Nelson, a musician, was a lifelong smoker and had tried to quit many times. He also struggled with a tendency to overeat and had attendant blood sugar issues. He had tried so many diets that he said he was pretty sure he could write a book about nutrition. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know what to do to improve…
I am sitting on the edge of an exam table, a little giddy because I believe I have found an endocrinologist who will diagnose and treat me for the chronic fatigue, 30-pound weight gain, excruciating migraines, and other symptoms that have been holding me hostage in my own body for years. Seconds later I am weeping, face in my dripping…
I once knew a woman who blew out the engine on her car without even leaving her parking space. Audré was extremely impatient, a highly competent perfectionist, and stress was her normal state. It was winter. Her car wasn’t warming up fast enough, so she whaled on the gas pedal. Pop went the weasel—in this case, a six-cylinder gasoline-powered engine.…
The merits of acupuncture for pain relief and treatment of other conditions have been well documented, as well as challenged by naysayers. For me, those tiny needles have always hit the right spots. I’ve had close to a dozen acupuncture sessions over the years, and always walked away with my comfort restored. But during one treatment, I received much more…
I remember hearing it all the time when I was growing up in West Roxbury, a suburb of Boston—“Why don’t you go out and play?” The fact is, I never really wanted to. I wanted to stay in my room and read. Or watch TV. When I was old enough to take the T into Boston to go to the…
