Category Archives: Integrative Medicine

A public hearing on a proposed marijuana store near the Orchard Hill Park plaza originally scheduled for last week has been postponed until next week.

The Oct. 25 hearing on Revolutionary Clinics request for a special permit from the City Council to sell recreational marijuana at 130 Pioneer Drive has been moved to Monday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at Leominster City Hall.

Councilor John Dombrowski explained the applicant asked to postpone the meeting for two weeks because the Oct. 25 City Council meeting was short staffed, with two out of the boards eight members unable to attend.

By the Nov. 8 meeting, the City Council will gain a ninth member when the vacancy following the May death of Ward 1 Councilor Gail Feckley is filled. Ward 1 School Committee member Michael Stassen and local chef and restaurant owner William Brady ran for the seat in this weeks election, the results of which were not known by press time. The winner will serve not only the remaining weeks of Feckleys term, but also his own two-year term starting in January.

The zoning rules adopted by the Leominster City Council after marijuana was legalized in a 2016 referendum vote call for recreational marijuana to be sold in the Industrial zone, and only with a special permit from the City Council.

Section 13.7 of the City of Leominster Zoning Ordinance states that special permits require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of authorities with more than five (5) members and a vote of at least four (4) members of five (5) member authorities.

Revolutionary Clinics is seeking a special permit to open a recreational marijuana dispensary at 130 Pioneer Drive, near the junction of Pioneer Drive and Orchard Hill Park Drive. If approved, the Leominster dispensary would be located in a newly constructed 2,336-square-foot building with ground-up eco-friendly construction and an Apple Store meets Johnny Appleseed level clean energy.

The Leominster store would be Revolutionary Clinics fourth facility, joining shops in Cambridge and Somerville, but its first selling recreational marijuana. It also operates a growing facility called Revolutionary Farms in a former shoe factory in Fitchburg, the hometown of Revolutionary Clinics co-founder Ryan Ansin. Revolutionary Farms supplies products to both Revolutionary Clinics and other marijuana stores in Massachusetts.

According to a presentation on its website, Revolutionary Clinics would maximize fee and tax revenues through its Community Host Agreement with the City of Leominster, hire local Leominster residents for the dispensary, communicate frequently with leaders in local economic development, partner with local health officials to volunteer and fund educational sessions and materials, and support local causes with donations and volunteer work.

If approved by the City Council, Revolutionary Clinics store would be the first in Leominster. There are two marijuana manufacturing facilities in the city Middlesex Integrative Medicine at 25 Mohawk Drive and The Botanist, which makes marijuana edibles at 1775 Lock Drive and a third in the works from XH Management, Inc., which is seeking state licenses for a cultivation and manufacturing facility in the Southgate Business Park in South Leominster.

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Public hearing on Revolutionary Clinics marijuana shop postponed to Nov. 8 - Leominster Champion

If you've ever experienced imposter syndromeaka that nagging feeling of self doubt that often leaves you feeling like a fraud despite the work you put in to get to where you arewelcome to the (very crowded) club.

That feeling stems from a lack of self acceptance, or loving yourself for who you really are. The way around it is actually quite simplealbeit verychallenging to put into practiceas Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP explains on the first episode of his new Audible Original podcast Deepak Chopra's Mind-Body Zone: Thinking Outside the Box."One of the most powerful things you can do is first see yourself clearlyflaws and all, and then fully accept yourself," the pioneer in integrative medicine says. Sounds super easy, right? (We're kidding.)

On this episodewhich is the first of many insightful conversations with next-level guests such as Oprah Winfrey, Layla Saad, and Jon Batiste, exploring vulnerability, trauma, creativity, and moreDr. Chopra interviews body positivity advocate and yoga teacher Jessamyn Stanley for a deep dive into fighting off self doubt and welcoming unconditional self acceptance.

"One of the most powerful things you can do is first see yourself clearlyflaws and all, and then fully accept yourself." Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP

Your first step to truly accepting yourself, according to Stanley? Letting your anxieties and believed perceptions just be, without feeling like you need to fix yourself.

"Letting the truth be exactly what it is, and not feeling like I need to fix it or change it or do anything, just let it be therethat for me is what it is to experience the full self, to live in the truth, to be in the ocean, to unite by mind, my body, and my spirit," Stanley says.

Once you shift your focus from trying to fix yourself (which assumes there is something wrong with you that needs to be remedied) to simply existing as yourself, that's where the path to real self acceptance is revealed.

Stanley's advice for putting that mindset shift into practice: Stop apologizing so much.

