Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
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 …
Krill Oil vs Fish Oil Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND One of the most confusing topic’s in the vitamin world is the difference between krill oil and fish oil. I get asked pretty much all the time what exactly is the difference between the 2. …
From A Naturopaths Point of View Part 3
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Self-diagnosis?
One of the most integral parts of a consult with an Invite nutritionist t is knowing exactly what is going on in your body. In other words it’s important to see a doctor, get appropriate tests and finally receive an official diagnosis. However in this day and age medical information is all over the internet. There’s WebMD, Wikipedia and even google itself! The problem with all this easy to access information is that very often people will use this to self-diagnose rather than go to the doctor and receive the tests they need that can help to determine what the diagnosis actually is. This can be a huge problem for a number of reasons.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? When we say self-diagnose we refer to the process of diagnosing or identifying a medical condition yourself without a doctor. This is a very bad idea for a number of reasons. Very often a self-diagnosis is wrong. What this means is that when you call you can not only receive wrong advice but cause a delay in getting the actual advice that would help you. (1) This is especially true in cases where your symptoms are not unique and can be a symptoms of many different diagnosis. For example fatigue is such a common symptom that it’s almost impossible to form a diagnosis just based on it!
In some case’s delaying proper treatment can be annoying. For example if you have a misdiagnosed rash it can be annoying but not necessarily life threating. In other case’s delaying proper treatment CAN be dangerous and even life threating. For example you may self-diagnosis panic disorder but actually have a problem with your heart that needs immediate treatment! (1) A personal experience that I can mention is as following. An induvial called Invite for a consult and I responded. They had self-diagnosed as having depression. I advised them to go to a doctor and get appropriate testing done. Well it turns out they had extremely high blood sugar and needed medication to control their diabetes. If I had just recommended things for depression they could have become very ill due to the high blood sugar! This was a prime example of just why a self-diagnose is so dangerous since uncontrolled diabetes can have very severe complications!
Additionally there are often things that we don’t notice about ourselves. It is common for people who diagnose themselves to overlook key symptoms. In some case’s an induvial may miss signs of depression and think they have anxiety. (1) Anther example is when someone who is suffering from dementia thinks that they have depression.
Another concern is the actual websites themselves. In fact search engines often bring up either the most severe ailment possible or the most common. Just because a diagnosis is common doesn’t mean it is correct for you! (1)
So what do I think about self-diagnose as a Naturopathic doctor? Well I think it can be a great idea to get a list of your symptoms ready so when you go to see your doctor you are ready. That being said overall I don’t think that to self-diagnose is a good idea nor do I encourage it. Remember that knowledge is power and knowing exactly what is wrong can help us and your doctor help you!
So what are some things that are good for our overall health?
Our product highlight will be talking about the difference between Krill and Fish Oil. I hope to answer any questions you may have on these fantastic nutrients.
Sources:
Neuropathy Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Neuropathy is usually something that most people associate with diabetes. This is an accurate connection because one of the most common causes of neuropathy is diabetes. But did you know that neuropathy can also occur after cancer treatments? To …
Cerebral Care
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
I wanted to take the time to talk about one of my favorite formulas for our memory and brain health. This formula is called Cerebral Care. But what is it about this formula that I like so much? Well to start with it’s a powder so it’s easy to use. It’s also made up of some amazing nutrients that help our brain and memory. Let’s review a few of these nutrients, shall we?
Let’s start with the first item, inositol. What the heck is inositol? Inositol has been called vitamin B8 but that is not exactly accurate. It’s a type of sugar produced by the body that is important for the functioning and development of our cells. Now I know what you’re thinking, but Dr. Claire I have diabetes! Inositol is perfectly safe for you to use and may even help you to better process insulin! Inositol has quite a few health benefits. According to the Cleveland Clinic inositol may be helpful for metabolic syndrome, PCOS, as well as both Gestational diabetes and even preterm birth. (1) But what does inositol do for our brain? Studies have found that using inositol lead to improved outcomes in depression, anxiety, panic disorders and OCD. (2) Studies have found that inositol can help with aspects of brain health such as brain development, memory and even improve our ability to learn. (3)
The next nutrient that is in Cerebral Care is Acetyl- L Carnitine (Alcar). Alcar is also a nutrient in our Purples Hx. For information on how L Carnitine can benefit the heart please check out my blog on Purples Hx! Studies have found that using Alcar after a brain injury leads to better outcomes, especially in terms of memory. (4) A study in the International Journal of Neurology and Neurotherapy found Alcar can help improve memory. (5) In another study it was found that Alcar can enhance cognitive function and even decrease the rate of cognitive decline in those with certain disorders. (6) Studies have also found that Alcar can help with symptoms of chemo brain including learning or memory acquisition, spatial memory and even short term memory. It was also found that Alcar can reduce cognitive impairment in those with chemo brain. As a side note I’d like to point out that Alcar was found to help protect the liver and kidney in those who are experiencing chemo brain. (7)
The next nutrient that is in the Cerebral Care is choline. Well one thing I’d like to point out is that choline is an essential nutrient. This means your body needs it to work properly but is unable to make it. This means it must come from your diet or supplement regime. (8) Studies have found a correlation between a higher choline intake and better cognitive performance. (9) Studies have found that choline can help improve our verbal memory. (10)
The next item is phosphatidylserine or PS as I like to call it. Studies have found that PS can help with verbal recall as well as improve our memory. (11) As more studies are done on PS the results are finding that supplementation with PS can improve cognitive impairment by improving the brain’s storage ability, our learning ability and even memory. (12)
The last nutrient in Cerebral Care is Astaxanthin. To start with what the heck is astaxanthin? Basically it’s a red pigment that is a very strong antioxidant. (13) Studies have found that it can help to improve our cognitive function. (14)
As you can see Cerebral Care is an overall amazing formula for our brain and memory! Our next topic will be neuropathy.
Sources:
