Naturopathic Medicine – Canadian News

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Canadian Naturopathic Care – No More GST

Patients get a break, naturopathic doctors get recognition. That’s what happened in Ottawa this month as the federal government conferred tax-exempt status for NDs.

When the GST was originally enacted, fewer than half of Canadian provinces had legislation governing naturopathic medicine.  While NDs have been regulated in BC since 1923, many provinces had no legislation.  Therefore, government decided that while dentists, chiropractors and other licensed health practitioners would be exempt from GST, NDs would have to charge their patients.

Since the 1990s, over half of Canada has become a regulated jurisdiction for NDs: BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia all have provincial acts governing the profession.  With the advent of the 2014 budget, now when a patient sees an ND there is no tax applied to any health service provided in-clinic.  Read the government press release here.  Read the national ND association press release here.

Read the news release from the Federal Government: CAND GST PR Feb 2014 Dept of Finance Budget PR Feb 2014.

Read the news release from the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors: CAND GST PR Feb 2014.

Ontario Naturopathic Medical College Will Be Able To Confer Bachelor Degrees

A second, no less significant advancement, was that the Ontario naturopathic medical college is under consideration to confer bachelor degrees.  While CCNM has existed for decades, and is recognized across Canada and the US as an accredited naturopathic college, the Ontario government has now created the opportunity to allow CCNM to formally provide degrees.  CCNM is one of only two accredited naturopathic colleges in Canada.  Find out more at www.ccnm.edu.

 

Greying Nation: An Aging Population Doesn’t Have to Burden the Health Care System

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by Lorne Swetlikoff, ND

By delaying and preventing the onset of degenerative conditions, naturopathic medicine can enable people to age healthier, delay retirement, and positively impact the sustainability of our health care system.

1 out of 3 Canadians is a Baby Boomer

According to Statistics Canada’s 2006 census, one out of three Canadians is a baby boomer (born between 1946-1965) and make up the largest group in our population. There is significant concern that this demographic shift will place a significant burden on our health-care system challenging its sustainability.

Age-related conditions like dementia, arthritis, and heart disease are common amongst the elderly. These conditions are degenerative and require patients to be continuously engaged with their doctors and health system. If Canadians are aging and older Canadians get age-related conditions, then health-care delivery costs are set to rise significantly. Who is going to pay for this? Certainly not younger Canadians as that population group continues to shrink.

Preventing age-related infirmities is an essential strategy in dealing with this issue. By keeping Canadians healthy, it is more likely that they will live longer, have more productive lives, perhaps retire later, and reduce health-care needs.

How do we keep Canadians healthy?

Recognize that decrepitude and degeneration are not normal aspects of aging but are states of disorder that are diagnosable, treatable, and more importantly preventable.

Our current medical system is focused on diagnosing and treating disease. This is important. but it’ a reactive approach to something that has already happened. To strengthen our system, we need to be proactive and prevent disease. Preventing degenerative diseases requires continuous assessment of health parameters and undesirable trends over the course of one’s life. Intervention then becomes a system of keeping people healthy.

The basic philosophical premise of naturopathic medicine is that there is an inherent healing power in nature and in every human being. The ND’s responsibility is to strive to understand the minimum level of intervention that will stimulate the body’ self-healing processes

Restoring unique biochemical deficiencies to a normal physiological balance and intervening with natural therapies to support a patient’s condition may help make them feel more vital, and energetic, and move them out of their decline.

Some useful steps that you can take to make sure that you increase your longevity and vitality and don’t slide into old age prematurely:

  • Undergo periodic screening for biological health markers like hormone deficiency, vitamin mineral deficiency, amino acid deficiency, chemical toxicity levels, inflammation markers, digestive analysis, blood sugar levels and heart evaluation to determine your current state of health. Such intervention is aimed at restoring the normal physiological balance of the body.
  • Strive to identify the cause of your problem by visiting a naturopathic doctor.  Don’t just treat symptoms, which often allows the real disease to progress past the point of recovery.
  • As appropriate, use natural therapies as a first resort to stimulate the body to heal.  Customize your treatment plan to meet your biochemical needs and re-evaluate that plan to changing circumstances, stresses, and experiences.
  • Keep in mind that prevention is not just taking a test. For example, taking a PSA test to rule out prostate cancer, or a having a mammogram to check for breast cancer are important procedures, but it’s important to determine your individual risk factors for cancer and then make the necessary changes early in your life to enable healing, wellness and longevity.
  • Educate yourself and gain the appropriate awareness to make smart health choices now to increase longevity in the future.

