Category Archives: Integrative Medicine

Henry Ford Health System is providing even more services to Dearborn area patients, with an expanded emergency room and the creation of its new Center for Integrative Medicine.

We are really proud of our ER expansion, said Mary Finn, Group Practice Director for the Henry Ford Medical Group. It has been modified, so all of our bays are private treatment rooms, which was never the case before.

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She said the only part of the ER that still has curtain separators is the fast track area, for quick turnover patients, such as someone who might need simple stitches or a straightforward need for medicine.

Henry Ford Health System Fairlane has an expanded emergency room, and has a Center for Integrative Medicine, and well as pain management and anxiety care facilities.

The idea is to try to keep the ER from being as congested, so thats a nice feature, Finn said. So, we have the fast track, we have a new trauma area and we have more patient care spaces and treatment bays, so more than double when we are all done.

She said another effort of the expanded ER is to get people out of the waiting room and into a treatment bay as quickly as possible.

Our goal, with our new strategy with more rooms now, and with more treatment bays, we are trying to get everybody back without waiting in the waiting room, Finn said. It has been rare that I have seen anybody in the waiting room for the last couple months.

She said that even with ER volumes being down across the country because of the pandemic, the Fairlane ERs volume is beginning to approach what it was pre-pandemic, and they are still focusing on not having the waiting room fill up with patients.

Finn said many of the doctor offices have moved to the nearby Henry Ford Medical Center on Ford Road in Dearborn.

She said all three of the Internal Medicine offices are now on the third floor of the Ford Road Center.

Its been a great change, because it allowed everybody to be one, as opposed to three separate spaces, Finn said.

She said Behavioral Services have also moved from nearby office space to the third floor of the Ford Road Center as well.

Finn said the second floor of the Ford Road Center has been utilized to expand the Pain Management Program, which is run through the Department of Anesthesia.

They do a very comprehensive evaluation of the cause of pain and the underlying issues, and if they are able to do treatments for the patient, it could be involving any kinds of procedures or blocks or other measures that can be done, she said. They also have a relationship with the acupuncturist, and they have a pain psychologist.

Finn said the Center for Integrative Medicine is also on the second floor of the Ford Road Center, which houses the acupuncturist, chiropractors, functional medicine (which focuses on holistic or alternative medicine), yoga and massage.

With these moves, the relationship between the Pain Management Program and the Center for Integrative Medicine is growing, she said, especially with respect to acupuncture, adding that HFHS is on the leading edge of the changes that are taking place in health care across the country, including integrated medical records, which can keep a patient safer.

We all have important history, allergy information and things that have happened, that a doctor would want to know about, Finn said. And so, the more a doctor and a medical team can easily access that information, the better off you are.

She said tests dont have to be repeated, and there can be a better focus on a patients medical problems, as well as their history, and what has already been tried.

Some of this is very hard for people to be really good historians on, Finn said. No matter how well educated you are, if you arent a member of the medical field, it can really be very challenging to navigate.

She said she is proud of what the HFHS team is accomplishing, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

Youre seeing a greater push to include more Integrative Medicine and more alternative treatments to augment traditional treatments, Finn said. So thats where there is synergy between the Pain Program, the Center for Integrative Medicine and even Internal Medicine. We have a dietician in the program, as well, and they are recognizing that everyone has something to offer.

Alice Cooper, Peter Frampton, George Thorogood, Don Felder and members of Slipknot, Stone Sour, Bush, Halestorm, Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry and more will take part in Rock For Relief, a virtual benefit for Feeding America at 8 and 11 p.m. Friday, July 3 via rockforrelief.net. Cooper and Joe Satriani will also be conducting interviews with other artists during the event, a collaboration between United Stations Media Networks and Storic Media Podcast Network.

Crunch Fitness, 5601 Mercury Drive, in Dearborn, was cited for being open to patrons June 28, in violation of the governors pandemic closure

A press conference is scheduled for Friday in Dearborn to update an ongoing dispute between the American Moslem Society (AMS) and its neighbor

The Confidence Connection, a recently launched podcast, hosted by Dearborn native Suzanne Sena, provides people with ways to build belief an

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HFHS Fairlane expands ER, creates Center for Integrative Medicine; Pain management to be at the forefront - Dearborn Press and Guide

Former Louisville point guard Peyton Sivas Alba Berlin team won the German Basketball Bundesliga final this past Sunday, narrowly defeating MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Thats right there was a month of professional basketball played in Germany, where COVID-19 containment efforts have been largely successful. As professional and college leagues in the United States continue to mull over the feasibility of resuming play amid the pandemic, I wanted to know about Peytons experience playing in a country that actually made it work. The newly-crowded champ was kind enough to take a break from celebrating to answer a few questions.

Colby: Firstly, how are you and your family holding up, and whats it been like weathering a global pandemic in a foreign country?

Peyton: My family and I are great. We just been keeping to ourselves and following the guidelines put in place to try and keep us safe. We came back to the States right when COVID hit world-wide and everything shut down. As for me being in Germany right now, things are pretty calm, and the government here have opened everything back up.

Colby: Professional sports remain completely shut down in the United States, but youve been back to playing in games since the beginning of June. How did you feel about going back to work? Were you nervous at all?

Peyton: At first, I didnt want to come back and play because I didnt want to have to leave my family during this time. I was nervous because there were a lot of unknowns. But the league has done a great job at putting in rules and protocols to keep us safe while playing.

Colby: What steps are Alba Berlin and the Basketball Bundesliga taking to ensure the players and staff stay safe from COVID-19? (virus testing, temperature checking, mask wearing, social distancing, no fans at games, etc.) And has it been more challenging to practice and play under these conditions?

