Topics

Reflections on the Psychedelic Renaissance

By Maya Shetreat, MD, Contributing Writer

Psychedelics have been hitting the headlines nonstop these days. The New York Times, and other major media, have run a slew of articles highlighting the promise of psychedelics for hard-to-treat clinical conditions like major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. Important discoveries are emerging from prestigious academic centers worldwide that have dedicated millions of dollars […]

The Five Drivers of Long COVID

By Erik Goldman

Since the Spring of 2020, roughly 200 million Americans have had Covid-19. That’s an estimated 60% of the country’s population. Worldwide, the number is around 700 million. For many, the acute infection was just the beginning of a long, bewildering odyssey of illness. With Covid-related admissions to US hospitals now under 1 case per 100,000 […]

The Post-Viral Recovery Program Supplement Protocols

By Erik Goldman

The Long Covid nutritional protocol developed by the 10-member practitioner working group under the aegis of OvationLab and ANDHealth, is divided into two parts—Foundational Supplements aimed at improving overall health, and Specialty Supplements focused on the five main drivers of Long Covid: ACE2-mediated tissue damage; viral persistence; chronic inflammation; mitochondrial dysfunction; and microbiome/dysbiosis. The working […]

Phototherapy Shows Promise in Mitigating Dementia

By August West, Contributing Writer

A metanalysis of 12 clinical studies representing a total of 776 patients diagnosed with dementia shows that phototherapy interventions can significantly improve cognitive function as indicated by changes in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Phototherapy did not, however, have measurable impact on depression, agitation, or sleep patterns. Researchers at the Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese […]

In Surprise Move, Leading Naturopathic Schools Plan to Merge

By Erik Goldman

Two of the country’s leading naturopathic medical schools are planning to merge and become a single institution, a move that surprised many in the field. In June, the presidents of National University of Naturopathic Medicine (NUNM) and Bastyr University jointly announced a non-binding letter of intent to come together under one banner some time in […]

Longevity in 8,000 Steps

By August West, Contributing Writer

If you want to help your patients extend their life expectancies, tell them to take a hike! People who walk at least 8,000 steps per day for two or more days each week have significantly lower all-cause cardiovascular mortality rates 10 years later. That’s the conclusion of an in-depth analysis of accelerometer data from 3,101 […]

NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES OF AUTOIMMUNITY: A Functional Medicine Approach to Autoimmune Disorders

By Erik Goldman

Autoimmunity and gastrointestinal disorders are inter-related and increasingly common problems. Because the different autoimmune diseases affect specific organ systems, patients are often shunted to specialists who approach these conditions through their relatively narrow specialty lenses.  Though they may manifest differently, most autoimmune diseases have the same common triggers. If we know what causes the immune […]

Restore Immune Tolerance and Optimize Health with Nature’s pHarmacy

By Erik Goldman

A healthy immune system naturally regulates between defense and repair. But when confronted by unrelenting challenges, it becomes overburdened and the repair functions take a back seat to defense. The result is a “repair deficit” characterized by chronic inflammation—a well-recognized cause and amplifier of chronic disease. When defense takes precedence over repair, intestinal permeability usually […]

Air Pollution Exacerbates Symptoms of Depression

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Exposure to polluted air is associated with increased depression symptoms in people with bipolar disorder (BPD), according to a new study by psychiatrist Joseph Hayes, MD, PhD, and Aaron Kandola, at the University College London. In the first project of its kind, Hayes and Kandola tracked symptoms of depression and mania against real time changes […]

The Colors of Maca: Balancing Hormones with Phytochemical Phenotypes

By Deanna Minich, PhD & Kim Ross, DCN

Maca (Lepidium) is a genus of cruciferous root vegetables representing 249 known species of plants native to the Andes mountains of Peru and Bolivia. Various types of maca have been used as both food and medicine by indigenous peoples of that region for thousands of years. Maca belongs to the same Brassicaceae family as turnips, […]