Expert Column
Dr. Harvey Gilbert, MD 
Medical and Policies Director
Harvey Gilbert, MD, is a radiation oncologist with over thirty-five years of professional experience...read more
Articles In This Column
- A Miracle Food to Protect Your Heart & Blood Vessels
- Natural Treatment for Arthritis Pain
- Hormone Replacement Therapy, Breast Cancer & Dementia
- Depression: Do You Need Antidepressants?
- Hormone Replacement Therapy & the Breast Cancer Link
- Osteoporosis: Prevention, Treatment & Risk Factors
- Polypharmacy & Seniors: Avoiding Drug Interactions
- How to Find the Medical Information You Want on the Internet
- Study: Baby Boomers on Aging, Working, Technology & Financing Long Term Care
- 10 Types of Dementia That Aren't Alzheimer's—& How They're Diagnosed
- What are the 7 Stages of Alzheimer's Disease?
- What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?
- Exercise Guidelines for Seniors & Cancer Patients: Part 2
- Exercise Guidelines for Seniors and Cancer Patients: Part 1
- Is Exercise or Rest Better for Patients with Cancer or Chronic Illness?
- The Effects of Exercise on Specific Cancers
- Do Vitamins Help or Hurt Cancer Patients?
- How Does Your Health Affect Your Response to Cancer Treatment?
- A Summary: Older Americans Update 2006: Key Indicators of Well-Being
- Is Obesity Linked to Cancer?
- How Ethnicity & Gender Affect Cancer Incidence & Mortality Rates
- Prostate Cancer: Is Surgery REALLY the Most Effective Treatment?
- What the Future Looks Like for Cancer in the US
- How Yoga, Oriental Herbs and Acupuncture Help Treat Cancer
- Cancer: Aggressive Treatment or None at All?
Senior Health—The Medical View
A Miracle Food to Protect Your Heart & Blood Vessels
High cholesterol contributes to 56% of heart attacks and is responsible for 4.4 million heart deaths a year. Recently, a study was performed on pigs that involved feeding trials in which the animals’ lipid levels were monitored after consuming a plant-based diet that incorporated blueberries. The results, published in the British Journal of Nutrition in July 2008, showed great benefit to the animal in terms of lowering the risk heart disease. The results have great application to humans as...Read entire article » Related Articles
Natural Treatment for Arthritis Pain
Arthritis comes from the Greek, meaning inflammation of the joints. Some forty to fifty million people suffer from osteoarthritis, which affects weight-bearing joints and is linked to aging, and rheumatoid arthritis, the most common inflammatory form. No matter the type of arthritis, the effect is similar: the cartilage in our joints stops functioning as a simple cushion, resulting in pain which can sometimes be quite significant. Some of the many remedies for arthritis include drugs, acupuncture and following an...Read entire article » Related Articles
Hormone Replacement Therapy, Breast Cancer & Dementia
Recently I abstracted an article that examined the link between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer. Many women have successfully used HRT, also known as hormone therapy, to ease the symptoms of menopause. But not all experts agree on its safety. How Safe is Hormone Replacement Therapy? A very large clinical trial called the Women’s Health Initiative, which began in 1991, found hormone replacement therapy was correlated to increased incidence of conditions including breast and uterine cancer. These...Read entire article » Related Articles
Depression: Do You Need Antidepressants?
Almost 200 million prescriptions are written every year for people who have been diagnosed with clinical depression, and even more people suffer from forms of mild depression for which they don’t receive medication. Mild depression is common, may be intermittent, and may last for minutes or hours, usually passing with time. Severe depression, on the other hand, is a pervasive disorder that does not lift easily. In most cases, there is no clear causative or initiating event. There is...Read entire article » Related Articles
Hormone Replacement Therapy & the Breast Cancer Link
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), commonly known as hormone therapy, has been widely used to ease the symptoms of menopause by artificially boosting hormones in the body. However, hormone replacement therapy has also been linked to an increased incidence of breast cancer. Should hormone replacement therapy be used after menopause to increase comfort and quality of life? Research Shows No Significant Risk Most studies on the risk of breast cancer in hormone replacement therapy users have found no statistically significant...Read entire article » 