Stanley's advice for putting that mindset shift into practice: Stop apologizing so much. (She shares a powerful personal anecdote about the day she realized she was legitimately apologizing for existing on the podcast.)

By not being afraid to show up as your true, messy self, you can be an inspiration to others, Stanley says, which is one of the true gifts of self acceptance. Because come on, how many times have you seen someone being unapologetically themselves, and not felt anything but total respect (and honestly maybe a hint of jealousy)?

To close out the episode (which includes so much more enlightening advice), Dr. Chopra leads a guided meditation with prompts for you to start squashing some of your own self doubt. Sorry, imposter syndrome, we're busy accepting ourselves now.

Want more intel on supporting your well-being? Listen to all 12 episodes of Mind Body Zone, or pick out another listen from Audible's Well-Being Collection, which includes thousands of self-development, health and wellness, sleep and meditation titles to help you discover insights for enriching your mind, body, and being.

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Jessamyn Stanleys Method for Achieving Self Acceptance Starts With One Easy-to-Implement Tip - Well+Good

Psychedelic medicines may represent a new frontier for end-of-life care, as well as psychiatric treatment. While these substances including LSD, MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine, among others remain illegal, grass roots support for decriminalization or medical use is growing. Meanwhile, venture capitalists and other investors are spending billions to get on the ground floor of what could become a new health care industry.

Much of the research and discussion on medical use of psychedelics has focused on care at the end of life. Interest in the potential medical benefits of these substances became widespread during the 1960s, but research all but stopped after they were criminalized through federal legislation in 1970. The first inklings of a resurgence began in the late 1990s, and momentum has picked up during the last decade.

The evidence is just so compelling, and we have very little in terms of tools in our medical bag to be able to help people who are suffering from existential distress, anxiety and depression related to a serious illness diagnosis, Shoshana Ungerleider, M.D., internist at Crossover Health in San Francisco, founder of the organization End Well,said. We want people to be able to live fully until they die. If psychedelics given in a controlled therapeutic environment with trained clinicians who can help them do that, then these medicines should be more widely available.

End Well recently produced a conference on the subject of psychedelic medicine for dying patients.

The body of scientific literature on psychedelics for dying patients continues to advance. Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2019 established a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research backed by $17 million in grants.

Researchers have identified a number of clinical benefits, including reduction of anxiety, depression and improved acceptance of mortality, according to a 2019 literature review in the journal Current Oncology. The paper cited studies indicating that the most commonly used psychedelic drugs have no tissue toxicity, do not interfere with liver function, have few interactions with other medications and carry no long-term physical effects. Common side effects tend to be short in duration, such as nausea and vomiting or disruption of visual or spatial orientation.

Patients who use psychedelic medicines often report what researchers commonly describe as a mystical experience, involving a feeling of unity, sacredness, deeply-felt positive mood, transcendence of space and time, and other effects that study participants found difficult to verbalize, according to the Current Oncology paper.

This can be transformative for people with anyone who is wracked with trauma, grief, loss or extreme states of suffering, Sunil Aggarwal, M.D., co-founder, co-director and practitioner at the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute in Seattle, told Hospice News. Theres also evidence that these substances can also reduce physical pain.

Aggarwal is a board-certified hospice and palliative care physician and a past chair of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM).

All psychedelics are illegal at the federal level and in most states. Oregon in 2020 became the first in the union to remove criminal penalties for all illegal drugs and is now in the process of establishing the nations first state-licensed psilocybin-assisted therapy system.

More action has been happening at the local level, with communities such as Washington, D.C., Denver, Ann Arbor, Mich., three Massachusetts cities, and Santa Cruz and Oakland in California voting to decriminalize some psychedelics and permit medical use. Some of these regions are now considering statewide decriminalization.

Connecticut and Texas each have laws on the books that created work groups to study the medical use of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. Legislatures in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Vermont and New York state are currently mulling decriminalization or medical use bills.

In late July, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced an amendment to remove federal barriers to research the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The U.S. House of Representatives quickly shot down the legislation, though it garnered more support this round than the previous time it was introduced.

We quite a few years off from having enough trained therapists and a policy pathway for which these can be made more widely available in a controlled therapeutic setting, Ungerleider said. Theres just so much interest right now among patients and among family members to learn more about this. All health care professionals need to have an understanding of where were at with psychedelics.

Interest in psychedelics has transcended the research space and entered the business world. The familiar adage, follow the money, frequently provides good indicators of which way the wind is blowing.

