Balance Your Brain, Balance Your Life: 28 Days to Feeling Better Than You Ever Have
Author: Jay Lombard
Acclaim for Balance Your Brain Balance Your Life
"Balance Your Brain, Balance Your Life breaks new ground in psychology and medicine and promises to change the way we think about health and disease."
—Mehmet Oz, M.D.
bestselling author of Healing from the Heart
"This innovative and interesting book will help you feel great and live life to its fullest."
—Carol Colman
New York Times bestselling coauthor of Curves
"Dr. Lombard is at the forefront of the emerging field of neuropsychiatry and this book explains it all in a way that is practical and easily understood."
—Aidan Quinn, actor
"Anyone seeking greater balance in life can find much useful practical information in this book."
—David Simon, M.D.
Medical Director of the Chopra Center for Well Being
author of the Nautilus Award—winning Vital Energy
"This step-by-step guide gives clear treatment strategies to help you successfully navigate the complex interplay between the brain and the body—a holistic approach that shows you how to use the best of Eastern and Western medicines."
—Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, M.S.W.
coauthor of The Anxiety Cure and The Anxiety Cure for Kids
"Bravo! Dr. Lombard demonstrates that when it comes to the understanding and rational integration of traditional and alternative medicine he has no peer."
—Joseph A. Deltito, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, New York Medical College
"You’ll come away from reading Balance Your Brain, Balance Your Life with a new sense of awe and wonder at the exquisite relationship between mind and body. Whether you’re seeking to improve your mood, control your weight, or just plain feel better, Drs. Lombard and Renna have answers for you that encompass the totality of your life, not just a part."
—Toni G. Grant, Ph.D.
clinical psychologist and author of Being a Woman
This is a revolutionary program that shows you how to boost your health, energy, and happiness by balancing your brain chemistry.
Do you suffer from symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, overweight, fatigue, inability to focus, addiction, or more? Now there is hope for you. In this groundbreaking guide to feeling your best all the time, two prominent physicians explain how slight imbalances in your brain chemistry can cause a wide variety of health problems—and how you can overcome these problems and regain your health in 28 days.
Drs. Jay Lombard and Christian Renna show how your health and mood are directly connected to the balance of five neurotransmitters in your brain and body, especially dopamine and serotonin. They include a simple questionnaire that you can use to determine whether you have an excess or deficiency of one or more of these neurotransmitters, and they show the effects your imbalance can have on your health. A deficit of dopamine, for instance, may lead to weight gain, diminished sex drive, inability to focus, and addictions, whereas a deficit of serotonin may cause anxiety, depression, and an increased risk of heart disease.
Using breakthrough research along with dramatic case studies of patients who now feel great after following the authors’ program, Balance Your Brain, Balance Your Life provides easy-to-follow strategies for correcting most imbalances through customized 28-day programs of exercise, diet, supplements, and herbs.
In this groundbreaking guide to feeling terrific, you’ll learn how to:
- Identify whether you are a warm type, a cool type, or a dual type
- Select the customized 28-day mind-body plan that’s right for you
- Conquer symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, fatigue, and more
- Lose weight and improve your mood
By following the revolutionary new program in this book, you can make yourself healthier, more energetic, and happier in less than a month.
Author Biography: DR. JAY LOMBARD is Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology at Cornell Medical School and the Director of the Brain Behavior Center in Rockland County, New York. He has appeared on Larry King Live and NBC News and is a nationally recognized speaker on brain-behavioral-related topics.
DR. CHRISTIAN RENNA is a nationally recognized expert on preventive medicine and the founder of LifeSpan Medicine clinics. He has appeared on 48 Hours, Extra!, and nationwide radio. With offices in Dallas and Beverly Hills, he has many celebrity patients.
ARMIN A. BROTT is a freelance writer. His books include The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-to-Be and Father for Life: A Journey of Joy, Challenge, and Change.
