Reflux GERD Herbal Go Bag

Please see my video for an explanation of GastroEsophagel Reflux.  People come to see me for a variety of problems (mostly to help get off prescription medicine with a more "natural" approach to the diseases they suffer from).  If the GI specialist has ruled out infection and big disease (yes, reflux can lead to a pre-cancer called Barretts Esophagus) then I would plan on getting off medicine in 3 months, getting off botanicals in 1 month and maintaining with a proper diet and lifestyle. 

Foods to abstain from while healing up are:
-Tomatoe (whole vegetable or sauce like in spagetti and salsa)
-Chocolate
-Spicy foods
-Coffee (decaf or regular) but expect a headache for 3 days and use tylenol
-Peppermint (however enteric coated may help in moving food through treating bloating)
-No Dairy please (personal preference of mine when healing even with negative allergy tests)
-No gluen please (same as above)
-Large volume meals kick acid back into the esophagus from the stomach-splashing caustic liquid on and unprotected esophageal lining
-Carbonated drinks
-Alcoholic beverage

Yes, holy crap this is an average American Diet!  Good news is if you do this and what I mention in the video, you can heal the gut lining and then return to high stress response and poor diet again! 

Medicines that shut down acid (to be used for maximum of 3 months while preparing to get back to healthy lifestyle and guilt free eating) are:
-Prevacid
-Prilosec
-Nexium
-Axid
lesser strength
-Tagamet
-Zantac
-Pepcid

Botanical supplements to use while weaning off the medicines during the 2-3month mark of weaning off are:
-DGL chewable found at Whole Foods Market or Fruitful Yield.  Taste is like black licorice.  Chewed slowly! (stressed people eat like hungry pets and scarf food without chewing causing poor digestion)  Mix the DGL with saliva then swallow1-2 tabs 10 minutes before meals for an average of 3-4 times daily.  It works as a demulcent to sooth irritated lining.  Long term use of regular licorice has been associated with hypertension.  DGL is the form of licorice with a good safety profile in long term use.  If your diet is changed so you speed up stomach healing, should be able to get off the DGL in a month from starting it. 
-Slippery Elm can also be used (I usually prefer this for IBS but found in lozenge form for people who dont like the taste of black licorice) 1000mg three times a day. Can prepare as tea by steeping 1 tsp slippery elm powder in 1 cup water for 10 minutes. Pour off liquid, discard powdered sediment in bottom of cup. Can add maple syrup or honey if desired. Drink 1 cup in-between or after meals. 
-Marshmellow Root usually found in tea.  1 tblsp in 2 cups of water 3xdaily
-Aloe Vera gel 100-150mg 2-3xdaily to sooth lining.  Must be aloin free, more studies are needed but aloin could be carcinogenic.

Botanicals to expedite peristalsis or proper emptying of the stomach.  Usually if there is reflux, the stomach gets used to kicking food back up to vomit the irritating food, not down to digest.  Re establishing chew/swallow/digest/absorb can be initiated with:
-Ginger500-1000mg dried ginger 2-3xdaily before meals. 
-Aloe Vera as above also to bulk stool and help with digestive tract movement.
-Peppermint enteric coated helps with movement.  This is why you find peppermint candy at the check out of some restaurants.  But caution as peppermint is also an acid stimulator if not enteric coated!

Mechanical changes like keeping the head of your bed angled at 30 degrees.  (Think of raising a baby crib head higher to prevent burping up of formula after eating.)  Not exerting strength or lifting heavy after eating.  Not swimming immediately after eating (yes old school rules!)

Consider acupuncture to help with "moving energy" down.  The best results come from doctors trained in China. 

This is a rather large "go bag" for Reflux but it gives alot of options.  Seek out an Integrative Medicine physician or a well versed Naturopathic doctor to develop a healing schedule/timetable and always rule out disease first.

 

St Johns Wort

Tis not the season to be Jolly....
As the earth tilts on it's axis, the rays of the sun enter our atmosphere at a steeper angle.  The result is a commonly felt change in daylight (shorter days) but an uncommonly felt change in emotion (seasonal affective disorder).  Perhaps from primal instincts of nightfall being associated with predation, the brain seems to be more emotional, less tolerant, poor creativity, less enthusiastic, loss of interest, socially withdrawn.  These normally would be traits that would thin the heard, as animals that suffered this would separate from the group and be easy meals for man eaters.  In the modern era, darkness has been changed to be a time of community, family, story telling, camp fires and social gathering.  There still are a select few (4-10% of the population) who experience depression like symptoms during the winter.  It is usually more women than men, and more in the northern states than southern states.    The symptoms are subtle if just from the change in season,  You don't have to be labeled with preexisting major depression to suffer from SAD.  Sometimes all it takes is loss of a job, loved one, a move, major infection, new diagnosis, economic hardship.  (stressors that happen at the wrong time)