The psychedelics industry is expected to bring in more than $6.85 billion by 2027, Forbes reported. Many of these investors are seeking to reproduce the lucrative results of the cannabis industry that emerged in the wake of legalization among a number of states. A recent report indicated that 36 states and four territories allow use of medical cannabis products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The largest investors in psychedelics include the venture capital firms Conscious Fund, Explorer Equity Group and Pala Santo. Earlier this year, Florida-based cannabis and psychedelics attorney Dustin Robinson co-founded Iter Investments, a new venture capital group focused on that sector.

A United Kingdom-based psychedelics-focused pharmaceutical company, Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS), went public in Sept. 2020 and is now worth an estimated $1.2 billion.

Theres a unique opportunity to be able to go ahead and develop and commercialize [psychedelics] to a much larger patient population, health care investor and venture capitalist Andrew Lee told Hospice News. Itll be interesting to see how natural pharmaceuticals might work. Theres the nonprofit, sacred path, the pharma path and the botanical drug sort of path. The most important thing is that this is another tool in the toolbox for treating a number of conditions.

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Psychedelics Could Be New Frontier in End-of-Life Care - Hospice News

Many people who contract COVID-19 get better on their own at home, but more serious cases can involve hospitalization and months of recovery or more.

Angela Cheung and Margaret Herridge, both professors in the University of Toronto's department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, are co-leading an interdisciplinary team of more than 100 researchers who are studying short- and long-term outcomes for COVID-19 patients. The Canadian COVID-19 Prospective Cohort study (CanCOV) looks at how genomics, demographics, social factors and other variables influence disease progression and severity.

Several factors influence COVID-19 patient recovery, including age, general health and pre-existing medical conditions. Ventilation, sedative drugs and other interventions in the intensive care unitmay be crucial and life-saving, but can also have consequences.

The majority of patients who require mechanical ventilation for a week or more are unable to walk at the time of their ICU discharge, and it may take them months or up to one year or longerto recover, saysHerridge, a professor in the department ofmedicineandtheInstitute of Medical Science in theTemerty Faculty of Medicine.

Criticallyill patients mayrequire mechanical ventilation weeks or months, which may lead to lung injury and compromise respiratory muscles. Rapid muscle breakdown and immobility may further aggravate muscle loss and cause profound weakness.

These changes can result in functional dependency and compromise a persons ability to carry out regular daily activities or return to work.Many patients are left with life-long functional disability, cognitive and mood disorders,saysHerridge,who is also asenior scientistatToronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI) and a respiratory and critical care physician at University Health Network.

For the study, CanCOV researchers planned to recruit 2,000 patients and 500 family caregivers from the four hardest hit provinces: Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and B.C. The research team includes experts in respiratory medicine,physical medicine and rehabilitation, critical care, occupational therapy, genetics and basic sciences.

We see patients and caregivers as adyad. How people recover from illness is often tied to how theyre cared for, says Cheung, who is alsothe KY and Betty Ho Chair of Integrative Medicine, and is a senior scientist at TGHRI and the Schroeder Arthritis Institute.

And weve learned from other conditions,including acute respiratory distress syndrome and SARS,thatcaregiversmay acquire new mood disorders including anxiety, depression andpost-traumatic stress disorder, Cheung says.

In the first 14 months of the pandemic, there were more than 42,000 hospital stays averaging two weeks eachfor people with a COVID-19 diagnosis, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Of that group, roughly 8,400 were admitted to intensive care.

Arecent publication by the Ontario Science Tablesuggests as many as 78,000 people in this province may have had or currently live with long COVID, a condition that can include fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, muscle and chest pain, and shortness of breath.

Kelly O'Brien, a physiotherapist and U of T associate professor in the department of physical therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, sees parallels between long COVID and her previous work on disability related to HIV/AIDS.

OBrien recently co-authored acommentary in BMJ Global Healthon conceptualizing long COVID as an episodic condition.

Health-related challenges or symptoms experienced by adults living with long COVID can overlap, relapse, remit and change over time, says O'Brien, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation. These characteristics resemble episodic disability, a concept derived from the context of HIV, where health challenges are multidimensional in nature affecting physical, cognitive, mentaland social health domains.

Those challenges can fluctuate sometimes unpredictably daily or over longer periods of time, OBrien says.She is also part of a team working on aCanadian Institutes of Health Research-funded study, which will establish a patient-reported outcome measure to capture the nature and extent of episodic disability in people living with long COVID. The work will help guide access to rehabilitation, evaluate interventions and inform workplace policies.

In addition to her research, OBrien is a member ofLong COVID Physio, an international patient-led association of physiotherapists who live with long COVID and allies,which collaborated with World Physiotherapy to developa briefing paperon rehabilitation approaches, including physical activity.

Jill Cameron, an associateprofessor in the department ofoccupational science and occupational therapy,studies caregiving and its impact on family members who assume this critical role.

She says the impact of COVID-19 on caregivers will prove to be intense, based whatshe and her colleagues have learned in the context of other conditions like dementia and stroke.

Caregivers have to do more with less support, says Cameron, who is also involved in the CanCOV study. Throughout the pandemic, friends and family members havent been as able to come help as they might have prior to COVID.

Professional services that would typically provide home visits have been limited, Cameron notes. Public health measures have reduced the number of visits, and factors like cleaning protocols result in longer turnaround time between visits, which means workers cant see the same caseloads, Cameron says.

Early data from other studies and jurisdictions show increased caregiver stress and poorer mental health outcomes during the pandemic, as well as more restrictions on caregivers other work, leisure activities and care for other family members.

These impacts on caregivers are also likely to affect the well-being of COVID-19 patients. Research into these consequences is an emerging field, Cameron says, but she notes that, in the context of stroke, there is a connection between caregiver depression and patients who are more likely to be hospitalized in the year following their stroke.

Cameron says she is pleased to be contributing to research that may shed light on the impact of the ongoing pandemic.

Were doing great things, and were learning a lot here, she says.

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U of T researchers lead effort to understand short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 on patients, caregivers - News@UofT

As established by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, with the switchover taking place at 2 a.m. local time. This year, the states that observe daylight savings (which is every state except for Hawaii and most of Arizona, as well as parts of Utah and New Mexico administered by the Navajo Nation) will "fall back" on Nov. 7 at 2 a.m. While many simply see this as gaining an hour of sleep on Sunday, there are various lasting effects that this time change will bring, both mentally and physically.

Integrative medicine physician and wellness expert Dr. Taz Bhatia explains that when we set the clocks back, were also adjusting our internal clock and throwing off our circadian rhythm.

Our circadian rhythms, or the flow of when we sleep and when were awake, dictates so many different processes in the body, says Bhatia.

When our circadian rhythms are thrown off, our sleep cycles become inconsistent, our weight is less regulated due to a change in insulin, and the risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attack increases.

Judy Ho, a licensed clinical and forensic neuropsychologist, says that experiencing one less hour of light each day can heavily impact ones mood, causing us to experience more depression and sadness.

That aligns with a 2020 position statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine advocating for the elimination of seasonal time changes in favor of a year-round standard. An abundance of accumulated evidence indicates that the acute transition from standard time to daylight saving time incurs significant public health and safety risks, including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes, the statement reads. There are 19 states currently seeking to eliminate the time change, but they need federal approval for any such action.

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So what can we do to cope with these changes? During the day, its crucial to take advantage of any kind of sunlight, whether its indirectly through a window or through a sun lamp as light therapy has been proven to work wonders on mood and sleep.

With less sunlight during the day, we also receive less vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin. We can, however, make up for the lack of vitamin D in other ways. It's important now more than ever to exercise regularly, as it helps with the endorphin release and boosts our mood, says Bhatia.

Ho recommends establishing a calming nighttime routine that involves putting away all devices, especially blue light devices. To combat sleep deprivation, people should go to bed earlier, but not too early.

You dont want to go to bed too early just to make sure that youre in bed by a certain hour because then you might be awake for longer than you need to be, Ho explains. Then the bed becomes associated with anxiety and stress.

Since 2021 has been anxiety-inducing for many, Bhatia points out that our threshold for anxiety and depression is lower right now.

When we have additional disruptions like disruptions to our sleep cycle, disruptions to the amount of light we're getting in when we're awake, its just one more factor in an already really tough year for so many people, she says.

Ho reiterates how beneficial it is to maintain social connections on a daily basis with friends and loved ones.

Even a brief interaction like that can bring you a lot of positivity and feeling of community when you need it most, she says.

Video produced by Jenny Miller

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Why the end of daylight saving time is bad news for your body - Yahoo Philippines News

AUSTRALIA, Sydney November 2, 2021 A new rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials shows zinc can prevent symptoms and shorten the duration of a community-acquired acute viral respiratory tract infections, such as the common cold and flu-like illnesses. When participants were purposely infected with human rhinovirus strains, the risk reduction was insignificant. Rhinovirus is one of the most common causes of upper respiratory tract infections. Other common respiratory viruses include coronavirus, adenovirus, parainfluenza virus, and influenza virus.

