From The Doctor’s Desk: New Year Solutions

Say Goodbye to Acne with the Acne 12-Week Intensive from Seasons

Want clear skin without harmful medication?

At Seasons, it is our goal to help you look and feel your best – as naturally as possible! The latest in our lineup of services, the Acne 12-Week Intensive, is a highly-specific treatment based on the type of lesions and the severity of the acne.

The Acne 12-Week Intensive includes includes:

• A consultation with our Seasons Skin Care Specialist
• An individualized acne treatment plan Complexion Analysis using VISIA
• A series of 12 LED Light Treatments and/or Skin Rejuvenation Treatments using IPL
• Deep-pore cleansing and exfoliating treatments
• 30 days of skin care products specially formulated for acne-prone skin
• The Acne 12-Week Intensive take-home packet including a specialized morning and evening regimen
• Complimentary maintenance and extractions as needed during treatment
• A 10% discount on acne skin care products during treatment

The Acne 12-Week Intensive Package, an $850 value, is offered at just $650. There’s no better way to stop acne dead in its tracks! Beautiful skin CAN be yours.

“Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills” video book review by Nathan Goodyear, MD

For more videos from Seasons, visit our YouTube channel.

Dr. Nathan Goodyear To Speak at Health & Wellness Conference

Dr. Nathan Goodyear

Dr. Nathan Goodyear of Seasons Wellness Clinic will be speaking at the ZRT Laboratory Conference for The Balance For Health & Wellness on November 4-5, 2011 at the World Market Center in Orlando, Florida.

“Featured at the conference are world-class experts presenting evidence-based science focused on prevention, diagnosis and management within a broad range of health and wellness topics inside hormone replacement therapy, anti-aging and functional medicine” [zrtlab.com]. It is an extraordinary honor to be asked to speak at The Balance For Health & Wellness Conference and Dr. Goodyear is looking forward to the event.

“My hope is to continue to lead metabolic medicine to the forefront, to bring new physicians into the metabolic medicine field and to help lead the health and wellness revolution,” said Dr. Goodyear. “This gets to the heart of the reason why I went into medicine – to reach true healing and obtain real prevention, not just early detection, and to look to God’s creation to discover true wellness through health restoration.”

Dr. Goodyear will be speaking on the following topics: male Metabolic Syndrome, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), PMS, infertility, and fatigue. He will provide insight on various health imbalances, symptoms and disease states. He will also discuss case studies demonstrating evaluation, treatment options, and follow-up for different imbalance states. In addition to Dr. Nathan Goodyear, the two day conference features three other expert speakers: Alicia Stanton, M.D., David Zava, Ph.D., Jim Paoletti, R.Ph.

ZRT is a diagnostic laboratory dedicated to supporting consumers and healthcare professionals in health management through accurate, convenient and innovative lab testing. Established in 1998, ZRT Laboratory is a CLIA certified saliva hormone testing facility serving the global community utilizing the most advanced technologies to help providers and patients detect hormonal imbalances, and Cardio Metabolic risk, while also providing testing for Vitamin D and Iodine deficiencies. “The mission of the The Balance For Health & Wellness Conference is to provide continuing education which will improve, promote and enhance clinicians’ competence and performance as well as patient outcomes” [zrtlab.com].

Alicia Stanton, M.D. is one of the world’s leading specialists in hormone therapy. Dr. Alicia Stanton focuses her practice and research on preventative medicine, anti-aging and maintaining health through fitness, nutrition, and bio-identical hormone therapy. By using hormone treatment and other alternatives to prescription medicine, Dr. Stanton has been able to help men and women make a lifestyle change through a holistic approach that leads to a healthier, happier life. Dr. Alicia Stanton is co-author of the book Hormone Harmony: How to Balance Insulin, Cortisol, Thyroid, Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone To Live Your Best Life. Hormone Harmony addresses millions of women who are struggling with hormone imbalance. Follow Dr. Stanton on Twitter @AliciaStantonMD for tips on nutrition and how to lead a healthy and happy life.

 

 

 

David Zava, Ph.D., is the President and Director of ZRT Laboratory in Portland, OR. He is a Ph.D. graduate in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee with extensive experience in breast cancer research. He  is an internationally known speaker and leading expert in the field of hormone health. Over the past 25 years, he has published extensively on basic and clinical research relating to the effects of estrogens and progesterone on breast cancer. Dr. Zava is co-author with Dr. John Lee of the breakthrough book on preventing breast cancer: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer: How Hormone Balance May Save Your Life.