Diagnosis should be made by a professional, to make sure thyroid is working fine, adrenal gland is good, no vitamin deficiencies are occurring,   Behavioral therapy is a must when there is any form of behavioral imbalance.  My older patients are usually steadfast in saying "I'm not going to a shrink!".  My younger patients are more willing to experiment.  It does take strength to have someone examining and query your past and current emotional status, not to mention childhood years and related milestones along the way to adulthood.  It is thought that only through the delicate guidance of someone trained in behavioral health can one gain a good vantage point for introspection.   At that point when all the learned stress response and and poor coping skills are relinquished; problem solving can be started on how to heal-physical, emotional and spiritual.
To get through the rough spots while moving away from the trauma, sitting for couch time, trying to sleep......there are prescriptions given if symptoms are severe enough.   For mild to moderate depressive feelings, botanical supplementation has a track record of improvement in depression equal to that of standard antidepressant medications.
NIH study Zoloft vs St Johns Wort vs Placebo
To be included in the study symptoms had to be difficulty with concentrating, lack of energy, lack of interest, difficulty with completing tasks, oversleeping, craving carbohydrates, irritability, insomnia, and anxiety.  Bottom line with the results-SJW/Zoloft gave the same result for improving depression actually with placebo also ranking an effect to patients with mild to moderate disease.  My average patient believes once you get on "psych medicines" you will be on them forever (alot of hesitation).  The true use of any medicine is to make daily living sustainable until the body/mind corrects itself.  If nutritionally healthy, physically fit without any co morbid diseases, the body and mind should be able to heal itself.  If you wait until depression becomes severe, it will be much harder to reverse.   Seasonal affective disorder is a subcategory of Depression. 


Think of a rash from food; if you get a rash from something you ate, depending on how much you like the food and how bad the rash it determines how fast you resolve the issue.  If you keep on applying lotion yet indulging in the bad eating behavior, nothing will change.  One must change the connection to the toxic thing so you wont need the temporary fix.   In this case of SAD, if the temporary fix has little side effect, can be acquired without prescription and has been rigorously studied for safety-BINGO! 
-St Johns Wort (from a reliable company) is a great supplement/botanical.  It should not be used with certain HIV drugs, Chemotherapy, oral contraception, blood thinners.  It can be used along side current depression medicines but a wean up (SJW)/wean down (prescription depression med) schedule should be designed by an integrative doctor/integrative psychiatrist.   I often suggest (SJW) if a life trial occurs during the cold season.   If used as a maintenance during winter months, I suggest start at Thanksgiving and wean off by Easter.  In southern states the time period can be shorter.  As with any form of disorder in mood, therapy should be initiated with a pastor/social worker/licensed counselor/psychologist or psychiatrist.  It is very difficult to undo bad coping skills on you own.  (smoker stop smoking, teenager stop texting, eater stop binging, procrastinator start moving)  Having someone to be accountable to increases sustainability and success. 

Creatine use for muscle bulk

I remember in the 90's a competitive cyclist told me he was using creatine for his work outs and noted the when he was on it, bulk was thick, without it, training was same but doesn't think he got as "beefy".  At that time the information out there was it caused kidney failure if taken during times of dehydration.  It was theorized that benefits only came to endurance sports.   No great reproducible studies, only one or two case reports.   The amount of creatine used (during loading phase) is equal to about 5 steaks, I remember some friends from the 80's on Temple University's Power lifting Team that would get close to 3-4 steaks during competitive season.  I wonder if they went onto healthy futures with the Temple Hospital bypass team.  So if you could get the effects of creatine without any side effects of too much red meat, why not enhance your exercise?  According to Jay Hoffman (one of the profs from UCF where I was team physician) the idea is to use creatine to enhance training response.  Creatine helps to rephosphorylate ADP to ATP.  The more ATP in the muscle cell, the stronger the actin/myosin pulls, the stronger the muscle works to move, pull, push, contract.  With an effective training response, followed by good repair time and a healthy diet, the stronger the muscle is to endure the next exercise routine.  Note to beginners, if you are not fine tuned with an existing exercise routine, do that first to establish muscle fitness, cardio and proper body mechanics.  If you start out of the gate with expensive supplementation and a new exercise program (designed by someone trained in the exercise arena-personal trainer, certified instructor, exercise physiologist, physical therapist, sports medicine physician) no doubt my average patient usually gets muscle soreness and joint pain and really waste the dose of creatine.  For it to be effective, most studies suggest:
1-loading dose of 20-25grams daily for 5 days
2-maintenance of 2-5grams daily for 10 weeks (depending on size of athlete)
3-wash out period for 3 weeks (no creatine) it takes about 3-4 weeks of abstinence to have muscle levels return to baseline
Wash out suggested since there have been no reproducible studies on the long term effects of creatine on the bodies own production.  Yes, the body produces it, in fact those with high endogenous creatine will have poor to no results when ingesting the supplement.  Side effects are gastric bloating, and discomfort with the loading phase.  Muscle cramping also a smaller listed side-effect although when I used it at the above suggestions, during a post workout abdominal stretch, I suffered one of the most excruciating spasms to the rectus abdominis.  This causes 10/10 pain and locks the body into a forward fold until the muscle fatigues in a few minutes.....oh..it also cuts back inspiration so I couldn't breath.  Good thing I was in forward fold with my head down or I would have passed out. 

