/top-selling-prescription-drug.html

http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/2008/09/pharmaceutical-advertising-good-or-bad.html

http://drhorvitz.blogspot.com/2008/04/ghostwriters-for-medical-research.html

So I correctly predicted last year that the government would be going after Big money from Big Pharma.

If you think I am skeptical that this will help individuals, then it proves that great minds think alike.

But Why????

Here are questions I would like answered.

Will other pharmaceutical companies change their ways as a result of this judgement?
What will happen to the 2 billion dollars the government receives?
Will the money go where it is intended, back to Medicare and Medicaid???
Are other pharmaceutical companies being investigated as part of a shakedown, and being forced to strike a deal with the federal government to help pass healthcare reform legislation?
Are the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) guidelines too difficult and bureaucratic to allow new medications to be brought to market?
Is the FDA itself corrupt?

The timing of this announcement, as the White House likes to say, seems "a little fishy" to me. While Pfizer did break the law, and deserves to be dealt with, I am not so sure there are not other motives.

My solution would be to end third party payment systems that use "other people's money". These systems invite fraud and abuse. Just look at our ever growing federal debt as an example. It is time to bring power away from Big Govt, away from Big Business and Big Corporations, away from Wall Street, and give it back to the individual. Individuals are better at sniffing out fraud, as it is their own money on the line, not "other people's money"! The real problem is how prescriptions are paid. As long as there are third party middlemen with all their rules and regulations, then fraud will occur. The government can better help individuals in need by setting up a "medical food stamps" program, that puts money to be used specifically for healthcare into a bank account for the individual. This would streamline healthcare transactions, and get rid of the third party bureaucracy that invites fraud. If it works well for food, why not healthcare?

But enough about Big Pharma, Big Government and conspiracy theories..........

Bring on the Thighs !!!!!

If you receive this email on your "blackberry", for the best visual effects, please also view on your computer email.

Take a look at the two pictures below. Who has the better chance of living longer?

To help determine the answer, I will refer you to the following article, Thin thighs - maybe not your heart's desire

This article comments on a study which showed that individuals with bigger thighs lived longer than those with smaller thighs. Now the pictures above may be a bit of a stretch when comparing thin thighs to, shall I say, thick thighs, but my take on this study goes back to not how much weight you carry, but where you carry it.

Many of you have heard the distinction between having an apple or pear shaped body. The difference can be seen in the pictures below.

This first side angle picture shows the apple shaped man on the left, with all of his excess weight stored in his abdomen and trunk. Note that his thighs are very thin compared to the rest of his body. The person to the right in the first picture has a pear shaped body, with excess weight more evenly distributed throughout their body.

This middle picture I included just because I liked the picture !!

The third picture shows a frontal view of an apple and pear shaped body.

While many would argue that the thin thighed women is more attractive and healthier, that may not be the case. If you want to read further about this study, it can be found here. Pear shaped bodies tend to live longer as they distribute their fat away from the major vital internal organs, such as the liver and heart.

Pearl from this article: Having a supermodels figure is not always healthy. A healthy weight can not be determined just by getting on a scale. There are many factors that come into play. Here is a previous newsletter about a healthy weight.

So before you say you are unhealthy and put yourself on a diet to "improve your health", look to The Institute For Medical Wellness to make sure you are on the right track. Our goal has always been to give you individualized, non-biased health guidance, regardless of what the so-called experts or majority say.

When we are working with you, only two votes count, ours and yours!!

Best Wishes to All for a happy, healthy and safe Labor Day weekend!!

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Also please check out our new Wellness Plans offering more holistic and heart healthy options.

I would like to thank everyone for sending me topics for future newsletters. While I am not able to accommodate all the requests, I will continue to try. So keep em coming!!

Bladder Infections and other things that make me want to ....

2009-08-29T12:41:00.001-04:00

August 29, 2009

One of the more common reasons patient's visit my office is due to bladder infections, otherwise known as cystitis or UTI (urinary tract infection). These infections are much more common in women than in men until later in life and account for over 8 million doctor visits each year.

Symptoms of bladder infections can include:
-Pain or a burning feeling during urination
-A feeling of urgency, or feeling the need to urinate frequently
-An altered appearance of the urine, either bloody (red) or cloudy (containing pus)
-Pain or pressure in the rectum (men) or in the area of the pubic bone (women)
-Passing only a tiny amount of urine even when the urge to urinate is strong

The most common traditional evaluation for these infections include a history and physical exam, along with a urine sample that is tested for signs of an infection.

The most common traditional treatment includes antibiotics to sterilize the bladder contents. While antibiotic treatments usually work, they are not without potential side effects, which can include but are not limited to allergy to the medication, drug interactions, diarrhea and yeast infection.

But what can be done to prevent these infections from occurring in the first place?

-Everyone should drink plenty of water to dilute your urine and help flush out bacteria.
-Avoid coffee, alcohol, and soft drinks containing citrus juices and caffeine until your infection has cleared. They can irritate your bladder and tend to aggravate your frequent or urgent need to urinate.
-Empty your bladder frequently. "Holding in" your urine allows bacteria more time to cause trouble in your bladder before you empty.

For women the following is especially important:
-Wipe from front to back. Doing so after urinating and after a bowel movement helps prevent bacteria in the anal region from spreading to the vagina and urethra.
-Empty your bladder as soon as possible after intercourse. Also, drink a full glass of water to help flush bacteria.
-Avoid potentially irritating feminine products. Using deodorant sprays or other feminine products, such as douches and powders, in the genital area can irritate the urethra.
-Avoid wearing tight clothing such as swimsuits and leotards for long periods.

But if all the above has not worked to prevent an infection, is there something else that can be done without needing antibiotics?

To answer this question, first I must let you know that about 90% of bladder infections are caused by a bacteria called E. Coli.

E Coli causes urinary tract infections by attaching itself to the wall of the bladder. Once stuck, it can reproduce and cause an infection.

So other than antibiotics, is there a way to remove the E. Coli form the bladder wall?

There just happens to be a way to trick the E. Coli into detaching itself from the bladder wall, thereby allowing you to empty your bladder of urine and this pesky bacteria.

This solution is to use a simple sugar called D-Mannose.

This sugar, when ingested, is processed through the body and stored in the bladder. Once in the bladder, D-Mannose makes the bladder wall more difficult for E. Coli to attach to. It is also thought that bacteria enjoy feeding on D-Mannose and detach from the bladder wall to better feed in the urine. The next time you urinate, the E.Coli along with the D-Mannose is flushed out of your bladder.

I have used this treatment in about half a dozen patient's so far with excellent results. Further research has indicated that D-Mannose can be used not only for treatment, but also for prevention of bladder infections.

If you are interested in trying this natural treatment, we now have this nutritional supplement at our office.
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Now what would a newsletter be without another opinion on healthcare reform. I would ask that you read the following opinion article linked here. It describes how the present healthcare reform bill WILL ration care, and will attempt to change the healthcare system to a population or community based system, instead of one that focuses on the individual.

In 2008 I terminated my participation with health insurers, and founded the Institute For Medical Wellness to provide patient-centered healthcare. Any system that puts more power to any third party, whether it be government or an insurer, and away from the individual is a system doomed to fail, as this type of government dominated system will put doctors and patient's on opposing sides. We need a more just system that will extend coverage to the uninsured without degrading quality for everyone, while keeping doctor's and patient's united for better health.

My opinion.

Throw the present proposals and bills in the trash.

The two political parties are diametrically opposed on too many aspects contained in the present bills under review.

Why not instead, have both political parties sit down and write a proposal in no more than 2-3 sentences that they both can agree upon.

Yes I said 2-3 sentences, not over 1000 pages!!

Read the 2-3 sentences, then vote!!

