Thursday, April 30, 2015

Crohn’s Disease Often Triggered by Antibiotic Use

Finally, conventional medicine is realizing that inflammatory bowel problems such as Crohn’s disease can be triggered by the use of prescribed antibiotics.  Dr. Ryan Ungaro from the Icahn School of Medicine in Mt. Sinai, New York identified metronidazole and quinolone antibiotics as the most common culprits, creating a condition called dysbiosis.  This in turn can trigger an autoimmune response, which can make the patient very sick.  Recommended prevention (by me) includes using herbal preparations instead of antibiotics and including probiotics at the same time.  Further, we use LDI (low-dose immunotherapy) to desensitize patients who have already developed Crohn’s disease.

Call our office at 800-788-4627 to set up a free consultation to discuss Crohn’s disease.

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Endometriosis Yields to HCG Injections

Thanks to Ronald Steriti, ND and Jonathan Wright, MD (in his excellent newsletter, Nutrition and Healing), we are now aware that HCG injections once or twice a week for at least 3 months can dramatically improve endometriosis without the usual treatments of high-dose hormones, pain medications, and/or a hysterectomy.  HCG is the basis of a pregnancy test and is also used to help people off-label to lose weight.  Large doses have been found to be safe.

Contact an alternative doctor and write to www.wrightnewsletter.com, Sept, 2014 issue.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Diagnosing Fibromyalgia Becomes Much Easier

Dr. Andrew Gross of the University of California, San Francisco, claims that the usual physical exam to assess 18 potentially tender trigger points required by the American College of Rheumatology to diagnose fibromyalgia is “a complete waste of time”.  He uses a simple questionnaire instead that asks for such symptoms as widespread pain present for at least 3 months, fatigue and poor sleep.  After the diagnosis is made, however, I believe that alternative treatments such as LDI (low dose allergens) and Naltrexone are far superior to conventional treatments, which are mostly limited to pain pills and anti-depressants.

Call our office at 800-788-4627 to set up a free consultation to discuss fibromyalgia.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Lung Cancer Screening for Current and Previous Smokers

The US Preventive Services Task Force came out with a recommendation last year for smokers.  Cancer is the second leading cause of death and lung cancer is the leading type of cancer deaths for both men and women.  One reason is that most lung cancers are not detected until they have spread.  The new recommendation is that heavy smokers aged 55-80 and those who have quit smoking in the past 15 years should have annual low dose CAT scans to look for potentially curable lung cancers.  Once someone has quit smoking for 15 years, the screening can be stopped.

 
Google the USPSTF guidelines for more details.


 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Answers to Rosacea

A new Rosacea topical treatment appears to be very promising.  Ivermectin in a 1% cream was used for 12 weeks with an average two to fourfold better improvement over placebo.  It should be available soon.  Alternative treatments that appear to be even more effective include low-dose immunotherapy (LDI) and smooth beam laser treatments.

Call our office at 800-788-4627 for more information.


 

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Psoriasis Bites the Dust

A study reported in Family Practice News in the March 1, 2014 issue showed that you could reduce the annual cost of the usual treatment of psoriasis from $11,757 to $7,786 by using a combination topical treatment of calcipotriene and the steroid, betamethasone.  However, a new treatment of desensitizing called low dose immunotherapy (LDI) seems to be very effective (based on anecdotal reports) at an annual cost of no more than $1200 for the first year and gradually less cost over time.

Call our office at 800-788-4627 for more information or to set up a free consultation.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Moderate Exercise Improves Stroke Risk

You don’t have to be a mountain climber to reduce your risk of stroke.  Moderate activity such as brisk walking, golf, recreational tennis, cycling on a flat surface, and volleyball reduced the risk of stroke by 12-30%.  For women who increased their risk by taking synthetic hormone replacement, exercise mostly counteracted the risk.

See Family Practice News, March 1, 2014, reporting on the California Teachers Study of 133,479 women.