Peyton: When we first got back to Berlin, we had to quarantine for a week and do testing every two days. We had to test every two days for 14 days and then every 4/5 days. We had to wear mask every time we went outside and changed locations to and from the hotel and to the gym. No fans were allowed in the games, and media had to quarantine in the hotel with us along with the other teams and referees. It hasnt been challenging playing without fans; only challenging thing was the short schedule and games played in such a short time.

Colby: Since resuming the season on 6/7, you guys have won 9 games straight to make the Basketball Bundesliga Final against Ludwigsburg. I know Alba Berlin has had a lot of success since you joined the team was making the Final the expectation all season or has returning from hiatus due to Coronavirus helped to inspire this string of wins in some way?

Peyton: No, the expectations is always to make the championship.

Colby: Europe seems to have done a much better job of containing the virus than the United States has, thus allowing for the resumption of normal life, work, sports, etc. with EuroLeague set to resume in October, do you foresee any issues with international play?

Peyton: As of now, I dont see a huge problem with the resumption of next season. That was the great thing about coming back and playing it showed that the sport could carry on.

A couple UofL basketball questions:

Colby: Louisville announced it will have Cincinnati back on its schedule for the first time in years. From your time playing in the Big East, what does that rivalry mean to you?

Peyton: I didnt view it as a huge rivalry in a sense. The reason is because we played them every year in the Big East. I think rivalries are more a fan thing. I viewed all opponents the same, especially in the Big East, because it was such a tough league.

Colby: Louisville made two very interesting coaching hires this off-season: former Cardinal point guard Christen CC Cunningham and Spike Albrecht, who gave you guys hell in the 2013 National Championship game. What are your thoughts on these guys joining Coach Macks staff?

Peyton: I think it will be great for the team. It brings in guys who are closer in age and probably could relate to the players more in the sense both of them had different journeys in basketball but played at the highest level in college. I think they both will be great additions.

Colby: The city of Louisville is going through an intense moment of self-reflection and healing amid protests for racial equality and justice. Is there anything you would like to say to Louisvillians as they have this important conversation as a community, or is there anything you would like to share about your experience with the BLM movement as its unfolded in Germany?

Peyton: Justice for Breonna Taylor. Continue to let your voices be heard and stay safe. Black Lives Matter.

Thanks again to Peyton Siva for taking the time to talk to me. His team Alba Berlin has qualified for the EuroLeague, which at the time of writing is slated to begin play October 1. In the meantime, stay safe, wear a mask, and Go Cards!

Colby Helton is a Louisville native who pronounces it "Louie-ville." He has lived in Chicago, Germany, China, and San Diego, but people don't watch college basketball in those places, so he moved home. He did his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University and has a Master's of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine and a Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. Colby is also co-owner of AcuBalance Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine in Middletown. He is passionate about UofL basketball, bourbon, and enjoying the two together.

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Interview: Peyton Siva on Playing Pro Ball in the Time of COVID - The Crunch Zone

Is working from home a literal pain the neck? Many of us have spent long hours hunched over impromptu workstations on beds, coffee tables and kitchen islands since the onset of the pandemic. With elevated stress levels, fewer opportunities for movement and upended routines, working from home can be a recipe for back and neck pain.

Chiropractors specialize in correcting misalignments of the neck, back and head through careful manipulations of the spine. But since many of us dont have access to a chiropractor in person, here are some tips to help you reduce back and neck pain while working at home.

How can you maintain good posture while working from the kitchen table? Andrew Bang, D.C., lead chiropractor at the Center for Integrative Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, recommends this checklist to properly position your head, arms and back.

Bang and Barbara Rosinsky, a chiropractor in Wantagh, New York. recommended these seven simple tips to keep you free of back or neck pain between visits.

Belly snoozing is the worst position to sleep in, said Rosinsky. You have to turn your head to the left or right, and that creates neck strain, she says. Instead, either sleep on your back with pillows under your knees or on your side with pillows between your knees. Both positions help maintain the spines natural curvature. In both positions, sleep with a small pillow under your head and pull the pillow down so its also supporting your neck, Rosinsky explained.

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Strong abdominals are key to reducing pain in your back, but if you have back pain, traditional crunches and sit-ups actually make the pain worse, Bang explained. Instead, hold yourself in a yoga plank pose lie on your stomach and then lift your body so youre balancing on your hands and your toes, like a push up. Hold the position as long as you can, increasing the time with each attempt.

Side planks will also firm up your core. From the plank position, rotate your body to the left so you are balancing on your outstretched left arm and on your left foot (either stack your right foot on top of your left or place your right foot down if it's necessary for balance). Reach your right arm upward. Hold it as long as you can and then switch sides.

I have more low back pain patients who sit at desk all day than are manual laborers, said Bang. Our hamstrings get locked up from spending so many hours sitting in a chair, Bang explained. So when we try to stand up from sitting, our hamstrings pull on our pelvis, causing misalignments in the spine and all kinds of pain."

But a few simple stretches can counter this effect. While lying on your back, wrap a yoga belt around your foot and pull your leg up, keeping it straight. Feel the stretch along the back of your leg. Then try to stretch your leg across the groin over the left leg to right and vice versa and then out and away from your body towards your hips and. Work yourself up to holding the stretches for 90 seconds.

Take a look at your phone. Notice what you just did? In all likelihood your chin went to your chest and your neck curved into a C-shape. Thats really bad for your neck, said Bang. Theres 12-15 pounds of weight in the human head. The further the head is away from our shoulders looking down at our smartphones, [the more it] strains the muscles. The bones and the discs start to mash together and you get pain. This goes for all handheld electronics, like iPads. To save your neck, prop up your arms so youre looking at your phone straight on. If youre using an e-reader in bed, hold it up on your bent knees instead of down on your lap.

