Preventing Illness while Travelling

Even though we live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, many people from the Comox Valley travel abroad for business or pleasure.  Part of preventative medicine is planning ahead for a safe trip and making good choices while overseas.  How far you need to go to ensure a healthy travels depends a lot on where you are going of course.  For travel in North America and Western Europe, some common sense is all you need. Pack a first aid kit, make sure you have adequate travel medical insurance, and practice good street smarts.  Taking a self defense course is a wise move for travelers, as criminals often lurk in highly touristy areas and count on tourists having their guard down.



If you are travelling further abroad to developing countries, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has a website where you can learn which immunizations are recommended or required for the areas you’ll be visiting.  Travel medical clinics are also a great source of information.  Updating your basic immunizations may not be a bad idea especially if you are travelling to areas where the population may be under-vaccinated.



Preventing food and water borne disease is important if you don’t want to spend your holiday on the toilet or worse.  People on stomach acid blocking medication for acid reflux or other stomach issues are especially prone to these types of infections because stomach acid is the first line of defense against ingested bugs.  Working with a naturopathic physician to find alternatives to acid blocking

 medications may be a wise choice if you want to stay healthy while travelling.  Taking probiotics prior to a vacation can also bolter your body’s defenses against food and water borne illness.   I encourage my patients to pick up some electrolyte powder and I write them a prescription for antibiotics ahead of time to tuck into their suitcase just in case they get a nasty case of traveler’s diarrhea.



Mosquitoes can be much more than just an annoyance as they can transmit disease.  There are at least 17 known mosquito borne infections including Lyme disease, Zika, Malaria, and Dengue Fever. It is a good idea to pay attention to whether or not mosquitoes are known to live in the areas where you’ll be travelling. Try to cover up and use insect repellents.  DEET is well known, but Picardin has some advantages.  You can even invest in special clothing that has insect repellent infused in the fabric.  Local work wear stores may carry these clothes.  Choosing air conditioned accommodation can help too.  Where malaria is a risk, there are medications that can be taken to prevent the disease from taking hold.



Sometimes people forget to pack their common sense when travelling abroad.  Remember to practice hand washing, safe sex, and street smarts.  The number one cause of death while travelling is motor vehicle accidents.  Mopeds are especially dangerous and some travel health insurance won’t cover injuries related to mopeds.  With a little prevention and travel savvy, you can enjoy your amazing adventures abroad and come home with great stories instead of ill health.

Healing Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury

Every year about 200,000 Canadians suffer concussions.  Sports injuries and car accidents are two common causes of brain injuries, but for seniors, falls are a common cause.  The good news is that the brain can usually recover from minor concussions within a short time. But for multiple concussions or more traumatic brain injuries, the path to recovery can be long and winding.  Post-concussion syndrome can persist for years without the proper help.  Research is showing that there are many ways to enhance healing of the brain. No matter how long it’s been since a brain injury, it’s never too late to jump-start more repair of those delicate structures of the brain that run our mind and body.



The symptoms of post-concussion syndrome can include fatigue, memory loss, cognitive issues, headache, depression, anxiety, irritability, sleep issues, sensitivity to light or sound, issues with sight or hearing, nausea, dizziness and more.



The best approach after a brain injury is to minimize the damage and promote brain healing as soon as possible.  To do that, we have to understand how the brain cells actually get damaged with brain injury.   Then we can use treatments that target those processes. We need to institute neuroprotection strategies that promote healing, and it’s never too late to start.



There are about seven known mechanisms we can target to help heal a damaged brain.  Neural inflammation is a significant cause of loss of brain cells after head injury.  Oxidative stress on the brain cells damages delicate structures. The blood brain barrier (BBB) is intended to only allow certain things to enter the brain from the blood, but after brain injury, there can be a breach in this filtering system.  Toxins then can enter the brain and cause more damage.  Mitochondria are the furnaces of the nerve cells, producing needed energy.  After brain injury, the mitochondria can’t supply as much energy to the neurons. The brain’s natural healing may be compromised, so we want to stimulate the parts of the brain that can regenerate by enhancing neural stem cells. We need to promote the lymphatic drainage to clear away the normal waste products that build up in the brain daily.  The brain is intimately linked to the digestive system.  Having a healthy digestive system will help brain function.  Naturopathic physicians are trained in methods to address each of these seven mechanisms to enhance brain healing after concussion.



Other treatments for concussion are also getting much needed attention.  Brain training can help make new connections in the brain.  Neurofeedback is a sort of visual gym for learning to retrain and re-pattern disrupted brain activity (and is available in Comox). Functional Neurology practitioners can help target the part of the brain that is malfunctioning and provide specific stimulation to heal those parts.  Cold laser therapy to the skull has demonstrated benefits to many patients at a Toronto research clinic and human clinical trials are underway.  This painless treatment has been shown in animal studies to enhance brain healing after traumatic brain injury.