 

 

 

Jim Paoletti, Pharmacist, is the Director of Provider Education at ZRT Laboratory. Jim has over 25 years experience in bioidentical hormone therapies both in clinical practice in retail pharmacy, as a pharmacy consultant, educator, and educational program developer. Jim was instrumental in developing a compounding laboratory at the Medicine Shoppe, Beavercreek, Ohio. As the Vice President/Director of Continuing Education for Professional Compounding Centers of America, Inc. (PCCA), Jim developed and implemented Continuing Education programs for doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. He also consulted with compounding pharmacists located throughout the United States, in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, helping them to solve patients’ unique medication problems. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimPaoletti for updates on his speaking events and news on bioidentical hormone therapies.

 

Dr. Nathan Goodyear is the founder and lead physician at Seasons Wellness Clinic and is dedicated to offering the latest advancements in traditional medicine with the most holistic approach to treatment possible. Dr. Goodyear received his Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana Tech University and Doctor of Medicine from LSU Health Sciences Center. He is Board Certified in Gynecology and a Fellowship Trained Metabolic Specialist (Anti-Aging/Regenerative Medicine). He recently completed his Master of Science studies in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.  Follow Dr. Goodyear on Twitter @drgoodyear and Seasons @SeasonsWC for the latest news on health and wellness.

Medical Care is Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S.

“I asked Chris Kresser to guest post on our blog because he has an interesting view on health and wellness and the issues that surround it. I believe that an individual’s greatest obstacle to health and wellness could actually be the drugs that they take. This article clearly reveals that.” – Dr. Nathan Goodyear

The popular perception that the U.S. has the highest quality of medical care in the world has been proven entirely false by several public heath studies and reports over the past few years.

The prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association published a study by Dr. Barbara Starfield, a medical doctor with a Master’s degree in Public Health, in 2000 which revealed the extremely poor performance of the United States health care system when compared to other industrialized countries (Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium and Germany).

In fact, the U.S. is ranked last or near last in several significant health care indicators:

• 13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
• 13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall
• 11th for postneonatal mortality
• 13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
• 12th for life expectancy at 1 year for males, 11th for females
• 12th for life expectancy at 15 years for males, 10th for females

The most shocking revelation of her report is that iatrogentic damage (defined as a state of ill health or adverse effect resulting from medical treatment) is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.

Let me pause while you take that in.

This means that doctors and hospitals are responsible for more deaths each year than cerebrovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia.

The combined effect of errors and adverse effects that occur because of iatrogenic damage includes:

• 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
• 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
• 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
• 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial infections in hospitals
• 106,000 deaths a year from nonerror, adverse effects of medications

This amounts to a total of 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. However, Starfield notes three important caveats in her study:

If these caveats are considered, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000.

Starfield and her colleagues performed an analysis which took the caveats above into consideration and included adverse effects other than death. Their analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience adverse effects in outpatient settings, with:

• 116 million extra physician visits
• 77 million extra prescriptions
• 17 million emergency department visits
• 8 million hospitalizations
• 3 million long-term admissions
• 199,000 additional deaths
• $77 billion in extra costs (equivalent to the aggregate cost of care of patients with diabetes

I want to make it clear that I am not condemning physicians in general. In fact, most of the doctors I’ve come into contact with in the course of my life have been competent and genuinely concerned about my welfare. In many ways physicians are just as victimized by the deficiencies of our health-care system as patients and consumers are. With increased patient loads and mandated time limits for patient visits set by HMOs, most doctors are doing the best they can to survive our broken and corrupt health-care system.

The Institute of Medicine’s report (“To Err is Human”) which Starfied and her colleagues analyzed isn’t the only study to expose the failures of the U.S. health-care system. The World Health Organization issued a report in 2000, using different indicators than the IOM report, that ranked the U.S. as 15th among 25 industrialized countries.

As Starfied points out, the “real explanation for relatively poor health in the United States is undoubtedly complex and multifactorial.” Two significant causes of our poor standing is over-reliance on technology and a poorly developed primary care infrastructure. The United States is second only to Japan in the availability of technological procedures such as MRIs and CAT scans. However, this has not translated into a higher standard of care, and in fact may be linked to the “cascade effect” where diagnostic procedures lead to more treatment (which as we have seen can lead to more deaths).