The wash out phase should be coordinated with the "max out" concept of muscle fatigue.  If your exercise routine is challenging, your "coach" will always design a progress/overload schedule over several weeks.  Care in designing this on your own as either we are too complacent and stick with no overload thus loose stimulation of muscle growth or too aggressive and push/crash (I took this term from my exercise physiologist Aimee Weber). 

Care in using creatine with exercise stimulants like "Amino Shooters", Redline or other pre workout energy drinks as they may have more ingredients than are written on the label.  (The FDA "asks" that companies watch-dog themselves and be honest in labeling ingredients....kinda like asking your teenagers to "be good" on a date).  These are great for enhancing reaction time, focus, training response but could also cause insomnia, high blood pressure, agitation (similar to caffeine overdose). 

Finally if there is pre existing kidney disease, you are on a blood pressure medicine (diuretic) or a diabetic, avoid this stuff and seek out another way to get you past your exercise plateau.

(A study in the UK was performed hoping creatine in pulmonary rehab patients would be able to gain muscle mass during therapy for lung disease.  No great results were found but more info necessary-I believe it was due to the participants did not hit their plateaus in fitness and were just tested during ordinary exercise endeavors) 

Creatine Use Video

Athletic Kids and Vitamins

Little Sis calls and asks what should we give to my future linebacker and Olympic swimmer nephews.   Loaded question as anyone I care for knows, handing out a one size fits all diet/supplement regime is basic but probably not sustainable.

Reminiscing to early practice.... I still remember in my old clinic at CDH, I used to have a folder of exercises put together for specific body aches.  Thought I was smart by having things pre-printed for my staff to hand out after I came up with a diagnosis.  One day I was walking out after clinic and saw the handouts sitting in the trash at patient checkout.  They didn't even wait to get home and dumped the one-size-fits-all hand out in our garbage.  Not everyone can afford physical therapy co-pays but if the suffering is bad enough/long enough or surgery is coming-I rather have a personally designed rehab program applied, modified and re-applied to get the body to heal itself properly.

Reminiscing to youth, my Sis and I grew up in a kitchen where mom had a meat dinner every night and eggs/spam for breakfast.  Having more than 1 dish available for dinner was a sign of success.   Having the best cut of beef for parties was living large.  That was when eating large volumes of steak was the way to "get big" if you were a guy and girls only did 'aerobics' to burn off the calories.   Creatine and protein came into vogue in the 90's, 'steroid stacks' were sold in the gym at the millennium.  Now we have complex bodybuilding "herbs", TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), epo, steroid hiding drugs all abound in sports because of endorsement deals and social media spotlight.  So the urgency to be the best has trickled down to grade school levels.  Training hours per week have surpassed what a division I crew team would be going through on full boat scholarships.  The problem arises in those little joints that haven't stopped growing yet.  Placing excessive leverage on a tween joints can pull growth plates off long bone causing things like shoulder dislocations, little league elbow, chondromalacia, osgood schlatter and severs disease of the heels.  

Once you find an activity of interest, be aware of how the coach treats his/her team.   It is habit to want to drop off for practice and do some errands but invest some initial time in observing and make sure coach sees you.  Tag team with other parents as well.  I trust that most coaches have good intention especially if their own kid is on the team but don't assume.  Observe the dynamics of how aggressive training is, how the ultimate concern is the experience of working with others and self improvement.  Now comes the meat and potatoes of what my sister was asking.  

