National Association of Baby Boomer Women

NABBW Columnists - Medical Health Advisors

Name:	Robin Miller, M.D., M.H.S.
Title:	Physician
Expertise:	Primary Care Physician
Web Site:	www.myhousedoc.com www.triumemed.com/profiles.html
Email:
Bio:	Dr. Robin Miller’s career as a physician has been quite varied. She currently serves as the medical director of Triune Integrative Medicine, a highly innovative Integrative Medicine clinic in Medford, Oregon. She is also a medical reporter for KOBI Channel 5, the NBC affiliate in Medford. She has produced the award-winning health series, “Is there a Doctor in the House,” which is shown on the GE-sponsored Patient Channel nationwide. She is a medical columnist for The Daily Courier in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, and the host of a teen health podcast. Robin has written the book Kids Ask the Doctor and the book Confessions of the Soul Straight from the Heart. Robin completed her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan, where she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received her M.D. from the University of Illinois, and she also holds the degree of Master of Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Her postgraduate training includes an Internal Medicine Fellowship at Johns Hopkins and an Integrative Medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona. She is board certified in Internal Medicine. She has been on the faculty of both the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Oregon. She has published a number of articles in medical journals, many focused on her research about heart disease in women. Robin has been particularly active in the field of domestic violence. She has served on task forces on domestic violence sponsored by the Oregon Medical Association and Jackson County, Oregon. Robin’s interest in fitness is reflected in her long-term personal exercise regimen. She lives in the Rogue River Valley of Oregon with her husband, a gastroenterology physician, and two teen-age sons who keep her on her toes. Robin will share her column with her co-author and friend of 20 years, Dr. Janet Horn. (This is one of those special friendships; Janet was a bridesmaid at Robin’s wedding!) In addition to being close friends, they have a shared philosophy about a woman’s wellbeing based on empowerment through a knowledge and understanding of her health.

Name:	Janet Horn, M.D.
Title:	Physician
Expertise:	Primary Cary Physician
Web Site:	www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/1999horn.html
Bio:	Dr. Janet Horn for years has been widely recognized as one of the leading adult primary care physicians in Baltimore, Maryland. The solo practice that she started served several thousand patients, of which a primary patient group was working women. Janet was selected by Baltimore Magazine as one of the best doctors in Baltimore, and was selected for inclusion in the Consumers Guide to Top Doctors in the United States. She was also selected, based upon her professional achievement and community service, as one of the “Top 100 Women in Maryland.” Janet is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, and also did postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Janet completed her undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University. She received a Masters Degree in physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University, and her M.D. degree from George Washington University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. After finishing her fellowship training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, she became a full-time faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, during which time she authored numerous journal articles concerning her research, much of which related to women’s’ health issues. When she started her solo practice, she remained a member of the clinical faculty at Johns Hopkins as an Associate Professor of Medicine. She has been a frequent lecturer to medical audiences and to the public about health topics. Janet’s non-professional interests include piano, historic preservation, and all things canine. She is an avid reader, particularly of fiction, and is currently studying the craft of writing. A recent thrill was assisting her patient and friend Agathe von Trapp (the eldest of the von Trapp family singers from The Sound of Music) in writing her memoir. Janet has been married for 31 years to a lawyer who currently specializes in ethical and regulatory compliance issues of hospitals. Janet will share her monthly column with her co-author and friend of 20 years, Dr. Robin Miller. In addition to being close friends, they have a shared philosophy about a woman’s wellbeing based on empowerment through a knowledge and understanding of her health.

Warmest greetings to our fellow Baby Boomer Women!

Or should we say, our HOTTEST greetings, given the temperatures this summer?! (Our very first piece of advice: do not go anywhere this summer without a bottle of water. Dehydration can sneak up on you very quickly)

We wanted to take the opportunity in our first column for this newsletter to introduce ourselves, tell you how excited we are to be here, and let you in on our philosophies for
maintaining good health and achieving longevity in this wonderful, though challenging, time of our lives.

First, some housekeeping (probably the only kind that I’m any good at!). The two of us will be sharing this Medical Column, with one or the other of us writing it on alternate months. We’ll always tell you which of us is writing the column at hand. Although only one of us will be writing the column, it will represent both of our views on the topic being covered. Don’t worry – we’re not going to get into a “She said…She said” debate! Though we definitely will share our differing views. Should you have questions about the topic we just covered, or suggestions for topics you’re interested in, please send them to us through the “Contact Us” page, which is shown as a link on the home page of NABBW.com. We will try to answer as many of your concerns about our column as possible.

This month, August 2006, I (JH) am writing the introductory column for Robin and myself. Most of what you need to know about our backgrounds can be found in our biographies http://www.nabbw.com/columns/ hornmiller.html Although the one thing not mentioned there, but which should be obvious, is that we’re both Baby Boomer Women ourselves and proud of it. It has always given me such a sense of pride to be a member of a group of individualistic women, and comfort to be a part of such a large group (the “safety in numbers” issue). I’ve always felt that whatever problem(s) any of us faced – in growing up, starting families, establishing a career, or expressing ourselves creatively – we’d figure it out together. And we have.

Which brings us up to the present and how Robin and I came to write this column for you. The reason involves that “A” issue which we’re all now facing. You know – aging. Or maturing or growing older. A few years ago, we each began to experience many of the common bodily changes which happen as the years pass, which led us to talking about them, which led to our realization that most other BBW must be experiencing not only what we, personally, were, but also what many of our women patients were experiencing as well. Since both Robin and I have seen which therapies and preventive measures do, or do not, work for the symptoms of these bodily changes over the years, we wanted to talk about them with you. Put another way, we wanted to start a dialogue with you, not lecture to you. So that is exactly what we’ll be doing. We’ll be covering what we hope are your medical concerns involving every organ system in the body – from changes in your vision and hearing to changes in your bowel habits, all of which occur with the passage of time. From osteoporosis to osteoarthritis to sexually transmitted diseases (yes – you still can get those) to heart disease to diabetes, just to mention a few. In fact, except for the topic of menopause (which we will not cover since there is a menopause expert already writing a column for this newsletter), we’ll be talking about any and every medical issue which affects us women in midlife, including how to most effectively deal with the changing health care environment and how to best use “alternative” medicine therapies, such as herbs, vitamins, and acupuncture.

Now to our basic philosophies about good health and longevity for women during this time in our lives.

We believe that:
1) The answer to many health problems is simple, inexpensive, and natural.
2) The combination of therapies from “traditional” medicine and “alternative”
medicine to maintain health and treat disease – when done judiciously – may
often yield better results than using one type of therapy alone.
3) Preventive measures are of the utmost importance in maintaining good health –
Rather than only treating illnesses as they occur.
4) Talking and listening to the patient is part of the cure for many illnesses.
5) Each of us needs to know how to engage her health care providers in meaningful discussions and how to share the responsibility for her health care with that provider - not an easy thing to do in the current health care environment.

Again, we’re so pleased to be here and are looking forward to many dialogues with you. Stay well and don’t forget that water bottle this month!

National Association of Baby Boomer Women
714 York Road, Suite 955, Towson, MD 21204 • 1-877-BBOOMER • info@nabbw.com