The review findings published today in BMJ Open (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047474) included 28 randomised controlled trials (RCTs), with 5,446 adult participants of all age groups. However, none of the RCTs were specific to SARS-CoV-2 due to results of those trials pending at the time.

The international team of researchers from Western Sydney University, the University of Sydney, Southern Cross University, McMaster University and the National University of Natural Medicine found that:

Integrative medicine doctor and lead author of the review, Associate Professor Jennifer Hunter from Western Sydney Universitys NICM Health Research Institute, said the findings build on previous systematic reviews and add important new evidence for the role of zinc as potentially more than a dietary supplement for zinc deficient populations.

It is commonly thought that zincs role in preventing and treating infections is only for people who are zinc deficient; our findings really challenge this notion, says Associate Professor Hunter.

The two large trials from China found very low dose zinc nasal spray reduced the risk of clinical illness. The two smaller trials in the US that evaluated the preventive effects of oral zinc excluded people who were zinc deficient. All the other trials that evaluated zinc for treating the common cold were in populations where zinc deficiency is very unlikely.

However, Associate Professor Hunter says not all the review findings favoured zinc.

Our systematic review was the first to include studies where participants were purposely infected with human rhinovirus, a common cause of upper respiratory tract infections. We found in these studies there was no significant protective effect from zinc lozenge use, either before or after being inoculated, Associate Professor Hunter says.

These human rhinovirus trials were very small, making the findings unreliable. However, it still raises the questions about whether the insignificant antiviral effects that were observed from zinc in the laboratory also apply in the real world, at least against rhinoviruses.

The researchers also highlighted in their findings the challenges around the variability of zinc formulations and doses, and their mechanisms of action.

Clinicians and consumers need to be aware that considerable uncertainty remains regarding the clinical efficacy of different zinc formulations, doses and administration routes, says Associate Professor Hunter.

At the moment there just isn't enough research to say whether a zinc nasal spray, versus a nasal gel, versus a lozenge, versus oral zinc is any better or worse than the others. Most of the trials used zinc gluconate or zinc acetate formulations, but that doesnt mean that other zinc compounds are less effective.

Despite these uncertainties, Associate Professor Hunter says zinc products are widely available, affordable, and generally safe, including the short-term use of high dose zinc lozenges and capsules that was used in many of the trials.

Two things people want to know when they get a cold is how long is it going to last, and how sick am I going to get? We found that zinc probably reduces the duration of illness and there were quite a few signals that told us that zinc has the potential to reduce severity, particularly at that peak time of illness between days 2 and 4. This provides clinicians and patients with a viable alternative to the inappropriate use of antibiotics, that continues to be a major problem globally, she says.

The review findings also align with calls for more immuno-nutrition research, particularly in populations with a higher SARS-CoV-2 risk, with the researchers commenting from the review findings and preliminary SARS-CoV-2 research, it is plausible that zinc may be effective when used on its own.

Now well into the pandemic, and quickly learning that a lot of therapies that have worked for other viral infections dont necessarily work for COVID-19, we cannot assume the results apply to COVID-19, says Associate Professor Hunter.

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Systematic review

People

Zinc for the prevention or treatment of acute viral respiratory tract infections in adults: a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

1-Nov-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Zinc shown to prevent symptoms and shorten duration of common cold and flu-like illnesses - EurekAlert

Each October, professional sports teams, organizations and businesses around the country adorn themselves in pink to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. While this show of solidarity has become an annual occurrence, its important to put this months mission into perspective, and Dr. Nicole Taylor from Summit Pacific Medical Center has offered her advice on how to protect yourself.

Taylor is a naturopathic doctor providing family medicine to people of all ages with a focus in womens health. Early on in her career, about 20 years before moving to Washington and beginning her position at Summit Pacific, Taylor was a high school physical education and dance teacher but struggled finding her true passion in life.

Prior to starting a career as a teacher, she completed an externship at the famous Canyon Ranch Resort & Retreat, a popular health spa for celebrities. At Canyon Ranch, practice of Integrative Medicine sparked Taylors interest and inspired her to begin the journey of becoming a naturopathic doctor At that time, explains Taylor, I learned that the practice of naturopathic medicine uses a unique system of integrating alternative therapies and allopathic medicine to help diagnose and treat both acute and chronic health conditions. Once I knew this type of practice existed, I came to the realization that I wanted to go into that field. After completing her externship and discovering her new passion, Taylor dedicated the next two years to teaching high school while obtaining the remaining prerequisites to enter the Naturopathic Medical program.

