September 30, 2024

From a Naturopathic Point of View Part 4

From a Naturopathic Point of View Part 4

Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND

The importance of western and holistic medicine working together!

One of the key pathways to helping people become healthy is learning how to balance both western and holistic medicine. These 2 ways of looking at health are not, nor should they ever be considered to be enemies. Sometimes they may look at situations differently but that doesn’t mean they can’t work together. As a naturopath I see the 2 working together like your left and right hand.

I wrote a blog in this series about why it is important to be in control of certain chronic diseases. In some situations this may mean that in addition to supplements medications may be required to help prevent dangerous complications. For example high blood pressure. Any reading over 180/120 requires immediate attention since it is considered to be a “hypertensive crisis”. One way this is managed is with blood pressure medications. (1) Now I know it can be intimidating to start a new medicine. However in some cases it may be important to prevent dangerous complications. Depending on the type of medications that are used certain supplements may be helpful. I’ll be reviewing a few supplements that are generally helpful for blood pressure at the end of this blog. However, it’s always helpful to speak to a nutritionist and make sure the supplements are the ones that would work best with any medications that you may be taking. Just like with blood pressure having abnormal cholesterol can also have complications. Just like with blood pressure sometimes medications can be needed to help bring levels down to safer levels. Remember you can always seek out a second opinion. (2) Just like with blood pressure I’ll be reviewing some supplements that can be helpful for cholesterol.

In addition to medications sometimes surgeries may be needed for best results. A prime example of this would be joint pain. While in my clinical experience joint pain can be greatly helped with supplements once the joint is “bone on bone” there is little that we do to help with supplements. At that point it can be critical to follow up with your doctor or even get a second opinion. (3) A personal experience with this is in regards to a customer who was in severe pain due to a joint that needed to be replaced. Her doctor indicated that if she didn’t replace the joint she would end up in a wheelchair. After talking with me about a post-surgical protocol she bravely underwent the procedure. Just 2 months after the procedure when she followed up with me it was to let me know that between the surgery and the supplements she felt better than she had felt in years. I was very happy for her.

I want to wrap this up by saying sometimes medications are important to save your life. Years ago I received a call from someone who was bitten by a dog. By their descriptions the bite sounded as though it was likely to be infected. I told them to go to the ER. Over a month later they called me back. They had a severe infection and according to their reports “almost died” and they needed strong antibiotics. In other case’s people will call with questions about situations such as a UTI. This is a great way to work with both holistic and western medicine. Treating a UTI with both western and holistic medicine can help reduce the risk of complications. (4)

Overall as a Naturopath I feel that both holistic and western medicine work best together.

High blood pressure:

Magnesium has been found to help maintain healthy blood pressure in studies. (5) Please see Invite’s extensive line of magnesium products!
Grape Seed has also been found to help maintain healthy blood pressure in studies. (6) Please see Invite’s Grape Seed extract.
Beets is a powerhouse for helping with blood pressure.(7) Please check out my blog on this and look for Invite’s Beets Hx.

Cholesterol helpers!

Aged Garlic has been found to help maintain healthy cholesterol in studies. (8) Please look at Invite’s Aged Garlic formula!
Please check out my product highlight on Sterols Plus an overall amazing formula for our cholesterol.

Our product high light will be Flex Hx!

Sources: