Anxiety & The Gut Microbiome

Does our microbiome and brain affect our mental health interchangeably? Increasing studies are showing that they do, in fact, play a pivotal role in anxiety disorders. Anxiety, a hidden burden that affects nearly 40 million people in the United States. Nearly seven million adults and one in eight children have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.1 …

Five Everyday Ways to Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk

For many women, breast cancer is a bad guy lurking just around the corner. My grandmother had it; my mom had it; both of my husband’s grandmothers succumbed to it. I look at my young daughters and worry that, with such a strong family history, they will have to live through it too. It’s easy …

Urtica Dioica: An Herb for Spring

Urtica dioica, or stinging nettles, grows in the wild throughout most of North America, Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. Found in shady areas with moist soil, such as along rivers, lakes, ditches, and fence-rows, dense clusters of nettles can grow to heights of eight feet at maturity. Their green leaves are jagged, with pointed tips …

Female Genital Mutilation and Clitoral Reconstructive Surgery

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a practice by various cultures in a number of countries of Africa, Asia, and now immigrant locations including Europe and Australia. There are four types of FMG (also sometimes referred to as FGM/C where the C denotes that the mutilation has been done by cutting). Type I is the excision …