http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/797 Like all good fantasies, this story has a basis in fact. The CIA acknowledged in 1995 the existence of secret operations involving the use of specially trained people to psychically spy on distant targets. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/961 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/961 The question has often been asked: Why do we even have an appendix? Surely, the troublesome little organ is not just present to provide a handsome source of income for surgeons. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/958 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/958 A big debate is raging over whether the H1N1 flu vaccine is safe or even effective. But I find that a more interesting question is how to properly optimize immunity. Regardless of whether you opt for the shot or not, immune support is crucial to resistan http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/956 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/956 Turnout was spectacular, given how dispersed our class is. People made extraordinary efforts to fly in from all parts of the country to attend. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/953 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/953 Why do I do it? I guess the best way to describe it is that I enjoy turning my body into a living laboratory for physical performance. I test the effects of diet, supplements, training regimens and equipment against the objective benchmark of race perfo http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/951 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/951 Stunning confirmation of the importance of testing for food allergies even in asymptomatic patients comes from an article in this months issue of the medical journal Diabetes. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/948 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/948 Consider this story a parable about medical investigation http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/947 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/947 Made it to LA after flight delays at Kennedy. Ten hours for a non stop flight! http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/945 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/945 Whether or not Bruno is your type of comedy, you have to give enormous credit to the relentless film making style of Cohen. His genius is to push beyond the limits of convention and propriety to score points about the absurdity of our society. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/944 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/944 In the end, passage of health care reform is not the answer. It is just a sideshow distraction from the big picture of fundamental failure of our current Western medical paradigm http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/943 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/943 For those of you who listen live to the weekday edition of Health Talk via flagship station WOR Radio 710 AM in New York City, there is news of a time change starting June 22: Health Talk will be broadcast an hour later, from 12:00 to 1:00 AM http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/938 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/938 After we heard of the dental benefits of xylitol at the Xlear conference held in Rome, we turned our attention to its non-oral anti-infective properties. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/936 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/936 At the Xlear seminar in Rome, I learned about some of the amazing therapeutic properties of xylitol. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/935 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/935 More impressions from my recent Italy trip . . . Roman food, Pompeii, the Coliseum, and the Vatican! http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/934 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/934 This is the first in a series of blogs I will be posting on my Rome trip, and about the fascinating Xylitol Conference that I attended there http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/932 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/932 The media is abuzz with accounts of a new flu strain that has killed 70 in Mexico, and sickened at least 8 in the US. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/930 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/930 It may be that one way that modern civilization conspires to make us fat is by shielding us from the evolutionary anvil of cold which honed the metabolisms of our ancestors for millennia http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/925 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/925 The Hoffman Center is one of the first practices in the country to incorporate Ostera, a novel bone enhancing nutraceutical formula, as part of our comprehensive program for osteoporosis. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/921 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/921 The weather this weekend took me back in time to a similar morning 35 years ago. My college room mate said he was headed to Central Park for a run, did I want to join him? http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/919 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/919 My experience with LDN has been very positive, especially in patients with MS and Crohns Disease. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/917 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/917 Hundreds of millions of dollars later, we are left with misleading conclusions from an ill conceived study that sheds little light on the health benefits attained by the millions of Americans who take a balanced portfolio of high quality vitamins. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/915 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/915 Canyon Ranch is like a holistic summer camp for adults. It features healthy food, great activities, and a serene and beautiful campus in the garden spot of the Southwest. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/913 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/913 I am especially disappointed that osteoporosis drugs, which I approached with an open mind over the last decade or so, are now turning out to be so dangerous. I feel taken, and burned by my naive lack of skepticism toward them. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/912 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/912 What would I do if I were Surgeon General? Here is a list of thirteen initiatives I would champion: http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/910 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/910 In 1861 it was North vs. South. Could the next American Civil War be a struggle between entitled Baby Boomers and tax-burdened young Americans? http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/909 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/909 All too frequently, what is conveyed about health by many journalists is wrong or misleading. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/907 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/907 May the coming year bring you health, happiness, success, love and sustenance http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/906 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/906 Once more, I am called upon to do damage control this week, with headlines like these appearing in the nation's papers: "Vitamin Supplements No Magic Bullets Against Prostate Cancer" http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/903 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/903 The new film Milk, stars Sean Penn. Turns out, Twinkies never figured in the actual trial testimony of Dan White, the killer of San Francisco Councilman Harvey Milk. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/901 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/901 Selective amnesia? Numerous studies substantiate the benefits of ginkgo, a powerful circulatory enhancer and antioxidant in ESTABLISHED dementia. Proving it does not halt the progression toward Alzheimer's is not the same thing. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/899 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/899 An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, and ballyhooed this week in the media, might make tens of millions of additional Americans eligible for statin drugs. Is this conclusion warranted? Or is bad science trumping sober reasoning? http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/897 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/897 As promised, here are some proven natural ways to lower HS CRP. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/896 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/896 I walk. That's a phrase that I've come to greet skeptically. I hear that countless times in response to my query Do you exercise? whether on the air or in my office. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/893 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/893 I just spent the week in Las Vegas attending the Fall Conference of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM). The following is a report . . . http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/890 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/890 That's what we're going through: a massive de-leveraging! http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/887 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/887 Amid the financial melt-down that our country is experiencing, let me offer some silver-lining observations http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/879 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/879 This Sunday, at age 55, I completed the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon 2008, in a stunning vindication of the powers that God and Nature grant us for recuperation. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/848 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/848 Last month, I sent the following letter to the editors of the Wall Street Journal. It was my reaction to a WSJ columnist's flattering review of yet another snarky book about alternative medicine. Trick or Treatment is a polemic by Edzard Ernst http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/847 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/847 Merck has been aggressively marketing the new Gardasil vaccine for Human Papilloma Virus, but this effort to add yet another required vaccination to the long list to which our kids are subjected is fraught with drawbacks and perils. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/846 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/846 A government regime might install software at the checkout counter that actually prevents citizens from exceeding nutritional guidelines. Over-consumers would literally be flagged down at the cash register. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/845 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/845 Over 2,000 intrepid athletes gathered in the heart of the Adirondacks for the tenth annual Lake Placid Iron Man. The Iron Man starts with a grueling 2 mile swim, followed by an incredible 112 mi bike ride, and finishes with a 26 mile marathon run. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/841 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/841 Adirondack was a name given to the local Indians by other, neighboring tribes of ancient Native Americans. Translated, it means "bark eater" and the moniker was coined in recognition of local tribes' tendency to subsist on tree bark during the ann http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/839 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/839 The new cholesterol guidelines and statin recommendations for kids are just typical of the paint-by numbers, mechanistic approach we take to medicine today. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/838 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/838 How obsolete medical beliefs prevent patients from receiving state-of-the-art medical treatment. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/836 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/836 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/834 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/834 At the WOR Get Healthy Expo, on Saturday June 21, Dr. Hoffman announced his choices for the Top Ten supplements of 2008. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/833 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/833 Monday morning quarterbacking is hard in these cases, and to suggest that Russert or his doctors were somehow remiss is disingenuous. But inevitably, we search for meaning in this seemingly senseless tragedy. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/832 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/832 Would access to unlimited medical care and prescription drugs improve the lot of Americans? It is simplistic to think so. Underscoring this is a recent Dartmouth University study that examines the care rendered to 4.7 million Medicare patients. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/831 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/831 Having been a past vegetarian, in fact a practicing macrobiotic vegan, I can tell you that one can derive a certain sense of exclusivity and moral superiority from eschewing most of the foods that mainstream society indulges in. Vegetarian hubris? http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/829 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/829 With tragic childhood brain cancer on the rise, and unprecedented levels of Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism, Childhood Depression and Bipolar Disorder, shouldn't we be devoting more time to cell phone research? http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/828 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/828 On the Wednesday, May 21 edition of Health Talk, I chose to take a tack different than most of the media in discussing Senator Kennedy's new medical predicament. I stated that Kennedy's high public profile is likely to preclude his use of innovative http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/827 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/827 Companies that manufacture new "drug-eluting" stents think the solution to the current epidemic of cardiovascular disease is to line Americans coronary arteries with indestructible titanium. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/826 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/826 Companies that manufacture new "drug-eluting" stents think the solution to the current epidemic of cardiovascular disease is to line Americans coronary arteries with indestructible titanium. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/825 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/825 Dr. Hoffman dishes on the supplements he takes to stay healthy and active http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/823 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/823 In response to the great feedback I received after posting my exercise regimen last week, I'm hereby providing an account of the food I typically eat. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/822 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/822 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/821 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/821 I get a lot of questions about this from listeners and patients alike, so here goes: I don't use the stuff. http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/818 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/818 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/816 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/816 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/815 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/815 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/814 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/814 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/813 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/813 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/812 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/812 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/811 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/811 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/810 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/810 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/809 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/809 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/808 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/808 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/807 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/807 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/806 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/806 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/805 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/805 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/804 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/804 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/803 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/803 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/802 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/802 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/801 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/801 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/800 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/800 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/799 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/799 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/798 http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/798