Supplements are a good idea for an average American diet.  Dr Agus was recently on a DrOz episode and brought up his perspective on no vitamins.  I don't agree, average family eats OK, but usually has fast food mixed in 25% of the week (usually at school!).  Just to balance the trips to any place where you cant be in the kitchen to check the type of cooking oil or choice of meat, I feel a multivitamin will "supplement" the basic building blocks for maintenance, repair and growth.  I hope that with the other 75% of weekly intake coming from cooked meals at home, you may get some nutrient from the whole foods purchased from the periphery of the grocery.  No no no......soil today doesn't have the same nutrients as 2-3 decades ago, more pesticides are used, more GMO seed is used, distance of shipping has been solved with airfreight so you may be getting fruits and veggies picked before ripening over 2000 miles away that never had the opportunity to complete life cycle and consequently spoil much faster on your counter.  Anything that looks or feels a few hours over ripened will have degraded its nutrient content days before.  May not be getting appropriate vit K, magnesium or iron especially if parents are choosing a semi vegetarian lifestyle.  I don't feel we will see overt rickets, pellagra or beriberi in our schools but I do believe there will be (and already is) an abundance of unusual adult diseases popping up in childhood (reflux, depression, bipolar, diabetes type II, hypertension, high cholesterol, irritable bowel...) that were unheard of for kids in the 80's and 90's.   All diseases are multi factorial and no time to discuss here but going back to basic suggestions......a multivitamin would be a start.   More important for my young patients is to begin a habit of 'ritual' where the kid gets used to taking a tablet, capsule or liquid every morning.  Even if the cheap kid vitamin with inferior binders just ends up in the toilet, that young person has now ingrained the idea of always taking a vitamin daily.  If you try to start at teen years....get ready for resistance and failure.  So for me the habit is important and starting early is important.  If the little guy/girl has a medical problem then we should probably not just stick with cheap Walgreen's brand.....I would spend for higher grade vit's or get them compounded.   I remember in one of the ER's I worked at there was a stark contrast in home nutrition; had a very calm easy going patient care tech that spent her whole paycheck on organic for all the kids/then her counterpart- a registered nurse who was usually stressed out and stated she attempted to feed her kids 'healthy' but it was too hard so she goes with MacDonald's and all microwave stuff because they all refused.  It does take patience, planning but pays off in the long run.  If it is too stressful to change diet now, OK....but all that omega 6, fructose and caffeine will have an accumulative effect sooner or later-guaranteed.

Second on my list is omega 3 oil......fish or cod liver OK!  (just watch for piggy back vit A mixed in with some cod liver oils.   (preformed vit A can be a problem with acting as a proinflammaotry)  Again building on the idea that average kid has 50% or more of their weekly intake from fast food high in omega 6.  Too much omega 6 and too little omega 3 turns on inflammation- arthritis, bowel disease, skin disease, depression......short of cooking with EVOO, eating more fish less red meat, taking the omega 3 daily will re-balance away from 'standard American diet' and more to 'mediteranean diet/antiinflammatory diet'.  (in basic soccer-parent terms: given a choice of 3 days of knee pain vs 2 weeks of knee pain-diet can make the difference)  Kids are sensitive to burping smells so free the capsule (the tiny one are great, call the company to inquire about if they check for mercury in product regularly)   Liquid omega 3 can taste nasty.....although at the Arizona Integrative Medicine Fellowship, I sampled Barlean's pina colada omega 3 6 9 and it was yummy!  (children average about 700-1200mg daily)

Last is vit D3.  Due to melanoma scares, we sun-block the hell out of our kids which is good for skin cancer but bad for maintaining vit d levels in the body.  Most Americans are low on vit D, there is new conflicting evidence for pro's and con's on using supplement but for the last 10 + years low levels have been associated with diseases like cardiovascular disease, asthma and certain cancers.  The data on vit D toxicity(overdosing) is lacking so even if future studies say it doesn't help to keep blood levels high, it aint gonna hurt either.  Until NIH and the Cochrane show anything different.....please take vit D3 for yourself and your kids.   (children average about 400IU daily to be taken with healthy fat/food/oil)