This is going to be a hard one. If you sit at a desk all day, make sure your feet are parallel and planted firmly on the ground, says Rosinsky. If your feet dont reach the ground, use a box or foot rest to prop them up. This will reduce pressure on your lower back. Also remember to raise your computer screen so its at eye level to limit neck strain.

When your grandmother scolded you about slouching, she was doing more than trying to make you look better. She was likely saving you from a backache. Sit up on your sit bones, not back on the sacrum, says Rosinsky, referring to the fleshier part of your tush. Think about the curve in your lower back and try to preserve it as you sit. And whatever youre working on, your keyboard and your computer screen should be square with your body. So dont put your laptop on your lap and hunch over it. Youre much better off putting it on a table.

Too much time spent in any one position sitting or standing can trigger back pain. The more active you are, the more you stretch out your muscles and get your body accustomed to physical activity so you're the less likely to suffer pain, Bang explained. You need to eat well, drink well and move well, he says. If you get too sedentary you will have more pain.

All of these strategies can help you stave off pain, but chiropractors also recommend regular adjustments that can help keep the spine aligned, the nervous system functioning properly and reduce the risk of recurring pain. When the situation allows, seeing your chiropractor on a regular basis, whether youre in pain or not, will help you maintain your balance and your range of motion, Bang said.

A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.

Excerpt from:
How to avoid back and neck pain while working from home - TODAY

There was a time when modern medicine was primitive. There were no antibiotics, so every infection took its own course, leading to decline in health. Hypertension and diabetes were largely untreatable. X-ray was new, and remedies had changed but little from medieval times. No one ever embarked on the goodness of preventative treatment, not to speak of predictive medicine, beyond taking a distasteful cod liver oil capsule.

During the last hundred years, modern medicine has undergone a sea change. Just think of it an ever-expanding repertoire of medicines, high-tech procedures, therapies and reams of clinical data to employ when one gets sick. Yet modern medicine remained (in)complete, notwithstanding the therapeutic advances.

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Things are now changing thanks to the integration of all such advances, from how a persons diet interacts with ones unique genetic profile to how environmental pollutants affect our thinking, not to speak of preventative medical approaches in health and wellness. The bigperestroikahas begun, and it is poised to transform health care for a growing number of people in the near future. Welcome to a whole new world of personalized, bespoke medicine.

Personalized medicine is, in essence, tailored or customized medical treatment. It treats while keeping in mind the unique, individual characteristics of each patient, which are as distinct as ones fingerprint or signature. It also includes scientific breakthroughs in our understanding of how a persons unique molecular and genetic profile makes them susceptible to certain illnesses. Personalized medicine expands our ability to envisage medical treatments that would not only be effective but also safe for each patient while excluding treatments that may not provide useful objectives.

Personalized medicine is, in simple terms, the use of new methods of molecular scrutiny. It is keyed to help better manage a patients illness or their genetic tendency toward a particular illness or a group of diseases. In so doing, it aims to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes by helping both clinicians and patients choose a disease management approach that is likely to work best in the context of the patients unique genetic and environmental summary. In other words, it allows to accurately diagnose diseases and their sub-types while prescribing the best form and dose of medication most suited to the given patient.

Personalized, or precision, medicine is not rocket science it is, in essence, an extension of certain traditional approaches to understanding and treating disease. What jazzed up the therapeutic fulcrum of personalized medicine are tools that are more precise. This is what also offers clinicians better insights for selecting a treatment protocol based on a patients molecular profile. Such a patient-specific methodology, as has been practiced for long in certain complementary and alternative medical (CAM) or integrative approaches, not only curtails harmful side effects but also leads to more successful outcomes, including reduced costs in comparison to the current trial-and-error approach to treatment, which has distressingly come to the fore during these extraordinary and unprecedented times of COVID-19.

It is still early days, but the fact remains that personalized medicine has changed the old ways of how we all thought about, identified and managed health issues. As personalized medicine increasingly bids fair to an exciting journey in terms of clinical research and patient care, its impact will only further expand our understanding of medical technology.

What personalized medicine has done is bring about a paradigm shift in our thinking about people in general and also specifically. We all vary from one another what we eat, what others eat, how we react to stress or experience health issues when exposed to environmental factors. It is agreed that such variations play a role in health and disease. It is also being incrementally accepted that certain natural variations found in our DNA can influence our risk of developing a certain disease and how well we could respond to a particular medicine.

All of us are unique individuals, perhaps with the exemption of identical twins, albeit the genomes are unique in them, too. While we are genetically similar, there are small differences in our DNA that are unique, which also makes us distinctive in terms of health, disease and our response to certain medicinal treatments.

Personalized medicine is poised to tap natural variations found in our genes that may play a role in our risk of getting or not getting certain illnesses, along with numerous external factors, such as our environment, nutrition and exercise. Variations in DNA can, likewise, lead to differences in how medications are absorbed, metabolized and used by the body. The understanding of such genetic variations and their interactions with environmental factors are elements that will help personalized medicine clinicians to produce better diagnostics and drugs, and select much better treatments and dosages based on individual needs not as just fixing a pill or two, as is the present-day conventional medical practice.

It is established that a majority of genes function precisely as intended. This gives rise to proteins that play a significant role in biological processes while allowing or helping an individual to grow, adapt and live in their environment. It is only in certain unusual situations, such as a single mutated or malfunctioning gene, that our apple cart is disturbed. This leads to distinct genetic diseases or syndromes such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. In like manner, multiple genes acting together can impact the development of a host of common and complex diseases, including our response to medications used to treat them.

New advances will revolutionize bespoke medical treatment with the inclusion of drug therapy as well as recommendations for lifestyle changes to manage, delay the onset of disease or reduce its impact. Not surprisingly, the emergence of new diagnostic and prognostic tools has already raised our ability to predict likely outcomes of drug therapy. In like manner, the expanded use of biomarkers biological molecules that are associated with a particular disease state has resulted in more focused and targeted drug development.

