Category Archives: Integrative Medicine

With the novel coronavirus pandemic keeping more Ohioans at home, the American Heart Association will be moving its Lake & Geauga Counties Heart Walk online.

On June 6, area Heart Walk participants and teams will not physically meet, but are invited to get moving at home or around the neighborhood starting at 8 a.m., according to a news release

Here are a few activities participants can consider choosing from:

Take a walk outside - while following current social distancing guidelines

Get the whole family involved and have an indoor dance party

Try out a few strengthening exercises like push-ups, lunges and squats

Create an at home circuit workout.

Now, more than ever, were all looking for innovative ways to connect with others, stay physically active and stay positive, American Heart Association Executive Director Valerie Hillow Gates said in the release.

The Heart Walk also is a critical piece to funding the organization, which also recently announced a $2.5 million fund for rapid response scientific research projects to investigate the specific cardiovascular implications of the coronavirus, the release stated.

The annual walk also aims to be a fun and meaningful way to celebrate heart and stroke survivors, raise lifesaving funds and encourage physical activity.

This virtual format allows everyone to continue to have fun and support the American Heart Associations lifesaving mission, while adapting to spending more time at home,"Sharon Minjares, director of Integrative Medicine at Lake Health, said in the release."We are grateful for the support from our community and cant wait to see how everyone makes the Heart Walk their own.

To register for the Heart Walk, visit the American Heart Associations website. To participate virtually, walkers should also sign up on the Lake Geauga Heart Walk Facebook event page.

Additionally, May 15 will be Lake & Geauga Heart Walk Rally Day when walkers and teams are encouraged to sign up to walk. Organizers are striving to have 150 community members pledge their support to walk on June 6.

On the day of the Heart Walk, riders are encouraged to wear their spirit and post pictures and videos to the Facebook event page using the hasthtag #LakeGeaugaHeartWalk.

Nancy Guthrie, senior relationship manager at Key Private Bank, and Lora Lewis, vice president of people operations at Kinetico Inc., are co-chairing the Virtual Walk this year.

Visit www2.heart.org to learn more.

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Lake & Geauga Counties Heart Walk to be held online in 2020 - News-Herald.com

Integrative medicine is a healing-oriented medicine practice that focuses on the entire person when developing a plan for healthcare. While many of the methods used are ancient remedies like acupuncture or changes in diet, the cost of treatments and accessibility to the right foods and supplements might not be feasible for some and give integrative medicine the air of being a practice only available to the rich. However, despite the high costs that come with some aspects of integrative medicine, this effective practice can be reasonably cost-efficient when you focus on the changes that individuals can make.

At its core, integrative medicine focuses on holistic care. As a result, when studying a patient's gastrointestinal problems, you don't just look at the GI system; you examine the whole person. How much sleep do they get? What's their diet? What does their home environment look like versus their work environment? What facets of their life could be contributing to the problem? All of these factors and more are taken into consideration when dealing with a plan for care.Integrative medicine also calls for a much closer doctor/patient partnership where care is collaborative and ongoing, rather than on an issue-by-issue basis. It also places huge importance on preventative care, where the focus is on helping keep the body holistically healthy to prevent any health concerns from arising. Because of the continued basis of care and the focus on prevention, integrative medicine is the key to providing poor and marginalized communities with the healthcare that they need. People in underserved communities often experience more stress which leads to chronic medical conditions and poor health, all of which could be treated with an integrative approach.

Providing integrative care to underserved communities is especially crucial at this time when our nation is facing an opioid crisis spawned from a drug-heavy approach to managing chronic pain. While many physicians are quick to prescribe painkillers, even long-term, to help manage pain, integrative medicine offers a number of modalities in their place including massage therapy, herbal medicine, and acupuncture which have all been shown to help reduce chronic pain. Furthermore, while pharmaceuticals especially those for pain management help you deal with the pain, they don't treat the underlying issues that are the root of the pain in the first place. Opioids and painkillers also lack the ability to improve the patient's overall quality of life. Using practices like mindfulness can help you improve your mental health as well as your physical health and can do so much more for chronic pain than simply numb it.

Integrative medicine holds the answer to a healthier society as a whole, and making it more accessible to underprivileged communities is the key to truly affecting healthcare change in America.

Excerpt from:
Why Integrative Medicine is for Everyone - Patch.com

We're healing our broken system of healthcare.The Novis Health Franchise Model delivers health care that is both highly effective and highly accessible for patients.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. and ST. LOUIS (PRWEB) May 07, 2020

Novis Health and MindBody Talent today announced a strategic partnership focused on recruiting and integrating qualified healthcare professionals into the innovative Novis Health model of franchising the development of Functional Medicine healthcare practices across the United States. Working closely with a network of medical practice service providers and franchising experts, Novis Health has created the first franchise model of its kind in North America.

The companies aim to proliferate much-needed Functional Medicine services through individual healthcare practices and area development strategies in key target areas across the U.S. The Novis Health Blueprint is based on successful practice prototypes in South Carolina and Colorado. The unique franchise model will enable rapid practice start-ups or conversions of existing practices in a consistent delivery methodology that focuses on the highest quality of patient care.

A Return to the Roots of Optimum Health ManagementFunctional Medicine is the field of health care focused on treating complex diseases, chronic health problems and promoting healthy living by focusing on the root causes of illness and the biological foundations of good health. Practitioners of Functional Medicine provide a holistic system alternative to the conventional allopathic medicine approach of diagnosing symptoms and prescribing pharmaceutical products or surgeries that has dominated the American healthcare system since the 1950s.

In her landmark book, A Nation of Unwell Whats Gone Wrong, Dr. Kristine Gedroic, MD equates the allopathic approach that she and other practitioners learn in conventional medical schools to masking root causes and unplugging the smoke alarm while underlying fires of illness burn uncontrolled. In contrast, the Functional Medicine field facilitated by the Novis Health and MindBody Talent partnership seeks to transform U.S. healthcare from the illness focus that is perpetuated by conventional medicine to the wellness focus facilitated by Functional Medicine practitioners. A rising wave of patients, caregivers and healthcare practitioners are also seeking that transformation.

A Rising Tide of Interest and NeedAccording to the 2020 Industry Report of Functional, Integrative & Naturopathic Medicine, the healthcare fields commonly referred to as Functional, Integrative or Lifestyle Medicine are estimated to become an $89 billion industry in 2020, growing six times from its level of $14.7 billion in 2012. Patients and their caregivers are displaying a rising hunger for alternatives to allopathic medicine and the negative consequences of pharmaceutical-centric health care.

The 2020 Industry Report found a 5000% increase in Google searches for integrative care over the last five years. The Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine reports a 2,200-patient waitlist. The University of California at San Francisco Osher Clinic sees 10,300 patients annually and reports a four-month waitlist for services. The Report predicts that there will be over a million Integrative Medicine practitioners in the U.S. in 2020. Medical schools and credentialing boards are scrambling to enhance Functional Medicine education and board certifications.

Unique Franchise Model Benefits Patients and PractitionersNovis Health is addressing the explosion in demand for Functional Medicine solutions through its delivery of a turnkey healthcare franchise model that gets practices up and running quickly, as well as economically for both patients and practitioners. The Novis Health Blueprint surrounds healthcare practitioners with everything they need to ramp up new practices or convert existing practices into high performance centers for patient care.

Doctors and advanced care providers should not have to worry about sorting through the hundreds of details involved with starting, ramping and running their practices, explains Dr. Ryan Valencic, CEO of Novis Health. Healthcare practitioners want to spend as much of their time as possible with patients. Thats where their patients need them to focus their time and energies as well. The Novis Health model enables the management of high-performance healthcare practices that are able to optimize patient-facing time, to the benefit of patients and practitioners alike. Our model delivers healthcare that is both highly effective and highly accessible for patients.

More efficient practice management enables practitioners to devote their time and attention to the hallmark of the Functional Medicine discipline getting to the root causes of what is making people sick and facilitating reversals in the disease process. Enhancing quality time with patients enables treating the whole person nutritionally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, rather than just the disease theyve been labeled with by the conventional medicine approach.

Novis Health has chosen an initial focus on the areas of hypothyroidism, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, immune system management and whole food nutrition because those tend to be linchpins in the process of serious disease management, recovery from chronic illness and identifying pathways to healthy living.

Talented Professionals are the Key to GrowthNovis Healths partnership with MindBody Talent was created to source, recruit and integrate top Functional Medicine practitioners and administrative personnel into Novis Health practices.

Our plans for growth are based on finding and recruiting the best physicians, advanced care providers and administrators in the country, explained Dr. Valencic. MindBody Talent shares our vision, as well as a commitment to our aggressive growth plans. They have exactly the right skills, experience and knowledge in our field to keep our practices supplied with key talent.

MindBody Talents principals agree. We founded MindBody Talent with a driving passion to return our country to a state of wellness and vitality, explained Robin Stewart, CEO and Managing Director of MindBody Talents Recruitment and Placement practice. We recognized that same passion in the mission of Novis Health. Our partnership creates a perfect synergy in supporting practices and practitioners who serve on the front lines of the long overdue Healthcare Revolution that is sorely needed across America.

In addition to recruitment services, MindBody Talent will support Novis Health practices with a baseline of consistent training, personnel on-boarding and operational readiness services. Depending on the needs of individual practices, MindBody Talents service lines can be activated individually or in combination to fuel the effectiveness of Novis Health practices and the growth of patient panels for practitioners. The range of MindBody Talents plug-and-play services include:

Connecting with Novis Health

Practice Professionals: Qualified Functional Medicine practitioners and practice administrators who are interested in learning more about practice positions and franchise opportunities, contact Robin Stewart at Robin@MindBodyTalent.com or 310-890-7489.

Patients and Caregivers: Patients, patient advocates and caregivers who are interested in learning of Novis Health practices coming to your area, contact Dr. Ryan Valencic at dr.v@novis-health.com or 814-233-9387.

