Statins - Should you really be on it?

Statin are one of the most widely prescribed medications out there.  They are used to lower high cholesterol levels.  If you are on it, you should take a look at this CBC article and video.  Researchers are starting to question its risks and benefits for cardiovascular disease prevention.  It seems to help those who have had a heart attack, but not so much for those who have yet to have any health problems.  After about 5 yrs of use, it seems to reduce risk by about one percent.  But one also has to weigh that against the possible side effects such as kidney disease, muscle pain, type 2 diabetes, etc.

Luckily, if you read my previous blog post about how effective naturopathic medicine is for cardiovascular disease, you will find that there are much more effective treatment strategies out there.

FYI:
Speaking of statins, make sure that you're not mixing it with any macrolide antibiotics.  These are common antibiotics such as clarithromycin & erythromycin.  It could lead to a number of nasty side effects, namely kidney and muscle damage.  See the article below for more information.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/06/17/statin-antibiotic-interaction.html

Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND

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Acupuncture Video - Americans (& Canadians!) are turning to this age old treatment

As many of my patients can attest, acupuncture works for a number of conditions and the World Health Organization agrees. Check out this new video I found.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

A fascinating look at anatomy & why movement and therapies like acupuncture are effective for stiffness or pain.

Often I tell patients who sit in front of the computer the whole day to take breaks....."go for a walk, do shoulder rolls, do some stretching". Why? Because we all tend to get stiff and over time pain results.

This is a great video looking at anatomy & why movement/activity and even therapies like acupuncture work so effectively to increase flexibility and range of motion.

Acupuncture helps to remove or breakdown the "fuzz" or the muscle knots that you have.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Acupuncture for Drug-Induced Joint Pain - Aromatase Inhibitors & Breast Cancer

Acupuncture may help treat some of the common side effects of hormonal drugs called aromatase inhibitors.

Aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrozole (Arimidex), exemestane (Aromasin) and letrozole (Femara), are used to treat hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The drugs lower blood levels of estrogen, a hormone that stimulates the growth of these cancer cells. Although aromatase inhibitors are considered effective for early-stage cancer, nearly half of people taking them experience pain and stiffness in the joints and muscles.

The researchers studied 43 women with breast cancer who reported joint pain associated with aromatase inhibitors. The participants were randomly assigned to either true acupuncture or sham acupuncture twice a week for six weeks. During the sham acupuncture, a superficial needle was inserted into non-acupoints. All of the participants continued taking aromatase inhibitors.

At the beginning of the study and three and six weeks after treatment, pain was assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the Modified Score for the Assessment of Chronic Rheumatoid Affections of the Hands (M-SACRAH).

According to the results, published in theJournal of Clinical Oncology, true acupuncture significantly improved joint pain and stiffness after six weeks. In addition, 20 percent of the patients who reported taking pain-relieving medications no longer needed them after acupuncture treatment. No significant improvements were reported in the sham group.

The authors concluded that "acupuncture is an effective and well-tolerated strategy for managing this common treatment-related side effect."

Scientific evidence supports the use of acupuncture for several other indications, including osteoarthritis, chronic pain, post-operative pain, dental procedures, endoscopy-related pain, fibromyalgia and several types of nausea and vomiting.

References:

1. Crew KD, Capodice JL, Greenlee H, et al. Randomized, blinded, sham-controlled trial of acupuncture for the management of aromatase inhibitor-associated joint symptoms in women with early-stage breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Mar 1;28(7):1154-60.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"