No matter how far out from a brain injury, there is always reason for hope.  With the right treatment, people can improve significantly even years after a brain injury if they are willing to invest in their brain health.

How to be an EMPOWERED Patient

Medical science now shows that when patients are empowered to play an active role in their health care, they are more invested in the process, which results in greater health. Medical education is redefining the doctor-patient relationship as one that respects the patient as an intelligent participant in health care decisions. The old doctor-patient relationship put the doctor in an authoritative role, as in “doctor knows best” and patients were in a passive role, as in “follow the doctor’s orders.” Now physicians are taught the principles of “shared informed decision making”; doctors and patients share information and collaborate in treatment decision. Patients are empowered with information and take ownership in creating their health. Here are four tips for becoming a more engaged and empowered patient.



Firstly, knowledge is power. You need to understand your body and any issues that you have. Ask your doctor to write down any words that are new to you, such as the name of a diagnosis, a test or treatment. Ask them to explain anything that you don’t fully understand, or work with a naturopathic physician to deepen your understanding of your health conditions. The internet can be a wonderful source of information, but, without the context a physician can provide, it can be overwhelming.



Secondly, keep a health journal. A health journal is a place where you can keep a record of your health issues, tests, procedures and medication. Keeping track of your health history helps you to be an informed, knowledgeable patient. Knowledge allows you to take more control of your healthcare. The best health journals have separate tabs for pharmaceutical and natural medicine history, hospitalizations, surgeries, blood work, imaging and other tests, specialist reports, allergies, and family medical history. I encourage my patients to get copies of all their lab work. Sixteen percent of abnormal lab results are not reported to the patient in Canada. In my 22 years of practice, I have found many missed diagnoses by going over lab work that the patient hadn’t seen. You can get copies of blood work easily by having your blood taken at Life Labs and setting up an online account to view your labs, or if you have blood taken at your doctor’s office or one of the hospital’s outpatient labs you can call 1 866 370-8355 and ask them to mail you your lab work. Your doctor can also print a copy of your lab work. I encourage my patients to ask their family doctor for copies of their specialist reports as well as imaging reports (x-rays, CT scans and MRIs).



Thirdly, an empowered patient needs to ask why. Any good problem solver needs to investigate the cause of the problem in order to create a lasting solution. Yet, in health care, we are often satisfied with treatments that mask symptoms but don’t address the underlying causative factors. You can take medications to lower blood pressure, but pills are not able to address the reasons why your blood pressure went up in the first place. When I prescribe pharmaceuticals, it is often because we need to control symptoms quickly, and buy the patient some time while we implement a plan to address the underlying causes and seek a long term solution that will optimize their health.



Fourthly, you can create a health care team to support your health goals. It may serve you to consult more than one health professional to create the optimal plan for your health. Your family doctor is an essential player in helping you access the conventional medical system when you need it. Family doctors are incredibly knowledgeable and hardworking, but they don’t have the time or training to provide for all the complex needs of their patients. Naturopathic physicians are medically trained physicians who focus on optimizing health with lifestyle, natural medicines, and pharmaceuticals when needed. Counsellors, physiotherapists, and other practitioners can all add their expertise to your health care team. An empowered patient lets their family doctor know who is on their team and encourages communication between practitioners.

Alzheimer's Prevention and Treatment

Our brains are made up of an intricately interconnected web of neurons, run by electrical impulses that jump from cell to cell across gaps called synapses.  Chemical messengers help transmit those impulses, and this symphony of cells, chemicals and electricity results in all the thoughts, feelings and bodily functions that make us who we are. Age related memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease are examples of neurodegenerative conditions, and affect as many as 30% of the population over 70.  Drugs for Alzheimer’s disease have limited benefit, at best slowing progression.  The cause of Alzheimer’s is too complex for us to ever find a solution in a pill bottle. The brain is intimately connected to the rest of the body. Dysfunction in the body can damage the delicate components of the brain.  Cognitive decline is the result of a long trajectory of multiple stresses on the brain, many of which can be reduced by lifestyle change and natural medicine.



When scientists study the brains of people with Alzheimer’s they find amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles from excess Tau protein. It is normal for these proteins to form, and the body has process to flush them out.  When excess amyloid and tau are formed, or not cleaned out, nerve signalling is impaired and shrinkage of key centres of the brain speeds up. Dementia was once thought to be progressive and irreversible.  We know now that buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are the result of years of stress on the brain such as neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction (energy production in cells), high blood sugar / insulin, microbiome (intestinal bacteria) imbalances and more.  New research shows that these processes can be prevented and reversed which can preserve or improve cognitive function.  There are strategies that can also increase a healthy chemical in the brain called brain derived growth factor, promote neurogenesis (expansion of nerve cells), enhance the clearing of amyloid and Tau proteins (autophagy), and build new pathways in the brain (promote neuroplasticity).