About Novis HealthChallenging the Health Care Status Quo. Novis Health has created the first Functional Medicine franchise model in North America. Grounded in the discipline of Functional Medicine and focused on the key linchpins of optimum health, Novis Health is rapidly growing a nationwide model for health care that is revolutionizing how patient conditions are evaluated, assessed and treated. Specialties in the cardinal areas of hypothyroidism, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, immune system management and whole food nutrition ensure that patients receive effective recovery and pathways to optimum health that last. Our franchise Blueprint enables our wisdom and successful practices to be shared and scaled across the United States with a consistent high-quality level of patient care.

Visit Novis Health on the web and social media: Website: http://novis.health/franchise/ Facebook (Patients): https://www.facebook.com/novishealth/ Facebook (Practitioners): https://www.facebook.com/NovisHealthFranchise/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novishealth/ YouTube: Novis Health, LLC

About MindBody TalentMindBody Talent is a rare collaboration of seasoned professionals from the fields of Healthcare, Health Sciences, Hospitality, Wellness and Senior Living. Through a platform of integrated services, we blend our experiences in traditional western medicine, eastern health philosophies and native wisdom into a focus on Functional, Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine problem-solving. Our client base and talent pools include a nationwide network of Wellness industry practitioners, medical practices, hospitals, wellness centers and forward-leaning senior living communities. Our driving passion is to unite the best talent on the planet into the next generation of Mind-Body Wellness for the communities we serve.

Visit MindBody Talent on the web and social media: Website: https://mindbodytalent.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mindbody-talent Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindBodyTalent/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindbodyTalent Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindbodytalent/

ContactsMedia and Investors

Novis HealthDr. Ryan Valencicdr.v@novis-health.com 814-233-9387

MindBody TalentRichard Hoffmann Rich@MindBodyTalent.com 314-202-0033

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Novis Health and Mindbody Talent Form Franchise Recruiting Partnership - PR Web

During stressful times, it is especially important to take care of your emotional well-being. At Englewood Health, we are continually evolving in how we meet the mental health needs of our community. In addition to providing outpatient mental health services and inpatient psychiatric care, our behavioral health team is committed to community outreach, with an emphasis on prevention, early intervention and self-care to foster emotional wellness for both children and adults.

Here are some helpful resources:

As you know, children comprehend information differently at different ages. Support your child in a manner that is appropriate for their individual developmental stage.

Recognize the signs and symptoms of your childs stress.

Gather facts to answer your childs questions accurately. The CDC offers online suggestions for talking with children about COVID-19.

Listen to your child and talk with them in a calm, reassuring tone.

Encourage your child to ask questions, and answer their questions honestly, at an age-appropriate level.

Limit the amount of TV, radio and online newstoo much COVID-19 coverage can lead to anxiety.

Teach your child things they can do to reduce the spread of the virus.

Frequent and proper handwashing

Sneezing into a tissue or elbow and throwing the tissue into the garbage

Keeping sufficient distance from people who are sick or who are sneezing or coughing

Create structure and routines to maintain a sense of normalcy.

The Gregory P. Shadek Behavioral Care Center leads ongoing educational programs to support the emotional well-being of youth and adults throughout our community. The center is actively engaging at-risk populations, to mitigate the psychological impact of the pandemic.

Events and topics include:

How to Manage Anxiety During this Crisis, an online presentation in collaboration with the Englewood Public Library (available on the librarys Facebook page)

Emotional Stress in Caring for Children During this Time, presented online for the Womens Rights Information Center in Englewood

When Your World Feels Upside Down, a webinar presented for Dwight Morrow High School students in partnership with Metro Community Center in Englewood

Express Yourself, a four-session, weekly art therapy series on Instagram, focused on key emotional wellness themes, for students ages 7-12 and 13-18, presented with Englewood Healths Graf Center for Integrative Medicine

Englewood Healths Dr. Tracy Scheller, medical director of the Graf Center for Integrative Medicine, and its team of licensed clinical social workers are developing live and recorded webinars for the community, Englewood Health patients and staff, focused on self-care and emotional wellness. The programs will be available online. Visit englewoodhealth.org for more information.

Meditation, Wednesdays, 4:00-4:45 p.m., on Facebook.com/TheGrafCenter

Virtual yoga

Digital library of lectures by Englewood Health experts

It is important that we be aware of our own stressors and recognize our limits. If we are emotionally healthy, we are better able to support our children, our parents and the elderly and other vulnerable people in our community. Self-care is essential; use this opportunity to take care of and protect yourself.

Here are some basic self-care tips:

1. Eat healthfully.

2. Get a good nights sleep.

3. Move your body (walk, yoga, dance).

4. Try a wellness app (meditation, mindfulness).

5. Be in the now (when your mind wanders and fear sets in, return to the present).

6. Practice positive self-talk. Remind yourself that this will not go on forever. Tell yourself, You will adjust, you will heal.

