DermHelpCentral

Ecotherapy: The Nature Cure

There is a new type of therapy. Yet it's really one of the oldest healing arts. It's called Ecotherapy.  For more, see "The Nature Cure" from the October 2015 The Atlantic.

One physician, Dr. Robert Zarr, created a website, DC Park Rx, that is a community-health initiative. With this, he can write a prescription for his patients to spend a healing day alfresco.

In an 1862 issue of The Atlantic, Henry David Thoreau praised the vigor-inducing virtues of walking in nature: “Think of a man’s swinging dumbbells for his health, when those springs are bubbling up in far-off pastures unsought by him!”

The Conflict of Choice

Shared decision making is the pivot on which modern medical ethics rest. Doctor appraises patient of the choices available. Doctor supplies evidence and lays out the pros and cons. Patient has the intervention of choice. We are all happy.

But...Where does medical responsibility meet patient autonomy?  Shared decision making is much more than us all simply agreeing to disagree: it’s dirtier and messier.

This is from a thoughtful essay by Margaret McCarthy, The Conflict of Choice, in the BMJ: Download Margaret McCartney: The conflict of choice - bmj.h5312.full

Thoughts About the Shingles Vaccine

This short article from the NY Times may help you to decide if you want to get the vaccine.

If you get it at age 60 it decreases your chances of getting shingles by 64% in the next five years.

If you get it at age 70 it decreases your chances of getting shingles by 40% in the next five years.

If you get it at age 80 it decreases your chances of getting shingles by 18% in the next five years.

It is not known if the vaccine is still effective after five years.  The literature suggests that those who have had the vaccine seem to get milder cases of shingles.