So it seems like I am pushing alot of pills on kids and yes, if diet is lacking, don't wait until later.  Always, always change the diet first.  If you cant, then add the multivitamin and make it a habit.  If there is a medical disease, clear it with the doc and add the omega 3 and D3 at the least.....other things depending on the presentation.  (ie...zinc for adhd, inositol for anxiety, magnesium for dysmenorrhea, probiotics for irritable bowel, turmeric for muscle aches, licorice for reflux...)  Wedge in some healthy snacks and meals into daily nutrition and hopefully they become accommodated to always seeing a fruit, veggie, or fiber source thus take it with them to adulthood. Maintain a meatless Monday and fish Friday to cut down overall sources of red meat (high omega 6 and cholesterol) and experiment with non redmeat dishes to see if they catch on.   Even if training is 2 hours a day, 5 days a week (that is time consuming right in the middle of the day! God bless our parents!)  the antiinflammatory diet is the gold standard for keeping a healthy injury free athlete.   Eat Drink Weigh Less by Walter Willet, The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Harmon Jenkins (nice pics), John LaPuma's Big Book or his website for free recipes www.drjohnlapuma.com and of course my guru Andy Weil and his multiple books and informative website www.drweil.com .

(For my parents.)

Cold and Flu Herbal "Go Bag"

     I feel my chances are high regarding getting sick from a contagious patient.  Not so much at First Health Associates where I see complicated chronic conditions.  More at the immediate care centers where I "moonlight" for Alexian Brothers.  I get the occasional cough or stuffy nose but the last time I touched an antibiotic was 2003-2004 for a sinus infection after which I proceeded to come down with the rare psuedomembranous colitis from antibiotic over dose (this was after the first day!!!)   Note: this is when I was sleeping less, drinking a large coffee from McDonalds with 10 packs of sugar and a steak egg and cheeze bagel/hash browns every morning, beer with dinner which was mostly Filipino feast foods and the occasional 1 pound hamburger from Fuddruckers.  Oh...almost forgot the dozen warm cripsy cream donuts "for the staff" on fridays.  
     Those days are far behind me but the point is I try to stay healthy and set and example for friends, family and patients but still get a little cough, stuffy nose now and then.   I have confidently developed my "go bag" of herbal supplements that have truncated any/all infections my body is trying to express.  As in most integrative treatments, use is based on factual studies.  The higher the degree of disease presentation/complication, the more RCT's (randomized controlled trials) or Cochrane Reviews are necessary before making recommendations.  (This is the ultimate reason for putting myself through 2 years of fellowship study- outside the normal training set by the state and fed in order to practice medicine.)   I have adapted a few things to make sure natureal healing is maximized when homeostasis becomes imbalanced with infection.  

1 Avoid all dairy

product for 10-14 days (even organic) I would really cut out all processed food (no matter how much you crave it), complex/big meals, alcohol, excessive caffeine-if you cut out all caffeine now you will have a withdrawal headache ontop of the viral/flu/sinusitis headache.  The opposite is true if you starve yourself down to 1000cal daily, the immune system will "hit the wall".  If you want to keep at a minimum of food intake....the old way Bananas Rice Apple sauce Toast is ok for 24-48 hours but push fluids:
2 Make sure the minimal fluid

intake per day is 3 liters per day (13 cups) try to make the morning warm fluid and cool it down as the day goes on.....cold water is more palatable.   Ayurveda practice is to start with warm fluid as to not cool the fire (solar plexus chakra) that starts the day.  I also like using Airborne fizz tablets in the water to insure taste helps it go down.  There is argument as to whether Airborne has any healing properties at all....I just want it to taste better without adding sugar. 
3 Elderberry

has been studied to shorten the days of illness in children with viral symptoms.  The dark berry is surmized to accentuate white blood cell killing power.  For kids-Sambucus is a nice formulation with echinacea.  For adults I suggest New Chapter Sinus Take Care or Garden of Life Immunity Sinus usually at Whole Foods Market or Fruitful Yield.  All about 4-5 times daily for 5 -7 days. 
4 Astragalus

 a fantastic root that is known as an "adaptogen".  This category responds to stress with "boosting" to calm the stress response of white blood cells but also allow to unleash hell to bacterial and viral invaders.  Think of the professional boxer-cool, collected knows a strategy that works and is focused on getting a job done in the ring.  Compare to a drunk brawler who may have adrenaline but no control of emotion, decision making even if he has the same tools as the boxer.  Now think of a while blood cell that is focused on work vs a white blood cell that is over stimultated.  The overstimulated will either attack the wrong thing (a friendly knee cell in Rheumatoid Arthritis or an intestinal cell in Inflammatory Bowel Disease) or it wont fight the true invading bacteria/virus leading to infection after infection.  There have been small studies showing benefit of astragalus daily use in asthmatic patients during cold and flu season to decrease infection rates.  If you are lucky, your local herb shop will have astragalus tongue depressors, think slivers of the root you chop up and place in tea or soup if you dont mind the taste of bark.  (Whole Foods Market brand, Nature's Way-purple top, Now Foods from Fruitful Yield)
5 Neti Pot nasal irrigation