Programs for naturopathic doctors are built on a foundation of science and provide training in both allopathic and alterative modality including but not limited to nutrition, herbal medicine, physical manipulation, lifestyle modification, Chinese medicine and homeopathy, etc.

After graduating and operating a private practice with her husband in Arizona, Taylors focus since 2007 has been on womens health, while integrating both allopathic and naturopathic medicine has been her foundation. In 2017, her husband accepted a position with Summit Pacific, resulting in a move to the area and eventually a job for her as well at the McCleary Healthcare Clinic. I really love it here, expresses Taylor. Both myself and my husband have great patients, colleagues, and enjoy being able to serve the community. So many of my patients are appreciative to have the option to see a naturopathic doctor and not have to travel to Olympia.

Bringing her naturopathic medicine background and integrating it into womens primary care has been an important aspect of Taylors many years in the healthcare field. My focus and what I love to do is treat women and whatever their concerns may be, treating the whole person, says Taylor.

When discussing Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Taylor alludes to the common phrase of prevention being key in keeping individuals healthy and protected. We are blessed to have a tool to help us detect breast abnormalities early, through mammography, explains Taylor. Summit Pacific has 3D mammography technology onsite that provides a more thorough screening. The 3D mammogram that Summit Pacific offers takes multiple images of the breast from various angles as opposed to a regular 2D machine that captures two pictures of each breast. This more advanced technology is a major asset for those looking to keep their healthcare more local but still receive excellent and comprehensive care.

For women wondering when they should start receiving annual mammograms, Taylor recommends starting at the age of 40. This may differ based off someones personal history, such as a mother or sister having breast cancer. If this is the case, she refers the patient out for genetic counseling to have a consultation and evaluation to identify possible blood markers that could increase a persons risk of cancer. The genetic counselor would make an individualized plan and Taylor would use that to guide her when devising a plan for preventative testing.

In addition, Taylor emphasizes the importance of women and adults in general, receiving their annual health exams. Patients sometimes overlook this important annual exam if theyve visited their doctor in the recent past for something like the flu or back pain, explains Taylor. But its important to remember that these appointments dont take the place of yearly health maintenance exams where we are really able to focus on prevention. These appointments are dedicated to discussing and/or performing important procedures like pap smears, running yearly blood work, prostate exams, ordering colonoscopies, breast health screenings, and an array of other topics that effect your overall health.

Not only does Summit Pacific have the 3D mammography technology, but they also now have a special dedicated Womens Imaging Suite in the Wellness Center that offers imaging, ultrasounds, and other services. Within this suite, basic screening mammograms are considered walk-in services, so after a provider orders the mammogram, a patient can have it done at their convenience. Another benefit to this facility is that the lab is right next door, making for a very convenient process from start to finish.

Taylor spoke at Summit Pacifics annual Ladies Night Out event that also featuresd various speakers discussing the importance of womens healthcare. The recording of the event can be found on the Summit Pacific website.

Taylor is now at the McCleary Healthcare Clinic and works two Saturdays a month as well as Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Not only does Dr. Taylor focus in womens health, but Summit Pacific offers a wide array of womens health services that can help keep local women healthy throughout the year.

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Dr. Nicole Taylor of Summit Pacific Discusses the Importance of Early Dedication and Prevention During Breast Cancer Awareness Month - GraysHarborTalk

At Well+Good, we spend our days talking to and learning from the most interesting people in wellnessexperts, thought-leaders, and celebrities. Now, were inviting you to join the conversation. Welcome to the Well+Good podcast, your guide to finding the habits and practices that fit your frequency. Read More

When you feel stressed, you might try to self-soothe by telling yourself it could be worse. For instance, lets say that work is really stressfullike to the point where your dread for it is keeping you up at night, and you don't have the time or energy to do anything outside of work. In this case, you might find yourself saying something like, Well, at least I have a job. As positive as this mental framing might seem, using stress quantity as a point of comparisoneven if you're simply comparing it to yourselfis actually one of the least-recommended strategies experts recommend taking for effective stress management.

Working to mentally minimize your own stresswhether using the mindset that it could be worse and thus you should be grateful, or a perceived reality that other people have "more" stress so yours is somehow less worthyisnt at all helpful for your health because youre not actually dealing with the root cause of the issue. Instead, you're more so invalidating your authentic experience of feeling stressed in the first place.

The pervasiveness of stress and how to best deal with it is a focus of the latest episode of The Well+Good Podcast. During the discussion about how to manage stress, Melinda Ring, MD, an integrative medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine, and Dora Kamau, mindfulness and meditation practitioner, and host of the Sunday Scaries by Headspace podcast, provide insight on how we can better cope with our stressno matter the level or root causeand why managing it is integral to our well-being.