Of the seven countries in the top of the average health ranking, five have strong primary care infrastructures. Evidence indicates that the major benefit of health-care access accrues only when it facilitates receipt of primary care. (Starfield, 1998)

One might think that these sobering analyses of the U.S. health-care system would have lead to a public discussion and debate over how to address the shortcomings. Alas, both medical authorities and the general public alike are mostly unaware of this data, and we are no closer to a safe, accessible and effective health-care system today than we were eight years ago when these reports were published.

---

This guest post was provided by Chris Kresser. Chris lives in Berkeley, CA and is a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of integrative medicine. Chris writes a health and wellness blog that includes information on hypothyroidism, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, natural childbirth and more. He began writing because it is his “sincere hope that the information on this blog will lead to greater health and well-being for you and those you love” [chriskresser.com]. Visit his blog or follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisKresser for more information on health, wellness and nutrition.

5 Keys to Long-Term Weightloss: Gimmicks vs. Wellness

Obesity is described as the #1 health problem today. But what exactly is a health problem? I’d like to define it this way: a health problem is an obstacle to good health.

As I have said many times, obesity is the doorway to disease. Sixty-seven percent of Americans are either overweight or obese today. And for the first time, obesity exceeds those that are overweight. Approximately 34% of Americans are obese. Just think about that for a minute. What a hopeless statistic.

And the numbers, unfortunately, are not improving. Look at our children. More children battle obesity than ever before. The statistics in children is alarming, with up to 17% of children and adolescents being obese. Worse yet, this is a three-fold increase in just one generation.

Metabolic syndrome is in many ways the result of obesity. Metabolic syndrome, once only an adult disease, is now frequently diagnosed in children. As obesity goes, so goes metabolic syndrome. As metabolic syndrome goes, so goes disease. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is 39.7% in moderately obese children and 49.7% in severely obese children.

All this to say, we, as a nation, need to lose weight. But we need to lose weight the right way. The reality is this: helping people lose weight is not difficult, but helping people to lose weight and maintain the weightloss proves to be very difficult. If it was so easy, everybody would do it.

Just look around us. There are weight loss “gimmicks” all over the place. According to the free dictionary, a gimmick is defined as “a device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick.” Gimmicks come in all forms: prepackaged meals, shakes, prescription drugs (Adipex, Xenical), HCG and even weight loss surgeries. All these gimmicks have in one thing in common – failure. Yes, they will help you lose some weight, but they fail miserably in the maintenance department. The short-term success of weightloss through gimmicks results in long-term failure due to a train-wrecked metabolism, making your long-term weight loss that much more difficult.

Let’s look at a few examples. Adipex is commonly prescribed drug that helps people lose weight. It is an amphetamine-like compound that speeds up the metabolism and suppresses the appetite. It works short-term, but without lifestyle change, rebound will occur. The rebound is worse as Adipex alters the body’s ability to lose weight through muscle loss and thyroid dysfunction. Oh, and did I forget to mention the addiction?

Let’s look at HCG. So if you take HCG, does that mean the cause of your obesity is a deficiency in HCG? Really, whose cause of obesity is an HCG deficiency? Throw in the fact that the HCG diet consists of 500 calories daily. A diet of 500 calories daily will cause starvation and actually changes your thyroid metabolism, triggering a slowing of metabolism. So when you come off the HCG and the 500 calorie diet, rebound weight gain occurs. Who can maintain a 500 calorie diet anyway?

And the worst gimmick? Weight-loss surgeries. Let’s objectively think about this. What do the numbers say about weight loss surgery? A recent 10 year study of Lap Band, considered the safer weightloss surgery, revealed only a 42% weightloss maintained over 12 years with a quality-of-life scale unchanged. Let’s contrast that with the risks. Up to 50% of the patients required removal of their lap band with a repeat surgery risk at 60%, up to a third of the bands eroded, and over 40% encountered serious complications. Couple this with the bone loss seen in adults and children with weight loss surgery, and the question asked should be this: What are we doing to ourselves and our children?

Now that we’ve discussed the gimmicks, let me offer a solution: the Wellness Weight Loss program powered by Seasons.