Publishers Weekly
Neurologist Lombard and preventive medicine speaker Renna argue that we are all in a state of chemical imbalance. The authors' premise is that people who are too warm need more of the cooling neurotransmitter serotonin, while people who are too cool need more dopamine. Deficiencies of either chemical lead to certain personality characteristics and are even affiliated with medical conditions such as heart disease. People who are too warm are often restless and angry, while those who are too cool are often fatigued and anxious. As the authors explain, "When we say mind-body balance what we really mean is brain-body balance." Lombard and Renna provide a test so readers can determine whether they have a warming or cooling tendency, and then they offer tailored 28-day programs that include diet, dietary supplements, exercise, sleep and possible medical treatment. Although the authors say that people can have a dual deficiency, trying to fit into the categories may remind readers of trying to match up with an astrological sign. Interesting points are made, but still it will be hard for many to accept that so much of our mental and physical health is due to a neurotransmitter deficit. Additionally, while many of the authors' recommendations appear sound, they don't provide much evidence for their dietary or supplement advice. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Books about: Making Ice Cream or Pasta
The Best Healthcare for Less: Saving Money on Chronic Medical Conditions and Prescription Drugs
Author: David M Nganel
Practical methods for reducing medical care costs for sufferers of chronic diseases
Millions of North Americans suffer from medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s, allergies, diabetes, and depression–conditions that can, over time, cause extreme financial hardships (not to mention emotional and professional hardships). This comprehensive resource helps the consumer identify the kinds of drugs, programs, hospitals, and strategies that will help significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses. David Nganele explains how anyone can better afford healthcare–of whatever kind–without losing out on quality of care. From arthritis sufferers to people with asthma to anyone undergoing a procedure that is not covered by insurance, this guide provides hope and relief from one of the most stressful aspects of dealing with a serious illness.
David Nganele, PhD (Mt. Kisco, NY), is President of the Eden Center for Diverse Health Communications, a medical education company focused on improving access to healthcare through education. His work has received media coverage in such publications as the New York Times.
Table of Contents:
SECTION I. WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE SHOULD BE.
Chapter 1. Healthcare Costs: Where They Come From and Who Pays for Them.
Chapter 2. How Not to Get Sick: Primary Prevention.
SECTION II. PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.
Chapter 3. Prescription Drugs and Healthcare Cost.
Chapter 4. Saving on Prescription Drugs When You Have Drug Coverage.
Chapter 5. Prescription Drugs At No Cost or Low Cost: With or Without Insurance.
SECTION III. OTHER AREAS OF HEALTHCARE COST.
Chapter 6. Physician Services.
Chapter 7. Institution Care - Hospitals and Nursing Home.
Chapter 8. Employment and Family Issues.
SECTION IV. MANAGING THE COST OF COMMON CHRONIC DISEASES.
Chapter 9. Alzheimer's Disease.
Chapter 10. Arthritis.
Chapter 11. Asthma.
Chapter 12. Cancers.
Chapter 13. Depression and Anxiety.
Chapter 14. Diabetes.
Chapter 15. Heart Disease.
Chapter 16. HIV/AIDS.
Chapter 17. Osteoporosis.
Appendix I. Directory of State Health and Insurance Agencies.
Appendix II. Directory of Health Associations.
Appendix III. Directory of Drug Companies' Patient Assistance Programs.
Appendix IV. List of Some Internet Pharmacies.
Appendix V. Directory of Some Discount Pharmacy Programs.
Read a Sample Chapter
The Best Healthcare for Less
Save Money on Chronic Medical Conditions and Prescription Drugs
By David Nganele John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0-471-21849-9
Chapter One
Healthcare Costs Where They Come From and Who Pays for Them
The Cost of Healthcare
The cost of healthcare is now over a trillion dollars a year. The benefactors of this money transfer are:
Hospitals $420 billion Physician and clinical services $289 billion Home and nursing care $133 billion Drug Manufacturers $130 billion
The rest goes to medical equipment and other services like dental care and research.
Take a look at the diagram on the next page. I call it the "the healthcare cost pyramid." Have you heard of the food pyramid? The food pyramid is a guide to help us achieve proper nutrition. The healthcare cost pyramid should serve as a guide to help us understand and, hopefully, control the cost of healthcare. A lot of money is being spent on healthcare; and the goal here is to show how we can spend wisely on healthcare and maybe even reduce the cost of healthcare by becoming educated consumers.
Explaining the Healthcare Cost Pyramid
Primary Prevention
At the top of the pyramid is primary prevention. Primary prevention is doing the things that prevent us from getting sick. This is achieved by living a healthy lifestyle, and it includes exercising, eating properly, and getting routine physical examinations. It also includes not doing the thingsthat can get us sick, such as smoking, illegal drug use, and excess alcohol intake. As you can see from the diagram, this is the smallest section of the pyramid. Primary prevention is the least costly thing we can do in terms of healthcare cost, so we need to educate ourselves to do everything we can to stay in that section of the pyramid. While everybody should be living healthy lifestyles to avoid getting sick, there are certain individuals who are at high risk for certain diseases and they need to pay particular attention to what it takes to prevent getting sick.
