New research sheds a light on how to save money in your health care.

We enjoy a lifestyle that shatters any other that has ever existed for luxury and ease and comfort. As a society, we revel in extreme luxury on a daily basis. One of our greatest, and most heavily paid for, is our health care system. We have the best system in the world...or do we?

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will have a life expectancy that ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier. Why the steep drop?

Some claim that it is the lack of health insurance. The problem is that this idea is not borne out in data. We are more insured now than we were 20 years ago, but we have dropped 30 places in the world.

Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years. Is this because they are the country with the highest insured populace?

In a study published by the Common Wealth Fund, the U.S. ranked 23rd in the quality of our health care system, despite the fact that we spend more than 2x per person than any other country. The study concluded that with improvement we could save up to 100 billion dollars and save 150,000 lives...per year. In a decade, that is 1.5 million lives. That is nearly the population of Montana. These are lives we can save with a simple change in policy or procedure.

"Policymakers also should focus on ways to reduce cancer, heart disease and lung disease", said Murray. He advocates "stepped-up efforts to reduce tobacco use, control blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and regulate blood sugar."

Health is the only real answer. Engage in self- motivated, life-stimulating, and self-refining healthy life style activities and virtues.

In 1999, Americans purchased 2,587,575,000 prescriptions -- that's nine prescription drugs (as well as several over-the-counter drugs) for every person in America.

Americans paid $125 billion for these prescriptions -- $50 per prescription on average.

Join us on September 7-20 for the Office-Wide Detox. Cleansing your body of toxins is an excellent way to improve your health, and we are offering 2 different ways to accomplish this!

In the spirit of Nutrition Month, we are hosting the Wholefood Farmacy 13-Day Detox Diet, which provides you with all of the foods you will need for 13 days. You can naturally cleanse your system with whole organic foods, lose weight, feel great, and train your body to crave healthier foods. If you are interested, either stop by the office for samples of the food and sign up there, or you may go to the Wholefood Farmacy link on the right hand side of the screen. We encourage you to ask any questions you may have, so do not hesitate to call Nicole at the office at 636-225-2121 and she will be happy to answer your questions.

Another option to detoxify your body is through our Ionic Foot Baths. During the 30 minute foot bath, you soak your feet in a tub of warm water and the ionization module. This module creates a negative charge in the water that draws toxins out of your body through your feet. At the end of the 30 minutes, your water will look similar to the picture.

Normally, the cost per foot bath in the office is $35. But during Detox month, we will sell packages of 10 foot baths for only $200 (that's a $150 value!).

-Exercise has been shown to stimulate production of new brain cells which can greatly strengthen antidepressant therapy by boosting dopamine D2 receptor levels.
-Stress is known to lower dopamine D2 receptor levels.
-Dr. O's Comment: The ADHD drug, Ritalin, causes us to have the same problem...decreased dopamine D2 receptors. This increases the likelihood that they will develop depression and thus be sold another life time drug. Sweet! (for the drug companies...)

-A study in July has shown that nearly one in three Americans abuse or become dependent on alcohol over the course of their lives, most of whom never seek treatment
-The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that in 2001, 75,000 people died because of excessive alcohol use.

-Researchers have found a chemical, oleocanthal, in extra-virgin olive oil that has anti-inflammatory effects comparable to or even better than ibuprofen.

-Eating broccoli and cauliflower can slash a man's risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer in half!
-One study shows a weekly serving of broccoli lowers the risk by 45 percent, and a weekly serving of cauliflower cut the risk still more, by 52 percent!