Why “Wellness Weight Loss?” Our primary objective at Seasons is to provide solutions for you to be healthy and well! We don’t just want to help people lose weight.  We want to help people lose weight and keep it off. That is the only path to long-term health and wellness.

The definition of a successful weightloss program is not whether weightloss occurs: it is whether the weight-loss is maintained. One of the greatest obstacles to wellness is inflammation. Fat itself produces systemic inflammation. Fat cells trigger inflammatory signals, called cytokines. Fat cells have been shown to release the cytokines: TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6. To reduce inflammation, one must lose weight.  Only through weight loss and long-term maintenance, can wellness be achieved.

 Why powered by Seasons? At Seasons, we want to glorify our creator in all that we do. To do that, we must look to His creation to find the answers. His creation is our bodies. His signature is our biochemistry. That should be where we are looking, because that is where the causes are.  And yes, there are always multiple causes. And no, a one size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. God created us to be unique and different. Our causes of weight gain will also be unique and different. And our solutions for weightloss need to be unique and different – customized for your particular metabolism and circumstances.

Wellness Weight Loss powered by Seasons follows the 5 Points of Wellness that we’ve established as our guidelines to achieving optimal health.

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Hormone balance
• Inflammation
• Detoxification

These 5 Points of Wellness are the keys to proper metabolic functioning. They are God-created and they are the only means to long-term weightloss. Through the 5 Points of Wellness, a customized program is created to meet your exact metabolic dysfunctions.

Contrary to what you see today, healing can and does occur. But, healing only comes through our creator. To do that, we must look to His creation first, our bodies, for the means to achieve healing.

Why not glorify God in all that we do, including weightloss. Lose weight. Live well!

What is the Cost of No Health?

“Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” – Josh Billings

The rising cost of healthcare is a big topic today, and rightly so.

In 2009, the cost of healthcare was $2.5 trillion. That is 17% of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is the highest annual jump as percentage of GDP in history.

And what about health insurance premiums? They are on the rise, too, due to the increase in mandates through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare.

Government healthcare mandates account for up to 50% of the costs of health insurance.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the new federal mandates in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cause a significant increase in individual health insurance premiums.

What are we getting for these rising costs? Are we healthier? Are we seeing less disease? Are we seeing less cancer? Are we seeing less depression and anxiety? Are we seeing fewer prescriptions? No. The exact opposite is true. Unfortunately, the poor health of Americans is on the rise. In fact, the US consistently ranks low in quality and efficiency of healthcare and ranks #1 for the highest percentage of obesity with 30.6% of all Americans considered obese.

When we talk about health, we are not talking about the cure of disease or about early detection. Instead, the conversation needs to begin with prevention. And prevention can only occur through healthy lifestyle choices.

A snapshot of poor health is to simply look at obesity. We are losing that battle. Obesity is the doorway to disease. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 67% of Americans are overweight and over half of those are obese. In 2010, 38 states had obesity rates above 25%. Contrast that to 1991 when no state had an obesity rate that exceeded 20%.

What about the kids? Ten percent of kids 2-5 are obese, 20% of kids age 6-11 are obese, and 18% of adolescents are obese.

So, what is the cost of poor health? According to a study by the CDC and RTI, the direct and indirect healthcare costs are as high as $147 billion annually. Overweight individuals pay about 42% more in healthcare costs than comparable healthy individuals. This equates to an extra $1,429 out of your pocket annually. And that figure reflects 2009.  This amount will only increase annually.

What about individual costs?  Remember, obesity is the doorway to disease.  So, let’s follow the path of disease development.  According to a report released by the George Washington University School of Public Health, the direct individual costs of obesity are $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men annually.

Let’s add the cost of disease to the cost for obesity.

• Diabetes. The diagnosis of diabetes increases by 1 million annually. According to the American Diabetes Association, the annual, individual costs of diabetes is $11,744.

• Cardiovascular disease. For our discussion purposes, this will include high blood pressure, cardiac events, strokes, and associated treatments for an initial event. Kaiser Permanente did a 7-year study of the direct, annual costs of cardiovascular disease. In this study, they found that the direct, individual costs of an initial cardiovascular event was $18,953.  A second event would increase the costs by 4.5 times.

• Cancer.  According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the direct total costs were $93.2 billion in 2009. For our discussion purposes, let’s use prostate cancer (the highest incidence in men) and breast cancer (the highest incidence in women).

For prostate cancer, the average costs were divided into 2 categories: watchful waiting and treatment. The costs were followed over 2 years for more than 9,000 men. The direct individual costs of watchful waiting was $24,809. Compare this to the 2-year individual costs of $59,286 for the treatment group.

For post-menopausal women, the annual direct costs of breast cancer was found to be $13,925.  The costs of cancer are known to be a “U” curve. The highest costs concentrate in the initial phases and the last phases of disease treatment.

So, let’s add this all together assuming a 5-year window of treatment and assuming aggressive treatment, not watchful waiting.

Again, assuming a 5-year window of treatment, the total costs for men would be $314,930 and $247,505 for women.

Remember, these costs include direct costs only. They do not include indirect costs.  Additionally, these numbers are all pre-2011 dollars and are only calculated over 5 years, so the costs are even higher today.

This disease/cost hypothesis assumes the coexistence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer simultaneously. Though the coexistence of all 4 diseases simultaneously is not common, it is very common for obese individuals to have diabetes and cardiovascular disease simultaneously. Then, give time, the risk for the examples of prostate and breast cancer increase significantly. These costs may be spread out over a lifetime, but still would exist.

Obviously, America is not getting healthier and the costs of healthcare continues to increase due to the prevalence of disease. The disease-focused model of healthcare is not working to improve the health of Americans.

We need a disease model to treat disease when it exists. However, the disease model is not effective in producing GOOD health and PREVENTING disease. We need a new health and wellness model. This can only be accomplished through an individual, metabolic analysis and treatment plan. This is the type of treatment we offer at Seasons Wellness Clinic in Ruston, Louisiana and Seasons of Farragut in Tennessee.

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison

According to Wikipedia, the definition of health is this: the level of functional and (or) metabolic efficiency of a living being. Health implies being free from illness, injury or pain.

The cost of healthcare is directly proportional to the lack of health of our citizens. It is by practicing true preventive medicine, increasing the metabolic efficiency of the body, that we will actually reduce the cost of healthcare and provide good health for our nation.

 

Managing Stress With Facial Reflexology

Want more information about the benefits of Facial Reflexology? Check out our other blog posts:

• 10 Natural Ways to Cure Your Bedtime Blues
• Top 10 Pregnancy Tips
• The Proof Is In The Practice – A Journey to Reflexology
• Treat The Inner and Outer You with Facial Reflexology

To schedule your Facial Reflexology session or a consultation with our Facial Reflexologist, call Seasons – The Spa at 318.255.1155.

Why Doesn’t My Endocrinologist Know All Of This?

Historically, relying on a consensus statement to treat or not to treat a particular patient has been shown to result in poor care and, as such, society consensus statements and practice guidelines are considered to be worst level of evidence in support of a particular therapy or treatment. A number of organizations, including the World Health Organization and others, have ranked the strength and accuracy of various types of evidence used in the medical decision process. In all scoring systems, the highest strength of evidence is randomized control trials and meta-analyses, with lower scores for other types of evidence. All grading systems place consensus statements and expert opinion by respected authorities (societies) as the poorest level of evidence, because historically they have failed to adopt new concepts and treatments based on new knowledge or new-found understanding demonstrated in the medical literature (1-6).

For instance, a recent study published in the 2009 Journal of the American Medical Association studied the evidence supporting the practice guidelines and consensus statements published by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. It was found that only 11% of the recommendations, practice guidelines and consensus statements were based on quality evidence and over half were based on poor quality evidence that was little more than the panel’s opinion. The review also found that even the strongest (Class 1) recommendations, which are considered medical dogma, cited as a legal standards and often go unquestioned as medical fact, were only supported by high quality evidence 19% of the time and not revised based on new evidence (6).

Similarly, the Endocrine Society, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Thyroid Association also have a long history of guidelines and recommendations that are not supported by the medical literature and fail to adjust or abandon recommendations when new understanding and knowledge contradicts their recommendations. A case in point is the recommendation by these societies that a normal TSH adequately rules out thyroid dysfunction, despite massive amounts of literature that demonstrate this not to be the case (see Diagnosis of Hypothyroidism) or that T4 only replacement is adequate for most patients. A doctor who simply follows outdated society treatment guidelines that relies on a simple laboratory test and ignores the clinical aspects of a patient is not practicing evidence-based medicine. (1-7). Such doctors may be adequate as lab technicians, but as doctors and clinicians they fall short (1-7). This method of practice is consistently rebuked as improper and poor medicine, but has become the standard used by a large percentage of endocrinologists and physicians who feel medicine can be related to simply reading “normal” or “abnormal” in a laboratory column.

Discussing the lack of scientific basis of most medical society’s consensus statements and treatment guidelines in Internal Medicine News, Dr. Diana Petritti states, “Expert opinion and consensus statements can be quite misleading when used as the basis for a practice. Expert opinions imply that there is something that the experts know that clinician doesn’t know. I don’t think it’s always appreciated that it’s only opinion. There is a tendency to make guidelines and recommendations seem authoritative. I believe that physicians think that there is a great deal more behind authoritative recommendations than there might be when you lift the lid of the box and see what’s underneath(8).”

There has been significant concern by health care organizations and medical experts that physicians are placing too much reliance on consensus statements and failing to learn of new information presented in medical journals. Thus, they lack the ability to translate this new information into treatments for their patients. The concern is that doctors fail to practice evidence-based medicine, erroneously relying on what they have previously been taught and on “expert” societies instead of changing treatment philosophies based on new information as it becomes available. This is especially true for endocrinological conditions, where physicians are very resistant to changing old concepts of diagnosis and treatment — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — because it is not what they were taught in medical school and endocrinology residency.

This concern is particularly clear in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Clinical Research to Clinical Practice: Lost in Translation” (9). The article was written by Claude Lenfant, M.D., Director of National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and it is well supported. He states that there is great concern that doctors continue to rely on what they learned 20 years before and are uninformed about scientific findings. According to Dr. Lenfant, medical researchers, along with public officials and political leaders, are increasingly concerned about physicians’ inability to translate research findings in their medical practice to benefit their patients. He says that very few physicians learn about new discoveries from reading medical journals or by attending scientific conferences; thus, they lack the ability to translate new knowledge in the field into enhanced treatments for their patients. He states that a review of past medical discoveries reveals how excruciatingly slow the medical establishment is to adopt novel concepts, noting that even simple methods to improve medical quality are often met with fierce resistance. “Given the ever-growing sophistication of our scientific knowledge and the additional new discoveries that are likely in the future, many of us harbor an uneasy, but quite realistic suspicion that this gap between what we know about disease and what we do to prevent and treat them will become even wider. And it is not just recent research results that are not finding their way into clinical practice; there is plenty of evidence that ‘old’ research outcome have been lost in translation as well (1).”

Dr. Lenfant discusses the fact that the proper practice of medicine involves the combination of medical knowledge, intuition and judgment and that physicians’ knowledge is lacking because they don’t keep up with the medical literature. He states that there is often a difference of opinion among physicians and reviewing entities, but that judgment and knowledge of the research pertaining to the patient’s condition is central to the responsible practice of medicine. “Enormous amounts of new knowledge are barreling down the information highway, but they are not arriving at the doorsteps of our patients. (9).”

These thoughts are echoed by physicians who have researched this issue as well, such as William Shankle, M.D., Professor, University of California, Irvine. He states, “Most doctors are practicing 10 to 20 years behind the available medical literature and continue to practice what they learned in medical school….There is a breakdown in the transfer of information from the research to the overwhelming majority of practicing physicians. Doctors do not seek to implement new treatments that are supported in the literature or change treatments that are not (10).”

This view is echoed by the Dean of Stanford University School of Medicine who states that in the absence of translational medicine the delivery of medical care would remain stagnant and uninformed by the tremendous progress taking place in science and medicine (11).

This concern has also received significant publicity in the mainstream media. An example is an article by Sidney Smith, M.D., former president of the American Heart Association, published in 2003 in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Too Many Patients Never Reap the Benefits of Great Research.” Dr. Smith is very critical of physicians for not seeking out available information and applying that information to their patients, arguing that doctors feel the best medicine is what they’ve been doing and thinking for years. They discount new research, Dr. Smith says, because it is not what they have been taught or practiced, and they refuse to admit that what they have been doing or thinking for many years is not the best medicine. He states, “A large part of the problem is the real resistance of physicians…; many of these independent-minded souls don’t like being told that science knows best, and the way they’ve always done things is second-rate (12).” The National Center for Policy Analysis also expresses concern for the lack of ability of physicians to translate medical therapies into practice (13).

