Physician and mindful living expert Romila "Dr. Romie" Mushtaq, MD has a unique perspective to discuss career burnout; not only is she a neurologist specializing in mind-body medicine, but she also used the mindfulness-based techniques she teaches to heal herself from career burnout as a physician.

Career burnout is characterized clinically by loss of passion, physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.

"Career burnout can lead to stress-related illnesses such as insomnia, anxiety, and ulcers. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 80 percent of doctor's office visits are due to stress-related illnesses," Dr. Romie notes.

In her recent TEDx talk in Fargo, N.D., "The Powerful Secret of Your Breath," Dr. Romie discusses the root cause of career burnout.

"Career burnout arises when our external world is not in alignment with our internal soul compass.  The way we find our life purpose is being aligned with our internal soul compass; this is the place within us where all the answers reside - some call it your intuition, your gut instinct, or your internal wisdom."

Mindfulness, being fully present in the current moment, is as simple as one thing: breathing, Dr. Romie says.

"Being stuck in the past can lead to depression and a feeling of hopelessness.  And when we lose hope we cannot heal. When we are worried about the future, we fuel anxiety. Only in the present moment are we truly connected to our dreams and life purpose."

Dr. Romie combines her expertise and professional experiences in neurology, mind-body medicine and meditation to help individual and corporate clients contend with their stress-infused lives. She teaches how to take mindfulness from the meditation mat into a mindful way of living - and breathing - to prevent or to heal from career burnout. She illuminates the medicine behind the mindfulness and how to connect to life purpose in her TEDx talk: "The Powerful Secret of Your Breath" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slKAFdJ8ZHY).

About Dr. Romie Mushtaq

Dr. Romie completed her medical training and education at the Medical University of South Carolina, The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and The University of Michigan.  She previously served as an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. A personal health and wellness life coach, Dr. Romie heals clients from around the country at the Center for Natural and Integrative Medicine in Orlando, Florida and travels extensively to speak about the scientific and medical evidence behind mindful living. You can learn more about Dr. Romie on her website: www.brainbodybeauty.com.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Sept. 10, 2014) ? Hy-Vee, Inc., the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Governor's Advisory Council on Brain Injuries have partnered to help educate Iowa's elderly about ways they can prevent falls and injury during National Falls Prevention Awareness Month in September.

The seventh annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day will be observed on Sept. 23, the first day of fall. This year's theme, Strong Today, Falls Free® Tomorrow, seeks to raise awareness about how to prevent fall-related injuries among older adults. Nearly 500,000 people over the age of 65 live in Iowa.

Hy-Vee, IDPH and the Governor's Advisory Council on Brain Injuries hope to keep Iowa's older population strong and falls-free by providing education and resources through several avenues ? pharmacies, websites, social media and a Sept. 17 webinar ? during the awareness month.

In September, when senior citizens fulfill their prescriptions at a Hy-Vee Pharmacy in Iowa, they will see educational information in their prescription bags.

"Our pharmacy staff often witness and help treat the aftermath of a fall, but this initiative enables us to bring awareness to the role we can play in prevention," said Andy McCann, executive vice president and chief health officer of Hy-Vee. "We encourage our customers to review their prescription and non-prescription medications with us, as this is one of the main preventive measures our elderly can take."

Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for people 65 years of age and over, according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA). Every 14 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall-related injury. And the chances of falling and of being seriously injured in a fall increase with age, the NCOA's website says.

"Older Iowans in our communities had 29,590 fall-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations in 2012. These fall-related injuries resulted in 429 fatalities and approximately $135 million in hospitalization charges," said Maggie Ferguson, IDPH brain injury and disability program manager. "We can change this by bringing greater attention to the many preventive measures that can be easily employed to keep our seniors safe."

Studies show that a combination of interventions can significantly reduce falls among older adults. Falls Prevention Awareness Month promotional materials will encourage Iowa's elderly adults to take the following steps:

• Review all their prescription and non-prescription medicines with their doctor and pharmacist.
• Talk to their health care provider about their risk of falling.
• Have their vision checked at least once a year.
• Talk to their family about their concerns.
• Exercise to improve their strength and balance.
• Make their home safer by removing things they can trip over.

"We thank the Iowa Department of Public Health and Hy-Vee for helping us to bring awareness to this issue. I have personally witnessed how injuries resulting from a fall can steal the quality of life from seniors and their families," said W. Dave Johnson, a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Brain Injuries.

On Sept. 17 at 11 a.m., the Iowa Falls Prevention Coalition will host a webinar titled "Aging, Fall Risk and Prevention Through Exercise." To register for the webinar, visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/760561400.

For more information about falls prevention, visit a local Hy-Vee Pharmacy; the IDPH Falls Prevention website at www.idph.state.ia.us/FallPrevention; or the NCOA website at www.ncoa.org/improve-health/falls-prevention.

Maintaining a healthy diabetes diet away from home requires planning ahead and making smart choices. It can be a challenge, but dining out doesn't have to be overwhelming. Many of the dietary rules people with type 2 diabetes need to follow ? limiting salt, sugar, and fat intake ? are beneficial for anyone.

The key to enjoying a meal at a restaurant is to have a plan going in, according to Dietlinde Wolter-Nitta, RD, CDE, of the Clinical Diabetes Center of Montefiore Hospital in New York City. That means knowing what's on the menu, what to avoid, and how to control the way food is prepared and served.

Here are some ideas to make your night out more fun and less work.

Tip 1: Do Your Homework

Wolter-Nitta suggests looking at the menu before trying a restaurant. "It's hard to make smart diet decisions when you're hungry," she said. "So if you decide beforehand, you can make yourself stick to it."