How about these four for starters:

1) End pre-existing conditions- Have the government start a high-risk pool for everyone with pre-existing conditions. Once individuals have health insurance, if they have a pre-existing condition, the government high risk insurance pool will cover those pre-existing conditions for one year, and after one year the private health insurer will again be responsible. This would bring some of the uninsured back to being insured.

2) Allow employers to give tax free money to employees to buy their own coverage. Employers can offer a company plan, but employees may group together with whoever they want to form their own group. This puts the individual in control of their own healthcare, without destroying employer participation. And this makes insurance portable, as it is owned by the individual.

3) Increase competition by allowing individuals and groups to purchase insurance coverage across state lines. If a policy in Nebraska costs $200/month and a policy in New Jersey costs $500/month, let people purchase the Nebraska policy. I do not know the actual rates for either state, but I have seen insurance rates differ dramatically between states.

4) Allow individuals the same tax benefits for healthcare that corporations have.

If we can start with areas we agree, it will be easier to find solutions to those we do not!!

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

To view previous newsletters

Swine Flu - Should we be worried?

2009-08-21T20:31:00.002-04:00

August 21, 2009

Swine Flu- Should we be worried?

The Swine Flu, now known as the H1N1 flu has already hit our area, and so far has been no worse than the normal seasonal flu. This may be due to the outbreak beginning in the spring, as the weather was warming up. The flu is always at its peak in the winter months, so a springtime start to a flu helps to slow its spread. There are different theories on why the winter months are worse for the flu. One theory I believe has to do with Vitamin D and our immune system. Vitamin D, which our bodies manufacture in response to strong sunlight, is at it highest level during the summer months and at its lowest level during the winter months. Higher Vitamin D levels have been shown to enhance our immune systems abilities to fight off infections, including influenza. So flu's generally hit when our Vitamin D levels are at our lowest level, in the winter months.

There are many questions yet to be answered about this potential outbreak.

1) Is this flu similar or different to the 1918 version?

Some scientists believe the H1N1 flu is similar to a 1918 flu outbreak that killed 50-100 million people worldwide. But, if you ask 5 experts on this subject, you will probably get 7 different answers. What we do know, is that the virulence of the H1N1 flu may be higher than seasonal flu as it is much more capable of reproducing in lung tissue, and thus responsible for the increased hospitalization rates due to pneumonia.

I am waiting on data from the southern hemisphere, where the winter season should be more conducive for the H1N1 virus. If the flu is causing widespread hospitalizations and deaths, moreso than the normal "flu", then I will take it a bit more seriously. Until then, I am cautiously waiting for more true data that I can analyze.

2) Is the government hysteria over this flu warranted and are they giving any recommendations to decrease its spread?

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control), has issued guidelines for businesses and employers to respond to the anticipated 2009-2010 flu season and can be found here. These guidelines deal with workplace recommenddations to reduce the spread of the H1N1 flu. Again, I am waiting on data from the southern hemisphere, where the winter season should be more conducive for the H1N1 virus. If the flu is causing widespread hospitalizations and deaths, moreso than the normal "flu", then I will take it a bit more seriously. Until then, I am cautiously waiting for more true data that I can analyze.

Never letting a potential crisis go to waste, our government has contracted with pharmaceutical companies to ramp up production of an H1N1 vaccine.

I recently came across a quote from the late Robert Novac, which sums up my views on government involvement in healthcare issues.

"Always love your country — but never trust your government!"

There are many more questions I must answer before advising on the need for the H1N1 vaccine, including:

3) Is the vaccine safe?

This question has not been answered because it has not been thoroughly tested. The swine flu vaccine of 1976, caused more problems than the flu did. The British government, aware of those issues, recently wrote a letter to neurologists to be on alert for Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare nerve disorder which could be triggered by the vaccine. The 1976 swine flu vaccine caused an eight-fold increase in Guillain-Barre cases in the United States, which at its worst can cause respiratory failure and even death. More information about this government letter can be found here.

4) Is the vaccine effective?

Again, this question has not been answered because it has not been thoroughly tested.

5) Are there side effects, and if so what are they?

Again, this question has not been answered because it has not been thoroughly tested.

The World Health Organization, has posted some information on their website as it relates to side effects. One part in particular concerns me, and the quote is as shown:

"Since new technologies are involved in the production of some pandemic vaccines, which have not yet been extensively evaluated for their safety in certain population groups, it is very important to implement post-marketing surveillance of the highest possible quality. In addition, rapid sharing of the results of immunogenicity and post-marketing safety and effectiveness studies among the international community will be essential for allowing countries to make necessary adjustments to their vaccination policies."

Does the word guinea pig strike a chord?

6) Does the vaccine benefit my patients?

Again, this question has not been answered because it has not been thoroughly tested. I am not anti-vaccines, nor am I anti-pharmaceutical companies. I do my best to research each vaccine and company and make my own independent opinion. However there are some physicians who do not like flu vaccines. To present an anti-vaccine physicians opinion, please visit the following website.

7) Are we to ASSUME that this flu season will be better or worse than in previous years?

Have you ever heard the saying, never assume anything, or you could make an -ass- out of -u- and -me-.

8) Do we trust the pharmaceutical companies to produce a safe and effectice vaccine on short notice?

I'll leave you to decide if you have faith in the pharmaceutical companies. I have received the seasonal flu vaccine each of the past fifteen years, and other than some male pattern baldness, have not had any adverse effects. But this is not the seasonal flu vaccine. This is a new vaccine that is being rushed to market. And to increase production in a quick fashion, the vaccine manufacturers are using experimental additives. More on the additives can be found here. This sounds an awful lot like Congress and the Senate trying to rush through health reform without thinking about the consequences. My solution is to first give this new vaccine to all of our elected officials and politicians. Why not use them as the guinea pigs for once?

I prefer to practice medicine on facts, not on fear or emotion. A little extra time spent talking, researching and thinking, can prevent and even cure many problems. So are there other
ways to protect yourself from the flu or from its complications, until we find out more about the swine flu vaccination?

Steps to enhance your immune system such as stress reduction and an increase in exercise may be beneficial.

Many flu related deaths are caused by a secondary pneumonia infection. Recent evidence has shown that decreased stomach acid, resulting from the use of prescription acid reducers, may increase your risk of pneumonia. Please talk to your physician if you are on one of these medications.

Earlier in this newsletter, I wrote about a benefit of Vitamin D. I have been testing vitamin D levels for many years now, and have found the optimal range for good health and hopefully flu prevention is a Vitamin D3 level of greater than 50 ng/ml. If you have not yet had your Vitamin D level tested, please call our office to schedule. If your Vitamin D level is sub-optimal, summertime sun exposure is a cheap and effective way to increase your levels. It only takes about one hour of daily summertime sun exposure to produce Vitamin D.

If you are unable to get adequate summertime sun exposure, my office sells a Vitamin D3 supplement that is cheap and effective. Call for more details.

In conclusion, it is a personal decision about whether to get a swine flu vaccine. At this point I am not recommending them, although I do recommend the seasonal flu vaccine. Hopefully my shipment of seasonal flu vaccine will arrive and be ready in October. I'll be sure to send out an email alerting everyone when they arrive.

I would also like to thank everyone who has forwarded my newsletters to friends and family. We are adding more readers with every edition.

Let me also wish everyone an enjoyable end to the summer, and to getting as much natural Vitamin D production as you can.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

www.drhorvitz.com

Fish Oil supplements as a potential cure for global warming ???

2009-08-01T00:00:00.009-04:00

August 1, 2009

Fish Oil supplements as a potential cure for global warming ???

I know it sounds far fetched, and I also know there is a lot of debate on whether global warming exists.

And hey, why does it look like Al Gore wearing a clip on his nose?

Please keep reading and humor me for a second....

Let's for a moment or two assume that global warming does exist.

While our politicians debate about global warming, and different options to reduce emissions that contribute to it, can fish oils be helpful?

First a little bit of info on fish oils. Fish oils contain omega-3 fatty acids that have been shown to have many positive effects such as:

--improving good cholesterol (HDL)
--lowering triglycerides
--cancer prevention
--helpful for Bipolar illness
--helpful for Rheumatoid Arthritis
--helpful for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
--less pain and inflammation

I am sure there are other benefits that we have not yet discovered, but will in the future.

I have been taking fish oils for the past 5 years as a supplement to my diet. The brand I use, from Carlson's Labs, has been tested by an independent lab and found free of impurities and toxic chemicals. This is important when you look to a supplement to use. There are other qualities to look for, and please ask at your next visit. If you have trouble finding a fish oil supplement, we do have Carlson's Fish Oils available at our office in both capsule and liquid form.

But let me get back to fish oils as it relates to global warming.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to improve your health and help prevent global warming at the same time?

Well, some researchers may have found a way, at least with cows !!

Huh????

Here is an excerpt form an online article in Natural News:

(NaturalNews) Adding fish oil to the diets of cows and other ruminants may significantly reduce the amount of methane that the animals emit via belching or flatulence, according to a study conducted by researchers from University College Dublin and presented at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology.

Their theory is that adding fish oils to cow feed reduces the amount of bacteria that produce methane gas. This methane, when released in the form of belching or flatulence, is one of the leading global warming gases on our planet. More fish oils, less methane in cow flatulence, less global warming. So if we believe this theory, the above list of uses for fish oils now looks like this:

--improving good cholesterol (HDL)
--lowering triglycerides
--cancer prevention
--Bipolar illness
--Rheumatoid Arthritis
--Inflammatory Bowel Disease
--less pain and inflammation
--REDUCES GLOBAL WARMING

Personally, I feel a better cure for global warming would be to stop all the gases coming out of our Washington, D.C. politicians. They are a truer cause of global warming!!

Send then home to get real jobs, not government jobs that allow them to follow their own special rules, instead of what everyone else follows!

By the way, be sure to ask your senators and representatives if they will accept the same healthcare options that they want you, the American public to take?

When they say no, doesn't that tell you something????

It tells me that something smells in Washington, D.C. !!!!

Please visit www.freeourhealthcarenow.com and sign the petition to keep the government out of your healthcare. So far, the petition has almost 1 million signatures. If you have already signed, please forward to all your friends and family.

To Good Health!!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
www.drhorvitz.com

Healthcare Reform - Is it Gloom and Doom for Seniors?

2009-07-26T19:52:00.003-04:00

July 26, 2009

Healthcare Reform - Is it Gloom and Doom for Seniors?

I apologize in advance if the purpose of this newsletter is once again reform, but with the daily debates in Washington about overhauling the healthcare system, I feel I have no choice.

Let me be clear.

Our healthcare system needs reform, but the reform must start at home and not in Washington. I founded the Institute For Medical Wellness because the present third party insurance, government and corporate dominance of our healthcare system is unsustainable and detrimental to high quality patient-centered care. I removed myself from the system to be able to provide the patient-centered care that you deserve, not the care that a insurance or government bureaucrat feels you are worth. The present reform bills in Washington, both House and Senate, are focused not on improving care, but on controlling costs by putting more roadblocks into obtaining medical care. These reform proposals aim to incrementally and permanently move individuals and businesses into a government controlled system. This has already been tried in Massachusetts and Tennessee and has not worked, with the costs of the programs and waiting time for medical care both rising exponentially. When government medical costs rise, taxes rise and rationing of care soon follows. In a freer market based system, where individuals have more control of their healthcare decisions and dollars, medical costs and waiting times decrease as medical innovation increases. As costs decrease, care becomes more affordable and accessible to all. Look to the car industry. The cost of a new car today is about the cost of a new car a decade ago. This is not due to government intervention, but due to free market economics. On the other hand, Medicare and Medicaid , both government programs that fix costs, thereby not a free market, have had tremendous costs increases.

At the present time, I participate in Traditional Medicare. But the reform proposals aim to change the Medicare system, and not in a way that is good for patient care. When I stopped participating in insurance plans, some of the plans paid me better than Medicare, some worse. I did not risk my practice due to payments from insurers being too low. I dropped the insurers because they were meddling in the care that I needed to provide. Presently Medicare does not have these roadblocks. Under the present reform proposals, that will all change, and I truly fear for the medical care of seniors. Senior citizens will bear the biggest brunt of the reform due to cuts to Medicare of half a trillion dollars over the next ten years. These cuts will happen even though Medicare enrollment is expected to increase by 30% as the "Baby Boomers" become eligible. So how do we improve care, cut the budget to pay for this care, all while having people enrolled in this care increase by 30%? We can not! The math just does not add up!!

No, you have it wrong doc.

That is not what the reform bill is all about.

We will all get access to better healthcare.

Sorry, but that is just political rhetoric. One of the OBama administrations healthcare advisors, Zeke Emmanuel, has written extensively that the elderly should get less care, especially for incurable illnesses such as dementia, because, they "no longer contribute to society." The following is a quote from Dr Emmanuel:

"An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia. A less obvious example Is is guaranteeing neuropsychological services to ensure children with learning disabilities can read and learn to reason."

Sorry Mom and Dad.

Sorry Grandma and Grandpa.

It was nice knowing you !!

Sorry children. You do not deserve the chance to learn to read and reason!!

I am sorry, but this is not reform, and is not the type of healthcare I expect from our country! This is a planned political medical power grab and medical rationing by the government. Any other conclusions or statements to the contrary is rhetoric, outright lies and deceptions.

There are better ways that benefit individuals and business of all size to better afford medical care, while keeping medical freedoms. Some proposals I agree with are listed below:

1) Allow individuals and small businesses to band together to negotiate better rates with insurance companies.
2) Allow insurance companies to sell policies across state lines. This will increase cost competition and hopefully end state mandates that lead to higher insurance rates.
3) Allow individuals the same tax deductibility for health insurance and healthcare that businesses now enjoy.
4) Decrease defensive medical costs by passing tort reform. Many doctors order tests that may be unnecessary for fear of getting sued. Patient's truly injured by medical malpractice will still be able to sue for damages, but the frivolous lawsuits must be ended.
5) We need more HSA's, (Health Savings Accounts), tied to higher deductible or catastrophic insurance policies. These policies are much, much cheaper than present policies, allow tax free savings for medical care, and protect from medical bankruptcies. It also puts the power of the healthcare decision making and the power of the healthcare dollar back in the hands of the patient, and away from insurers and government bureaucrats.
6) End pre-existing condition clauses in health insurance.
7) Make health insurance portable and not tied to employment. If individuals are allowed to band together as a group to negotiate better insurance rates, why do we need employers to do it for us? Allow employers to give employees, as part of their compensation package, tax free money to purchase their own coverage, if they do not like the coverage offered by their employer. If the government wants to help, they can cover part of the costs of coverage if an individual is between jobs.

There are many other suggestions for reform, the key point in reform is to allow the power of healthcare to remain with the individual, and not a government or third party. If the present reform package becomes law, I truly fear for the health of our country! We need reform that will restore the doctor-patient relationship as the predominant factor in healthcare!! Ask yourself, "Who do you trust to help you make healthcare decisions? Your doctor or Washington politicians??

If you care about healthcare choice and healthcare freedom, I strongly urge that you visit the following website, http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us/ , which contains more in-depth information on the present reform proposals. Please do not be left on the sideline, or say it is too late to stop these reforms. You may agree or disagree with the views on the above website, but you need to be informed, and make certain that your political representatives hear from you!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

You call that Healthcare Reform???

2009-07-21T16:02:00.002-04:00

July 21, 2009

We are all hearing alot of hubbub about healthcare reform.

This is too important a topic, so let me speak on this subject for just a moment.

First a little background. I grew up in my father's medical office, back in the 70's when an office visit was $8 and when you paid your bill, you left with a smile and a lollypop. I watched these interactions with patient's. I saw trust and confidence that the doctor-patient interaction was always all about the patient. There were no third party intermediaries.

Fast-forward to 2009. The healthcare system has changed. Some have said the sytem has been stolen by special interests. Physicians and hospitals, in agreeing to work with government and private insurance plans, have all but given up control of the healthcare system. When in the 70's, medical decisions were made by the doctor and the patient, now these decisions need to go through bureaucratic entanglements that place your medical care outside the scope of your physcian. The doctor-patient interaction has now become the doctor-insurer-bureaucrat-actuary-patient interaction.

For example:

If you need an MRI, it is no longer as simple as getting a doctor's prescription, making the appointment and getting it done. Now, the MRI "request" has to be pre-authorized by your insurance plan. You can not make the appointment until this pre-authorization has occured. This pre-authorization is just one set of guidelines that slow down the acquisition of care, and in many cases deny it altogether. Your insurance plan is not examining you, yet is somehow is able to deny you care your doctor wants you to have!

If you need a prescription medication that is not generic, most likely it will not be "On Formulary". This means that you have no coverage for this medication and your insurer will offer to switch to a cheaper drug, all to save money for the insurance plan. What if using an alternative insurance approved medicine does not work, and you end up worse, or even needing hospitalization? Saving money is wonderful, if it is effective and in the best interests of each individual patient. But these rules are not for patient's benefit, but for the benefit of the power holding the dollar, in this case, the insurance plan.

Insurance companies AND government regulators are playing doctor with your health. They have power and control over how your healthcare dollar is spent. Your insurer's goal is to make a profit off of your insurance premiums and to spend as little as possible, even if it means delaying or denying care. The government's goal is to spend as little as possible and meddle in your healthcare decisions to attain that objective. Now, I have no problem with saving money. There is a lot of waste in healthcare. But this waste began when the third parties, the government and health insurers inserted themselves into the medical decision making process. If our system is ever to change for the better, we need these third parties out of our exam rooms. We need health insurance to once again be insurance, that covers large bills, or catastrophic costs, so medical illness will never cause one to lose their home. We do not need them in our exam rooms telling doctors and patient's what tests to run or what treatment to prescribe.

The supermajority of doctor's are for reform of the present system. We want to get back to where decisions are made solely between doctor's and patient's. While I can not speak for all doctor's, I can speak for myself. In fact I did it with my pen and my feet 2 years ago, when I terminated my contracts with insurers, and founded The Institute For Medical Wellness. This was the only way I knew to be able to work solely for you, without any third party intruder. Many more doctor's are now starting to follow my lead.

You may have heard that the AMA (American Medical Association) has given their support to the present healthcare bill going through committees in Congress. Let me make it known that I have never been a member of the AMA, and I do NOT support the present bills. These bills give more power to bureaucrats, and less to patients and doctors and will only make the system worse and more costly. The AMA, unfortunately, is a political organization, that does not necessarily represent doctor's, but actually represents it's own corporation. The AMA makes millions of dollars selling and licensing medical coding books to sell to doctor's and hospitals. These coding books contribute to the massive overhead of the present third party system. So any reformed system that continues this coding system, will benefit the AMA's corporation, thus their apparent support of the present reforms being debated. Physician's have finally wised up and are quitting the AMA in droves. A recent poll on Sermo, a doctor's only website, has over 94% of physicians against the present healthcare reform package. So when you hear in the media that doctors are for the present reform package, it is untrue. The AMA does not speak for nor represent physicians.

If healthcare reform is to work, patient's and physicians must unite. If healthcare reform is to work, the power of the healthcare dollar needs to be returned to individuals. Health insurance must once again be insurance, and not healthplans with thousands of strings attached. Patient's must have choices in insurance and physicians. Third party involvement in the exam room must end! Unfortunately, the present reform bills want the opposite, less patient choice, more third party bureaucracy, and decreased patient-physician autonomy. Too much power of the healthcare dollar in the hands of any third party, whether it be an insurer or government agency will harm our system beyond repair.

There is a better way, and it is why in 2008 I started The Institute For Medical Wellness. We act as your personal health advocate, not that of your insurance company. You receive personalized, individualized care without regards to any third party. We are an independent practice committed to offering the absolute best care- without compromise.

Now to get off my soapbox, I would like to announce a new offer at The Institute For Medical Wellness. As many of you already know, Julie Fischer has been providing therapeutic massage services for the past few months. She would like to extend a special birthday offer. A one hour massage is regularly $70. But during your birthday month, you can receive this 1 hour massage for only $45. We are confident that once you have tried Julie's massage, you will come back for more.

I would also like to remind you of our new Wellness Plans, which may include holistic, nutritional, and heart healthy options. They can be found here.

To Good Health!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Practice
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311

www.DrHorvitz.com

A few extra pounds, Good or Bad ???

2009-07-05T21:54:00.004-04:00

July 6, 2009

I came across an interesting article from Reuters news service. My comments will follow.

A few extra pounds can add years to your life: study
Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carrying a little extra weight may actually be good for you, according to a Canadian study that showed a few pounds appear to protect people from an early death. Researchers found that while underweight and extremely obese people die earlier than people of a normal weight, people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than those of a normal weight. The findings of the new study were published online in the journal Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.

To read the entire Reuters article... http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE55N0C720090624?sp=true

Interesting study. I read only part of this article the first time I saw it. I was too busy eating my Five Guys Burger and Fries!!

Mmm Mmm Good !!!

But back on topic...

To understand this study better, let me first introduce you to medical definitions from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) that helps to determine if a person is overweight. The method that experts believe is best is to measure a person's body mass index (BMI). BMI is a calculation derived from your height and weight. A calculator to determine your BMI can be found at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

Adults with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight. There are exceptions. For example, an athlete may have a higher BMI but not be overweight.

Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are considered obese.

Anyone more than 100 pounds overweight is considered morbidly obese.

My electronic medical record is able to calculate your BMI for you. Just ask the next time you are at the office.

So is evaluating your health as simple as placing you into the following categories of underweight, average, or overweight?

No !!

Does looking like magazine supermodels make us healthy?

I'll answer that for you as well. NO!!! Most supermodels are underweight and even malnourished. Many have eating disorders. So while they may have fame and fortune, they do not necessarily have their "health".

So what does weight have to with health??

First you must answer why I chose this topic for a newsletter?

1) I was bored and felt like writing
2) My daughter is away at overnight camp, which left me with more free time.
3) It is important to advise my practice that while weight management is important for your overall health, the "number of pounds" that you weigh is only one indicator of you overall health.
4) I am trying to promote the idea that health and wellness is more than just monitoring your weight.

The answer is all of the above !!!

At The Institute For Medical Wellness, we use different methods and also different types of healthcare professionals to help you determine your overall health risk factors. Your weight is one factor. Your lab results may be another. What about your diet and exercise? Yes, we use that as well. Family History?? Extremely important!! I could go on and on, but then I may be giving away too many of my trade secrets ; )

But one thing we do, and do well, is think outside the box when it comes to your care. So before you say you are unhealthy and put yourself on a diet to "improve your health", look to The Institute For Medical Wellness to make sure you are on the right track. Our goal has always been to give you individualized, non-biased health guidance, regardless of what the so-called experts or majority say. When we are working with you, only two votes count, ours and yours!!

To Good Health !!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

So Easy A Caveman Can Do It ???

2009-05-27T20:47:00.000-04:00

May 27, 2009

So easy a caveman can do it??