A review published in The Annals of Internal Medicine found that there is clearly a problem of physicians not seeking to advance their knowledge by reviewing the current literature, believing proper care is what they learned in medical school or residency and not basing their treatments on the most current research. The review found that the longer a physician is in practice, the more inappropriate and substandard the care (14). Thus, it is not a surprise that the scientific evidence as expressed in the literature is often opposite to what is continually repeated as dogma by most physicians and those considered to be “experts.”

Another example is a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (15). In reviewing the study, the National Institute of Medicine reports that there is an unacceptable lag between the discovery of new treatment modalities and their acceptance into routine care: “The lag between the discovery of more effective forms of treatment and their incorporation into routine patient care averages 17 years.” (16) In response to this unacceptable lag, the Business and Professions Code passed an amendment relating to the healing arts. This amendment — CA Assembly Bill 592; An Act to Amend Section 2234.1 of the Business and Professions Code — states: Since the National Institute of Medicine has reported that it can take up to 17 years for a new best practice to reach the average physician and surgeon, it is prudent to give attention to new developments not only in general medical care but in the actual treatment of specific diseases, particularly those that are not yet broadly recognized [such as the concept of tissue hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia] (17).

The Principals of Medical Ethics adopted by the American Medical Association in 1980 states that a physician shall continue to study, apply, and advance scientific knowledge, make relevant information available to patients, colleagues, and the public (18). This has, unfortunately, been replaced with a goal of providing merely “adequate” care. The current insurance reimbursement system in the United States fosters this thinking, as the worst physicians are financially rewarded by insurance companies. While it is true that the best physicians are continually fighting to provide cutting edge treatments and superior care that the insurance companies deem not medically necessary, even these physicians eventually get worn down and are forced to capitulate to the current system that promotes substandard care.

This was clearly demonstrated in a study published in the March 2006 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine entitled “Who is at Greater Risk for Receiving Poor-Quality Health Care.” The study found that the majority of individuals received substandard, poor-quality care, and that there was no significant difference among different income levels or whether or not the individual was covered by insurance. It used to be the case that only those in low socioeconomic classes without insurance received poor-quality care. But insurance company restrictions on treatments and diagnostic procedures have made the same poor care afforded to those of low socioeconomic status the new standard-of-care for society at large (19). An example of this is a physician’s failing to spend the time to adequately assess a potential hypothyroid patient and instead simply does a TSH test.

Most physicians will satisfy their required amount of continuing medical education (CME) by going to a conference a year, usually at a highly desirable location that has skiing, golf, boating, etc. Physicians are rarely monitored as to whether or not they actually showed up for the lectures or went skiing instead. One must also understand that the majority of conferences organized by medical societies are in fact sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. These payments by pharmaceutical companies are called unrestricted grants, so that the society has free reign to do what they want with the money and thus can claim there is no influence of lecture content by the companies. The problem, however, is that if the society wants to continue getting these “unrestricted” grants, they must think twice about providing content that the sponsoring pharmaceutical company might disapprove of. Consequently, ground breaking research that goes against the status quo and does not support the drug industry receives little attention.

Evidence-based medicine involves the synthesis of all available data when comparing therapeutic options for patients. Evidence-based medicine does not mean that data should be ignored until a randomized control trial of a particular size and duration is completed. A physician who tries to avoid the need of being a physician and is fine with just being a technician or health care provider will adamantly defend the “one-size fits all” method of diagnosis and treatment. But the best doctors who truly practice evidence-based medicine and not merely the perception of such will not rely on consensus statements to best provide their patients. Instead of relying on old dogma, the best physicians will seek out and translate both basic science results and clinical outcomes to decide on the safest, most efficacious treatment for their patients. Further, the best physicians will continually assess the current available data to decide which therapies are likely to carry the greatest benefits for patients and involve the lowest risks.

References

 

Top 10 Natural Ways To Cure Your Bedtime Blues

La belle au bois dormant. In French, this means the beauty asleep in the woods. I would love to feel like that. Wouldn’t you? I have vivid childhood memories of Sleeping Beauty in a peaceful sleep on a beautifully adorned bed awaiting a kiss from the daring and young Prince Philip. Could this really be a curse? Hardly.

