Whether you just learned that you have a chronic medical condition or you have struggled to manage a chronic illness for many years, you may be among a growing number of Americans considering complementary and alternative medical treatments to manage their conditions.

The start of the New Year is the most common time when people try to lose weight. Whether you want to shed extra pounds gained over the holidays or your weight loss plan is part of a long-term New Year’s resolution, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can increase your chances of success.

Our bodies are home to tens of trillions of microbial cells. The entire collection of microorganisms which inhabit our body, both inside us and on our skin is known as the microbiome.

In recent years, an increasing amount of research has emerged demonstrating the effects of the organisms that live with us, especially the bacteria living in our gut microbiome.

The gut microbiome can be influenced by antibiotics, the type of food we eat and possibly other factors like stress. When the balance of microbes is out of whack it can cause many more problems than just digestion issues or an upset stomach. Here are five ailments that may also be caused by an imbalance of bacteria in your gut.

During November, also known as Movember, men grow mustaches to raise awareness about men’s health. These awareness efforts have become more important in recent decades as the mortality gap between men and women has remained significant.

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 2016, men lived to an average age of 76.1 compared to an average age of 81.1 for women.

With this mortality age gap even widening slightly compared to 2015, it’s important to discuss health issues specific to men. Raising awareness, particularly about being proactive is key in helping many men reduce their risk of common health issues.

Here are five things you might not have known about men’s health issues.

Did you know that aside from physical benefits, massage therapy also provides numerous mental and emotional benefits?

Massage therapy, broadly defined, is the manual manipulation of muscles and certain other soft tissues in the body, including connective tissue, ligaments, and tendons, with the purpose of improving a person’s health and well-being. Licensed massage therapists are highly-trained and well-versed in anatomy and physiology, and they use their expertise to improve wellness in a variety of ways.

Let’s take a look at some of the practical mental benefits that come from participating in massage therapy.

Movement and exercise have a great number of health benefits. A new study this month suggests that forgoing exercise may even be worse for you than smoking and diabetes. 

Not only can exercise improve your health and prevent a wide range of health concerns, it is also recommended to treat certain health ailments like depression, diabetes, and heart disease. In 2017, The American College of Physicians also recommended exercise to help treat low back pain as the first line of treatment before resorting to pain medication.

Exercises don’t need to be time consuming in order to make a difference. Here are some quick and easy exercises that you can perform on a daily basis to improve your overall health.

 If you’re looking for natural ways to keep your children in optimal health, come visit us! National University of Health Sciences is hosting the Second Annual Healthy Kids Open House on October 20, 2018 from 12 p.m to 4 p.m. at our Illinois campus located at 200 E. Roosevelt Road in Lombard.

At this fit, fun and free event, our clinicians and interns will be on hand to host activities, talks and demonstrations for both children and adults to enjoy. This year’s event will feature new lecture topics along with last year’s popular activities.

At one point or another, stress affects everyone. And if you’re a working professional trying to balance your career and your personal life, you are even more likely to feel pressure and stress. Luckily, there are effective and natural measures you can take to ease the stress you’re experiencing.

Read on to uncover how complementary and alternative medicine can help relieve your stress!

Many celebrities including Halle Barry and Gwyneth Paltrow have been touting the weight loss benefits of the Ketogenic diet. But before celebrities began using the diet for weight loss, did you know it was first recommended for those with certain health conditions?

Originally created to help people with seizure disorders, the Keto diet can also benefit patients with pre-diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes. Some studies suggest the diet may be able to help those with mental disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease, autism, bipolar disorder and depression, as well. 

The diet is very high fat (70-80 percent of daily total calories), low to moderate protein and very low carbohydrates (usually less than 5 percent of total calories). Because of the very low carbohydrate and very high fat content, the Keto diet changes what fuel your body runs on. Instead of glucose (a sugar), ketone bodies derived from fat become your body’s energy source. This process helps to stabilize blood sugar and decrease appetite allowing for more efficient weight loss.

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or you’re trying the diet for other health reasons, here are some tips that can help ensure you are successful with the Keto diet.

Celebrity suicides from Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain to Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington are bringing to light the increasing prevalence of depression. Despite the stigma, more celebrities like Lady Gaga and Jim Carrey are speaking out. Mental health issues are not limited to celebrities, however. They are actually much more widespread than many may think.

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), antidepressant use has risen by 65% between 1999 and 2014. A 2017 study also shows depression increased “significantly” among persons in the U.S. from 2005 to 2015, from 6.6% to 7.3%.

Research tells us that one of the biggest triggers for depression is chronic stress both from physical health issues such as chronic pain and psychosocial issues. So it is no surprise that with the economic and social stressors during the last 10 years that rates of depression would be on the rise.

Alongside pharmaceuticals, utilizing various types of treatment modalities including complementary and alternative medicine techniques often can lead to better outcomes than single modality interventions. These techniques may also help those who might want to rely less on pharmaceuticals in the long term.