A statistic from the late 90s showed that by delaying nursing home admission by just one month, it would save the U.S. health-care system $3 billion a year. Naturopathic doctors help people get well, and have effective strategies in preventing, delaying, and treating age-related diseases. This can have a positive impact on our aging population and in reducing the associated health-care.

This article originally appeared, in a longer version, on CBC.  Dr. Swetlikoff is a licensed ND in Castlegar and Vancouver.

Gut Feelings: Understanding the role of gut bacteria in regulating your mood.

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by Dr. Kristin Schnurr, ND

Many of you may have heard the show, ““Bacteria in your gut affects your mental health.” which aired on the CBC on October 11, 2013. If you missed it, here is the link: CBC.

Listening to this show reinforced for me the importance of ensuring gastrointestinal health for myself, my family and for everyone I work with. We already know that healthy gut flora promotes health by strengthening immunity, improving our digestion and absorption of nutrients, and by promoting healthy metabolism and preventing obesity.

Too much of the wrong bacteria can make us ill and too little of the healthy bacteria can leave us vulnerable to illness. Symptoms of dysbiosis or an imbalance of good bacteria intestinally include: digestive upset, bowel irregularity, fatigue, allergies, skin conditions, headaches, autoimmune conditions, anxiety and depression.

Recently, there has been significant research emerging on the connection between gut flora and mental health. A recent study in the journal Gastroenterology shows that healthy gut bacteria play a major role in mental health and pain sensitivity. Scientists at UCLA showed a direct link between probiotics consumed and elevated amounts of the important mood regulating neurotransmitters: Serotonin and GABA.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system. It regulates intestinal movement, mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction and cognitive function such as memory. GABA is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It plays a role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. People with low serotonin production typically suffer from depression. And, people with low GABA production typically experience anxiety.

This research is important as it points to the importance of addressing gastrointestinal health in the management and treatment of anxiety and depression. As Gregor Reid, PhD, a professor of microbiology, immunology and surgery at the University of Western Ontario stated, “There isn’t a drug on the market that can match probiotic bacteria for its far-reaching implications on health.

How to Cultivate Healthy Gut Flora

  1. Our first microbes are introduced in the vaginal canal after the natural birth process, and are delivered through breast milk. We inherit our gut flora from our mother at birth, where it settles in the baby’s sterile system and becomes the microbiome of the gut. Breastfeeding is another way the mother passes her beneficial flora to her baby. Bottle fed babies acquire completely different gut flora than those that are breastfed.
  2. Healthy digestive microbes come from ingesting uncooked and live culture fruits, vegetables, and dairy products that contain live probiotics. Routinely eating some fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso or kombucha can also assist in replenishing healthy bacteria. It is important to ensure the products are guaranteed to contain live cultures since many brands destroy the essential bacteria with high temperature processing during the manufacturing process. If it’s in the fridge at the store it is more likely to contain live culture, if it’s on the shelf it has been pasteurized. Making your own yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha or kefir assures an active bacteria content.
  3. For some people, the level of depletion of beneficial organisms in the digestive tract requires the consumption of a daily probiotic supplement in order to replenish beneficial bacteria. It is important to consider that infants, children and adults require different combinations of specific bacteria. And, it is important to be cautious with dosing in the treatment of skin and autoimmune conditions. A ND will help you determine the right bacterial strains and optimal dosing for your individual health.

Dr. Kristin Schnurr, ND is at the Sage Clinic in Victoria BC. www.sageclinic.com www.drkristinschnurr.com

 

Keeping the Bugs at Bay this Winter Season

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Dr. Juliet Ghodsian, ND shares these 5 steps to keep your terrain clean and functional this winter. The end result is a happier and healthier you.

A French physiologist, Claude Bernard, once said “The Terrain is everything, the germ is nothing.”

An interesting thought, but what does that mean?

It means that simple exposure to a bacteria or virus does not mean you will get sick.

But isn’t that contrary to most of our beliefs about hygiene and health?

…Wash your hands! Don’t put your fingers in your mouth. Flu season is coming!

Let’s take a step back and explain the most important words in the quote:

Terrain.

The Terrain refers to the internal environment in your body: mucous membranes, digestion, detoxification and elimination organs, immune system cells, and energy production cells.

Germs.

These can be bacteria, fungi or viruses.

We are covered with germs inside and out all the time! Why do some bugs make us sick, but not others? Why did you get sick but not your neighbour?

The answer is simple. The health of the Terrain of your body determines how responsive your immune system will be to infection, and how effective it is at beating it. Boosting your immune health to keep the bugs at bay this winter involves more steps than just “Take some extra vitamin C!”

