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March 4, 2021December 24, 2021blood pressure support, update

How to reduce high blood pressure naturally at home

If I asked you what health benefits do flaxseeds provide, what would you say?

Some of you may say flaxseeds are a good source of fiber which has numerous benefits of itself such as promoting bowel health, lowering cholesterol levels and helping stay fuller. True! Some of you may say flaxseeds are a good source of omega 3 fatty acids which can be beneficial in reducing inflammation. Yes, correct. Still others may says that flaxseeds provide potential anti-cancer benefits for breast and prostate cancers. But, you may be surprised to know that flaxseeds have also been shown to help reduce blood pressure. What?? Yes, it is true. In a randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial, participants with peripheral artery disease ate 30 grams of grounded flaxseeds for 6 months. At the end of the trial, the flaxseed group reduced their systolic blood pressure by 10 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 7 mm Hg compared to the placebo group. It should be noted that many patients in both the treatment group and the placebo group were on many different classes of blood pressure lowering drugs such as diuretics, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARB blockers and calcium channel blockers. Because positive blood pressure reduction was seen in the presence of conventional blood pressure lowering medications, the authors stated that flaxseed represents an effective combination of non-drug therapy with drug therapy.

How does flaxseed contribute to lowering blood pressure?

The authors believe that several compounds in flaxseed are at play.

a. First, since inflammation is thought to contribute to increasing blood pressure, the ALA (a type of omega 3 in flaxseed) has an anti-inflammatory effect that can help to lower blood pressure.

b. Second, it is believed that oxidative stress can contribute to increases in blood pressure. The lignans in flaxseed are thought to help lower blood pressure through its anti-oxidant effect.

c. Third, a metabolite derived from polyunsatured fats called oxylipins can increase vascular tone and thus possibly contribute to an increase in blood pressure. It turns out that eating grounded flaxseeds lowers these oxylipins and thus helps to lower blood pressure.

If you suffer from high blood pressure issues, consider adding delicious grounded flaxseeds to your diet. However, please consult with your medical doctor before doing so.

January 27, 2021January 27, 2021low platelets, platelet support, update

How to increase platelet count during chemotherapy

As mentioned in a previous post, chemotherapy can cause low platelets to the point where chemotherapy might be delayed. Apart from platelet transfusions, unfortunately, conventional medicine does not have many options to increase platelet counts. There is a drug called Promacta for a condition called ITP(immune thrombocytopenia pupura) where the body attacks the platelets. But, this is yet to be approved for cancer patients. Plus, it has a boxed warning of causing severe liver damage.

Naturally, there are several options. One option that has been clinically studied in cancer patients is papaya leaf extract with a herb called Guduchi. Papaya leaf extract has been shown in test tube studies to increase compounds called cytokines which help to stimulate the bone marrow to increase platelet production. It should be noted that Guduchi can regulate your blood sugar. It is possible that taking this herb with other diabetes drugs may further lower your blood sugar. To be safe, you should check with your doctor if taking this herbal combination is safe with your current medication regimen.

Note: The content provided in this blog post and website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, or as a substitute for the medical advice of a physician.

January 20, 2021December 24, 2021low platelets, thrombocytopenia, update

What does low platelet counts mean in cancer patients

If you are receiving chemotherapy, at times, your chemotherapy may have been delayed because your cancer doctor told you that you have low platelets. But, what does this mean? First, what are platelets? They are like human band-aids to help with clotting blood. Whenever you cut yourself, platelets are released by the bone marrow to help with clotting blood. How does chemotherapy reduce platelet counts? When you receive chemotherapy, let’s say for colon cancer, the chemotherapy circulates throughout the body mainly to the cancer cells, but also chemotherapy attacks the bone marrow. Why is this? Chemotherapy attacks any cell in the body that is dividing. Your bone marrow contains cells that continuously make blood cell products such as white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. and chemotherapy will damage the bone marrow and reduce the platelet counts. Eventually, your bone marrow platelet count returns to a normal level. However, after repeated chemotherapy sessions, the bone marrow’s ability to recover its platelet count gets diminished and this results in lower platelet counts and delayed chemotherapy.
Medically speaking, platelets are called thrombocytes. Normal platelet counts are between 150,000 to 450,000 cells per microliter of blood. A microliter of blood is like a pinprick of blood. If your platelet count is below 150,000 cells per microliter of blood, then this is called thrombocytopenia. Penia means low and as mentioned before, thrombocytes are known as platelets. Hence, thrombocytopenia means low platelets. If you are receiving chemotherapy, and your platelet count is less than 150,000, this is called chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia. You should know that there are 4 grades of thrombocytopenia:
Grade 1: Platelet count of 75 – 149,000 cells per microliter of blood.
Grade 2: Platelet count of 50 – 75,000 cells per microliter of blood.
Grade 3: Platelet count of 25 – 50,000 cells per microliter of blood
Grade 4: Platelet count of 0 – 25,000 cells per microliter of blood.