No that is not my college yearbook picture !!! Although I would not mind the hair ; )

It is the popular caveman from the Geico commercials. In the commercials, the caveman acts like a normal everyday 21st century individual, until he sees the Geico slogan, "So easy a caveman can do it". Then he gets annoyed and I don't blame him.

But what does this have to do with your health?

Let me explain.

It is now 2009, and it goes without saying that we are more technologically advanced than our caveman ancestors. We have hospitals, doctors, surgeons and antibiotics. We have nurses, therapists, and a whole host of other healthcare providers, (just look at our Wellness Network), to help treat and cure disease. Our healthcare choices are plentiful. That may change if the federal government passes new healthcare legislation, but let me get back on topic.

So are we healthier than the caveman?

NOPE !!!!

Let me explain.

While we are more technologically advanced than our caveman ancestors, we still share over 99% of their DNA. So in essence, we are not that different, just more civilized? I know, another off-topic conversation.

Our 21st century diet and lifestyle are much different than our ancestors and not necessarily for the better!

Today I will focus on diet.

Our caveman ancestors lived off the earth and were known as hunter-gatherers. They did not go to Wegmans for their produce, Papa Johns for their pizza, or make reservations for dinner. They hunted and gathered for all their food on a daily basis. Their diet is said to have consisted of fresh fruits and vegetables, greens, nuts and seeds, as well as hunted wild game. They ate fish and foraged for eggs. Their nutritional status was heads and tails above present day man. Their foods contained no preservatives or added hormones. Today's processed foods, while having a long shelf life, easy to read nutritional labels and easy to prepare microwave instructions, has far less nutritional value than fresh food. Less nutrients in today's diet set us up for many Diet Related Diseases or DRD's. I am sure you have heard of the following DRD's:

Obesity
High Blood Pressure
High Cholesterol
Diabetes
Arthritis

There are many others but I think I made my point.

Oh well, I am on a roll so I'll make another point!

Did cavemen eat Cheerios? Bagels? Ice Cream? Pepsi? Pizza? ............. NO!

How bout eggs? apples? tomatoes? fish? chicken? .............. YES !!

Pearl of the day:

If you want to improve on, or prevent your Diet Related Diseases,

the solution may be,

"So easy a caveman can do it".

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute For Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone 856-231-0590
Fax 856-294-0311
http://www.drhorvitz.com/

To celebrate the end of the school year, for the month of June, all schoolteachers can receive $10 off a 1 hour massage, or $15 off a 1.5 hour massage from Julie Fischer, our certified massage therapist at The Institute For Medical Wellness. And if you refer a friend for a massage, you both will receive $5 off your next massage.

To view previous newsletters
To view Insitute For Medical Wellness Network events

Cheers or Jeers for Cheerios??

2009-05-17T16:54:00.002-04:00

Excerpts From Yahoo News

Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says

Tue May 12, 10:05 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said.

"Based on claims made on your product's label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug," the FDA said in a letter to General Mills which was posted on the federal agency's website Tuesday.
Cheerios labels claim that eating the cereal can help lower bad cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, by four percent in six weeks.

Citing a clinical study, the product labels also claim that eating two servings a day of Cheerios helps to reduce bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, the FDA letter says.

Those claims indicate that Cheerios -- said by General Mills to be the best-selling cereal in the United States -- is intended to be used to lower cholesterol and prevent, lessen or treat the disease hypercholesterolemia, and to treat and prevent coronary heart disease.

The rest of the Yahoo News article can be found here.

Now how silly is this?

Doesn't the FDA have anything better to do than go after the number one sold cereal in the country?

Is accusing Cheerios of being an illegally marketed drug just a little bit over the top?

I can see the news headlines.

Just Say No to Cheerios !!!!

Let us look at how silly this is on many levels, as Cheerios claims and the FDA's claims are both inaccurate.

Cholesterol, by itself, does not cause heart disease, although it can be used as a marker for heart disease. Taking cholesterol lowering drugs makes it more difficult to stratify your level of heart disease risk by masking your true cholesterol levels. If you knock out a radar station, does that mean that incoming missiles will be prevented? Just because you do not see the missiles coming in (high cholesterol levels on your bloodwork), does not mean they are not there. I use cholesterol levels taken off of medication to be a truer reading of risk.

Cheerios, being a processed carbohydrate, will raise your sugar levels, thereby raising your insulin levels, which leads to an increase in vascular inflammation in your arteries. This will increase your risk of heart disease. Not exactly what Cheerios advertises!!

Lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) without knowing your good cholesterol (HDL), triglycerides, and total cholesterol is not helpful. So any statement about lowering your bad cholesterol, without mentioning the effects on your good cholesterol, is misleading. Don't believe what you see advertised on food, especially if approved of by the FDA. Approvals are based more on politics and profits than health.

I have found the lowest heart disease risk in patient's whose Total Cholesterol divided by their Good Cholesterol (HDL) is below 4. The higher risk individuals have this ratio above 5. I have also seen many people lower their bad cholesterol, but also lower their good cholesterol and actually increase their heart disease risk. This can happen more frequently when on a low fat diet.

Who do you think has the lower risk of heart disease based on cholesterol levels alone?

Patient #1) Total Cholesterol = 240
HDL Cholesterol = 60
LDL Cholesterol = 145
Triglycerides = 110

Patient #2) Total Cholesterol = 180
HDL Cholesterol = 30
LDL Cholesterol = 115
Triglycerides = 100

Answers will appear later.

My opinion....

The FDA is playing games with the food industry and the public and I am not sure of their intentions. In the past, the FDA almost always tended to side with big business to promote sales of their products. In fact, the FDA food pyramid, which was formulated by our federal government with backing from all the major food industries, has for years encouraged an abundance of carbohydrates in the diet, with cereals produced by American industry at the forefront. This is not my view of the healthiest way to eat, and it has contributed to an increase in heart disease. But things are now changing in Washington. The FDA appears to be going after certain industries that were previously immune. When I figure out why the change of heart, I will be sure to let you know.

As for the purported health claims that Cheerios will lower your risk of heart disease, if you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you!! Cheerios is a processed man-made breakfast food product, made up primarily of processed carbohydrates. As previously mentioned, processed carbohydrates, when eaten in abundance has been linked to an increase in heart disease, as well as obesity and diabetes. My suggestion is to pass on Cheerios, as well as most processed cereals.

OK, so getting back to my cholesterol quiz, which patient has a lower risk of heart disease based solely on cholesterol measurements?

Patient #1 has higher levels of all the cholesterol components and triglycerides. Patient #1 also has a ratio of 240/60 = 4.0

Patient #2 has lower levels of all the cholesterol components and triglycerides. Patient #1 has a ratio of 180/30 = 6.0

The envelope please.............

Patient #1 has a lower risk of heart disease based on the ratio of 4.0 . Why??The HDL or good cholesterol, in theory goes through the body and scavenges up or cleans up after the bad cholesterol or LDL. The best way to improve your ratio is too lower your processed carbohydrate intake, increase your healthy fat, protein and fiber intake, increase your exercise, and if able supplement with fish oils. This will raise the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) and lower your ratio to healthier levels.

For more information, or too develop a personalized wellness plan to include tips on healthy eating, please schedule your annual wellness exam.

As Ben Franklin once said, " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! "

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: 856-231-0590
Fax: 856-294-0311

For more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness.
To view upcoming Wellness Network Events.
For previous newsletters.

High Blood Pressure- What treatments are best for you?

2009-05-05T14:00:00.002-04:00

May 2, 2009

High Blood Pressure, also known as Hypertension is said to affect 1 in 3 U.S. adults, or about 73 million Americans over the age of 20. It has been called the "silent killer" as many people have this condition for years without ever knowing it. So what is the problem?? Well, untreated high blood pressure leads to an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, peripheral artery disease, and aortic aneurysms.

So, just what is blood pressure and what do the numbers mean? When we measure blood pressure we record two readings. The top number is the systolic pressure. This is the pressure generated when the heart contracts (pumps). It reflects the pressure of the blood against arterial walls. The bottom number is the diastolic pressure. This is the pressure when the heart is filling and relaxing between beats. The so called average blood pressure for an adult is 120/80, but each adult may have a different "normal" blood pressure. High blood pressure in adults is defined as a consistently elevated blood pressure of 140 mm Hg systolic and 90 mm Hg diastolic or higher.

It is important that your blood pressure be taken accurately. Improper size cuffs, calcified arteries and arm positioning can give false readings. If your blood pressure is elevated on 3 consecutive readings on different days or if your systolic pressure is 160 or above, or your diastolic pressure is 105 or above, treatment is indicated.

OK, so what treatment or approach is right for you?

There are many different treatments available and medications that can be used, but I prefer to use medications only after lifestyle changes are explained, taught and implemented. One of the reasons I started the Institute For Medical Wellness was to give my patient's more choice in the treatments available. Medications when used properly are safe and effective. But exercise, lifestyle changes and proper diet can also bring many high blood pressure readings back to normal.
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For a Naturopathic perspective on high blood pressue, Dr Jennifer Phillips, affiliate of The Institute For Medical Wellness has prepared the following:

Naturopathic approach to hypertension

High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the leading causes of disability or death due to stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney failure. It's also the most common chronic illness Americans face. Despite the importance of these observations, blood pressure is poorly controlled in the United States. An estimated 25% of all American adults have high blood pressure, and only 27% have it under control. Conventional drug therapy consists of Diuretics, ACE inhibitors, Beta-blockers, Vasodilators, and Calcium-channel blockers. Side effects of these meds can include fatigue, depression, weight gain, and bone loss, so many patients are eager to find alternatives. If you are one of these patients, read on!
Diet Priniciples

Diet should be low in sugar, high in complex-carbohydrates (such as whole fruits and vegetables). Grains should only be eaten in moderation (3 or fewer servings daily, and only whole grains), nuts, seeds, legumes (beans), fish. Meat and poultry should be limited to free-range and/or organic varieties to avoid chemicals and hormones. Increase foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium (carrots, spinach, celery, alfalfa, mushrooms, lima beans, potatoes, avocados, broccoli, and most fruits). Salt restriction may be indicated for some types of hypertension, but not all types. I recommend salting food to taste after cooking, and use only natural sea salt. A diet rich in garlic and onion is as important as any other supplements, so be prepared to smell like an Italian restaurant!

Life-style Changes
Weight loss -- The United States is in the midst of an epidemic of obesity involving more than one-third of the adult population. Weight gain is very high risk in determination of hypertension. It is very critical to lose weight in a slow fashion to control hypertension. Rapid weight loss is not advised. Many studies have shown those overweight-hypertensive patients can reduce their medication with weight loss.

Exercise -- Sedentary people have a 35% greater risk of developing hypertension than athletes do. Keep in mind that people with hypertension should always consult with their physician (ie Dr. Horvitz or a cardiologist) before starting a new exercise program.

Good Sleep Habits -- Insufficient sleep can contribute to high blood pressure in hypertensive people. Are you getting your 8-10 hours each night?

Stress reduction - Stress management and relaxation techniques such as meditation can help in controlling high blood pressure. I feel that hypertension is similar to a pressure cooker- but a pressure cooker always has a valve to let off steam. If we don’t have a valve to "let off steam" or a way to prevent the pressure from rising, then our internal blood pressure goes up!

Specific Supplements
Supplements that have been clinically studied and shown to reduce blood pressure include: Magnesium, Potassium, Coenzyme Q10, Omega-3 Oils, Vitamins C and E; amino acids L-arginine and Taurine; herbs such as Hawthorn, Arjuna, Olive leaf, and Garlic.

You are advised to consult with a naturopathic physician to check for interactions between supplements and medication before embarking on any supplement plan that may reduce blood pressure, especially if you are currently taking medication. In my own practice I have helped many patients reduce or eliminate medication through natural means. The changes also help to reduce other cardiovascular disease risk factors, so the benefit is not just limited to blood pressure.
Jennifer Phillips, ND

If you would like to consult with Dr. Jennifer Phillips, she evaluates patients at my office on Thursdays.

For more information about Dr. Jenn.
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Have you ever had a massage and felt rejuvenated after? Julie Fischer, our massage therapist has the following thoughts on the benefits of massage on high blood pressure.

The lasting health benefits of massage are many, and yet it is often thought of as a luxury. In fact, studies have confirmed that one of the most effective ways of lowering high blood pressure is through receiving massage on a consistent basis. After a few weeks of regular massage, profound effects are found in groups of people who had been struggling to improve their heart's health. Blood Pressure levels are significantly lowered, levels of stress hormones decrease, and feelings of general well being return. As is the intent with all massage programs, the ultimate goal lies in a pain free and relaxing lifestyle. Controlling blood pressure is just one of the many benefits of massage therapy.

As a way to introduce Julie's massage skills, and hopefully bring or keep your blood pressure to a healthier level, she is now offering the following promotions:

Mini Massage! No time for a full session? Come by for a 15 or 30 minute refresher for your back, neck and shoulders! Feel the tension and stress release during your lunch break or between appointments in your busy day. Return to your schedule energized and renewed after this fully clothed, oil free mini massage. Be sure to call ahead to check time availability.

$20 - 15 minutes
$40 - 30 minutes

Relax Packages:
5 massage package 10% off
10 massage package 15% off
*must be used within 6 months

Healthy glow plan:
1 hour session per week - $250 monthly rate

Referral special:
Refer a friend for a first time visit, and receive $5 off of your next massage!
*Make sure your friend lets us know you are the referral source so that we can thank you!

Mothers Day Gift Certificates available!
What better way to show your appreciation than with a gift of renewal! Whether she chooses Thai, Hot Stone, Deep Tissue or Swedish, she will receive a healing treatment that will feel like absolute pampering.

Lockheed Martin employees -
Show your corporate ID and receive $5 off a 1 hour massage and $10 off a 2 hour massage!

For more information about Julie's sevices.
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Proper exercise can also play a key roll in controlling blood pressure. Andy Dick of Optimum Fitness has prepared the following:

Regular exercise is a great way to naturally lower your blood pressure and keep it regulated and nearly any form of regular exercise is proven to help. Both cardiovascular (running, biking, etc…) and strength training has been proven effective in controlling blood pressure. While diet alone can accomplish this, exercise has the added advantage of getting your heart involved in the work. Plus, while you are burning calories, your are also maintaining and/or improving your muscle tone. Regular exercise improves your circulation and allows your body to more efficiently use oxygen in the bloodstream. Sweating out excess amounts of stored water and sodium in the body during exercise can help regulate some of the important components in the body that contribute to high blood pressure. Exercise forces the body to release insulin, which lowers sodium, which helps to lower blood pressure naturally. Any exercise is good, so my advice would be start on any program that you will enjoy and that fits your lifestyle and personality.

Andy Dick

Please feel free to take advantage of a special offer available only to patients in Dr. Horvitz's Wellness Programs at The Institute for Medical Wellness: Enjoy a free initial consultation that will include body composition analysis, goal setting, program planning, and a comprehensive question and answer session to go over all of your concerns. After this, members of Dr. Horvitz’ Wellness Program are able to take advantage of an introductory 2 for 1 training package to get started. This is a $120 value for only $60 to get you on your way to a better, more rounded lifestyle.