It can't be repeated enough: prevention is better than cure. Prevention is less expensive, too. With primary prevention, you not only prevent diseases from starting, you might actually catch the beginning of a disease and do the things that prevent it from becoming a full-blown illness. Chapter 2 deals with primary prevention. The goal is to show how we can practice healthy living even when we think we don't have the time or we don't know what to do.
Secondary Prevention
As we move down the pyramid, we get into secondary prevention. Secondary prevention is doing the things that prevent an illness we have from becoming complicated. With primary prevention, we do the things that prevent us from getting sick. A lot of individuals can, for example, prevent getting diabetes by watching their weight through proper nutrition and exercise. Unfortunately, sometimes even with the best of efforts, we still get sick. When we do get sick, we need to understand all we can about the disease, what it is, how we got sick, what we need to do to treat it, and very important, what will happen if we do not manage it effectively. This is secondary prevention. Part 4 of this book considers secondary prevention in light of some of the major chronic diseases. I have focused on these chronic diseases because these are the ones that people have to live with for very long periods of time. So as you can expect, chronic diseases are the most costly to manage.
The most important physician in your life is you. The things you do every day to yourself will determine your state of health much more than anything any physician can ever do. Your physician can tell you all you need to know and do to stay healthy, but unless you do what's suggested, it will all amount to zero. And your negligence could cost you a bundle down the road.
So, what happens if your doctor tells you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes? You now fall to the middle of the pyramid. The goal here is to do everything you can in order not to fall to the bottom of the pyramid, that of institutional care. As you can see from the size of the box, institutional care is bigger than secondary prevention, meaning that it costs a lot more. We prevent falling to the bottom of the pyramid by strictly following the instructions from our doctors and other healthcare professionals. Whether we practice only conventional therapy, also known as Western medicine, or add on to that complementary or alternative medicine-in other words nonconventional medicine -the goal should be the same: to do what it takes to properly manage the disease.
Pharmaceuticals play an increasing role in helping us effectively manage diseases and keep us in the secondary prevention box. However, as the costs of medications go up, many individuals stop taking their medicines or take them inappropriately to save on the cost. While this might reduce expenses in the short run, eventually this poor disease management will result in the type of complications that will push an individual down to the bottom box of the pyramid. He or she might end up in a hospital or a nursing home, or worse, die prematurely. The key, therefore, is to find the means to get the needed medication and take it as prescribed. Because of the importance of drugs, I have devoted a whole section-part two-to prescription drugs, to show how any individual, regardless of insurance status or income level, can get medications at low or no cost.
Institutional Care
At the bottom of the pyramid is institutional care. This is where you now have to leave the comfort of your home to get taken care of, either in a hospital or a nursing home, because your condition now requires a greater level of management. This is healthcare cost at its most expensive state. Half of all direct spending on diseases goes toward institutional care. We pay that much for hospitals and other kinds of institutional care because they provide the intensive care needed to keep us alive-and for that, we truly owe them our lives. The point here is that they are expensive, and to the extent that we can do things to prevent going to an institution, to postpone going to one, to reduce the amount of time spent there, or to minimize what they have to do to us there, the less expensive the cost of healthcare will be.
Who Pays for the Cost of Healthcare?
The government pays for almost half of the cost of healthcare and private insurance pays for a third. Most of the rest comes out of our pockets. The programs that are available to help us with the cost include the different government and private insurance programs.
Government Programs
Government insurance comes mostly in the form of:
Medicare Medicaid Child Health Insurance Program Coverage for the military
Medicare
Medicare was started in 1966 as a health insurance to assist the elderly. In 2000 it spent about $230 billion to take care of the medical needs of seniors and some disabled. The program is administered by the federal government. To have Medicare, you must meet the following requirements:
You are age 65 or older. You receive Social Security or railroad retirement benefits. You or your spouse worked in a Medicare-covered employment for 10 years or more.
You are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, residing continuously in the United States for at least five years.
If younger than age 65, you have a disability that makes you eligible for government aid, or have permanent kidney disease that requires dialysis or transplant.
There are two parts to Medicare: Part A and Part B. Part A, also called Hospital Insurance, covers the cost of hospitalizations, some nursing home cost, and some medical care at home, as well as hospice care. Most people get Part A automatically once they turn 65. There are no premiums to be paid for Part A. Part B, also called Medical Insurance, covers doctor's fees, outpatient hospital care, laboratory services, medical equipment, ambulance services, and other services that Part A does not cover. You do not get Part B automatically. You have to enroll in it, and pay a premium that is adjusted each year. For 2000, the premium was $50 a month and this amount is automatically deducted from your Social Security or retirement check.
