Kim Stewart 
In this second part of a special report on alternatives to proton pump inhibitors, Today’s Practitioner explores the science behind melatonin for reflux disease. As the use of PPIs comes in questions for some, there are a number of integrative care doctors seeking alternatives. Long before FDA issued warnings aboutRead
By Kimberly Lord Stewart Patients and physicians are getting heartburn on how best to treat digestive health issues. Though the use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) has dramatically risen in the last decade, opinions are quickly changing on how to best treat digestive disorders like heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Read
Urinary tract infections are the second most common infection, with as many as 8.1 million doctor visits per year, according to statistics from US Health and Human Services. Physicians are concerned about an ever increasing number of cases resistant to the antibiotics Ciprofloxacin and Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ). A new study showsRead
Each week Share Practice presents a polling question to integrative physicians on preferred protocols. Today’s Practitioner will share these with you from time to time to get your thoughts on whether you agree. Q: A 37 y/o woman, CEO of a tech startup, reports emotional stress, increasing anxiety, poor appetiteRead
Spring is a good time to get caught up. To help you keep up on your professional reading, we’ve collected the most popular articles for the past 60 days. You’ll notice a trend. Healthy eating for cognitive health and acid-load balance diets are the topics of choice for our readers.Read
The concept of alkaline balance and diet has been known for some years with limited wide-scale practice. Recent studies show that acid-base balance in the diet may indeed play an important role in cardio-metabolic abnormalities, including type 2 diabetes. The following is a summary of two supporting studies. High dietaryRead
There is a phenomenon that scientists have yet to solve, regardless of whether a woman lives in the United States, where medical care is relatively good, or third world nations, where medical care is often scarce: women are less likely to die from infectious diseases than men. The lower death rate has been attributed to a beneficial, yet unexplained effect estrogen has on the immune system. Females of child-bearing age are more resistant to infectious disease and have an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study hypothesized that estrogen-induced gene expression could establish an immunoactivated state which would render enhanced defense against infection, but may be deleterious in autoimmune development.By Nicholas A. Young, Lai-Chu Wu, et al, Estrogen modulation of endosome-associated toll-like receptor 8: An IFNα-independent mechanism of sex-bias in systemic lupus erythematosus. Clinical Immunology, March 2014
In May 2013, Harvard Medical School published a report on osteoarthritis in their Women’s Health Watch. In the report, they looked at “on-the-horizon therapies” that could change the way you treat the disease. In the report, Dr. Anonios Aliprantis made statement that should have made doctor’s rethink the way they treat OA. “We’re beginning to understand that osteoarthritis is a disease of the entire joint,” said Aliprantis, director of the Osteoarthritis Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Much of the research over the last 20 or 30 years has focused on cartilage as the target. But we’re beginning to realize that there are important changes happening in the bone underneath the cartilage, and in the joint lining itself. As we begin to understand osteoarthritis as a disease of the entire joint, new treatment targets will emerge.”
“Similar to medicines that come from botanicals, many of the chemicals that fungi produce to flourish in the wild are also active in humans. This is likely not a coincidence.” Stamets and Zwickey review the progress of the use of medicinal mushrooms in clinical practice and how this eclectic science is blooming. By Paul Stamets, Dsc and Health Zwickey PhD, Integrative Medicine a Clinicians Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1