Listen to the full episode here:

Comparing your stress to others isn't productive because it deflects from what youre experiencing personally, which can, in turn, lead you to believe that the stress isnt as pervasive as you initially thought. But that couldnt be further from the truth, says Dr. Ring. Stress can affect just about every aspect of mental and physical well-being, she says.

Stress can affect just about every aspect of mental and physical well-being. Melinda Ring, MD

That reality supports the importance of reducingor at the very least managingstress, no matter where in your life it originates. This is true whether you feel a lot or a little bit of stress, because stress management is something we could all benefit from practicing.

The good news is Dr. Ring says the first step in reducing your stress levels is quite simple: Simply acknowledge that it nearly inevitably occurs in your life. This is because, she adds, the mind-body connection is apparent when it comes to healing. There are real, chemical changes that happen in our body that affect the way our mind works. [Similarly], our mental state affects how our body works, she adds. So, if you don't mentally accept your stress and start working on ways to reverse it, your mind may actually contribute to making matters worse.

The same way that stress can have an effect on inflammation (like when your feet try to tell you youre stressed), hormone levels, and the gut microbiome, it can also exacerbate chronic pain issues and fatigue, adds Dr. Ring, noting that stress-related fatigue doesnt get better after a good nights sleep. It's sort of that sense of feeling depleted, [which results in] changes in sex drive and libido [as well as] gastrointestinal issues.

Those aforementioned internal symptoms also have a way of manifesting externally in myriad ways, says Dr. Ring, citing examples like like skin issues and hair loss. It's really a head-to-toe, inside-outside problem, she says. All that said, its clear that not treating your initial stress might make matters worse and lead to even more stress.

Once you embrace that comparing stress is bad and you're focused on treating your own, you might try a few remedies including stress-relief products, like CBD oil, compression sleeping masks, and a scalp massager; acupressure, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practice that brings stress-relief as you tap pressure points in five key points on your body; or a somatic release exercise that helps you destress in one minute. If you get the sense that your stress levels have grown unmanageable, though, its best to seek the help of a medical professional who can work with you on a diagnosis and treatment plan.

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Here's Why Comparing Stress Is Bad for Your Mental Health - Well+Good

DARIEN The first book from physician-turned-author Katie Takayasu on the benefits of a plant-forward lifestyle will be released next month.

Takayasu, who goes by Dr. Katie in both her personal and professional life, is a Stamford Health integrative medicine physician and Darien resident. Her new book, Plants First: A Physicians Guide to Wellness Through a Plant-Forward Diet, explores the benefits of plant-based nutrition, especially in preventing disease and managing chronic illnesses.

The new book draws on Takayasus medical training and her own lived experience from the past decade, she said. It also provides recipes and tips for introducing more plant-based food in simple and practical ways.

The book will be available for sale on Nov. 9. Barrett Bookstore in Darien will host a book launch event that day.

What exactly does plant-forward mean?

Plant-forward doesnt mean plant-only. Its not vegan. Its just trying to prioritize plants and stay mindful of some key things, like protein and vitamin D intake and that is universal for everybody.

What led you to write this book?

I grew up in the farmlands of Ohio, eating a prototypical American diet that seemed healthy. My mom knew that we should eat vegetables, and she definitely put them on our our plate. Now, I realize it was a lot of processed food. As a child and young adult, I was actually quite overweight, which was really a source of difficulty for me it was always this feeling of not being so sure in my own body.

But I knew I wanted to be a doctor. In residency, which I did at Columbia University, I really lost track of myself. I was getting hospital food all the time, I was never working out and, of course, residents never sleep.

My doctor recommended I see an acupuncturist. I did, and it was on the acupuncture table that I was like, Oh my God, this is amazing. At the same time, I was being attentive to sleeping as much as I could and I stopped eating hospital food. On the days that I wasnt on the longer call, I would try to get to the gym or at least take a little walk around the park or something. All at once, I noticed, OK, I feel better.

So for the past 10 years until now, Ive just kept leveling up. Four years ago, I went to a conference where they only fed us raw vegan food. I noticed that when I leveled up with the vegetables and the plants, every other thing that hadnt quite been solved by my previous healthy diet was all at once better. Less constipation, sleeping and feeling lighter just energy stuff.

