• ADHD drugs: 24.357 million
• Antidepressants: 9.614 million
• Antipsychotics: 6.546 million
• Antihypertensives: 5.224 million
• Asthma drugs: 45.388 million
• Sleep Aids: 307,000 million
• Statins: 94,000
• Non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes: 424,000

While some children may need such prescription meds, so many can be avoided by looking at lifestyle habits.  The most conservative measures should be exhausted first.  The best way to ensure that your child doesn’t become one of these statistics, ask your physician for possible drug free choices before the prescription is written.  You must be your child’s advocate.    

 In short, include all four pillars of health (physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual) and ask yourself if you are teaching your child to live a balanced healthy life. 

Always research and read labels.  Go to: www.fda.gov, www.pubmed.gov.  There is an alternative way to approach just about every problem.  For consultation contact me at 678-546-8400.

With Gratitude,

Dr Evelyn Higgins 

It’s all about lifestyle folks.  Until we grasp this concept, we will not dig out of our current healthcare problems, physically or fiscally.  Lifestyle diseases account for 70-85% of diseases that we are faced with.  Cardiovascular disease is the number 1 killer in the United States; ironically enough it is both chronic and preventable.  Type 2 diabetes is growing at epidemic proportions. Do you realize we are looking at the first generation of children that may not outlive their parents?  Well, it’s true.  This is not the behavior of an evolved society. I’m here to try and create awareness and make a change to this mentality.  This is one my most passionate subjects.  We have the ability to change it, and change it today!

The term cardiometabolic combines symptoms of both of these diseases, and is a fairly new term. It involves all the factors that define the overall risks of developing cardiovascular disease; risks such as age, race, gender, genetics, diet, physical inactivity, obesity, smoking.  All of these risks are responsible for increasing your chances for developing cardiovascular disease that play a part as much as 10-15 years before you start to see the symptoms. All these things together are what we call cardiometabolic risk. 

With a simple at home test we can assess the risk for you and your loved ones, and create the needed protocol to make the changes if you are at risk.  This simple test can save your life or the life of a loved one. 

A simple dried blood spot testing sample is used, which is just as accurate as conventional blood testing.  In the lab, instruments such as auto analyzers are used, and the methods that are used to test serum are all the same. The only difference is that the dried blood spot samples are absorbed onto a filter card, so those blood samples have to be first rehydrated and extracted for analysis. So, once they are reconstituted back into liquid form in the lab, they are tested the same way as a conventional test.  Blood spot testing is a minimally-invasive form of hormone and wellness testing. With a simple finger prick, samples of blood are dropped onto a card which is dried and mailed back to the laboratory.  The methods for testing the biochemical markers are FDA approved and the lab supplies that we use as part of our procedures to test these biochemical markers are also FDA approved.  It is more cost effective to test using dried blood spot testing because you don’t have the added cost of going to a phlebotomist or a doctor’s office for a blood draw.  Convenience and lower costs while taking care of your long-term health needs is exactly what we offer.  You have the tools, use them.  Don’t become a statistic, know your risk.

We are in a historic time for health care.  In reality, what we are debating with Obama care has nothing to do with health and wellness but rather everything to do with politics.  The thinking people will realize that the shell game will be played out for some time, marching on through the Supreme Court, without ever discussing health!

YOU, need to be smarter.  After all, your health is your asset.  An asset that many never think about until it’s gone.  The fact is that life style diseases account for 70-85 percent of the diseases that we are plagued with.  Incorporating simple, daily, realistic new habits can and will change your health for the better.

Talking about the aging process is a perfect example of just how important it is to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to your health.  If you look at each area of your health, there are places upon which we can all improve.  Education is the key!

Pillar Health Systems ™ looks at each area of your health, creating balance with simple restorative and healthy habits.  We know, through proven research,  that eating an anti-inflammatory diet slows the aging process.  We know that moving your body daily slows the aging process.  We know that having a purpose adds years to our life.  A reason to wake up every day with purpose and passion of mind, as well as spirit, doesn’t come from Washington, it comes from educating yourself and following through with proven, research driven suggestions to living a healthier and longer life.

The Dr. Evelyn Higgins Show motivates and inspires you week after week to live a healthier and longer life.   If you are out of our listening area you can go on line at: www.wdun.com and listen to the show.   Locally in Atlanta, her show is found on WDUN 550 AM and 102.9 FM, Saturday’s  at noon OR listen to the podcasts at: www.doctorhiggins.com