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OMNS- Preventing Falls- A serious matter: One in four falls in the elderly proves fatal.
Preventing Falls – A serious matter: One in four falls in the elderly proves fatal. Being a physician doesn’t qualify me as an expert on falling. But because I am 91 years old, I have mighty good motivation to keep learning. In my experience, many geriatrists (specialists in the problems of older people) seem to lack…
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OMNS – Arguments for Taking Nutritional Supplements
One of the most vitamin-restrictive countries in the world is Norway.There, authorities limit potencies to only slightly higher than RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) levels for dietary supplements sold outside of pharmacies. You can check this website for more information.The traditional reasoning is that most people receive the nutrients they need from a “balanced diet.” [1]The…
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Can we make a difference on mental health?
It’s Men’s Health Week, and I’m sure that you are aware of the shocking statistics surrounding depression in men. The reasons why men seem to be so vulnerable are debated constantly, but statistics don’t lie. We pharmacists are in a rather privileged position to help. Or, on the other hand, we can decide not to…
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Professional Discretion Restored – Much More than Homeopathic Product Sales
The Australian Government has made a commonsense decision to allow pharmacists to continue the sale of homeopathic products for those patients who find they derive benefit from their use. The actual extract from the government response to the homeopathy issue in the final King Review Report states: “Recommendation 4-4: Sale of Homeopathic Products in PBS…
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Depressive illness – can we get involved?
The challenge of mental health is something in which we are intimately involved. How many of our patients struggle with SSRI and SNRI medications, only to struggle further with their symptoms and feelings. It is well known that many drugs modify normal and abnormal behaviours by changing the amounts of particular neurotransmitters present within the…
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No Evidence? ….Who’s kidding whom?
I had the privilege last week of speaking on both days at the 4th Annual National Institute of Integrative Medicine Symposium in Melbourne. Twenty-five International and Australian speakers presented the latest evidence-based research, therapies, treatments and innovative technologies. The topic list contained many of the issues our patients are confronting each day: Cancer: Integrative Oncology,…
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Orthomolecular Medicine News Service – MAGNESIUM
(OMNS Nov 9, 2017) Even though I’ve spent the last 20 years focused on one mineral, magnesium, it’s made me a generalist, not a specialist, because magnesium does so much for the body. Most people are deficient in magnesium. So I’ve listed below the top 10 facts and 12 functions associated with magnesium. There are several…
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Integrative Medicine: OMNS – The Need for Iodine Supplementation
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, June 12, 2017 The Need for Iodine Supplementation (OMNS, June 12, 2017) Feeling tired, having low energy or depression, gaining weight, memory problems, having dry skin, dry mouth or immune system issues? There is good chance your body needs iodine supplementation. Why iodine? Because this essential to human health element has…
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Statins are for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease….really?
Well, well, well…….even pharmacy publications are now casting doubts over the effectiveness of statin therapy in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. What does this mean to the pharmacist when a patient asks “do I really need to take this medicine for my cholesterol?” and goes on to describe a fuzzy memory, aching muscles and generally…
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MEDICAL CURIOSITY: Where Has It Gone?
What happened to curiosity as it pertains to searching for causes of poor health? Maybe it’s payback. Lack of curiosity leads to the next step: complacency. Some doctors and patients have retained their curiosity, but many more have not. Over the last several decades, there has been a cultural shift in attitudes about healthful living…