For more information on Andy's services.
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High Blood Pressure has many different causes, and many different treatments. You should never feel forced or coerced into any one treatment plan. At The Institute For Medical Wellness, we will work with you to find the treatment plan that meets the following criteria:

It is Safe, Healthy, and will make you Happy!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: 856-231-0590
Fax: 856-294-0311

For more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness.

To view upcoming Wellness Network Events.

For previous newsletters.

www.DrHorvitz.com

Institute For Medical Wellness Vision

2009-04-27T09:19:00.005-04:00

April 27, 2009

I have often been asked how and why I developed The Institute For Medical Wellness.

So here goes.

It all came down to following my vision of what makes a true Family Physician and developing a practice with this mission. This vision has been shaped and reshaped over the past 18 years. Upon graduation from medical school in 1991, and completing an internship and residency in Family Practice in 1994, I felt very well trained to begin my career. My first four years were spent working for another family physician with two offices. One was based in Cherry Hill and the other in North Camden. During those years I matured alot as an individual and as a physician. I learned that being a physician is not just about diagnosis and treatments. It is about building relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

My goal since childhood has always been to have a private practice. So in 1998 I started my own solo private practice in Moorestown. At the time I was told by a majority of physicians that I would never succeed. The prevailing thought in 1998 was that independent medical practices were too risky. In 1998, hospitals were buying up independent practices and physicians became employees of large hospital orgaizations. Well, if you do not know me well yet, I have my own views, many of them contrarian. I do not believe that the majority opinion is always correct. I also do not always play well with others, so an independent practice was my best career decision and I have never looked back and never regretted it.

Now starting a practice from scratch was not easy, but it was the right thing for me. It was slow the first year, but by the second and third year, things were moving along nicely. I was busy enough to be happy, but not so busy that I couldn't take the time necessary for each patient, as well as have enough time for my own family. Health insurance companies were strong, but they were not yet planting themselves between me and my patient's. But year after year insurance companies started requiring more and more bureaucratic nonsense in order for the proper delivery of care. Back in 2004-5 I stopped participating with 2 health plans due to their nonsense. My practice grew nonetheless. But again, each year brought more bureaucratic and governmental regulations that hindered the proper delivery of care. Referalls, preauthorizations, precertifications, electronic billing, HIPPA, and many others were not part of running an efficient and effective medical office when I started medical school. But this is what happens when Big Business and Big Government takes control of your healthcare.

In 2007, I was at a crossroads. My career goal was not to be the richest or poorest physician, but to be the best physician I could be. I explored two opportunities. One would have meant joining a large group practice that would deal with all the bureaucratic nonsense for me. The other was to convert my practice to a Concierge model. Both had many advantages, but also came with one big disadvantage, that being loss of control of how my practice is run. And as I stated before, I do not play well with others. So I needed another direction. I needed a practice model that fit my views of proper patient care and yet still remain viable in the community. So I brainstormed and put together the vision of The Institute For Medical Wellness. Special thanks to my wife, my daughter Nori, and great friend Ivy for all your help with bringing a name to my vision.

So in January 2008, The Institute For Medical Wellness was born and has been growing and evolving every day. It has not been all smooth sailing, and I have hit some bumps along the way, but overall I am moving in the right direction. Being in practice for 18 years, I have become more realistic in my views on medical care. I have learned that traditional medical care does not have all the answers. So while I received a traditional medical school education, my views now also include holistic approaches. In the treatment or prevention of illness, we need first to do it safely and effectively. I do not like to order tests just to order tests. I do not prescribe medications just for the sake of medications or expediency. I do not like calling in a prescription over the phone without a proper evaluation. That is not the best care I can provide. When I do prescribe medications or order tests, it will be the least amount necessary to do the job right. More is not necessarily better when it comes to medical treatment. My views are also that most disease can be classified as mild, moderate or severe. A holistic approach may work very well for prevention of disease as well as for mild disease. But when we get to moderate to severe disease, a traditional approach may be necessary. That being said, nothing makes me happier than lowering medication use by way of a healthier and more holistic lifestyle. Treatment without medications is always the number one goal.

So it is now the Spring of 2009. The Institute For Medical Wellness is 16 months old and is still in its infancy. But like all infants learning to walk, our legs are getting stronger each day. We are learning what our patients want and expect and are doing our best to accomodate in the safest and most effective way possible. The most frequent question has been about offering a closer integration of holistic approaches to treatment. So in future newsletters I will be introducing some holistic integrations available to improve your overall health and wellness. Many of our affiliates listed on my wellness network page will become more visible and available for your care.

So please stay tuned and be certain that The Institute For Medical Wellness is focused not on Big Business or Big Government, but instead on each and every individual who steps through our door. Our focus has always and will always be focused on you!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: 856-231-0590
Fax: 856-294-0311

For more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness, please click here.

To view upcoming Wellness Network Events, please click here.

Your Metabolism and You- Part Two

2009-04-08T17:11:00.008-04:00

April 8, 2009

Dr. Steven Horvitz- Reading between the Lines:
Bringing you healthcare information you can trust!

Your Metabolism and You- Part Two

As mentioned in my previous newsletter, You and Your Metabolism - Part One, your weight is a result of a balance between anabolism-the storing of energy, and catabolism- the burning of energy. If you are overweight you tend to store more energy than you burn. If you are underweight, you tend to burn more energy than you store. During your yearly wellness exam, I take the time to review your diet and food choices. It also tends to be the time when my patient's eye contact starts drifting away. But back to your metabolism. The most common discussion if you are overweight is about becoming more of a burner than a storer of energy. While we all know that exercise increases the burning of energy, all the exercise in the world will not make you lose a whole lot of weight if you still store too much energy as fat. So how can you tip the balance towards becoming a burner as opposed to a storer?

Let me explain by bringing insulin into the equation via carbohydrates and sugar.

When you eat carbohydrates, and that includes both simple and complex carbohydrates, they are digested and broken down into glucose which enters your bloodstream. Elevated concentrations of glucose in blood stimulate the release of insulin, and insulin acts on cells thoughout your body to stimulate uptake, utilization and storage of glucose. When glucose is overabundant, it gets converted into triglycerides and stored as fat.

See the diagram below:

Excess carbohydrates---> increased glucose (sugar) ---> increased insulin---> increased storage of fat ---> increase in bad cholesterol ---> increase in weight.

So if you want to lose weight, and have that weight loss come from loss of fat, then by decreasing your carbohydrates the following occurs:

Low carbohydrates---> normal glucose---> normal to low insulin---> decrease in storage of fat---> decrease in bad cholesterol --->burning of fat for energy--->decrease in weight.

Let us look at this another way. When we need energy to burn, our body first uses glycogen (liver glucose store), followed by glucose available from our bloodstream. When these are used up, the next most available energy source is from our fat cells. So if we keep our carbohydrates low, thereby lowering the amount of glucose available for use, our bodies become better at burning our fat cells for fuel. Our metabolism shifts to burning more fat than we store, and weight loss comes predominantly from our fat stores. In men this is usually a decrease of weight around the abdomen. In women the weight loss occurs from the hip, legs and buttocks.

Now, if we want to build muscle, insulin as an anabolic hormone helps. When we eat abundant protein, this is digested into amino acids. Insulin acts upon the amino acids to form proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of muscle. To increase your muscle tone, start a good exercise program, to stimulate insulin to build muscle. This is why body builders can eat a whole lot of calories, put on a lot of muscle, but keep their body fat low. This is opposite to sumo wrestlers. Sumo wrestlers eat a high carbohydrate diet, thereby increasing their fat storage, and thus increasing their weight.

So take your pick.

Low carbohydrate diet with moderate exercise:

Or,

High carbohydrate with minimal exercise:

Any questions???

If you have any suggestions about topics for future newsletters, or how to make the newsletter better, please send me an email at DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com.

To Good Health!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.

Board Certified Family Medicine

Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: 856-231-0590
Fax: 856-294-0311

To view previous newsletters, please click here.

For more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness, please click here.

To view upcoming Wellness Network Events, please click here.

http://www.drhorvitz.com/

Your Metabolism and You- Part One

2009-04-04T20:40:00.006-04:00

April 4, 2009

Your Metabolism and You- Part One

The most common health complaint I hear in my practice deals with weight management. Upon visiting my office. my patient's often get grumpy when asked to step on the evil scale.

When the evil, vile scale is read, I often hear the phrase, "It must be that I have a slow metabolism". But we should all remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so a scale is not always such a bad thing, but a necessary part of my job, and helps to keep you a-live!

Overall, metabolism is not just about being overweight, but is also responsible for being underweight. How can this be? Let us take a look at metabolism, and its definition.

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. These "metabolic" processes allow us to grow and reproduce, maintain our organs, and respond to our environments. Metabolism is actually a balance between anabolism-the storing of energy, and catabolism- the burning of energy.

If you store more energy than you burn, you gain weight and may look like the figure on the right in the above cartoon. If you burn more energy than you store, you lose weight, and may look like the figure on the left.

How we maintain balance to get to a healthy weight is where the fun, or pain begins, and has been the subject of numerous diet books, of which, I have read a great many. Some have made me laugh out loud, while others have changed the way I eat and the way I practice. The first book I read was Protein Power, by Dr Eades. This book went over the metabolic processes of how we store and burn energy. It advocated we lower carbohydrates in our diet along while increasing both proteins and fats. It went against most of the lessons I was taught in medical school, yet it made tremendous sense. But I was not yet convinced and was not about to change my views based on one book. So I continued to research. Dr Atkins diet revolution, The Schwarzbein Principle, and Life Without Bread were all books that had similar concepts to Protein Power, but with their own distinct flavor. These books all based their theories on real human physiology. But just like life and politics, theories are one thing and reality can be another.

Would the theory of eating a low carbohydrate diet help the overweight and obese to lose weight? The only true way to know would be to test it out. But try convincing anyone to go against what all the so called experts on television and radio say about a healthy diet.

Well, the stars must have all been aligned, as a patient came to my office who had recently read Protein Power and wanted to try out the diet. I agreed to help and to monitor their progress by watching their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels. The low carbohydrate diet was a huge success. Weight loss with normal sugars and a much improved cholesterol profile. Blood pressure dropped so much that we had to stop blood pressure medications, and energy levels rose. How did this happen while eating more protein and fat, and less carbohydrates? Could all I was taught in medical school, and all the "media pundits" be wrong? More on this later. But if you want a sneek peek, check out the books mentioned above. It may open your eyes, slim your waistline, improve energy levels and balance out your metabolism!

If you have any suggestions about topics for future newsletters, or how to make the newsletter better, please send me an email at DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com.

To Good Health!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.

Board Certified Family Medicine

Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness

128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two

Moorestown, NJ 08057

Phone: 856-231-0590

Fax: 856-294-0311

Please visit http://www.drhorvitz.com/ for more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness.

To view upcoming Wellness Network Events, please click here.

Prostate Cancer Screening. Is it Worthwhile?

2009-03-28T22:08:00.010-04:00

March 28, 2009

Dr. Steven Horvitz- Reading between the Lines:
Bringing you healthcare information you can trust!

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There has been a recent hubbub about prostate cancer screening. For many years, men over the age of 40 have been advised to have an annual PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test along with a digital rectal exam.

In theory, PSA screening would detect prostate cancer at an early and more treatable stage. If the PSA level was above normal, or increasing quicker than expected, further evaluation for prostate cancer was begun. Ask any man who has undergone further evaluation. It is neither fun, nor pleasant.

Yet screening for prostate cancer via the PSA test seems worthwhile, if the alternative is a higher risk of prostate cancer. But two recent studies raise questions concerning the PSA tests effectiveness.

The first involved over 76,000 men. These men were divided into two groups. The first group had annual PSA and digital rectal exams for six years, while the second group had usual care. Although more prostate cancer was diagnosed in the first group, they did not have more prostate cancer related deaths after both seven and ten years.

The second study, involved 182,000 men followed over nine years. The first group had PSA screening every four years, while the second group did not. There were 20% more prostate cancers diagnosed, and slightly fewer prostate cancer deaths in the first group. But as we look closer at the studies statistics, for every 1,410 men screened with the PSA test, only 48 would be treated, or just over 3%. Of the 48 men treated only one cancer death would be prevented, or just over 2%. Of the 1,410 men screened, prostate cancer death would be decreased by less than 1/10 of one percent. There was no difference in overall death rates between the two groups.

So let us analyze this conundrum by going from point A to point B.

Point A is PSA testing. We want to get to Point B, which is prevention of prostate cancer deaths, while causing little or no harm. Yet, neither of these studies showed a significant decrease in prostate cancer or other causes of death.

A (PSA testing) -----XXX------>>>> B ( Decreased Prostate Cancer Deaths)

Most men identified as having abnormal tests will probably never develop a prostate cancer that will kill them. Some will say that the risk is worth it, and that is a valid opinion. But tell that to the men who had an abnormal PSA test, underwent further testing, biopsy and/or treatment, ended up impotent or incontinent, and were found not to have prostate cancer. Sometimes the investigation and treatment of a disease is worse than the disease itself.

Now, by sending out this newsletter, I am not advocating for the end of the use of PSA testing. PSA testing is especially useful in men with a family history of prostate cancer. It may also be useful for men between the ages of 40-60, as prostate cancer at a younger age tends to be more aggressive. But we need to further understand who and how often we need to screen. Should we screen yearly, every 2-3 years or every 5 years? Should we screen men over 70 or 80 years of age, when their risk of dying from other causes is higher than their risk from prostate cancer? The decision to screen should be left to each individual. Diagnosis of any disease at an early stage is a worthwhile goal and is something I strive for in my medical practice. But it must be accomplished without causing harm. The two studies mentioned above indicate that a harmful outcome is just as likely as a good outcome in PSA screening for prostate cancer. So what do we do to improve our odds of not having a bad outcome from prostate cancer without causing harmful side effects? How about teaching lifestyle modifications that can decrease your overall risk. Let me point to another recent study. In this study, intake of 500mg of omega-3 fatty acids daily, like those found in dark fish like salmon, reduced the death rate from advanced prostate cancer by up to 63%. Eating salmon sounds a bit more pleasant than a prostate biopsy ; ) I, for one, will eat more salmon and continue with my omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.

On another note, our politicians are debating about an overhaul of our healthcare system. My fear is that they will try to change the system to a cookbook style that is more concerned with costs than on good health outcomes. If that turns out to be the case, a less expensive alternative for prostate cancer screenings may soon look like the picture below.

I can hear it now.

Attention Wal*Mart shoppers.

Please head over to aisle four for your free prostate check ; )

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Please note that next week, Julie Fischer will begin performing massage therapy in my office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She performs Thai, swedish and deep tissue massage, as well as hot stone massage. For the month of April, Julie's massage services will be offered at a 10% discount. Wellness Plan members get even better pricing. Please click on the above link for more information.

If you have any suggestions about topics for future newsletters, or how to make the newsletter better, please send me an email at DrHorvitz@DrHorvitz.com.

To Good Health!!

Steven Horvitz, D.O.
Board Certified Family Medicine
Founder of The Institute for Medical Wellness
128 Borton Landing Road, Suite Two
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Phone: 856-231-0590
Fax: 856-294-0311

For more information about Dr. Horvitz and The Institute for Medical Wellness, please visit our website at http://www.drhorvitz.com/

To view upcoming Wellness Network Events, please click here.