Here are the top 5 things you can do to clean up your Terrain and super-charge your immune cells for the fall and winter season:

  1. Secure the Borders: Protect your Skin!  Keep hydrated and eat plenty of healthy omega 3 oils to preserve the integrity of your skin, mucous membranes, and the internal skin that lines the entire digestive tract. This is your # 1 defence against invaders.
  1. Take out the garbage: Detox and Eliminate.  The chemical exposures that your body has to process from air, food and water contamination are a real concern. They often surpass the liver’s ability to metabolize, and we end up with deficiencies and backlog of toxins. These toxins cause disruptions in energy, hormone and immune cell production leaving you more susceptible to infection. Visit your naturopathic doctor to discuss the most effective ways to keep your system clean this season.
  1. Stock the arsenal: Keep you diet clean and green.  Be sure to provide your body with plenty of clean, organic produce to make sure you have enough antioxidants and minerals available for immune cell use. Green smoothies and kale chips are great ways to get kids eating superfoods. Come in for an IV vitamin infusion of vitamin C and B complex to start you off on the right foot.
  1. Prepare for Battle: Stay Calm!  Studies have shown that stress causes increases in the hormone cortisol which in turn depress your immune response. Take a deep breath and book in for Bowen therapy or Craniosacral Therapy to balance your nerves and get your cortisol levels under control.
  1. Send in the troops: Immune support.  Naturopathic medicine has a treasure trove of herbal, homeopathic and nutritional substances that will prime your immune cells and prepare them to respond quickly and effectively to any invaders. Talk to your ND today and find the best remedies to fit your constitution and lifestyle.

This article by Dr. Juliet Ghodsian, a licensed naturopathic doctor at Sage Clinic in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighbourhood. www.drghodsian.com

Does Bad Diet Cause Bad Behavior?

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This article by Dr. Ingrid Pincott, ND originally appeared in the North Island Midweek.

How is the school year going so far? If you are noticing bad or violent behavior in your children here are a few things to think about to help curb this disturbing trend.

  1. Is your child getting enough sleep? Often this relates to deficiencies of minerals and nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, vitamin D. It is also important to disengage from the mad rush of life one hour before bed such things as as avoiding video games and TV. This helps turn off noisy thoughts to get a good night’s sleep. It is recommended to read a book, take a bath or work on a hobby instead.
  2.  Brains are starving these days due to malnutrition and being exposed to excitotoxins prevalent in the food supply such as MSG and artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas are loaded with artificial sweeteners which have been shown to increase the cravings for sweet and increase the risk of obesity because of its effect on insulin. Fruit juices even though “natural” are not much better due to the sugar content. Instead learn how to make herbal iced teas using stevia or xylitol and show your children how to make them. To help with cravings for sweets make sure your child is getting enough B complex and protein.
  3. B complex is well known to help with irritability and is important at any age. The late Dr. Hoffer, a psychiatrist in Victoria, helped to popularize Orthomolecular Medicine and the use of high doses of niacin to treat psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, attention deficit, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and bipolar disorder as told by Dr. Saul the co-author of Niacin: The Real Story.  These patients are beyond deficient, they are niacin dependent and must remain on high doses of niacin to remain well. This is much better than relying on pharmaceutical drugs for these conditions. In fact the modern symptoms of pellagra, deficiency of vitamin B3 (niacin) include anxiety, hyperactivity, fatigue, headache, insomnia and hallucinations.
  4. Omega 3 essential fatty acids (EFA’s) found only in  fish oils are known to change the levels and functioning of both serotonin and dopamine, both of which play a role in feeling pleasure. Omege 3 EFA’s increase the blood flow to the brain. People with depression often have compromised blood flow to a number of regions of the brain. There are many good tasting fish oils on the market including herring oil, sardine and anchovy oils as well as cod liver oil. Our brains need cholesterol to function properly so foods such as eggs, coconut oils and healthy animal fats including organic butter, should be part of the regular diet. Dr. Perlmutter a prominent functional medicine neurologist, advocates a high fat diet for the optimal functioning of the brain, providing that the fats are from healthy sources.
  5. Zinc deficiency is linked with angry aggressive and hostile behavior and is found in my customized popular B complex formula. Food sources include red meat and shellfish.
  6. Anxiety is often a component of bad behavior. The above nutrients are critical for the management of anxiety but I also recommend the use of homeopathic remedies. These are easy to take as they are mixed in a water bottle or taken directly into the mouth. Rubimeds are combination remedies that are very effective at balancing mental and emotional conflicts that are subconscious.

Taking enough of the above nutrients to be therapeutic is important so check with your naturopathic physician about optimal dosages for you and your family and inventive ways of getting your child or teenager to take them! Of course when you treat your child the whole family benefits!