Robb Report Health & Wellness Fall 2015

The majority of the articles in this issue germinated from the thoughtful and enlightening talks given by the presenting physicians at our inaugural Robb Report Health & Wellness Summit held in Deer Valley, Utah, this past July and August. One interesting and critical seed gleaned from the Summit was delivered by Paula Johnson, MD, a cardiologist at Brigham […]

Can a wellness boot camp at a medical center feel like a luxury retreat?  Upon entering the center where the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program is headquartered, in Rochester, Minn., it is hard to remember that the building belongs to a medical center. Designed to maximize open space and sunlight, the architecture itself conveys a […]

A premier private psychiatric facility adds a Maine hideaway to its rehabilitation offerings. In Camden, Maine, a new road—actually a winding, tree-lined drive—leads to a more sober future and the 14-acre estate where that journey begins. Opened last April, McLean Borden Cottage is the newest of McLean Hospital’s addiction recovery facilities, and its most luxurious. […]

Maximize health benefits with the minimum amount of physical activity. In the landscape of today’s exercise culture, there are two extremes. On one side are the folks who won’t, don’t, or can’t do any physical activity beyond the simple tasks of living. We all know that is a problem, because we have been barraged by […]

Gender may help make precision medicine even more personalized. Myth: When it comes to the building blocks of bodies—cells, skin, and organs—for the most part, people are people. Reality: One’s sex significantly influences one’s health and the factors that contribute to disease, their implications, and approaches to treatment. When I was in medical school, none of the major randomized trials in cardiology included women. But that changed in […]

Five strategies—from meditation to exercise to psychotherapy—for managing stress. When we lament that we feel stressed, we have a Czech biochemist to thank. Around 1950, Hans Selye was the first to use the term “stress,” borrowed from metallurgy, to refer to the mental and physical pressures that tie the stomach in knots and thwart the […]

A celebratory score for the gains made in brain health The late neurologist Oliver Sacks famously likened the brain to a “vastly complicated orchestra with thousands of instruments, an orchestra that conducts itself, with an ever-changing score and repertoire.” Remarkably, that entire orchestra weighs just 3 pounds, a mere 2 percent of the average person’s […]

The Ultimate Role Reversal: Taking care of one’s aging parents Dr. Alicia Arbaje has made a career of helping older adults manage their health so they can continue to live full lives, travel, and even work well into their seventh and eighth decades. As a geriatric medicine physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, she is a specialist in the unique […]

The advent of new technologies can transform the experience of aging and how to manage the health care of older adults. New Wearables LifeWatch (lifewatch.com) offers a portable EKG machine that allows patients to self-monitor when they are experiencing heart palpitations or feeling faint. Some machines also transmit the results to a digital health file […]

1.  Aspirin is regularly prescribed to prevent heart attacks in men.  Q: Does it also have beneficial health effects for disease prevention in women? A: We have guidelines for only primary prevention in women and men, so let me be clear on heart disease and aspirin. What we do know today is that if women have known […]

Run for Your Life  Endurance athlete, ultramarathoner, and the orthopaedic surgeon-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital makes a case for running the distance. Why run? Research shows that of 26 different sports, running and soccer are the most beneficial to your heart, to your metabolism, and to your overall mental fitness. The risk of dying from any […]