Acupuncture for Digestive Disorders

Digestive disorders are prevalent conditions. The most common digestive disorders include nausea, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and even gall stone disease and hemorrhoids. According to the National Health Interview Survey, digestive disorders affect 60-70 million Americans.[1]

In traditional Chinese medical theory, the two main organs involved with digestion are the spleen and stomach. The spleen is the main organ involved in gastro-intestinal disorders. Spleen governs transport and transformation of food in the body, including the excretion of waste. Spleen-Stomach transforms food into nutrients, which are the sources of Qi (energy) and blood. If there is an imbalance in the spleen or stomach, then a huge variety of associated problems can arise ranging from pain, to chronic fatigue, anxiety to insomnia.[2] 

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What Happens Behind the Counter Stays Behind the Counter

Mrs. DK is one of my patients who is always on the run.

Every time she comes to the pharmacy, she drops off a prescription that contains at least 5 medications. The first question she always asks is, “How long will it take?”

No matter what time I give her, the expression on Mrs. DK’s face says, “Why would it take that long? Just print a label, slap it on the bottle, and give it to me! That’s it!”

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CranioSacral Therapy to Treat Depression and other Mental Illnesses

As the stigmas historically associated with mental illness slowly break down, more focus is placed on understanding how exactly these conditions affect so many of us. There is lots of good information available about what exactly happens to brain chemistry, what lifestyle and even dietary changes might help someone in their struggle with mental illness. One strategy that has been shown to help many people dealing with various mental illnesses is CranioSacral Therapy, and I’d like to explain how exactly this works. CranioSacral Therapy is gentle, mechanical manipulation of the individual bones that make up the skull, as well as the sacrum (i.e. your tailbone). This is an important piece: What if there is something STRUCTURALLY contributing to a mental illness?

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Can Physical Activity Change our Mood Through our Gut?

Gut Microbiota

The gut microbiota are microorganisms or bacteria that reside in our intestinal tract. Everyone has approximately 100 trillion microorganisms within their digestive system! Each person has a unique collection and assortment of these bacteria which are unique as our fingerprints. These gut bacteria play a fundamental role in shaping our metabolism, neuronal, and hormonal (endocrine) systems.

Microorganisms also impact our immune function and if dysfunctional, can contribute to problems such as obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease or depression. There are many research articles that show that the administration of certain strains of gut bacteria to rodents, results in decreased anxiety and depression

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A Scandinavian Model of Nature-Based Therapy

 

Stress is a growing problem across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) ranks stress-induced disorders, such as depression, as a leading cause of disability worldwide. In response to the growing number of individuals suffering from stress-related mental disorders, researchers in Scandinavia have designed a nature-based therapy model for those on stress-leave. In 2001, The Healing Garden in Alnarp was established at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and soon after, in 2010, Nacadia Healing Forest Garden was constructed at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

This emerging model of green care is based on findings that individuals suffering from stress experience limited cognitive, emotional, and social resources, which often makes it difficult to think, learn or otherwise problem-solve in ways that might be required, for example, in talk therapy (Stigsdotter & Grahn, 2002; 2003).

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Nature’s Benefits For Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a widespread, disabling condition than affects an estimated 20% of people in the world. Pain is usually regarded as chronic if it lasts or reoccurs for periods of 3 to 6 months, which is beyond the normal amount of time for healing. Chronic pain can contribute to anxiety, depression, disability, sleep disturbances, poor quality of life and certainly impacts healthcare costs.

An article published in February, 2018 studied the connection between chronic pain and negative emotion.

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Roundup & Damaged Microbiomes

I’d like to share with you a youtube video I recently watched on the website of one of the labs I use frequently. It’s an interview with Dr. Stephanie Seneff, an MIT Research Scientist who found herself researching glyphosate in her quest to understand the growing prevalence of Autism in North America (about 1 in 66 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Canada). Glyphosate is the primary chemical in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup and is considered by many accounts to be the most popular herbicide globally.

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Maternity Leave

Dear patients and friends,

It is with excitement that I share with you some happy news. This coming July I am expecting my second baby.  I have already been overwhelmed with all the well wishes and kind words that many of you have shared with me over the past months.

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We respectfully acknowledge that Kingston Integrated Healthcare is situated on ancestral Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. Since time immemorial they have cared for these lands and waters, and we are grateful. We recognize that a healthy environment is essential to the wellbeing of all people and all life.


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