Hello Ladies, I don't have much to say this week, but I do have a question that I'd like to ask and get other perspectives--   How much do you value alternative medicine? What types of alternative medicine appeal to you most and why?   I've been looking at other modalities such as nutriceuticals, massage, homeopathy, master herbalism, naturopathy, and such.   Hugs, Dr. Kara : )

Lately I’ve been thinking about healthcare culture and public attitudes toward healthcare. When I first started Doctor Kara PC, I was very confident that my tagline “Affordable Healthcare without the Wait” would resonate with the public. I also believed that my clinic would be wildly successful with my brilliant courage to do the right thing. Why? Because I read the research that said people were tired of (a) being treated impersonally, (b) waiting for long periods of time in waiting rooms, and (c) who believed  that healthcare is too expensive. After nearly 4 years, I a ...

Hi Ladies, Have you heard of "Herd Mentality" before? How about in the context of vaccines? Here's an example that it does NOT work: http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=637218 I don't know about you, but I don't think I would have liked being one of the parents of the baby who was hospitalized and facing a hospital bill because someone exposed my young baby to measles. Measles is highly contagious and don't forget that some children have to the proper age to receive the vaccine. So when you vaccinate your child, you are protecting an entire community as well as your chi ...

Hello Ladies, Thanks for tuning in for another installment of Dr. Kara’s wacky world. This week I looked at some early flu season stats and guess what----seasonal flu is a” No Show” this season by CDC standards. And I am very, very happy about that. Come on---ask the begging question: “Why are you so happy about that, Dr. Kara?”   The Clinical Nurse Specialist in me believes in basic public health efforts and the natural strength of communities to help themselves will usually prevail over common health issues. What do I mean by that?  Remember a ...

Hello Ladies! I'm wearing my researcher hat today. I ran across something I think most mothers and grandmothers would want to be certain to know about.     A study has been released from the University of California Davis MIND Institute that examined infant/child behavior (during office visits) of children between the ages 6 months to 3 years. Children were divided into low or high risk for spectral disorders. The lead researcher, Sally Ozonoff, and her group concluded that behaviors associated with autism and other spectral disorders started to surface at age 6-12 months ...

This morning I was standing at my kitchen sink waiting for the coffee maker to do its wonderful thing with coffee beans and I found my mind wandering. Now this can be a dangerous thing, but sometimes I have to laugh at where it travels. Suddenly King Herod from the film Jesus Christ Superstar wandered into view. I saw this film when I was 10 years old and it made a strong impression on me for many reasons, among which I was really mad at the cast for leaving behind Ted Neeley at the end of the film. My 10 year old mind had a hard time deciphering that he hadn’t really died. (Years later ...