Ira Zunin: Red Hill, economy, climate are top Hawaii issues in 2023
Red Hill, the economy and climate are three of the gripping issues sure to affect life on the islands in 2023 and beyond. Here’s a look at the three of them: Read more
Red Hill, the economy and climate are three of the gripping issues sure to affect life on the islands in 2023 and beyond. Here’s a look at the three of them: Read more
The Hawaii Book and Music Festival, while retaining its core program of books and authors, is successfully morphing into a festival of ideas, an indispensable public forum for the issues that will shape “Hawai‘i 2.0.” Read more
We have a food crisis in Hawaii, and culinary medicine presents part of the solution. With 1 in 4 children facing food insecurity, Hawaii ranks second in the country. At the same time, youth obesity in Hawaii is over 15%. How can the islands have skyrocketing rates of obesity and food insecurity? Read more
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Copious amounts of petroleum fuel have leaked into the groundwater at Red Hill, or Kapukaki, creating dire health issues affecting thousands of Hawaii residents. Read more
The future has arrived in the battle against cancer. A single blood test can now screen for over 50 cancers. While not yet broadly covered by insurance, this diagnostic tool has the potential to revolutionize the way we find cancers. It also enables early identification, which typically improves treatment outcomes and optimizes survival rates by finding disease before it spreads. Read more
Anew family of breakthrough medicines for weight loss and diabetes management, GLP-1s, has the potential to restore normal weight and blood sugar for millions of Americans. Read more
Now is a precious time to regenerate and fortify our health and that of the community we live in. True, spring is in the air. The COVID-19 pandemic is largely behind us. Read more
The devastation wrought by Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine has shaken our sense of humanity and set in motion inexorable changes to the global order. Read more
Across the islands, health providers now suffer from unprecedented levels of burnout. The sacred practice of medicine is under fire in Hawaii’s smallest practices and in our largest hospitals. Although COVID-19 is finally abating, two years of the pandemic has left providers drained, with many choosing to opt out. Read more
Is the burgeoning meta- verse a crescendo in entertainment or the ultimate in profit-driven consumer captivity? Read more
As 2022 approaches we face extraordinary uncertainty. There’s a prospect of a fifth surge as news of omicron, a multifaceted mutation, possibly the most contagious yet, has already stimulated fresh travel bans. Read more
As the pandemic slows down, mandates lift and augmented unemployment support tapers, many have returned to work. However, access to care when injured is increasingly inadequate. Several of the larger clinics offering occupational medicine have either closed, downsized or moved far from town. Read more
It’s common to assign much of the blame of America’s obesity problem on supersized servings of fast food. Likewise, the current in-your-face finger- pointing over eating disorders is directed at social media; namely, Instagram. Read more
My mother, age 85, had a stroke this month. It is now difficult for her to find words and interpret images she sees. After 55 years running the family business, sadly, she had to ask my brother to step in. Read more
Virtually everyone knows that physical activity is an essential component of a healthful lifestyle. But how much and what kinds of activity can make a difference? Do you need a gym membership? Run marathons? Lift weights? Although all of these approaches have benefits, there is one valuable exercise that all of us do every day — at least, if we can walk. Read more
As the delta virus rages, an emergency order, Safe Access O‘ahu, was announced this week. It serves to reduce the public risk of falling ill from COVID- 19, protects the young who cannot yet be vaccinated and helps those who are vaccinated from getting a breakthrough infection. Read more
Just when we thought we were safe if we were vaccinated, mutations began to indicate otherwise. Read more
The delta COVID mutation is at least twice as contagious as the original strain. In a recent study in Israel, roughly half of the adults infected in a delta outbreak were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. Read more
It’s common to turn to nutritional supplements, drugs and herbs to try to boost health. All of these options can be beneficial when used appropriately, but they all come with potential risks as well. Misusing or neglecting to check interactions between nutrients, drugs and herbs can cause irreversible health issues — even death. Read more
COVID-19 case rates continue to taper, restrictions are being lifted and tourists are returning in droves. Roughly $4 trillion in rescue funds has been injected into the economy with as much again on the table for the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan. Read more
Who would have imagined that the world’s deadliest poison, 100 times more toxic than cyanide and deadlier than Sarin nerve gas, would now be used to treat everything from sweaty palms, wrinkles, overactive bladder, chronic migraine, limb spasticity, voice tremor and premature ejaculation? Read more