2-3 times daily followed by over the counter or prescription meds to decrease nasal swelling (if congestion or cough is part of the picture).  I like Nasacrom that can be purchased anywhere no script needed-I relied on it heavily 2 decades ago when it was only prescription and worked well then and still works now (albeit the otc dose is smaller than back in the day).  Some people dont like putting things in their nose......a spray form is probably ok but can irritate the ostia (hole) the sinus uses to drain discharge into the nose and out the nostrils.  Irritate the ostia too much and it may cause a nasty facial headache.  I do not believe the viral story that went out about a neti pot being the cause of a parasite killing someones brain-neti pots have been used for more than 2500 years even before antibiotics/antiparasitics where invented, those were times when infection and parasites were true life enders.  If there was a high association with brain absess formation, 2500 years would have shown a relationship of all the people in India dying of massive brain absess outbreaks.  Purchase at any herbal store, vitamin shop, most pharmacies.
Link to DrOz Oprah demo of neti pot

6 Aroma Therapy

is a technique of getting the proposed strength of a plant into the body via the nose and lungs.  Like asthmatics and their inhalers/nebulizers, so to can an ultrasonic nebulizer "shake up" plant oils to make a vapor for you to inhale/sniff.   There is some research saying it works it works to induce a relaxation response in the brain.  I havent seen specific reproducible data showing head to head trials vs prescription drugs but who cares?   If the potential side effects to the treatment are minimal (breathing in nice smells) then the treatment doesnt need multimillion dollar randomized control trials for me to have a patient use it.  (....and it has to be affordable since being broke is a side effect)  I experimented with Young Living Thieves.....used it in my office for people coming in with flu symptoms and they did feel very "different" with fewer symptoms.  If you are really lucky, there will be an herbalist or "aromatherapy blender" who can find the exact combination of essential oils to help change your mind body response.  Jenn from JennScents first introduced me to aromatherapy and herbal medicine- fantastic blends!  Or try Olabas Oil found at Whole Foods Market or Fruitful Yield in the water of steam bath or steam cave - link to my Flu Lecture

7 Medical Acupuncture

is a fantastic tool that improves normal functioning during the infection.  Although the data is still being studied, if an asthmatic cant breath and a few needles helps-positive response!   If a gastritis sufferer gets control of nausea with one single acpuncture needles-postive response!  I have used it with many different patients and at the least, it makes the patient feel empowered and helps get through the crisis.  (Used it for my mom when she was suffering from the abdominal pains from her pancreatic cancer......doesnt matter if it was placebo-she got relief.  Only in America to scientist minimalize the placebo effect.  In my heart, if it works, causes no harm, is affordable/free.....do it!  No such thing as "false hope")  See Dr Zhu in my office, Dr Leon Chen in Lombard, Frank Grill in Naperville.
8 Massage

from an energy healer/massage therapist to chest and facial acupressure points feels good.   It also is a way to stimulate the acupuncture points that heal if the patient doesnt like needles.  Using essential oils like Eucalyptus to the lung points in a bronchitis sufferer or along acupuncture meridias that help drain sinus infections help my average patient get through the infectious process with less drugs.  Only problem is finding a credible acupuncturist.  I studied 1000 hours from UCLA and I rate myself as"ok".  There are far better docs than me and this is where I send my patients.  Have to research where the acupuncturist went to school, how long in practice and what is their sole means of economic survival.  If it is a practitioner that only does needles and they have been around 10 years with training from China-probably good.  If a person that does alot of different things but also does needles and studied for 6 weeks to get a diploma-run for your life.  Most states have a credentialing board overseeing non MD's, then there is the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture certification for MD/DO's.  Don't forget your spouse.
9 Mushrooms

have great medicinal value and have been used for centuries in Asia.   Good studies regarding using only them to intervene with fighting infections.  The problem is which companies do we trust?  As is the problem with all the above where do we buy our herbs.  Regarding mushroom, I like GAIA brand "Throat Shield"  peppermint flavored.  Cant tell if its the alcohol/cinnamon or the mushroom that helps sore throats.......but it doesnt matter as the cost is little more than chloraseptic throat spray.  2 sprays every 2 hours or before bed helps get through a day or night with less drugs.  Also helps calm a throat so you can eat if strept throat or tonsillitis is the problem.  
10 RICOLAAA!!!