For people with diabetes, when they eat can be as important to maintaining their blood sugar level as what and how much they consume. It's a good idea to make a restaurant reservation whenever possible, and avoid peak times when the wait for a table is longer.

If you're concerned about slow service, speak to the waiter and ask if certain meals take longer to prepare than others.

Tip 2: Portion Control

One of the biggest challenges to eating sensibly is the temptation to finish everything on your plate. There are tricks you can use to control that urge.

"Decide to take a doggie bag home before you start eating," suggests Wolter-Nitta. "Put half of the food away before you dig in. With diabetes, you have to watch out for sugar, sodium, and fat, and this will cut those in half."

Another way to reduce portion size is to split a meal with a dinner companion. "Order an appetizer each and split an entrée," she said. "That's a great way to lower calories."

Tip 3: Know What to Eat and What to Avoid

The first thing you usually have to watch out for in a restaurant is the bread basket. "They put it out on the table and it's so hard to say no," said Wolter-Nitta. "You have to ask yourself whether you're at the restaurant to eat bread or your meal."

Sauces and salad dressings can be loaded with salt and fat. "Sauces such as butter sauces, béchamel, au gratin, and hollandaise should definitely be on the do-not-eat list," she said. If you must have salad dressing, try dipping your fork in it rather than pouring it on.

Certain cuisines are trickier than others. For instance, "Chinese restaurants add corn starch and sugar to most foods," she said. "Stick to white rice and vegetables and avoid the soy sauce."

When it comes to food preparation, ask if a dish can be baked, grilled, or broiled rather than fried. When you do eat fried food, remove the fat- and calorie-laden bread coating.

It's not just what you eat: Sugary drinks affect your weight and glucose levels, and they have been directly linked to type 2 diabetes.

Tip 4: Indulge ? a Little

"Eating dessert isn't forbidden," said Wolter-Nitta. "It's just a matter of doing it the right way." One suggestion: "Instead of going for the chocolate cake, go for a piece of fruit or something sugar-free."

A meal at a fast-food restaurant can easily exceed your daily recommended allowance for calories, fat, and salt. If you're going to treat yourself to a grab-and-go bite, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) reminds you to check the nutritional information before ordering, avoid "super-sized" or "deluxe" meals, and ask for healthy substitutions when you can.

Whatever you're treating yourself to, moderation is key.

Here are some more suggestions from the ADA when ordering out: ·

Be Creative. Just because dishes are labeled "appetizers," "entrees," and "desserts" doesn't mean you can't mix things up. The ADA suggests a fruit cup as a starter, or a salad and appetizer as a main course. ·

Order Ahead. Call the restaurant and ask if your food can be prepared to meet your dietary needs. By giving the kitchen advance notice, they might be able to better accommodate you. ·

Think About What You Drink. If you're going to treat yourself to an alcoholic beverage, remember that mixers can pack a lot of calories and sugar.

Watching what you eat and drink all the time "takes a lot of discipline," as Wolter-Nitta points out. "But it pays dividends for your health."

Roughly 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain lasting more than six months, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. Throughout the past decade, the use of painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin has soared by 300 percent. For many - 17,000 people per year, or 46 each day - the treatment is worse than the pain; those are the number of users who die from the medicine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

For every person who dies from the use of painkillers, 30 more are admitted to emergency rooms due to complications.

"Those figures are appalling," says Dr. Frank King, a doctor of naturopathy, president of King Bio natural medicine company, and author of The Healing Revolution (www.kingbio.com).

"Death is just one of the many side effects of heavy-duty pharmaceuticals, and researchers unanimously agree that addiction to painkillers has risen drastically in recent years. People are so focused on pain that they miss the fact that it is a signal of deeper health problems. Don't shoot the messenger! Listen to the pain, and it will lead you to the root causes."

With decades of experience helping patients, Dr. King offers four natural suggestions for pain management.

•  Identify the root causes of pain. Pain is a signal of deeper problems, similar to the warning light on the dashboard of your car. You can mask the light with duct tape, which is what prescription drugs do with pain. You can cut the wires, which might symbolize a surgical approach. Or you can look for the root causes, which is what our more natural, holistic approach seeks to do. Address the problem, and the pain will subside.

•  Make good choices. Most chronic conditions are caused by bad lifestyle choices. Try walking more, eating and sleeping better, eliminating stress and bad habits from your life, and watch pain decrease and health increase. It's that simple. Moreover, surround yourself with a healing community of like-minded "healing buddies" who support your healthy choices.

•  Explore natural healing techniques, and if necessary, see a natural healing practitioner. You are your best doctor, on call 24/7. I developed many self-healing techniques that address the needs of every aspect of mind-body health. These techniques are free and easy to implement at home, on the job, and wherever you might be. You might also explore meditation, yoga and other approaches for filling the holes in your wholeness.

•  Look into homeopathy. Homeopathy predates modern medicine. Homeopathic medicines are safe and effective, with no known side effects or negative drug interactions. They target the root causes, not the superficial pain. I have personally seen homeopathy dramatically raise the quality of life and happiness for countless of my patients.

With the appalling death toll due to pharmaceutical pain medication, natural solutions like homeopathy are our safest, brightest hope for the future of pain management.

About Dr. Frank King

Dr. Frank King is a chiropractor, doctor of naturopathy, and founder and president of King Bio, an FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company dedicated to education, research, development, manufacture and distribution of safe and natural homeopathic medicines for people and pets. Dr. King is also the author of, The Healing Revolution: Eight Essentials to Awaken Abundant Life, Naturally! (www.kingbio.com). A fourth-generation farmer, Dr. King raises yak, camel, boar, wisent and American bison sold under the Carolina Bison brand. He is a member of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States.