Patient Advocates

Your HealthCare Safety Net

Category: Uncategorized

adrenal-gland-chart

Smaller than a walnut, no heavier than a grape…affects every function in our bodies. What? Your Adrenal Glands! Unsung hero of our bodies.

Your adrenal glands sit atop your kidneys and orchestrate your whole metabolism.  Little gland with a huge role.  These powerful little hormone producing glands manufacture and secrete almost 50 different hormones, including steroid hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, aldosterone, and the precursors to estrogen and testosterone that are absolutely essential to our health and vitality. Protective: the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant adrenal hormones like cortisol helps to minimize negative and allergic reactions, such as swelling and inflammation, to alcohol, drugs, foods,...

Homocysteine – what is it? Why do we need to know? Ask your heart.

Since 1990, the National Library of Medicine has posted thousands of scientific studies showing that homocysteine is a significant risk factor for disease. What disease?  Higher levels of homocysteine raise the risk of premature cardiovascular disease affecting the heart, brain, and peripheral blood vessels.  Elevated homocysteine may speed the progression of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in the arteries in your heart and the rest of your body.  Osteoporosis: Women with high homocysteine levels were found to have significantly lower...

Could your house be making you sick? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tells us that more than a quarter of U. S. buildings are water-damaged.

Water damaged buildings can promote the growth of molds – and you do not have to see or smell it for it to be present. Living in a moldy household or water damaged building increases the risk for depression by 33-44 percent.  Many other conditions can be caused by mold as well:  chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivities, Lupus, MS, migraines, autoimmune illnesses. Symptoms may include: Breathing: Difficult, Tightness in chest, Asthma Emotions: irritable, anger Extremities: Tingling Hands and Feet...

What’s in your teeth may be causing your high blood pressure…and be a cause factor of heart attacks and strokes. How does that happen?

Nicholas Gonzalez, MD, explains: “According to a research paper published in the 2011 issue of The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, mercury affects the heart and blood vessels in several ways:” Mercury in your body increases inflammation It causes thrombosis (the formation of blood clots in the veins) Mercury contributes to abnormal endothelial function (remember that the endothelium is the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of your arteries and is a prime indicator of cardiovascular health or...

We are only 10% human. What? Microbes outnumber human cells by 10 to 1 and are essential to our health.

There are the harmless ones, the ”favor traders” who rely on us for survival as much as we rely on them for survival (this is the greatest percentage), and the small percentage of potentially dangerous ones called pathogens.  These microbes are every bit as important – and perhaps more – as the genes we inherit from our parents.   Your inherited genes are fixed – although you can influence which ones become more or less active – while it may...

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Confused about the latest controversy with vitamins? All is not as the headlines say.

Mark Hyman, MD, a leading clinician of Functional Medicine and renowned educator, cautions us that “The recent media hype around vitamins is a classic case of drawing the wrong conclusions from good science. “ He explains several flaws with the recent study: • Hormone replacement was not taken into consideration. Women in the study who also took hormone replacement therapy were more at risk already for increased rates of cancer and heart disease and strokes (remember the Women’s Health Initiative...

Osteoporosis

Myths About Osteoporosis! Is it a normal aging process? No! What? Let’s look more closely:

Susan Brown, PhD, a bone health nutritionist and educator, explains myths surrounding osteoporosis.  We’ll look at the most common ones here and you can read further to protect yourself. Myth #1: Osteoporosis is a function of aging “Most individuals do lose bone mass as they age. But simply losing bone does not equal osteoporosis. The remaining bone of a healthy aging woman is strong and capable of constant self-repair. This bone, though lower in mass, should be able to withstand...

salt

Iodine is back in the news! What is in your salt shaker is not enough! So why do most people need more? Breast, prostate and thyroid health to begin…

Reverse fibrocystic breast disease?  Many research studies have demonstrated that proper levels of iodine can effectively reverse this condition. Iodine is critical to human health. It forms the basis of thyroid hormones and plays many other roles in your body: in the salivary glands, brain, cerebrospinal fluid, gastric mucosa, breasts, ovaries and a part of the eye also concentrate iodine. In the brain, iodine is found where cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced, and in the area associated with Parkinson’s disease....

Key to your heart health? The lining of your arteries!

This lining, called the endothelium, “is the single-celled layer lining the arteries of the body. In fact, it’s the most extensive organ system in the human body. It’s also a recipient of the abuse our bodies receive, a fragile organ that injury transforms into a plaque-lined landmine” explains Dr. J. Cooke of Stanford. “A healthy endothelium is like Teflon, a nonstick surface that enhances the flow of blood. By contrast, an unhealthy endothelium is like Velcro, with white blood cells...

Your Living Brain is clearly connected to the rest of your body. What? Though much of the Living Brain is still a mystery, science is now opening new doors of understanding.

Mental health conditions are usually treated symptomatically.  The underlying root physical causes are not often explored.  But science is showing us a smarter way to understand and treat mental health conditions. The Living Brain is a part of the whole body – and is affected in a very real sense to what is happening in that body.  Everything in our bodies is connected – tens of thousands of chemical feedback loops.  For example, good GI health is essential for proper...