Annual deductibles must be met for hospital stays ($800 in 2001), doctor's visits ($100 in 2001), as well as coinsurance for daily hospital stays and most other medical care. A lot of Medicare recipients buy supplemental insurance, also known as Medigap, to cover these costs.
There is a third part to Medicare called Medicare+Choice, sometimes called Part C. In Part C, a Medicare recipient who has both Parts A and B can choose to enroll in a Managed Care Plan that accepts Medicare. A lot of Medicare recipients enroll in this program because the managed care plans provide prescription drug coverage. Medicare itself does not provide prescription drug coverage, and that has caused a lot of heated debates because seniors are increasingly needing prescription drugs. In 2000, the average annual cost of a prescription for the top 50 drugs used by seniors was about $1,000. Since some seniors take up to 15 different medications, the cost of medications can become a great financial burden.
There are a number of programs, usually administered by various states, to assist Medicare recipients pay for some of their medical costs. These programs all have income eligibility; that is, you have to have an income below a certain level to qualify.
If you have questions about your eligibility to join Medicare or about the benefits, or to enroll, call the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213.
Medicaid
Medicaid was started in 1965 to help pay for healthcare for individuals with low incomes. It is jointly funded by the federal government and the states but is administered by each individual state. The federal government sets broad national guidelines but each state does the following:
Establishes its own eligibility criteria Determines the type, amount, duration, and scope of services Sets the rate of payment for services Administers its own program
In general, for states to get federal funds, they must cover these individuals:
Those with low incomes who meet the requirement for the State's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, generally referred to as welfare People who are poor enough to be receiving supplemental security income (SSI) Children under age six and pregnant women whose family incomes are below 133 percent of the federal poverty guideline Recipients of adoption or foster care assistance Special protected groups, such as persons who lose SSI due to earnings from work or increased Social Security benefits, who may keep Medicaid for a period of time Certain Medicare beneficiaries who meet asset and income criteria
Because states have a lot of leeway in designing their programs, there is a lot of variation from state to state. Sometimes even within a state there may be different Medicaid programs.
Medicaid is more generous than Medicare in what it covers. Most states have added benefits to their programs that are not required by the federal government. This includes coverage for prescription drugs and payment for nursing home care.
To learn more about your eligibility for Medicaid and what services are covered in your state, call the state's health department. The phone numbers are listed in appendix A at the back of this book.
Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
This program was started in 1997 as a way to expand the State's Medicaid program to cover children who do not qualify for Medicaid. These are the criteria:
Children under age 19.
Family income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($34,100 for a family of four in 2001). Some states cover children in families with higher incomes.
Must not be eligible for Medicaid coverage.
Parents do not have to be U.S. citizens or even legal immigrants.
CHIP is very generous and usually covers:
Well-child programs Immunizations Doctor's visits
Laboratory and diagnostic tests Hospitalizations Prescription drugs
Other medical services
States usually charge a small monthly premium that is based on income, sometimes as low as $4 per child per month. To learn more about your child's eligibility and how to enroll, call (877) KIDS NOW (877-543-7669) or your state's health office (see appendix A for the state's phone numbers).
Coverage for the Military
Present and past members of the armed forces have programs that provide them with health coverage and services. The most widely known is the Veteran Affairs (VA) Health System. There are 172 VA hospitals around the country. To be eligible for VA assistance:
You must have enlisted in the armed forces before September 7, 1980.
If enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered active duty after October 16, 1981, you must have 24 continuous months of active duty service or have completed the full period of time for which you were called or ordered to active duty.
You must have been discharged or released from active duty under conditions other than dishonorable.
You must be recently discharged from the military for a disability determined incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.
Active duty and retired military individuals and their families can also use the various military hospitals around the country. Retirees and spouses and children of active duty, retired, and deceased members of the armed forces can be covered by an insurance program called the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). This program will pay for the use of nonmilitary medical services.
Private Insurance
Almost 100 percent of all large businesses (200-plus workers) and 60 percent of small businesses (three to nine workers) provide some type of health insurance for their employees. The health insurance coverage for employees usually moves in step with the economy. When the economy is soft, there is less coverage provided by businesses, especially small employers.
Continues...
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