7. Embrace positive distractionsbinge-watch a show, listen to music, flip through a magazine.

8. Avoid becoming a media junkie. Overconsuming COVID-19 coverage fuels anxiety. Turn it off!

9. Connect with others through technology. Call, text or use a video chat platform like FaceTime.

10. Take breaks throughout the day.

When you are feeling anxious, focus on the present. Ask yourself, What do I need to do today? Enjoy the things we are still able to dogo for a walk, read a book, cook, spend time with your family.

Englewood Healths psychiatrists and licensed clinical social workers now offer telehealth psychotherapy, as well as bereavement therapy, for those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19. If you are experiencing chronic anxiety, having difficulty controlling worry or feeling depressed, talk with your doctor. You may benefit from short- or longer-term therapy.

We may all be living in this unfamiliar situation for an extended period of time. I encourage everyone to be aware of their emotional health and to prioritize self-care.

For more information, visit http://www.englewoodhealth.org.

Lauren Menkes, LMSW, MPH, is director of social work at Englewood Health.

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COVID-19 and Emotional Wellness - Jewish Link of New Jersey

We are all on a journey unlike any we have experienced before. Now that we have more time and, perhaps, motivation to contemplate life, many questions come to mind about our health, our family, our connection to humankind, the way we spend our time and energy, who and what are most important to us.

One particularly useful question is, How good can we make this time? Our success in facing any challenge relies on our approach to it. Without making light of all the suffering in the world right now, we can all acknowledge that we make choices, each day, about how we handle what is in front of us. I learned this lesson well, working as an HIV physician at the height of the global AIDS epidemic. I saw grace and dignity in the face of fear and tragedy like I may never experience again in my life. It changed me.

With our careers and lives upended, many of us have a different kind of control over what and how we work. Right now, there are other ways we can go to work. We can use this time to take care of our body, quiet our mind, love one another and find joy. Immune readiness and truly taking care of ourselves are all of these things. Preventative measures are our first line of defense.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY

Five things to remember:

1) Hydrate.

2) You are what you eat.

3) You are made to move.

4) Sleep is essential.

5) Supplements help.

HYDRATE:Hydration is necessary for energy, detoxification, optimal organ and immune function and mental clarity. We can hydrate medicinally by consuming liquids with immune boosting effects. Bone broth enriched with garlic, onions, herbs; freshly juiced vegetables and fruits; or teas rich in polyphenols and antioxidants alkalinize the body and improve immunity with their nutritional punch.

You are what you eat:

Cell structure and function are determined by what we eat. It is that simple. Adopt an alkalinizing, plant-based, whole-food diet with clean-source organic protein and abundant healthy fats. For most people, a paleo or paleo-like diet which eliminates inflammatory grains, processed foods, sugar and dairy is the best foundation for optimal health. When you are planning a meal, think about your veggies first, then build from there.

Phytochemicals are the medicine in fruits and vegetables that can repair DNA, decrease inflammation, prevent cancers and bolster immune function. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and the primary fuel for immune cells. Cell membranes are composed of the dietary fats we consume. Healthy fats equal healthy cell function. Bad fats compromise it.

Think of your food as medicine. You can supplement a healthy diet with potent immune boosting foods such as garlic (antiviral), ginger and turmeric (antioxidant-containing, anti-inflammatories), tea and dark chocolate (rich in immune cell activating polyphenols), and fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, kombucha and apple cider vinegar (alkalinizing foods that positively influence immune function via the gut microbiome).

You are made to move:

Exercise is necessary medicine for your body, mind and spirit. It helps improve immune function in several ways. To name just a few: deep breathing improves pulmonary function and resistance to infection; exercise increases circulation of antibodies that fight infection; the rise in body temperature during and after exercise can help kill circulating viruses and bacteria; exercise also dampens the release of stress hormones associated with a higher risk of infection.

Sleep is essential:

During sleep, our body releases protein cell-messengers, which rally the immune system to fight infection. Sleep deprivation increases cortisol, pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases risk of disease both physical and mental. Good news! Short morning and/or afternoon naps can boost immune function and offset nighttime sleep deprivation.

Supplements help:

Nutritional supplements provide essential and powerful immune support. Vitamins A, C and D are of particular importance in fighting viral infections. While NAC thins mucus and is the building block for the bodys most important antioxidant, Zinc inhibits viral replication and reduces mortality in severe pneumonia and Selenium fires up the bodys initial immune response to infection. Probiotics, through their influence on the gut microbiome, regulate both arms of our immune response to any infection.

Botanical (plant) medicines influence immunity through several different mechanisms. While some increase our initial response to infection via the activation of Natural Killer (NK) cells, others influence the production of antibodies or have direct viral inhibiting effects. Elderberry, Reishi, Tulsi (Holy Basil), Echinacea, Resveretrol, Nettles and Quercetin are some of the most useful botanicals when rallying the immune system to tackle viruses like the coronavirus.

Other helpful forms of immune support are using a netipot to clear the nasal passages and sinuses, especially after any potential viral contact (for health care workers and others on the frontlines, I feel this is essential); diffusing anti-microbial essential oils such as tea tree, lavender and thyme; and the practice of relaxing.

