Student Voices - News and opinions from naturopathic students
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  • Food Addiction – Part 1: The Invisible Prison

    What is a cause of the obesity epidemic that we are seeing in our society? Do overweight or obese people simply like to overeat at every meal? Are they just not concerned about their health? No, rather it is possible that they are addicted to the processed foods that some predominantly consume. And it may not be their fault. There are hidden chemicals and other ingredients, such as sugar, that are helping to cause this addiction.

  • Irish History and Seaweed use through the eyes of Naturopathic Medicine

    Ireland is a country with a rich history of seaweed use. As seaweed becomes increasingly popular, I am setting out to find what it means to the people of Ireland.

  • "There’s no research"

    Tony works to dispel a common myth about alternative medicines

  • 27th Annual AANP Convention and Exposition

    The Annual AANP Convention is upon us, what will this year hold?

  • A Cleansing Experience: First-Hand Experience in Detoxification Programs

    I have begun to get a reputation as someone who recommends a lot of detox programs. Despite my affection for the process until recently I had never done a detox myself. For fear of hypocrisy I thought I had better put my mouth where my money is and try one of them myself. Before beginning I thought I would investigate the various detox programs available.

  • A clinical observational study on PGX® conducted at the Canadian Centre for Functional Medicine

    Significant reductions were observed (p<0.05) in weight (-5.79 ± 3.55 kg), waist circumference (-12.07 ± 5.56 cm), and percentage body fat (-2.43 ± 2.39%) compared to baseline values.

  • A review on the use of NAC in the treatment of PCOS

    A review of three different journal articles, exploring different ways NAC is being tested to treat PCOS cover the use of NAC as a singular treatment, or as an adjunct treatment with other medications or supplements. Not only do we find promising uses for NAC in the treatment of PCOS in these articles, but we see some of the theories behind its effectiveness and the potential causes behind some of PCOS’s sequelae.

  • A Sense of Community

    The value Americans place on community differs greatly from other places of the world and this has affected our lives in more ways than we realize.

  • A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

    Research is suggesting that sugar can help eradicate persistent bacteria that lead to chronic and recurrent infections.

  • Abnormal Pap Test

    Have you ever had an abnormal PAP smear? Want to know how naturopathic approach can help to prevent it from happening again?

  • An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

    Recently the World Health Organization acknowledged the four major risk factors in non-communicable diseases. The results will not surprise you.

  • An update on my infected tooth

    My right bottom molar is officially out. I feel great about it. The next step is a waiting game.

  • Antibiotic Resistance: From Farm to Plate

    80% of the antibiotics sold in the United States go to chicken, pigs and cows yet producers of meat and dairy are not required to disclose how they use the drugs.

  • As a Community, we Mourn

    Countless shootings have taken place in the United States, as the victim toll rises, there is growing concern over the care provided to the mentally ill.

  • Canada alters energy drink regulations

    The Canadian government altered energy drink regulations recently. Most Canadians think of energy drinks as a food, not as a health product. Under these regulations they will now be subject to a review process for their quality and safety and have to display recommended conditions for use as well as cautions.

  • Great advancement for CCNM for the treatment of Cancer

    The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) is now open and will be providing naturopathic oncology treatments and a wide array of other adjunctive therapies for the treatment and prevention of cancer.

  • Green Allopathy

    Treating symptoms is not the foundation for Naturopathic Medicine but it happens more often than we might imagine.

  • Healing from Within – A Mind-Body Approach

    Using mindful healing can be a great way to help you or someone else get to the root issue of what they are experiencing. This is a technique that Paul Epstein, ND teaches and it can allow one to change the way they perceive things in their lives.

  • Healthcare Reform in America

    Healthcare reform is currently underway in the U.S. and this may have a profound affect on the Naturopathic Medical community.

  • Hemiarthroplasty of the Hip

    Wendy explains the potential complications following hemiarthroplasty of the hip.

  • Homeopathy and CBC’s "Marketplace": Exposé or Propaganda?

    Recently the CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) program "Marketplace" aired an exposé on homeopathy publicizing the many arguments that have been levelled against the alternative medical system from the prevailing medical and scientific communities. This article clearly outlines the criticisms of homeopathy and offers some playful rebuttal from a logical standpoint. While it is routinely observed that homeopathy flies in the face of science, I hope the reader will see how scientific argum

  • How Acupuncture Works

    The underlying scientific mechanisms behind acupuncture

  • How do we know what works?

    The problem with un-researched medical treatments

  • How much radiation is safe?

    Many of us in the West Coast are concerned not only for the recent earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan, but also about whether the radiation leaked from the Japanese nuclear reactors might reach us. Should one be concerned about the radiation levels in Vancouver?

  • How the Heart Beats

    A new study shows that the rate at which our heart beats can be an indicator of mortality.

  • Human Biofilm

    This article discusses the concept of biofilms and how the members of these intricate communities interact with each other and with their host to shape their environment.

  • I.O.N.T. (Intraosseous Neural Therapy)

    Neural therapy is a treatment modality developed in Germany over the last 75 years and addresses dysfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System.

  • Iron Stores in Vegetarians

    This article explores the iron stores in vegetarians and non-vegetarians by explaining the difference between heme and non-heme iron in terms of their absorption.

  • Jumping to a Diagnosis

    How often in medicine are Physicians jumping to a diagnosis that “fits” rather than a diagnosis that is correct?

  • Learning from our mistakes, in health and in life

    How we take care of ourselves is a personal choice, but the outcome of this choice can have a resounding effect.

  • The use of curcumin in post-surgical recovery

    A look at the efficacy of curcumin in treatment protocols following surgery

  • The Utility of Evidence-based Medicine: An Allegory for Those of Us Needing Direction

    As a student of naturopathic medicine I have gone through a few phases with evidence-based medicine (EBM). The initial seduction of the promise of certainty has given way to cynicism and disappointment with the realization of the level of bias and deception still present in publications. Now, as a young doctor-in-training with the responsibility of making informed clinical decisions for my patients, EBM and I are negotiating a middle ground. The following is an allegory for how I currently see

  • Three Pulses from One

    Pulse diagnosis is an ancient technique with roots in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Is it possible for a Physician feel a patient’s illness on a deeper level?

  • To pill or not to pill? That is the question.

    We have a pill for everything but there is more to a healthy lifestyle than supplements. Isn’t there?

  • To what degree is private health care a service industry?

    I recently had a case of a perimenopausal woman in her mid 50’s whose chief concern was that she wanted to begin lactating. She had never given birth, nor was it her intension to serve as a wet nurse. She simply had a strong conviction that to lactate, for her, would be a profoundly healing experience both spiritually and physically. She suffers from a chronic incurable illness and so the objective for me has always been to maximize her quality of life. As you might imagine, her request raised s

  • Toxic Cosmetics: Lead in Lipstick

    The FDA allows cosmetics manufacturers to develop products that contain lead despite research suggesting detrimental effects from chronic lead exposure.

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Yin-Yang Concept

    In this article I give a very brief introduction to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concept of Yin-Yang.

  • Vitamin D: A Naturopath’s Favourite Supplement

    Spring is upon us and so is the sun! How important is Vitamin D to your health?

  • When Hospital Patients Smoke

    In a not so distant past, smoky waiting rooms and chain-smoking hospital directors were commonplace. How do we handle smokers in our hospitals today?

  • When your stress goes up, your primal brain takes over

    How stress affects our ability to recall information and why medical students are uncomfortably familiar with the feeling of “choking.”

 

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