It is expected that after you start chemotherapy, your platelet count won’t always be in the normal range. Some cancer doctors will give their patients chemotherapy as long as their platelet counts are at least greater than 100,000 cells per microliter of blood. For some other cancer patients, their ‘new’ normal platelet count might be 80,000 cells per microliter of blood and some cancer doctors will elect to have patients resume chemotherapy only if their platelet counts are greater than 80,000 cells per microliter of blood. You should ask your cancer doctor what they consider as an acceptable level of platelet counts for you to continue with chemotherapy.

Low platelet counts in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients:
For some cancer patients who are undergoing stem cell transplant for their blood cancer, they will undergo chemotherapy prior to stem cell transplantation. This chemotherapy will cause a massive depletion of platelets which are necessary for the transplanted stem cells to repopulate the bone marrow. This massive depletion is a normal process of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Besides chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation causing low platelets, cancer patients can have low platelets for other reasons. It may be due to the nature of cancer itself. For example, in certain blood cancers such as certain leukemias, MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), lymphomas, and multiple myeloma, these cancers are the cause of low platelets. In the case of acute leukemias, white blood cells overcrowd the platelets. In the case of multiple myeloma, plasma cells overcrowd platelets. In the case of MDS, the bone marrow fails to produce platelets.

What is the concern about thrombocytopenia?
As mentioned earlier, platelets are human band-aids and if you have fewer of these band-aids, you may bruise and bleed easily. You have to be careful about flossing and shaving and make sure you don’t bump into things.

In the next article, I will review how to increase platelet count during chemotherapy naturally.

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021diabetes, update

The Truth about date fruit for diabetes

I know what you are thinking…fruit and diabetes does not mix well and dates being a sugary fruit should be avoided like the plague by diabetics. A typical date has 10 grams of natural sugar.

However, it turns out that date fruit actually has anti-diabetic properties ! Why is this? Date fruit contains compounds called polyphenols which have diverse effects. Some of these polyphenols inhibit an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase which plays a role in slowing down dietary sugar absorption. When you eat a carbohydrate rich foods, your body uses alpha-glucosidase to breakdown the carbohydrates. By inhibiting this enzyme, the sugar absorbed into your body is delayed. There is a diabetic medication called acarbose which inhibits this enzyme. However, acarbose can cause nausea, diarrhea and flatulence. Oh, how fun that is !

Another type of polyphenol found in dates are flavonoids which can increase the number of beta cells. Beta cells are found in the pancreas and are responsible for making, storing and releasing insulin. In type 1 diabetes, the beta cells become damaged and thus type 1 diabetes is also known as insulin dependent diabetes. In contrast, type 2 diabetes is known as non -insulin-dependent diabetes. However, over time, even type 2 diabetics can have diminished beta cell capacity.

So,in summary, dates contain polyphenols that can slow down sugar absorption and help the pancreas make insulin. While the jury is not clear yet to what degree dates can regenerate beta cells, dates should not be something to be feared by diabetics.

Note: The content provided in this blog post and website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, or as a substitute for medical advice of a physician.

Reference:

Mia, M. A., Mosaib, M. G., Khalil, M. I., Islam, M. A., & Gan, S. H. (2020). Potentials and Safety of Date Palm Fruit against Diabetes: A Critical Review. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11), 1557. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111557

January 14, 2021January 15, 2021update

Welcome to the ND Acu Med blog

Hello! I am a Naturopathic Doctor and Licensed Acupuncturist. This blog is dedicated to anyone who wants to improve their health naturally through the use of diet, herbs, vitamins, minerals and homeopathics, acupuncture and lifestyle changes. I am passionate about finding natural solutions for many chronic health ailments including but not limited to:

Cancer: For patients undergoing treatment, or finished with treatments or who are interested in preventing cancer, naturopathic medicine offers many support options that can complement your conventional care.
Painful conditions: Whether you suffer from neck, back, knee, joint pain, headaches, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, there are many natural medicine options that can help you.
Diabetes: Poor blood sugar is linked to many other health conditions such as heart disease, kidney and eye health and even cancer. You may have heard about side effects of common diabetes medications. If you are scared about the side effects, there are many natural support options that can help to minimize these side effects as well as maximize your bodies natural ability to regulate blood sugar.

Welcome aboard!! Please reach out if you have any natural medicine support questions!!