Molecular testing is being expansively used today to identify breast cancer and colon cancer patients who are likely to benefit from new treatments and to preempt recurrences. A genetic test for an inherited heart condition is helping clinicians to determine which course of treatment would maximize benefit and minimize serious side effects while bringing about curative outcomes.

Such complexities exist for asthma and other disorders too. This is precisely where molecular analysis of biomarkers can help us to identify sub-types within a disease while enabling the clinician to monitor their progression, select appropriate medication, measure treatment outcomes and patients response. Future advances may make biomarkers and other tools affordable and allow clinicians to screen patients for relevant molecular variations prior to prescribing a particular medication.

It is already clear that personalized medicine promises three strategic benefits. In terms of preventative medicine, personalized medicine will improve the ability to identify which individuals are predisposed to develop a particular condition. A better understanding of genetic variations could also help scientists identify new disease subgroups or their associated molecular pathways and design drugs to target them. This could also help select patients for inclusion, or exclusion, in late-stage clinical trials. Finally, it will allow to work out the best dosage schedule or combination of drugs for each individual patient.

Yet not everything is hunky-dory for personalized medicine. Critics of precision medicine believe that the whole idea is too much of overhyped razzmatazz, among other things. Proponents, however, argue that when it comes to managing our own health, most of us are used to the idea of taking a one-size-fits-all approach be it medicines, supplements, diets and diagnoses. This may be wrong.

What works, as they put it, for one may be a gaffe for another. As the award-winning oncologist and medical technology innovator, Dr. David B. Agus, author of the groundbreaking bookThe End of Illness, puts it, each patients individual risk factors are based on ones DNA, the environment and a preventative lifestyle plan in response. He begins with simple, profound pointers: How is your sense of smell? and Is your ring finger longer than your middle finger? He explains with statistics-backed guidelines that moving and walking regularly is mandatory because exercising and then sitting is equivalent to smoking cigarettes, while eating and sleeping at consistent hours is imperative because irregularity causes inflammation.

The inference is obvious: We should all understand our physiology and quiz doctors with the thorough, exploratory frame of mind of a gadget buyer. This holds the key to making medicine truly personal, more humane, effective and safe while keeping in mind the individual in us all as unique and distinctive, the sum of the whole not just the parts.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observers editorial policy.

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The Future of Medicine Is Bespoke - Fair Observer

Patanjali Ayurvedas claimed cure for COVID-19 has been criticised for making unsubstantiated claims of efficacy. However, can Ayurveda, or alternative medicine in general, be evaluated in the same way as modern medicine?

Host: Jacob Koshy

Guests: Dr. BhavanaPrasher,senior scientist at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.

Dr. S.P. Kalantriis a Professor at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha

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Can alternative medicine be subject to scientific rigour? | The Hindu Parley Podcast - The Hindu

Patanjali Ayurvedas claimed cure for COVID-19 has been criticised for making unsubstantiated claims of efficacy. However, can ayurveda, or alternative medicine in general, be evaluated in the same way as modern medicine? Jacob Koshy discusses the question with Dr. S.P. Kalantri and Dr. Bhavana Prasher. Edited excerpts:

Dr. Prasher, could you begin by explaining what really is the process of testing a new investigational drug in ayurveda? Does it follow the phased system of clinical trials as in modern medicine?

Bhavana Prasher: There are two aspects to the use of ayurvedic drugs for clinical use. Some are those described in classical text and listed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of India. These have formulations that prescribe use in certain [conditions]. These are classical medicines that have been used for several hundreds of years in our country as well as in many parts of the world. If these drugs are to be used for a new condition, as we are seeing in the case of COVID-19, and there is some textual evidence to suggest that they could be useful, then they can straight away progress to human trials. We dont need studies on toxicity or pre-clinical aspects as these are already well-understood. However, if the drug is an entirely new formula, for a new set of conditions, then it has to follow the same path of toxicity, pre-clinical efficacy and subsequent clinical trials.

In a typical drug trial, an investigational drug is tested on various groups. Theres phase one, phase two... all the way up to multicentre phase three, etc. Then, it is medical statistics that decides whether the drug is actually safe and measurably improves outcomes. You also have to separate out the placebo effect. Do those same standards also apply to ayurveda?

Bhavana Prasher: For evaluating safety and efficacy, there is no difference in testing standards. But when it comes to trial design, what is an effective placebo for COVID-19? Right now, I dont think theres any medicine, or standard of care, that we can reliably compare a new drug with. However, as far as the trial design is concerned, what is more important is the outcome measures that you decide. In the context of disease management, it is not the case that one drug would work for the entire population and a single one would be useful for that patients lifetime. Drugs are evaluated based on what specific endpoint is expected. There is a very clear-cut flowchart or diagram given by the CCRS (Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences) guidelines. They say that the drug must not ignore the parameters on which it is judged by modern medicine.

Dr. Kalantri, In the case of COVID-19, several drugs are being re-purposed by pharmaceutical companies. Many times, drugs are hyped as potential antivirals, and they edge through the appraisal process by the expected outcomes being changed. We saw that in the case of remdesivir. So, dont you think that in some sense, you know, the pharmaceutical drugs, have it slightly easier, and a higher burden of proof is applied on alternative medicine?