QUIET YOUR MIND:Meditation, in all its forms, can increase brain volume, reduce depression and anxiety, and improve immunity. Meditation is more than prayer or sitting still. Living mindfully and intentionally are forms of meditation as well. Focusing your thoughts and activity quiets the mind, reduces stress and allows for peace and greater vitality. Living meditation, like reading, journaling or writing letters, purging and organizing, as well as growing things and investing time in food preparation, can be productive, not just for the peace-inducing effects they have on the mind, but in terms of actually getting things done.

Other centering activities such as Hygge, the Danish word that describes creating a mood of coziness and contentment, and attending to your own spiritual practice can create comfort and ease stress in times of loneliness, discontent, fear or worry. Seek still and beautiful spaces out on a hiking trail, in your neighborhood or in your own backyard that allow you to feel at peace. Breathe deeply and breathe them in.

Love One Another:

We are hard-wired for connection. Actual and perceived isolation are both associated with increased risk for early mortality comparable to factors such as smoking and obesity. Our health and longevity are dependent on our feelings of love and belonging. If you are not feeling the love, please reach out and try to create some and dont forget to ask for what you need. Social distancing does not mean social isolation. This could be the most meaningfully connected time of your life.

Love is whats real. Every other experience arises as a reaction. Anger, fear and worry are all reactions to discomfort and uncertainty they are disconnections from love. Joy and compassion are expressions of love. As much as possible, dive in.

There are countless ways to love: random acts of kindness, four-legged friends, honesty, tenderness, listening, forgiveness and giving someone the gift of your time.

Find Joy in Everyday Things:

Last, but not least, joy is the rocket fuel of our souls. It is not hard to access, especially when we give attention to the everyday sources of it. Make sure you spend time in nature each day. There may never be a better time to take walks, plant flowers or a garden. These are safe and joyful spaces. Connect with friends and loved ones with whom it is not always convenient to connect. More people than ever are available to answer their phones! Share your breakfast or morning walk with a phone friend. This warmth can get you through the day. Make time to develop a new skill or hobby; indulge in sensual pleasures like music and art, or any creative process. Above all, practice gratitude for all that you have and the life you have lived so far. FBN

By Dr. Karen van der Veer

Dr. Kren van der Veer has more than 20 years of experience as a physician, acupuncturist and educator.Her career has been defined by her passion for and devotion to serving others.She currently teaches at NAU and sees patients at Aspen Integrative Medical Center, located at 323 N Leroux, Suite B, in Flagstaff. For more information, call 928-213-5828.

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Immune Readiness in the Time of COVID - Flagstaff Business & Online News | Northern Arizona Local Newspaper - Flagstaff Business News

A world in the middle of a pandemic can be difficult to explain to children, pulled out of their daily routines of attending school and socializing with friends, but experts in the mental health field say being honest and observant is the best move for parents.

Its different with little kids. The main thing to keep in mind is they dont understand whats going on and they see whats happening as a reflection of themselves, said Dr. David Spiegel, director of the Stanford Center on Stress and Health and medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Spiegel, with more than 40 years of experience studying the effects of stress on health, said that not spending time outdoors is an issue for children who struggle with managing high bouts of energy.

One of the problems is kids are full of energy that needs release and its hard to do that when theyre not outside, said Spiegel. Try to get physical exercise. Thats important, and make sure they get sleep. When we dont, were falling asleep in the middle of the day. Kids just get agitated.

Although younger children may be excited their parents are spending more time at home, Spiegel said teens who have greater independence and feelings of being invincible may find the extended isolation difficult with which to cope.

Its different with teens who miss hanging with friends. One thing that helps older children is giving them tasks to make them part of the team, not just a burden, said Spiegel.

In the short term, children may show signs of stress through outbursts of agitation and restlessness, but parents can help their children regulate those emotions by legitimizing their feelings, said Mark Cloutier, chief executive officer of Caminar.

Kids are dealing with a loss of stimulation from the loss of going to the park, to school. The presence of physical activity improves your mood and a lack of it can lead to anxiety and depression, said Cloutier. Parents with kids with special needs have even more complications and I think kids are vulnerable. This is a confusing time for them. Its a confusing time for parents to engage more deeply with them to evaluate how theyre feeling. Normalize that so they dont feel isolated.

Caminar is a nonprofit behavioral health organization founded in San Mateo serving 20,000 individuals across San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Solano and Butte counties. During a remote program hosted by Caminar, Dr. Jess P. Shatkin, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine said helping to structure days, empathizing with loss and validating emotions can help young children and teens manage through the uncertainty.

We want to stay close, we want to be connected and yet at the same time we recognize social distancing has to happen. So help them manage that. Thats a really difficult thing because everything about evolution is driving our kids towards being together and of course theyre going to want to break the rules and spend time together, said Shatkin.

Spiegel recommends guardians consider their childrens baseline of behavior, noting if they tend to be sad or avoidant. He said worries should arise if kids begin engaging in arguments and escalating fights that may occur due to a change in routine.