I like any throat lozenge for soothing if it has elderberry, eucalyptus, echinacea......and not too much sugar.  Comfort is important otherwise you wont eat or drink and be in pain all day.  If number 9 is too expensive.

And there is my "go bag" of winter illness rescue.  I have a few extra things like high dose D3, magnesium, zinc, high dose vit C, colloidal silver, homepathic Boiron products....but just with the 10 things above, people get discouraged when there are too many choices.  Even if an antibiotic is needed, I still do all the above plus a probiotic for 30 days to rebuild the gut flora I destroyed with the antibioic.  Shopping a Whole Foods Market causes a spasm in my wallet but speaking from personal experience, I have not touched an antibiotic for almost 10 years and I am sitting 2 feet away from people that are being seen with strept, bronchitis, pneumonia, MRSA, sinusitis and infectious diarrhea.   Make you own judgement but dont just keep on taking antibiotic after antibiotic thinking you have no other choices.

Link to a slideshare.net lecture on Colds Coughs and Capsules
Link to a video on my influenza experience

Homeopathic pellets

Had a great mom come in with daughter.  Seen at the ER for a bike accident few days ago.  Was wearing a helmet (thank God!) but took a face plunge and "road rashed" her left face with a puncture to the inside left lip from her tooth and residual night terrors from the event.  Couple of other minor scrapes to the arm and leg left side.  Mom is very "natural" tries to avoid conventional fruits and veggies, gluten, dairy and red meat.  This is a great mom- takes alot of effort and research in addition to high cost to purchase low toxin, pesticide and antibiotic exposed food sources.  Some of my average American families (especially the Dad's) will be saying "I grew up eating meat and potatoes with scrambled eggs every morning and look at me-I feel great and dont need to see a doctor or take medicine".  Truth is some people are lucky but most Americans are overweight (33.9% as of 2008), more Americans kids are on ADHD medicines than ever before, 25% of all deaths are due to heart attack even with all the sophisticated surgeries, medicines, hospitals you see advertised on TV, and following heart disease, the second highest cause of death in the US is cancer.  Anyway, doing as much at the younger years as possible for your children will probably keep them out of the "statistics" of an average American. 

Here is the other end of the bell shaped curve.  She was using tea tree oils for the wounds (helps with healing but can sting the hellll! out of the fresh abrasion) and it smells funny to kids.  Was using colloidal silver oral drops for speeding up white blood cell response (good suggestion but dosing in kids can be challenging and there have been cases with chronic use causing a permanent blue color to the skin (I took care of a man that did colloidal silver for years and yes he looked like Papa Smurf).  And she had read about homeopathic pellets, asked the herbal store clerk (who was well versed with pellets) and was giving her daughter 5 pellets of 30C Arnica Montana daily in addition to another.    The concept of Homeopathy is an old science that dates back about as far in the Hippocrates if you ask the Homeopaths but was officially practiced from the 17-1800's.  3 Principles of
1. Similarity (like cures like)
2. Process of Individualizing Therapy
3. Lowest Dose Necessary
Some of my collegues will say if the pellet contains only a parts per million fraction of a 'toxin'....how can if cure an illness.  Most people (doctor or layman) will usually fear or hate what they dont understand.  There have been meta-analysis back and forth in the medical communities across the globe on if Homeopathy is better than placebo from 1997 up to recent Swiss study in 2005.  Problem is results will be OFF when you study applying a standard sample of technique that is meant to be individualized.  This same problem came up with modern medicine "studying" the effects of traditional acupuncture for "western diagnoses" like high blood pressure.  Acupuncture (like homeopathy) is a "whole system" approach of healing.  It doesnt just look at a constellation of symptoms labeled under an ICD9 Diagnosis.  The ancient healing arts look at the individual, paying attention to the functioning, thinking, emotionality of the patient.  (Personally I disagree with the studies that said acupuncture is equal to placebo in treating disease)  Regarding homeopathy, I have seen great things with the Naturopathic doctor in my office reversing complex symptomatology in patients I was having so much trouble controlling.  (Most recent was a college age student with ulcerative colitis stuck on steroids that were worsening his ADHD/Anxiety; which in turn worsened his ulcerative colitis prompting is GI specialist to consider a "fecal transplant" from an unknown donor to reinhabit the kids colon......yes, in laymans terms...placing someones poop in your butt....ewwew!) Sorry I detracted, bottom line is the average intake questionaire a homeopath goes through to choose the correct medication/pellet is 8 pages long.   I learned from one of my Infectious Disease Integrative Collegues who is also a practicing homeopath-it can be very dangerous to "pick and choose" from the pellet display at Whole Foods Market for reversing disease.  It can be deadly to apply the same principals to a child. 

