Women have many questions after a miscarriage. Unless the cause is discovered to be a genetic anomaly, infection, anatomical abnormality or advanced age, the answers are many times elusive. Our medical system does not fully investigate first trimester pregnancy loss unless it has happened two or sometimes three times. This can be devastating for people trying to conceive.
Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory medications that mimic the natural anti-inflammatory hormones in our body. They are used to control an overactive immune reaction in multiple conditions like rashes, allergies, asthma, and autoimmune disorders. They are potent and highly effective, but have significant unwanted effects, the degree of which is usually dose-dependent ie: the higher the daily dose and the longer the period of time you take the drug, the greater your risk of side effects. Many people taking steroids are often unaware of these effects or how to deal with them if they arise and do not realize how they can have life long consequences.
Acne is a beast. A stubborn, multifaceted beast and no two patients are alike. This makes acne one of the most challenging conditions to treat – but the good news is, we’ve got options. Plenty of options. If you’re prepared for a major lifestyle overhaul, and can endure some trial and error, then there is great hope for an acne-free future. Too often, I hear of patients being prescribed the heavy-hitters with major side-effects (accutane & systemic antibiotics) right off the bat for mild/moderate acne; even more troublesome is how many patients were prescribed these medications as teenagers. Read More
Statin medications like Lipitor and Crestor are the new everyday Aspirin. Everyone and their mother is taking them. There are actually serious articles looking at the addition of statins to the public water supply.
All you need to know about a seriously important vitamin.
Even if you aren’t vegetarian it doesn’t mean vitamin B12 is something you can ignore.
Graves’ Disease can be effectively treated by Mints Naturopathic Physicians
There are a lot of people who have Graves’ disease who tolerate anti-thyroid drug treatment just fine or successfully treat with radioactive iodine. There are also a lot of people who don’t and seek professional care on how to navigate still feeling well all the while reducing the risks of Graves’.
When infants start to eat what are they supposed to be eating and how should they eat it?
Did you know we don’t produce gas? Bacteria that live in us do. Gas is supposed to be expelled evenly over time, without causing discomfort. For most of us, that’s the way it works and we naturally release believe it or not 2 Litres of gas a day. Read More
One of the most proven set of dietary modifications for reducing LDL fats in the body is called Dr. Jenkin’s Portfolio Diet. Cholesterol reductions in studies have reached as high as 30 percent, roughly equivalent to statin medication.
Not all hormones are created equal.
A study on the connection between breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is making waves – again. It was just published two days ago and I’ve already been asked about it a lot.
The British Journal of Cancer showed a three times higher rate of breast cancer in women who took combined estrogen and progestogens (make a note of the word progestogen as I’ll bring it up in a bit). We have known for decades that combination HRT causes breast cancer. What’s new is how high the risk actually is. It’s 3 times higher! For a study with thousands of women that’s a big meaningful number.
The problem is that they lumped all kinds of progesterone together. The well-established bad synthetic kind (called proGESTIN) sourced from pregnant horses urine was NOT distinguished from the newer and safer yam sourced proGESTERONE (called Prometrium or just progesterone). ProGESTOGEN, which is the umbrella term for both synthetic progestin and natural progesterone, is what they looked at. Confusing, I know. But studies conflate them all the time. We really shouldn’t because they have very different effects. Progestins can cause breast cancer and natural progesterone has been shown to protect against it. Progesterone is even safer if it’s delivered in a topical cream that avoids processing by the liver. It’s important to talk to someone who knows these differences especially if you’re suffering from terrible symptoms of menopause and are concerned by scary news headlines.