Going to school is a protection and escape for kids who are feeling disassociated or risk harming themselves. If they begin saying they dont want to be around anymore or have a history of those thoughts, take it seriously and contact health professionals, said Spiegel. The thing I worry about with teens is that they think theyre immortal and they are less likely to review social distancing. Parents need to reinforce to them how important it is. And things like vaping and smoking put you at a higher risk of lung inflammation. Whatever you did before, dont do it now.

Spiegel said it is too early to tell what the long term effect will be on children experiencing chronic stress brought on by the pandemic, but research shows an increase of the stress hormone, cortisol, can have long term effects on the expression of mental disorders like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health disorders.

Parents can monitor their own behavior as an immediate effort to alleviate possible stress on their children, said Spiegel, adding that children are highly receptive and will pick up on emotions.

We have to watch ourselves. Our fuses can get short because were worried about infections, financial problems, all sorts of things. We all have to be extra careful, said Spiegel. As an adult youre passing stress. When youre short tempered they just see that as their family members dont love them that much. They think its them and if thats the attention theyre getting theyll do things to provoke that response.

He said maintaining a sense of normalcy can mitigate long term consequences and this moment of crisis can be an opportunity to either do damage or to pull together.

We cant do anything to the damn virus but we can do something to cope, set aside time to heal yourself, said Spiegel.

Read more:
Parents and children coping with isolation during shelter-in-place orders in San Mateo County - San Mateo Daily Journal

A microbiome fingerprint method allows tracking of mothers microbial strains inherited by infants.

Casey Morrow, Ph.D.Microbial communities in the intestine also known as the gut microbiome are vital for human digestion, metabolism and resistance to colonization by pathogens. The gut microbiome composition in infants and toddlers changes extensively in the first three years of life. But where do those microbes come from in the first place?

Scientists have long been able to analyze the gut microbiome at the level of the 500 to 1,000 different bacterial species that mainly have a beneficial influence; only more recently have they been able to identify individual strains within a single species using powerful genomic tools and supercomputers that analyze massive amounts of genetic data.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham now have used their microbiome fingerprint method to report that an individualized mosaic of microbial strains is transmitted to the infant gut microbiome from a mother giving birth through vaginal delivery. They detailed this transmission by analyzing existing metagenomic databases of fecal samples from mother-infant pairs, as well as analyzing mouse dam and pup transmission in a germ-free, or gnotobiotic, mouse model at UAB, where the dams were inoculated with human fecal microbes.

The results of our analysis demonstrate that multiple strains of maternal microbes some that are not abundant in the maternal fecal community can be transmitted during birth to establish a diverse infant gut microbial community, said Casey Morrow, Ph.D., professor emeritus in UABs Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology. Our analysis provides new insights into the origin of microbial strains in the complex infant microbial community.

The study used a strain-tracking bioinformatics tool previously developed at UAB, called Window-based Single-nucleotide-variant Similarity, or WSS. Hyunmin Koo, Ph.D., UABDepartment of Genetics and Genomics Core, led the informatics analysis. The gnotobiotic mouse model studies were led by Braden McFarland, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAB Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology.

Braden McFarland, Ph.D.Morrow and colleagues have used this microbe fingerprint tool in several previous strain-tracking studies. In 2017, they found that fecal donor microbes used to treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections remained in recipients for months or years after fecal transplants. In 2018, they showed that changes in the upper gastrointestinal tract through obesity surgery led to the emergence of new strains of microbes. In 2019, they analyzed the stability of new strains in individuals after antibiotic treatments, and earlier this year, they found that adult twins, ages 36 to 80 years old, shared a certain strain or strains between each pair for periods of years, and even decades, after they began living apart from each other.

In the current study, several individual-specific patterns of microbial strain-sharing were found between mothers and infants. Three mother-infant pairs showed only related strains, while a dozen other infants of mother-infant pairs contained a mosaic of maternal-related and unrelated microbes. It could be that the unrelated strains came from the mother, but they had not been the dominant strain of that species in the mother, and so had not been detected.

Indeed, in a second study using a dataset from nine women taken at different times in their pregnancies showed that strain variations in individual species occurred in seven of the women.

To further define the source of the unrelated strains, a mouse model was used to look at transmission from dam to pup in the absence of environmental microbes. Five different females were given transplants of different human fecal matter to create five unique humanized-microbiome mice, which were bred with gnotobiotic males. The researchers then analyzed the strains found in the human donors, the mouse dams and their mouse pups. They found four different patterns: 1) The pups strain of a particular species was related to the dams strain; 2) The pups strain was related to both the dams strain and the human donors strain; 3) The pups strain was related to the human donors strain, but not to the dams strain; and, importantly, 4) No related strains for a particular species were found between the pup, the dam and the human donor. Since these animals were bred and raised in germ-free conditions, the unrelated strains in the pups came from minor, undetected strains in the dams.

