Despite its conservative orientation toward natural medicine, the North American Menopause Society annual meeting is a great place to catch up on the latest menopause-related research. Dr. Tori Hudson offers her gleanings from this year’s meeting.
A combination of herbs based on a traditional Chinese formula, is proving effective in inducing necrosis in various types of liver cancer cells.
A national insurance coding system for holistic medicine is on the horizon, a critical first step in facilitating widespread insurance reimbursement for natural medicine. Alternative Link’s ABC Code set is being tested in clinics around the country as part of a federally sponsored pilot study. The AMA, which controls the codes for conventional medicine, is also looking into the coding question, and may publish a code set of its own.
According to Dr. Charles Bens, designer of the Healthy Smoker tobacco cessation program, it is essential to improve other aspects of a smoker’s health before trying to break the habit. Even if someone continues to smoke, a shift toward a healthier diet and lifestyle can attenuate many of the damaging effects of tobacco smoke.
Iodine, once a mainstay medical therapy that was largely abandoned after WWII, is experiencing something of a resurgence for treatment of thyroid problems, chronic fatigue, women’s health problems, and even diabetes.
One of the keys to preventing estrogen-related cancers is to establish a healthy balance between estrogen metabolites. Cruciferous vegetables and specifically an indole phytonutrient called Diindolylmethane found only in these plants, can help to a great extent.
They say blood is thicker than water. When it comes to cardiovascular risk, the big question is, how much thicker?
Osteoarthritis is the end result of the same disease process that leads to atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, according to Dr. Phil Cheras, an Australian investigator whose research shows that the vessels supplying the joints in patients with osteoarthritis become blocked with blood clots and lipid droplets. The good news is that triterpene compounds derived from the African shea nut can reverse this process in many patients with this devastating disease.
This innovative integrative health clinic, led by Jeffrey Sollins, MD, recently became the first such program in the country to become eligible for Medicare reimbursement. Bridges in Medicine’s success is rooted in a spirit of open-mindedness and collegiality among all of the participating healers, and it represents a model for the future of holistic health care.
Nutrition and lifestyle changes are difficult to accomplish in inner city neighborhoods like New York’s Spanish Harlem, where corner bodegas selling high fat, high sugar junk foods outnumber groceries with fresh produce by almost 20 to 1.
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