S.P. Kalantri: Well, a science is a science is a science. I have great respect for ayurveda and its basic philosophy gels well with the Eastern approach of health and disease, in sharp contrast to the Western approach. But my point is that any drug or any intervention must figure out if the drug is safe and effective. For that, you need to follow certain rules. By merely drawing from experience in the past, quoting literature for which the drug might have worked in the past, does it mean that this drug will be as simple, as effective for a new disease? Ebola would be a great example. We thought that certain drugs worked well in Ebola and then we tried to extrapolate the results of those drugs to COVID-19, but they did not work. So often, what works in petri dishes might not work so far as actually human beings are concerned. My point is that no matter what branch you are practising, whether it is modern medicine or alternative medicine, comprising unani, siddha or homeopathy, there are certain scientific principles that absolutely must be followed. These scientific principles are basically aimed at making sure that you are minimising the bias as much as you can.

In the pharmaceutical world, normally what happens is, results of a trial are peer-reviewed and published in a journal. Independent experts can then evaluate the drugs benefits or non-efficacy. How often does that happen in alternative medicine? Are negative results reported?

Bhavana Prasher: There is a problem in that ayurvedic research publications dont appear as frequently in high-impact journals. However, I think that in general there is a paucity of negative outcomes being published and is not really a problem of ayurveda alone. Ayurvedic knowledge does not just come from experience but also relies on extensive documentation.

There are several universities and research counsellors who keep doing clinical trials that appear in ayurveda journals and thesis reports of research students. There is definitely the case that this reporting needs to be upgraded and the quality of journals improved.

Also read | Ayush Ministry lens on Baba Ramdevs COVID-19 cure

It is now well-understood that when disease reaches a certain level, you need technological interventions like, in the case of COVID-19, ventilators and pulse oximeters. However, ayurveda and other branches of alternative medicine mostly rely on natural concoctions. So, how do you integrate devices that are known to be life-saving into an ayurvedic framework?

Bhavana Prasher: They are absolutely integrated into the ayurvedic framework. I would recommend you to visit any of the modern ayurvedic institutes where the examination of the patient with respect to all these objective methods is very much adopted. There is no allergy to modern technological devices being integrated in the clinical protocols of ayurveda. Nevertheless, ayurveda also retains the methodology of assessment of disease in ayurvedic style, which is not only about focusing on the virus, but also looks at the baseline health parameters like diet and sleep. These are the immediate indicators of whether treatment is working.

Also read | Patanjali to sell Coronil as 'immunity booster,' not 'cure for COVID-19'

Dr. Kalantri, is there a way in which these two systems of medicines can be integrated? Or are they two different schools that cannot really exist under one roof but can only run parallel paths?

S.P. Kalantri: I guess an integrated approach would be a win-win situation for both disciplines because modern medicine approaches treatment from a left-brain perspective it is more rational, more analytic, more structured. Ayurveda has a holistic, more intuitive approach. It takes into consideration the person as a whole. So, while modern medicine is obsessed with a cell, or an organ, or a disease, which is a part of a body, ayurveda considers the person as a whole and believes that the whole is more important than some of the parts that it is composed of. I completely agree with this. But when we are integrating them, we should not forget the principles of science and ethics.

The way the Patanjali trial was publicised, the results were shared with the media without getting published. The most meaningful outcome we are looking at from a drug is that it should be able to save lives. A strength of modern medicine is that it looks very strongly at these endpoints (saving lives and recovery). We need to look at the large trials conducted in the last two months, the solidarity trial and the recovery trial. Both not only produced some positive results, but [the researchers] also had the humility and transparency to say that hydroxychloroquine does not work, remdesivir does not reduce mortality, the dual combination of antiviral drugs does not work.

Editorial | Science vs nonsense: On Patanjalis COVID-19 claim

Dr. Prasher, would you agree that the benefits of Patanjalis drug were hyped? And didnt it do more harm to ayurveda in the process?

Bhavana Prasher: In the case of this particular trial, I would agree that their claims were disproportionate to what was clinically proved. However, I would disagree with Dr. Kalantri in that if we are indeed looking purely at how many lives are saved, I do not know if, anywhere, ayurvedic medicine has even had a chance of [being tested] in ICUs. So, the Patanjali trial was only restricted to mild and moderate cases; all asymptomatic cases were only mildly positive, so as an endpoint, they could only test viral clearance.

There arent tests allowed anywhere where ayurveda can be tested in severe or critically ill situations which could improve outcomes. A confidence has to be built in the modern medical world as well as in society that these things can be tested in those conditions as well.

Also read | FIR against Baba Ramdev, others on COVID-19 cure claim

Ayurveda is said to be a highly personalised system of medicine. So, by definition, can treatments so customised to an individual be sold to a general population? Modern medicine, on the other hand, recommends a drug for anyone who presents a certain set of conditions.

Bhavana Prasher: Personalisation refers to the disease type or the stage of severity. If, for a given presentation, a certain drug has been useful and tested, then it can be given to others. But the clinical indication has to be very clear. However the one-drug-fits-all notion in modern medicine is itself getting challenged everyday.

Both ayurveda and modern medicine are systems of medicine. However, their products are frequently in the hands of commercial pharmaceutical companies, who deploy similar means to sell more and extol benefits over harm. So, does that undermine medicine in both systems?

S.P. Kalantri: I completely agree. In the case of a drug called Favipiravir, that has now been approved, the company charges 13,000 for a 14-day therapy for a drug that only addresses fever and cough. Most people in our country can never afford such a drug. We must, at this time, de-link this nexus between pharmaceutical companies and medicine.

Bhavana Prasher: In the desperation for a panacea, drugs that are given over the counter compromise with the principles of treatment in Ayurveda too. This does create a lot of problems and sometimes can bring more harm than benefit.