My patient's mom had all good intentions and I praise her for it.  The learning point is please consider seeing a practicing homeopathic doctor before just loading up on those sweet tasting tiny pellets to heal (could be considered candy as well so keep out of kid reach).  30C several times a day for an adult could be good or bad. 

-200C needs expert advise
-Kid dosing needs expert advise
-Using chinese herbs or multiple supplements or prescription medicine in addition to pellets needs expert advise

a Link to find expert advise;
 http://homeopathyusa.org/specialty-board.html
 http://www.hanp.net/
 http://www.homeopathy.org/

I advised my patient's mom she was right on with inention and offered a few changes:
-stop the pellets until seeing Dr Green (the naturopath in our office)
-instead of the pellet/tea tree combo, switch to the topical cream of Traumeel (lower dose homeopathic content with a cooling effect if placed in the fridge) at lunch for 10 days
-switch the oral colloidal silver to topical Silvadene Cream (also placed in the fridge for cooling effect)- well tolerated for burn victims of all ages and covered by insurance twice a day for 10 days
-continue to avoid dairy and gluten
-tylenol for pain before showering to reduce the burning sensation
-lavendar drops on her pillow to relax and induce sleep
-guided imagery (story telling) at night to help sleep http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/02/just-me-and-the-trees-new-childrens-book-introduces-families-and-classrooms-to-breathing-and-meditation-techniques/
-consider seeing a kid friendly counselor if the "nightmares" continued after 3 weeks

 

The Anti-inflammatory Diet

I guess this is a catchy phrase. In the last 3 lectures, whenever I open for Q & A afterward, people always ask for the info. I will always redirect to Healthy Aging by Andrew Weil. The concept is very healthy eating and once you read through I think the average person thinks ......ok, it's just a list of everything healthy.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet

The exerpt from the book is far more informative. Some people just need a list to post as a constant reminder. The food pyramid is a little more user friendly than it has been in the past but still doesn't have a wow factor. Some folks are probably looking for a new diet to follow also.

Most medical studies are centering on the role of inflammation in many diseases. Obviously in acute inflammation/injury but now in arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, bowel problems and even cancer. I have heard that people attending my conferences are trying to watch food intake but the economy is hitting hard. My beloved Whole Foods is a great store but leaving with half a bag full of stuff will usually run me the same price for a week of family eating at Jewel (a popular grocery chain in Illinois).

I am visioning a step wise approach to changing a diet will be with stuffing one's self with fruits and veggies. As is suggested by many a dietician, 5-7 f and v's per day is a basic. In my diet, getting 5 in daily will usually take up the volume in my stomach that would have been taken up by something else I would have been eating previously (fast food). Or the converse is true, the 5 would be filling up a stomach that would have been growling at 10-11am or 4-5pm for lack of anything being eaten. In 1999-2000, my medical practice was booming and my fund of knowledge was huge. My health was also the worst of my life. I remember often "powering" through lunch and dinner without eating and justifying that action as "at least I won't gain weight". I paid for those years with psychological scars I will never forget,(I still carry a wrist band from being admitted once to the hospital).

My wife made my daughters favorite spagetti dinner and I said, Oh No....I won't be able to stop so I shouldn't start. She said, why do I suffer so much. My reply was that I suffer more from the bloating, slowed bowel, and lethargy than I do from the act of starving. She often calls me OCD since I like to maintain eating small portions of fruits and veggies up to 4-5 times daily to keep the stomach full and stop the hunting for a dopamine rush with something carb loaded. I also rely on a small salad before eating a tasty dish just like the Italian restaurant does to postpone hunger.

So ultimately, the Saguil Approach is "stuffing down" 5-7 fruits or veggies per day will usually "push" out the space that would have been taken up by something else in the daily diet. The 5-7 "fillers" will also supply foods that are low glycemic index (keeping the stable and not crashing after food intake), high in fiber and easy on the bowel. A smooth working bowel will translate to proper absorption of nutrient, supplement and not to mention, secreation of serotonin, the hormone use to treat depression.....(another reason for carb hunting). Fluid plays a great role as well but thats for a later blog. Once a patient realized how good life is without bowel problems, and sleep is improved and workouts are more intense/rewarding, the process steamrolls and more aspects of the "Weil Antiinflammatory Diet" can be followed (without guilt)