I help my patients accomplish these goals by coaching them on how to create a lifestyle conducive to a healthy brain.  Food is your best brain medicine, so that’s where I start with my patients. Lack of sleep or use of pharmaceutical sleep aids are both associated with memory loss as it is during sleep that the brain clear amyloid.  Exercise increases brain-derived-growth-factor. Sustained aerobic exercise is particularly beneficial for preventing shrinkage of the brain’s memory centres. The gut-brain connection is important for brain health too, so improving digestion is key, as is stress reduction, and brain exercises.



I also educate my patients on the use of a few key natural medicines that have been researched to improve brain health.  For instance, a study of people taking the DHA component of fish oil showed an improvement in memory after six months. Resveratrol is a grape skin extract that helps to inhibit the creation of and promote the clearance of amyloid and tau, delaying the onset and progression of cognitive impairment. Curcumin, a turmeric extract, supports neuron regeneration, reduces neuroinflammation and helps clear amyloid plaques. Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin D and many other natural medicines also have shown benefits for dementia.  A ground-breaking study was conducted on 11 people diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive impairment, most of whom had the Alzheimer’s gene.  They were given a multifactorial naturopathic protocol of lifestyle changes and natural medicines.  All but the one most advanced case had reduction in symptoms sufficient to reverse the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and some showed increased brain volume on scans.  It is this multi-faceted approach to brain health that is necessary to keep our brains healthy and functioning well so we can live long and full lives.


Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment

Our brains are made up of an intricately interconnected web of neurons, run by electrical impulses that jump from cell to cell across gaps called synapses.  Chemical messengers help transmit those impulses, and this symphony of cells, chemicals and electricity results in all the thoughts, feelings and bodily functions that make us who we are. Age related memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease are examples of neurodegenerative conditions, and affect as many as 30% of the population over 70.  Drugs for Alzheimer’s disease have limited benefit, at best slowing progression.  The cause of Alzheimer’s is too complex for us to ever find a solution in a pill bottle. The brain is intimately connected to the rest of the body. Dysfunction in the body can damage the delicate components of the brain.  Cognitive decline is the result of a long trajectory of multiple stresses on the brain, many of which can be reduced by lifestyle change and natural medicine.


When scientists study the brains of people with Alzheimer’s they find amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles from excess Tau protein. It is normal for these proteins to form, and the body has process to flush them out.  When excess amyloid and tau are formed, or not cleaned out, nerve signalling is impaired and shrinkage of key centres of the brain speeds up. Dementia was once thought to be progressive and irreversible.  We know now that buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are the result of years of stress on the brain such as neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction (energy production in cells), high blood sugar / insulin, microbiome (intestinal bacteria) imbalances and more.  New research shows that these processes can be prevented and reversed which can preserve or improve cognitive function.  There are strategies that can also increase a healthy chemical in the brain called brain derived growth factor, promote neurogenesis (expansion of nerve cells), enhance the clearing of amyloid and Tau proteins (autophagy), and build new pathways in the brain (promote neuroplasticity).


I help my patients accomplish these goals by coaching them on how to create a lifestyle conducive to a healthy brain.  Food is your best brain medicine, so that’s where I start with my patients. Lack of sleep or use of pharmaceutical sleep aids are both associated with memory loss as it is during sleep that the brain clear amyloid.  Exercise increases brain-derived-growth-factor. Sustained aerobic exercise is particularly beneficial for preventing shrinkage of the brain’s memory centres. The gut-brain connection is important for brain health too, so improving digestion is key, as is stress reduction, and brain exercises.


I also educate my patients on the use of a few key natural medicines that have been researched to improve brain health.  For instance, a study of people taking the DHA component of fish oil showed an improvement in memory after six months. Resveratrol is a grape skin extract that helps to inhibit the creation of and promote the clearance of amyloid and tau, delaying the onset and progression of cognitive impairment. Curcumin, a turmeric extract, supports neuron regeneration, reduces neuroinflammation and helps clear amyloid plaques. Coenzyme Q10, Vitamin D and many other natural medicines also have shown benefits for dementia.  A ground-breaking study was conducted on 11 people diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive impairment, most of whom had the Alzheimer’s gene.  They were given a multifactorial naturopathic protocol of lifestyle changes and natural medicines.  All but the one most advanced case had reduction in symptoms sufficient to reverse the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and some showed increased brain volume on scans.  It is this multi-faceted approach to brain health that is necessary to keep our brains healthy and functioning well so we can live long and full lives.