Dr. Bhavana Prasher is an ayurveda doctor and senior scientist at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology; Dr. S.P. Kalantri is a Professor at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha

Excerpt from:
Can alternative medicine be subject to modern rigour? - The Hindu

On May 22, Google announced a company holiday for all its employees. Why? So that they could all switch off from work for a day. Work from home burnout is a real thing and a matter of concern, for employees and employers alike. Being constantly wired and connected, working without time boundaries, feeling isolated, not being able to interact with colleagues or go for tea or coffee breaks with them, can all lead to anxiety. There is no avenue to even blow off steam post work anymore.

According to a recent survey done by Monster, more than 50 per cent of the respondents working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic are feeling burnt out. During the pre-Covid days, work-from-home (WFH) was considered to be a cool and progressive way of working. Now it has become a norm. This change in work culture had to be done overnight with a lack of preparedness, no control or choice in it. There is no doubt that WFH comes with perks like zero commute time, flexible work schedule and more bonding time with the family. However, says ontological coach and author Geeta Ramakrishnan, As the novelty of this new reality is wearing off, it is resulting in increased mental health issues, such as high anxiety, apathy, physical and mental fatigue, and a range of depression-related concerns.

Understanding the problem

Before Covid, WFH was a privilege extended by employers as a special benefit to retain certain employees. Now, things have changed. With work for home, one doesnt have well-defined boundaries between work and life, so mixing the two can become very easy, says Luke Coutinho, holistic lifestyle coach, integrative medicine.

Dr Prerna Kohli, clinical psychologist, corroborates this. She says, Previously there was a clear distinction between the workplace and home. Employees dressed in their corporate uniforms, packed their lunches, and left for work, leaving their home problems at home, and returned home at the end of the day, leaving work at work. Today, this line has been blurred. People start working in their nightwear or casual clothes and hurriedly grab lunch while working. In the fear of being laid-off, employees are working longer hours and harder during WFH and its resulting in work-life imbalance.

If this burnout is not managed, it can lead to loss of manpower hours and the workforce suffering from lifestyle diseases.

Signs of the problem

Simply put, burnout is the state of feeling depleted in terms of energyphysical and mental. So, does it have telltale signs? Quite a fewirritability, lack of patience, low tolerance level, emotional breakdowns, backaches, neck pain, lethargy, mind fog, carpel tunnel syndrome, insomnia, demotivation and reduced productivity. Take the example of Abhishek Gupta (name changed on request), an investment banker who lives alone in his penthouse in Mumbai. A workaholic and type-A personality, he has always been a go-getter and a team player at work. After the lockdown was announced on March 24, he too, like so many others, began his WFH. But, for a month now he has been feeling demotivated, stressed and irritable. On the request of his senior, he did a video consultation with his company doctor and was diagnosed with symptoms of clinical depression, as a result of work pressure and no time off. Coutinho says, WFH at times can be so bad that it could transcend into our emotional self and disturb our capacity to handle stress, which, at a time like this, is at its lowest. The lack of social contact and being confined to a small space can be intimidating. Added to the already existing string of stress is the fear and uncertainty about ones future. Will I lose my job? Will I get COVID? Will I have enough money to sustain myself?

Most often, when one has to deal with changes in lifestyle and work without giving the mind a chance to recalibrate, one tends to automatically go in survival modefight or flight. The brain is on an all-time high stress alert with your analytical and problem-solving skills at an all-time low. WFH in a pandemic is a perfect example. The high stress mode of operating becomes your new normal and this auto alert process saps your physical and mental energy causing what we now call a WFH burnout, says Ramakrishnan. Apart from getting tired fast, one gets bored and restless easily. A degree of apathy creeps in. One feels disinterested and sad for no reason and is unable to distinguish the border between work and no-work. This inability to cope can lead to frustration and irritable behaviour. You procrastinate more and your focused attention span decreases. Your hunger and need to eat either reduces or increases drastically. You manage to get some sleep but still feel sleep deprived, she adds.

Addressing the problem

Time management and self-discipline are key. Its important to have a routine similar to what you followed before the lockdown. Maintain a consistent sleep cycle, ensure adequate physical exercise, and take some time out for yourself to do the things you enjoy. Pick up a hobby such as art, music or reading, and use this opportunity to upskill. Take it one day at a time and set short-term targets to feel a sense of accomplishment, suggests Dr Samir Parikh, director and head of department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare.

Its a good idea to dress in your work attire as well, work out of a dedicated space like a desk and chair and avoid working in bed. Take regular breaks to avoid fatigue. Try to achieve a regular sleep cycle and exercise at home, practice yoga and meditation.There are various tools and techniques, like Pomodoro [a technique in which a 5-minute break is recommended after every 25 minutes of work], to help you schedule breaks in between work and use it well, says Coutinho. Use these breaks to stretch, get some fresh air, wash your face to freshen up, do eye exercises, lie down for two minutes and close your eyes. But, most importantly, value your Sundays. There is no pride in working seven days a week.

WFH may be something we have to adapt to with no choice in the matter, or it could be a temporary, but accepting it as the only way right now will help bring positivity to it. Ramakrishnan says, Defining clear boundaries is important. It could be small acts of discipline like avoiding the temptation to read office emails or taking work calls or attending webinars outside of work hours; or prioritising your work by labeling them as urgent or not-urgent.

Employers also need to play an active role in ensuring that the mental health of their employees does not suffer. They should not expect them to be available 24x7 and be productive all the time. Dr Kohli, who recently counselled a young software developer, says, He was missing the structure of working in the office and was also anxious about his parents in Lucknow. His chief complaint was that for the last few days he hadnt written a single line of code. I believe the employers must engage mental health counsellors for their staff dealing with this situation.

Going forward, the work culture will include lots of WFH as companies implement a once or twice a week only work from the office set up. In order to avoid burnout, balance your personal and professional life, and stay productive, set office hours and work only during that time.