60 million Americans suffer from sleep-related disorders each year and would love a night of rest! 18 million prescriptions are written each year for sleeping medications. By taking sleeping pills for your sleep disorder you can experience drug dependence, drug tolerance, drowsiness throughout the day, or you may be masking the underlying problem keeping you from sleep. Seasons has compiled a list of the top 10 natural ways to cure your bedtime blues.

1.Valerian. The use of Valerian dates back to second century A.D.! Scientists believe Valerian increases the amount of GABA in the brain. GABA regulates nerve cells and has a calming effect on anxiety. Although it may take a few weeks for it to be effective, Valerian can reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and improve the quality of sleep itself. Valerian can be bought in capsule form at drugstores or online.

2.Lavender Oil and Body Lotion. Research shows that simply inhaling the soothing scent creates calming and sedative effects. I would suggest putting lavender body lotion all over your body before bedtime or rubbing one to two drops of Lavender in essential oil form over your pillow. Young Living’s Lavender Essential Oil is available at Seasons.

3.SleepEase. SleepEase by Sprayology contains herbs such as Valerian and Chamomile for a restful nights sleep. It treats symptoms of wakefulness, restlessness, emotional stress, anxiety, and caffeine sensitivity. SleepEase does not leave you with the groggy feeling of prescription sleep aids. To use: Spray 2 times under the tongue before bedtime and if sleep is interrupted. At a lower dosage, SleepEase is great for children!

4.SnoreSoother. At one time or another we have all fallen prey to an infamous snorer. Whether it be your husband, wife, child, or perhaps your own noisy habit keeping you from sleep, snoring can ruin a perfectly good nights rest. SnoreSoother by Sprayology consists of ingredients that reach the root of the problem. It has lung extract for bronchial congestion and the promotion of healthy lung tissue, as well as, white aspidosperma bark which eases difficult breathing and asthma symptoms. For best results spray twice under the tongue 3 times per day and if sleep is interrupted.

5.Facial Reflexology. If sleep is a problem for you, it is most likely caused by something else. Using special techniques, reflexology works on the root of your problem by finding the biggest deposit under your skin. After a series of treatments clients begin to notice a difference. As your body begins to heal in the area of the deposit you will find that sleeping becomes easier as well. You can schedule a Facial Reflexology appointment at Seasons. We recommend a series of 8 – 10 for best results.

6.Massage Therapy. This is a relaxing option to improve your sleep patterns. Massages decrease stress hormones, relieve chronic pain and balance your nervous system allowing you to sleep better, especially if your insomnia is stress induced. Seasons offers several massages. We recommend a Hot Stone or Swedish Relaxation massage for consistent sleep habits.

7.Yoga. Yoga gives your body and mind time to meditate. In addition, deep breathing and stretching are important aspects of yoga. Studies show that daily yoga for eight weeks improves total sleep time and the time it takes to fall asleep. Seasons offers yoga classes to those of all levels of experience.

8.Avoid Sweets and Caffeine. Your diet is an important part of your sleep regimen. Sugar could be one of the culprits keeping you from sleep, causing you to wake up during the night as your blood sugar levels fall. Cutting or significantly decreasing your sugar intake is important if you have trouble sleeping. If you frequently drink caffeine in the late afternoon or in the evening you may want to try eliminating caffeine from your diet as well. Not only does caffeine increase difficulty in falling asleep, it also reduces the amount of deep sleep you get.

9.Magnesium and Calcium. These sleep aids are most effective when taken together. A Magnesium deficiency can make you feel nervous and keep you from sleeping while a Calcium deficiency causes you to feel restless. You should take 500 mg of Calcium and 250 mg of Magnesium 45 minutes prior to bedtime. Be sure to choose a pharmaceutical grade supplement for best results.

10.Bed-time Routine. Remember when you were young and 7:30 bedtime was strictly enforced even if it was still light outside? Maybe it’s time to get back into that routine. No, you don’t have to go to sleep at 7:30. But it is important to get a full eight hours of sleep every night. A routine works best when fighting insomnia. Make sure that you are going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.

These natural remedies will have you snoozing in no time. Having trouble finding a product? Call Seasons at (318)255-1155. Don’t miss out on another night of beauty sleep!

Next Page »