It became really apparent to me that I needed to do more plant-forward foods for my own diet and with my family. Now, my two boys and my husband love meat. So in a quest to find balance for our own family, I started cooking more and getting more inventive with plants. I started a blog on my website and an Instagram account. Then, I was approached to write this book about what it takes, from a science perspective, to put plants-first on our plates. Its also about the practical how do you actually do that, with boys who love meat? With a busy life and a full-time job?

But I still have a desire to be creative and inventive and make things that are tasty and satisfying. So thats how this project came to fruition.

What is the medical benefit to this type of diet?

My book dives into the root cause of inflammation. We look at the base causes of cancer, heart disease and stroke, metabolic syndromes, diabetes, blood pressure problems, obesity ... if we look at the root cause of lots of issues out there, it really is just inflammation.

So can we use plants to decrease inflammation? I give you the case for why plants are a better way to do that.

Then I go into the practical side. OK, now that you know the science how does one actually do that? I take you into my life kitchen and I tell you how I actually build this into my life.

What does a life kitchen mean?

I call it my life kitchen because the whole idea is that its got to be practical. Its got to be sustainable. Its got to be stuff thats not too difficult.

When we make these shortcuts for ourselves, they feel a little hard at first. But you make these tiny substitutions and then all at once youre like, Well, this is really tasty. This is really good. And actually I feel really good when I eat this.

Its not that someone needs to do this tomorrow. Its over the course of time, and its my experience in my own life and in my patients that it is the aggregate of those tiny little changes that you make over the course of months and years that amount to exponential gain.

How do you recommend approaching this lifestyle, as a beginner?

Take a look at the actual real estate of your plate and do some very easy math. Divide the plate about in half, and over the course of time, try to make half your plate vegetables anyway you want to eat them. They could be in a curry. They could be roasted, they could be in a salad.

The other half of the plate, divide into thirds and make it high-quality protein, good fats in your diet and then whole grains or starchy vegetables. But start with half your plate being vegetables. Its hard to go wrong if you start with half your plate being vegetables.

Its amazing my patients come in all the time and theyre like, Dr. Katie, I started eating more vegetables and I feel better. Its a simple solution that really means something.

See the original post:
When this CT doctor felt run-down, she switched to a plant-based diet. Now her book helps others do the same. - Darien Times

EastIdahoNews.com is highlighting hardworking people who make our local businesses a success. Every Sunday, were Getting to Know YOU!

1. Name, job title and company: Kate Roth MSN, ARNP, FNP-C, WHNP-BCP, ARBHRT-C Nurse Practitioner and Medical Director for Beacon Specialty and Family Practice

2. What does your company do and what are your responsibilities? We provide an array of family medicine services. I specialize in comprehensive womens healthcare and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. She treats thyroid disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, infertility and vaginal rejuvenation treatment. I also perform annual wellness examinations, family planning, treatment of migraine headache, pre-marital exams and bio-identical hormone pellet insertion for men and women. My responsibilities as medical director include maintaining compliance with regulatory state board regulations, HIPAA security services, staff training and competency evaluation in accordance with state and federal law.

3. Where were you born and when is your birthday (dont need to include year)? Champaign, Illinois, October 2

4. How long have you lived in eastern Idaho and what city do you live in now? Ive lived in eastern Idaho for 18 years. (Didnt want to say the city she lives in).

5. Tell us about your first job after high school/college. Hired as staff, then charge RN for the University of Illinois at Chicagos first bone, or stem cell, transplant center.

6. What is the best business decision youve ever made? Partnering with Beacon Integrative Medical Center.

7. Tell us about your family. Wonderful husband, three children all active in sports and school activities. We enjoy doing anonymous service projects, hiking, watching movies, reading books, traveling, and skiing together.

8. Tell us about a movie or book that has inspired you the most in life. (Didnt want to answer)

9. Tell us about a lesson you learned from a mistake you made in your career/business. Corporate healthcare is not for me. I believe in providing compassionate, comprehensive healthcare and making sure my patients feel heard.

10. What is a goal you hope to accomplish in the next 12 months? Grow personally, physically, spiritually and professionally. Always learning!

11. What is one piece of advice you have for someone who wants to do what youre doing? Listen to and love your patients.

12. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? Nothing at all. I am thrilled to be who and where I am today.

13. Where is your favorite place to eat in eastern Idaho? Home!

14. Tell us something surprising about yourself. (Didnt want to answer)

15. How do you like your potatoes? Roasted with garden-fresh herbs.

If you have an employee or co-worker who we should get to know, email rett@eastidahonews.com.

Originally posted here:
Getting to Know Kate Roth at Beacon Integrative Medical Center in Rexburg - East Idaho News