Polypharmacy

Interesting case this afternoon. Lady was having major digestive spasms that prompted anxiety. Went to several different doctors and a workup at a major national medical center and told there was nothing wrong.
Meanwhile she as started on 2 blood pressure medications for a high heart rate (from the anxiety/irritability), 1 medication for anxiety, 1 antipsychotic (ouch, big side effects), 1 colon spasm medication, 1 seizure medication, 1 bladder medication (to treat the bladder retention caused by her other medications).
She stopped gluten on a recommendation from a Parkview dietician (genius!) and her digestive system completely resolved.
My job as her health partner: Get her off all the medications! Hey doctors, it's perfectly okay with patients to say, "I don't know" instead of trying to treat every visit with a new prescription.

Hormone Replacement News: Read the fine print

So the coverage regarding the new findings in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), will strike fear in all women. The report is that women taking HRT had more advanced breast cancers and were more likely to die. Ready for the key piece of information buried in the study:

The treatment studied was the most commonly prescribed hormone replacement pill, Prempro, which contains estrogens from horse urine and a synthetic relative of the hormone progesterone.

These are the major issues with the conventional hormones: they are not chemically similar to the hormones that women have naturally. The fact is some women need hormone replacement for relief of menopausal symptoms. Regardless of whether bio-identical hormones are used or not the rule is still lowest dose for shortest duration. But for women who need hormones, this study should help support the need use bio-identical hormones so that the body knows what to do with them and not hormones from horses or synthetics.

It should be noted the importance of monitoring hormone levels during the course of therapy. Several studies have discussed the advantage of saliva for this monitoring as it is a better approximation of tissue levels of hormones. I have a number of cases, and they keep piling up of women who feel terrible and are taking large doses of hormones, as their doctors keep increasing the dose and finding normal blood levels. One of the main drivers of this is the fact that often lifestyle measures, like a whole foods diet and stress management never get implemented or suggested, it is much easier just to increase the hormone dosage. In these cases, checking the saliva hormone levels show significant toxicity as it just keeps accumulating in the tissues leading to fatigue, weight gain, water retention and cognitive changes.

Bottom line is that women who are having menopausal symptoms should be working with providers that use bio-identical hormones, focus on all other aspects of health like diet, sleep, and stress and will monitor the saliva levels regularly to ensure appropriate balance in being reached.

CBS News video on antibiotics in our meat

Watch CBS News Videos Online

70% of pigs that were treated with antibiotics had a new form of MRSA. 0% of those not treated with antibiotics had it. What kind of meat do you want to eat?

More and more public outcry for this mess we have called industrial farming. Next up over the next couple years, how the overuse of antibiotics by American physicians that hand the stuff out like candy is causing masses of chronic health conditions.

Proof that Antibiotics have a Significant Down Side

Good Bacteria Keep the Immune System Primed to Fight

Having healthy levels of bacteria in the gut keep the immune system ready for a fight. 70% of the immune system resides in the gut, so when taking oral antibiotics a significant shift in protection can occur.

This is leading to what we will continue to see increase in studies on using antibiotics for sinusitis: A number needed to harm. When studies are done on potentially beneficial medications or treatments, a number needed to treat (NNT) is calculated. This basically says how many people need to get the therapy for one person to benefit. In a large study that reviewed 32 studies that used antibiotics to treat sinus infections, the NNT was 15. That means that for everyone that gets an antibiotic for sinusitis, only one person benefits!!!!! Since that study a year and half ago, I have only seen antibiotic prescriptions go up at a ridiculous rate. But they also calculate a NNH, or number needed to harm that shows that one person is harmed by the antibiotics for every 30-some prescriptions written.

The healthcare profession needs to stop practicing customer service and handing out antibiotics to anyone that calls in, and practice medicine by educating patients on the unnecessary use of antibiotics or we will see the NNH get lower than the NNT!