Students and others with limited incomes shouldn’t feel helplessly left out of the eternal expat discussion regarding air purifiers. I mentioned before but will stress again, given the recent weather: there’s a very decent and affordable Taiwan/U.S.A.-made HEPA air purifier which is perfect for small dorm rooms, offices and bedrooms. It’s the Hunter 31125 model, …

It’s definitely winter season already, at least in terms of a lot of colds going around. I’ve mentioned a lot of preventive medicines on my blog, especially my new favorite, vitamin D. But there may be an even simpler way to cut down on getting the common cold — gargling! Yes, it seems that those …

This is not a drill, people: the US Embassy’s pollution monitor (http://iphone.bjair.info) for three days has been recording air pollution levels in the highest levels far above 300 AQI, and as of 7am Friday is 477 AQI. Peaks each day have tilted the machine at 500 AQI. This is indeed considered “emergency conditions”, and all …

How many of you have trouble finding such basic health items such as vaseline, epsom salts, heating pads and others? Well, you’re in luck; part of my clinic‘s major renovations this year has involved upgrading our pharmacy to provide a more Walgreens-style consumer-friendly service, and I’m happy to report that we now carry a lot …

This is part 3 of my analysis of the results from my recent online survey of Beijing health, which I called the Health Snapshot Beijing 2010. It’s the first of what I hope will be an annual survey to assess Beijing’s healthcare and expat’s perceptions of their health. Part one reviewed overall perceptions, while part …

My clinic, the International Medical Center, has just released our quarterly newsletter, which you can download as a PDF file here. This autumn edition has articles from all three of our primary care doctors, as well as a spotlight on our popular chiropractor, Dr David Zhang. Articles include: The Flu Shots Are Here. Who Needs It? Missing …

I love Thanksgiving; not smothered by commercialism, it still remains a lovely way for all American families and friends to get together and enjoy a huge meal. My mother always hosts this holiday meal, and a couple dozen of my relatives will pile into our house every November holiday, gorge on turkey. and enjoy the …

A couple days ago I published part one of the results from my recently finished Health Snapshot Beijing 2010 survey. I wanted to get a sense of where expats were going for healthcare, as well as how they felt about their experiences. So I asked a few questions focused on Beijing expats’ use of all clinics, …

The November issue of BeijingKids magazine is hot off the presses, and I think it’s one of the most useful ever published. Hats go off for managing editor Imogen Kandel and her staff. This issue focuses on good health, with a wealth of high-yield articles regarding hospitals, health insurance and other resources. My monthly column …

I’ve closed the results for my Health Snapshot Beijing 2010, and the results are in. Many thanks to the 75 readers who filled out the form! Let’s go straight to the results. Question 1: How Long Have You Lived in Beijing? This wasn’t too surprising; about 50% have been in Beijing for under 3 years. …

I’m sure that many of you are interested in Chinese medicine but, like me, have trouble finding good resources to educate ourselves. I just finished a new illustrated book published in 2008 which makes learning about Chinese medicine almost fun. Almost. It’s called The Illustrated Book of Traditional Chinese Cultivation of Health. I recommend it …

Beijing has a surprising variety of all four seasons, which I think is a great thing. Spring and fall, the best times of year here, are unfortunately short, but in general you can expect the same seasonal variations you would find in New England or northern Europe. But each season has a few particular oddities: …