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Is WFH burning you out? |India Today Insight - India Today

Congratulations to Hicksville High School senior Sejal Gupta for being named Class of 2020 valedictorian and toAlaha Nasari for being named Class of 2020 salutatorian.

Sejal Gupta, Hicksville HS Class of 2020 Valedictorian.Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District

In addition to being named valedictorian, Sejal has also been named a National Merit Commended Scholar and earlier this year was named a Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Semifinalist and a Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) Finalist for her project to develop an algorithm for detecting walking patterns in patients with injuries to lower extremities. She also won first place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair and won a gold medal at the Al Kalfus Math Fair for her research.

Early on, Sejal realized her passion for STEM and has taken her interest to the highest of levels. In the eighth grade, Sejal founded a program called the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cafe to cultivate young childrens interest in technology and enterprise. She has spent 20 Sundays each of the last five years teaching students in grades kindergarten to eight about topics such as programming, breadboarding, prototyping and startup environment and continued teaching remotely through the pandemic quarantine. With over 1,000 hours dedicated to the Cafe, Sejal was named a Coca Cola Scholarship semifinalist for her volunteer work and leadership.

Sejal has participated in multiple internships in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, including one that earned her a Presidential Service Silver Medal. At Hicksville High School, Sejal has also served as secretary of the Science Olympiad team, the head of business for the robotics team and a delegate for Model United Nations. In the Science Olympiad competitions, she captured various medals in events such as Circuit Lab, Forensics and Protein Modeling.

Sejal is also a member of multiple honor societies and the president of the Math Honor Society. She is the president of the Hicksville Girls in Engineering and Mathematics program at the Hicksville Public Library, which aims to introduce middle school girls to STEM through a free summer camp. Sejal was also honored as a U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalist.

Alaha Nasari, Hicksville HS Class of 2020 Salutatorian.Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District

In addition to being the class salutatorian, Alaha is an AP Scholar with Distinction. Since her freshman year, Alaha has shown an interest in science and humanities and, as a result, has completed Advanced Placement courses in biology, chemistry and physics as well as all AP courses in history and social sciences. She believes her understanding of diverse cultures, backgrounds and people, combined with the knowledge of science, will make her an empathetic, culturally and medically competent physician in the future.

Alaha is also an avid and celebrated writer, taking part in multiple essay competitions through the years. In the ninth grade she was named a national finalist in the Voice of Democracy Essay Contest. She was also the recipient of the Uchida Memorial Award in the Japan Center at Stony Brook Universitys Essay Competition and was recognized in the Long Island Coalition Against Bullying essay contest.

Her love for interacting with children has inspired Alaha to volunteer her time in the community. She has tutored at the Kumon Math and Reading Center for the last three years and also attained an internship at Hicksville Pediatrics clinic, learning about medical procedures while interacting with young patients and their families. She also volunteered for Nassau County Family Court, providing families with information and resources to help them through domestic issues. As a junior, Alaha co-founded the elementary-aged science education program Inspire Science in Youth, which she has taught at the Hicksville Public Library the last two years.

As a research assistant for a biology professor at Adelphi University last summer, Alaha had the unique opportunity to co-author a research paper that was presented at an annual conference for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. She also completed a Saturday Academy program at New York University in dentistry and medicine during the first half of the school year.

At Hicksville High School, Alaha has been a leader among the student body. She served as an officer with the Ecology Club, Natural Helpers, and the National and Rho Kappa honor societies. She has organized multiple service activities including a school supply drive in support of impoverished communities in Afghanistan. Alaha has also created comfort baskets, organized collection drives and written and published content for the Breast Cancer Comfort Foundation, an organization she has volunteered with for the last four years.

Being a student at Hicksville High School has been an intense, stimulating, and inspiring academic experience, but it has also been a deeply personal experience, Alaha said. I have developed so many relationships with brilliant, driven people and these interactions have truly allowed me to learn and grow. My active involvement and leadership within the school building has encouraged me to look at the world around me in a questioning, open-minded, and curious manner. This global perspective and desire to apply knowledge outside of the classroom setting is certainly one of the most valuable lessons I have learned from the intellectually focused community at Hicksville.

Alaha will attend Harvard, where she will study history and science.

Alahas warmth, perception, confidence, and tenacity to her social community is obvious to all, said her guidance counselor Alice Hannon. She is destined for success. Undoubtedly, she will do great things with her life while helping many, many others along the way.

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Hicksville HS names top students - The Mid Island Times

A Falcon who came home to rule the roost at the new health center is leaving the flock.

Dr. Jeffery Swartz has been the medical director and family medicine physician, integrative medicine, for the Bowling Green State University Falcon Health Center on South College Drive for three years.

He was recruited to come back to the area in 2016 to lead Falcon Health Center, which also has Wood County Hospital as a partner.

Falcon Health Center offers immunizations, travel medicine, skin screenings, lab and radiology services, whole health care, acupuncture, chiropractic care and physical therapy to all of the community, not just BGSU students, faculty and staff.

There have been many changes in the medical field since Swartz started practicing. As time went on, he said he found himself getting back to the basics.

The good is we have great technology and we have great drugs that extend lives, provide comfort and we do things quicker, he said. Theres so much focus on the technology and the whiz-bang stuff that weve discounted the importance of relationships, and its gotten in the way of us focusing on the patient.

To remind Swartz and his staff of Falcon Health Centers main mission, there is a patient, large and in the middle of a board with all of their services. The board fills up a wall in a conference room.

Whole health or integrated medicine using only evidence-based treatments, is the focus of the center.

Ive always said if you give the patient the right information, theyll make the right decision, Swartz said. Were so focused on all the parts, were not looking at the whole.

Treating cancer patients has helped him see different treatments and the whole patient.

Sometimes cancer patients, if you can get them well motivated and relaxed and doing meditation, they take their treatment better, he said. Its all about comfort for the patient.