Hyunmin Koo, Ph.D.The results of our studies support a reconsideration of the contribution of different maternal microbes to the infant enteric microbial community, Morrow said. The constellation of microbial strains that we detected in the infants inherited from the mother was different in each mother-infant pair. Given the recognized role of the microbiome in metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, the results of our study could help to further explain the susceptibility of the infant to metabolic disease found in the mother.

Co-authors with Koo, McFarland and Morrow in the study, An individualized mosaic of maternal microbial strains is transmitted to the infant gut microbial community, published in Royal Society Open Science, are Joseph A. Hakim, UAB School of Medicine; David K. Crossman and Michael R. Crowley, UAB Department of Genetics; J. Martin Rodriguez, UAB Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases; and Etty N. Benveniste, UAB Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology.

Support came from the University of Alabama School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health grants CA194414 and NS116559, a UAB Neuro-Oncology Support Fund award, and an American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant through the ONeal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB.

Continued here:
Individualized mosaics of microbial strains transfer from the maternal to the infant gut - The Mix

Since vegetables make up the largest portion of a Mediterranean plate, it's important to understand which to include. While Smith says, "Any and all vegetables work," certain veggies are healthier than others.

Dark, leafy greens, for example, contain a variety of antioxidants and carotenoids that help fight free radicals and reduce inflammation. They're also generally high in vitamins and minerals. To get these benefits, add spinach, broccoli, kale, and arugula to your plate, just to name a few.

Another simple way to consume a large variety of vegetables is with a healthy side salad. In true Mediterranean fashion, integrative medicine doctor Bindiya Gandhi, M.D., suggests eating "traditional Greek salad made with tomatoes, cucumber, green peppers, onions, olives, and feta."

Other vegetables to include: carrots, Brussels sprouts, garlic, cauliflower, bell peppers, artichokes, zucchini, eggplant, squash, mushrooms, celery, fennel, cabbage, leeks, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc.

Originally posted here:
These Are The Standard Macronutrients On A Mediterranean Diet Plate - mindbodygreen.com

TORONTO, May 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CB2 Insights (CSE:CBII; OTCQB: CBIIF) (CB2 or the Company), has announced that it has achieved its target of reaching profitability. On an unaudited basis, the Company has seen positive EBITDA for April 2020. Amidst the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Company continues to work hard to prioritize achieving full profitability. This will allow the Company to strengthen its cash balance and remove all reliance on external capital for activities beyond strategic initiatives. The Company will use only cash derived from operations to support current and new projects.

Further, the Company has seen a growth of 25% in patient visits during the month of April compared to the same period in the prior year. Total patient visits in April 2020 were 6,756 for the month compared to 5,366 in April 2019. The Company continues to see accelerated growth in patient volume driven through national brand exposure (30+ corporate-owned clinic locations in 12 states across the US), competitive marketing and patient acquisition strategies as well as effective patient retention programs.

Additionally, the Company expects to see further growth as a result of recent laws in the US allowing for telemedicine to be utilized for medical cannabis certifications across all the states the Company operates in. This will provide the Company the ability to access remote parts of each state where services are either limited or unavailable to patients. With a team of over 70 healthcare providers, the Company has the scale and size to support patients across the state and is focusing on expanding its marketing efforts to support this expansion.

The Company also recently announced the launch of Skylight Health Group (SHG) as part of its clinical operations in the United States. SHG, which will provide a range of integrated health services such as primary medical care, consultative specialist care and alternative health, wellness & multi-disciplinary services will operate under an insurable integrated model in accordance with the rules, regulations and requirements by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Provision of insurable services to patients at a limited or no cost will allow greater access for patients who are currently unable to afford such care as a result of growing unemployment rates due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both initiatives in addition to other projects the Company is currently working on will be funded solely through profits generated from operations.

Achieving positive EBITDA by Q2 was a commitment made to our shareholders and other company stakeholders over the last 6 months. I am glad to announce that we continue to execute on our business plan, focused on what is relevant to our core, and ensuring successful execution by our entire team to reach this significant milestone, said Prad Sekar, CEO, CB2 Insights. Profitability at a time in todays market where leveraging external capital is highly dilutive and expensive, allows us as a Company to focus on building on and not just holding our current position; and doing so in the best interest of our shareholders and commitment to the long-term value we intend to achieve. Furthermore, it allows us a business to invest capital in growth areas such as data analytics and research to additionally boost future revenue and margins as we continue to establish ourselves in the traditional Healthcare and Technology industries.

The Company continues to see strong demand within the month of May and will provide further updates over the coming months. CB2 Insights continues to bolster its data insights business unit with two interactive dashboards available at http://www.cb2insights/insights. These dashboards are in real-time and give users immediate results. Visitors to the website can also request further, custom insights from the Company.

About CB2 Insights

CB2 Insights (CSE:CBII) is a global leader in clinical operations, technology & analytics solutions and research and development services with a mission to mainstream medical cannabis into traditional healthcare. Providing immediate market access through its wholly-owned clinical network across 12 jurisdictions, proprietary data-driven technology solutions and comprehensive contract research services designed for those in both the medical cannabis and traditional life sciences industries, CB2 Insights is able to support its partners across the entire data and research spectrum.

CB2s Clinical Operations business unit leverages extensive experience to develop clinical models with standard operating procedures, advanced workflows, training and ongoing management support. CB2 also owns and operates its own specialty clinics including the brands Canna Care Docs and Relaxed Clarity which assess nearly 100,000 patients seeking medical cannabis treatment to provide immediate market access to US-based product manufacturers for clinical trial and research programs.CB2 also owns and operates Skylight Health Group, an integrated health division providing patients access to primary care, family medicine, integrative and wellness services.

The Company has built both electronic data capture (EDC) and clinical data management software (CDMS) which work to support its partners of any size to execute their data and clinical strategies.

CB2 also offers comprehensive contract research organization (CRO) services including full scale clinical trial management, trial design, monitoring and other key research functions used by licensed producers, multi-state operators and traditional pharmaceutical companies entering the medical cannabis space.

For more information please visit http://www.cb2insights.com.

For additional information, please contact:

Investor Relations Department1.855.847.4999 ext. 212investors@cb2insights.com

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in CB2s filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the opportunity to provide services and software to the U.S. cannabis industry.

Although CB2 has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are subject to inconsistent legislation and regulation; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and recreational-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. CB2 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and CB2 does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

Financial Measures

This news release makes references to certain non-IFRS measures, including certain industry metrics. These metrics and measures are not recognized measures under IFRS do not have meanings prescribed under IFRS and are as a result unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. These measures are provided as information complimentary to those IFRS measures by providing a further understanding of our operating results from the perspective of management. As such, these measures should not be considered in isolation or in lieu of review of our financial information reported under IFRS. This news release uses non-IFRS measures including EBITDA. EBITDA are commonly used operating measures in the industry but may be calculated differently compared to other companies in the industry. These non-IFRS measures, including the industry measures, are used to provide investors with supplementary measures of our operating performance that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS metrics. These metrics are provided ahead of YE 2019 and Q1 2020 filings (expected to be filed in June 2020) and are provided for the purpose of a general corporate update at the time of this release.

No securities regulator or exchange has reviewed, approved, disapproved, or accepts responsibility for the content of this news release.

Original post:
CB2 Insights Announces Unaudited Profitability in April and Continued Execution of its Business Plan - GlobeNewswire

The Dog Doc

Its hard to get good health care for humans, but what about for our four-legged friends? With The Dog Doc, director Cindy Meehl offers a feature-length defense of integrative medicine, which combines the best of conventional medicine with alternative treatments (disclosure: Ive taken one of my dogs to a holistic vet, and Id do it again). The poster child for this approach is New York veterinarian Marty Goldstein, whose flashy canine-patterned shirts are a beacon for furry patients that other vets have written off, like Scooby, a dog with bone cancer in his jaw diagnosed with just months to live. For tumors, Goldstein uses a radical procedure: He freezes the tumor, which doesnt cure it but allows the animal to heal. But Goldsteins real target is the immune system. He believes that by changing an animals diet and introducing supplements, including doses of vitamin C administered intravenously, he can add years to dogs lives. Conventional vets call Goldstein a quack. One doctor met with Goldstein intending to debunk his claims, but when he saw how much one of his treatments transformed a dog that could barely walk, he became a convert. For dogs, Goldstein and his peers just might give hope to the hopelessif they can afford it. The film was scheduled for the Environmental Film Festival in March, one of the first events to go virtual in the pandemic, but its available now through AFI Silvers virtual programming. The film is available to stream at dogdoc.vhx.tv. $12. Pat Padua

The National Museum for Women in the Arts online D.C. Women Artists card collection spotlights five artists who shared a city but had vastly different perspectives. The printable cards provide background information on each artist, along with a series of insightful questions that prompt you to reflect on the works more closely: Notice the way Elizabeth Catlett played with light to reveal unspoken emotion in Two Generations. Georgia Mills Jessup played with light in Rainy Night, Downtown, too, but with more color and geometry; the result is an energetic portrait of the old 14th Street NW Trans-Lux Theatrethough you may feel a pang as the card assumes youre in the museum and says its location was about a block from where you are standing. Even more abstract is Alma Woodsey Thomas Iris, Tulips, Jonquils, and Crocuses. Individual petals may be difficult to make out, but her spontaneous brushstrokes and vibrant colors evoke flowers in movement. She isnt the only artist to reflect what she called her communion with nature. Anne Truitts Summer Dryad gets its name from the female forest spirit of Greek mythology, and Los Mailou Jones painted the valleys of France that sheltered her from some of the racial discrimination she faced in 1930s America. Scatter the cards around the room for an impromptu exhibit or assemble them on a wall to form a collage. However you display them, the cards offer a skylight into each womans Washington that notes the effects of their time, socio-economic status, race, and gender. The cards are available online at nmwa.org. Free. Emma Francois

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City Lights: Stream a Documentary on a Daring Dog Doctor or Dive Into Work by D.C. Artists - Washington City Paper