At Falcon Health, he brought in an acupuncturist and chiropractor.

Its the only place I know about in Northwest Ohio where they work alongside a physical therapist, he said. They help each other on cases.

We do medication reviews. We also think about healthy supplements that not only help to heal the body but also help to heal the mind. Fish oil and magnesium help many folks with anxiety, with sleep and with PTSD.

Swartz graduated from the Medical College Ohio in Toledo 40 years ago this month.

He was the youngest of five boys. In Swartzs late teen years, when his second oldest brother received a kidney transplant, he became interested in physics and dialysis.

That really turned me on to medicine, he said.

Swartz grew up in Perrysburg Township and graduated from Rossford High School.

I was really well prepared for college because I had great teachers and great honors classes there, he said. It prepared me for Bowling Green.

At BGSU, he was a chemistry major, with minors in physics and philosophy/medical ethics. At MCO, he found he liked all his rotations so Swartz decided to become a family doctor.

He practiced in northern Wood County with Dr. Fritz Price for a number of years. Swartz picked up another interest, after being the team physician for Lake High School, and started the sports medicine network at St. Charles Hospital in Oregon.

Medical education has also been one of his interests. In 1996, he helped bring the Mercy family medicine residency to St. Charles and became director of medical education.

Ive always been involved with teaching medical students and residents, Swartz said.

In 2010, he moved to South Carolina to do full-time academics. He was a founding faculty member of the University of South Carolina at Greenville School of Medicine.

His two sons graduated from there and are in residence training. Ben is finishing family medicine training at Ohio State University and Andrew is an oncologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Daughter Bridget is a BGSU graduate who works for Ohioans Home Health Care, a local company.

Swartzs wife, Terri, has also worked in the medical field, as a physician liaison for Wood County Hospital.

While hes leaving Falcon Health Center on June 30, he is not ready to retire. Swartz plans to join an integrative medicine practice.

Weve started something good here, he said of Falcon Health Center and its future.

Excerpt from:
Health director flying the coop | News | sent-trib.com - Sentinel-Tribune

NEW HOPE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VerdePharmHealth today announced the signing of an exclusive national agreement with HAI Health for the HealthyDose product line formulated by a highly respected oncologist, Dr. Alberto Bessudo.

There is growing evidence that medical cannabis may be effective in helping patients manage certain types of cancers at various stages, in conjunction with and as an alternative to traditional medical treatments. Medical cannabis may also be effective in managing the side effects of cancer therapies and the symptoms of the disease. Unfortunately, most people wait too long after diagnosis to begin cannabis therapies. They begin looking for alternative therapy when conventional treatments havent worked, and the disease is already advanced, sometimes with a terminal diagnosis, said Dr. Alberto Bessudo, founder & chief executive officer at HAI Health. After careful consideration and diligence, we selected VerdePharmHealth given our alignment of mission and values for patient care, their solid commitment towards innovation in integrative medicine, and robust offering to healthcare providers and their patients.

Dr. Alberto Bessudo has been on the cutting edge of medicinal cannabis in patient care, developing integrative plans with cannabinoids targeted towards specific symptoms, without the numerous side effects of conventional pharmaceuticals and procedures. Dr. Bessudo and his team have designed synergistic formulations, which are comprised of curated ingredients that are specifically designed to work and support the bodys own functions and accelerate health, said Dr, Ralph Boccia, oncologist, board member, & medical director at VerdePharmHealth. As part of their ongoing commitment to quality medical cannabis products, the ingredients are grown without pesticides or herbicides, and several in the product line are organic. Furthermore, several tests are conducted, including testing for heavy metals, pesticides, mold and yeast, microbes, and cannabinoid potency, instilling a higher level of confidence for our provider member network and their patients.

Both companies will further partner around systematic, structured real-world observational studies to better understand and improve the appropriate use of cannabinoids, support cost of care, improve quality of life, and treatment optimization paradigms, with HealthyDose Clinical Premium product made available through HAI Health and the clinical research platform and services, decision-support tools, patient engagement app, and data analytics provided by VerdePharmHealth.

About VerdePharmHealth

VerdePharmHealth, the first organization of its kind in the U.S., provides comprehensive multi-specialty group purchasing, clinical solutions, and healthcare technology designed to drive high-level commitment and affordability for members through accessibility of quality cannabis products from prequalified manufacturers and leveraging of clinical services and robust technology to improve decisions for interventions at the point of care and capture real-world evidence. Utilizing retrospective data and clinical studies for decision-support and standardization of appropriate-use in the care delivery process is a central pillar towards achieving outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.verdepharmhealth.com or follow VerdePharmHealth on LinkedIn.

Contact: contact@verdepharmhealth.com or George Raupp, Chief Operating Officer 610.937.1175

About HAI Health

Our mission is wellness. Our team of biologists, nutritionists, pharma industry experts and medical scientists are committed to deliver clinical grade, GMP-certified products that balance and supplement the endocannabinoid system to make the life of patients with chronic illness, including cancer, better and longer.

Contact: HAI Health, Inc., 1650 N Coast Hwy 101, Suite B, Encinitas CA 92024.

Forward-looking statements

Matters discussed in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts, such as expected savings and other expected benefits to members and suppliers, as discussed herein, are forward-looking statements which may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of VerdePharmHealth and its subsidiaries to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements in the conditional or future tenses or that include terms such as believes, belief, expects, estimates, intends, anticipates or plans to be uncertain and forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may include comments as to VerdePharms beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside VerdePharms control. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. VerdePharm undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise that occur after that date.

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VerdePharmHealth Signs Exclusive Partnership Agreement with HAI Health for Oncologist-Formulated Medical Cannabis Product Line - Business Wire