July Roundtable Discussions

All events $10 and held at Glow unless otherwise specified.

Space is limited and will be reserved for pre-paid participants.

Please call to reserve your spot: 206-568 -7545.

Managing Chronic Illness — Tuesday, July 12th, 6-7 PM
Facilitated by Tina Michalski, MSW

Any chronic illness means that the individual will make some adjustments in their life, which may include adjustment to physical limitations, as well as changes in our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and behavior, in response to the illness.

Group and individual therapy can help restructure our thinking processes to more realistic and helpful thoughts, which can help to  effectively manage the stress of the illness, as well as the anxiety and depression that can manifest. Counseling also means that you are more likely to follow the treatment plans and recommendations of your medical providers, and have better physical health.

Postural Assessments: Your gait and spine — Wednesday, July 13th, 2-3 PM
Facilitated by Dr. Heather Bergdors, DC, DABCO

Curious where your body has overcompensation or imbalances? Learn how to personalize your activities based on your current musculoskeletal structure.
Supportive Care for Cancer Survivors — Wednesday, July 13th, 6-7 PM
Facilitated by Derek Kirkham, DAOM EAMP

Join East Asian medicine practitioner Derek Kirkham for a free discussion on how East Asian medicine can benefit cancer survivors. The innovations of conventional care, i.e. chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, have enabled more and more people to survive cancer. However, while these therapies are powerful tools in the fight against cancer, they can simultaneously damage the systems within the body during and after treatment. Healthy systems are crucial for recovery. This discussion will cover helpful tips on rebuilding the body’s vital energy (Qi) and creating an internal environment that promotes healthy living.

Discussion topics:
– Basic theories of East Asian medicine
– How acupuncture, herbs and foods can support the body during survivorship
– The benefits of Tai Qi and Qi Gong
– And much more…

Breaking Weight Loss Plateaus with hCG Programs — Thursday, July 14th, 6-7 PM
Facilitated by Dr. Eric Nissen ND

Find out if an hCG weight loss plan is right for you.Learn how hCG works, how to qualify for the program, potential side effects(which are minimal), and typical experiences and results you canexpect.
Get More from Your Acupuncture: Intro to Chinese Medicine — Monday, July 18th, 4-5 PM
Facilitated by Lindsey Lawson, MS EAMP, Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist

Learn how diet, exercise, Qi Gong and Chinese Medicine can enhance your acupuncture sessions. Find out how living seasonally can impact your health. Learn how to make the most of the Qi you’ve got for optimal health. This class is perfect for new patients, as well as veteran patients, who want to learn more.

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hCG Helps People Break Through Their Weight Loss Plateaus

By Dr. Eric Nissen ND

Proper diet and exercise are mainstays of weight loss. It stands to reason: if take in fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. Unfortunately, this does not work for many people, at least sustainably.

Enter the Set Weight Point Theory. This theory states that the body gets used to a particular body weight, or more specifically, a body fat percentage. If that body fat percentage drops below what it is normally, the brain perceives that the body is experiencing a famine, and a cascade of hormones and chemical messengers are released to reduce metabolism. Evolutionarily, this makes sense: shutting down metabolism in a time of famine will help prevent a person from burning through their vital reserves, thus helping that person live longer.

However, in modern society, not having access to enough calories is not an issue (at least for most of us). Our biggest challenge is not eating too many calories. This is made more challenging by eating foods that are nutrient-poor, so our bodies tell us to eat more and more food to get the nutrients they need. Additionally, modern-day foods have more intense flavors than what our ancestors were used to. Sugar and salt are in much more abundance, as well as artificial flavorings and flavor enhancers. So, we may very well eat more calories than we need because we’ve become addicted to those flavors and have lost the innate sense of eating just what the body needs.

So, it is possible to gradually ratchet up the set weight point. Most of us have experienced this. It is much more challenging to reduce it.

hCG, or human Chorionic Gonadotropin, combined with a low-calorie diet, is the best thing that I have come across that actually helps to establish a new lower set weight point. hCG is what a woman produces when she is pregnant. In times of famine, or a low-calorie diet, hCG will tell the hypothalamus in the brain to tell the body to mobilize fat stores. This ensures that the developing fetus receives the needed calories and nutrients to remain viable.

We can mimic these conditions by supplying a very low dose of hCG to a person who is eating a specific, low-calorie diet. This completely bypasses the body’s set weight point and, in fact, helps to establish a new one at the end of the program.

Weight loss is rapid, typically ½ pound to 1 pound per day. In any other circumstance, I would consider that to be too much. But with hCG, people don’t experience hunger or fatigue, and the results are sustainable after stopping the hCG. This is true for both men and women, young or older.

If you are curious about hCG and weight loss or have further questions, I am offering a round-table discussion at Glow on July 14^th, from 6-7 p.m. I also offer free 15-minute consults during office hours to discuss your health further and decide if naturopathic medicine and/or hCG is right of for you.

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Bikes and Food!!

Rather than our usual recipe, or favorite seasonal treat, I’d like to highlight the annual fundraiser, Spoke and Food. What better way to celebrate the season and support Seattle Tilth, than riding your bike to dinner? This coming Tuesday June 28^th , grab a friend and head on over to any of the participating neighborhood restaurants. They’ll donate 20% of their proceeds from 5- 10 pm, to The Children’s Garden program at Seattle Tilth.

For those of you who live near Glow, check out the Madrona Alehouse. I’ll be heading over to Chaco Canyon in West Seattle ( oh darn since I hate that place…oh did I say hate, I mean love ..), and the full list of participating restaurants is below.

Participating restaurants:

• Ballard – Snoose Junction Pizzeria
• Capitol Hill – The Lookout
• Greenwood – The Barking Dog Alehouse
• Madrona – The Madrona Alehouse
• Maple Leaf – Snappy Dragon
• Phinney Ridge – Stumbling Goat Bistro
• Queen Anne – Via Tribunali
• Ravenna – Casa D’Italia
• Roosevelt – The Scarlet Tree
• University District – Chaco Canyon Organic Café
• Wallingford – Julia’s
• White Center – Proletariat Pizza
• West Seattle – Chaco Canyon Organic Café

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Glow Welcomes Dr. Eric Nissen, ND

Dr. Eric Nissen provides primary care services, as well as specializing in weight loss, men’s health, and urology. He gets to the underlying cause of a health concern by in-depth patient history and lab testing and by utilizing diet and lifestyle counseling, herbal medicine, nutritional supplements, and homeopathy.

Dr. Nissen is a Washington State licensed Naturopathic Physician. He received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the Universityof Nebraskaand his doctorate of naturopathy degree from Bastyr University, in Seattle, WA. He has lived and practiced naturopathic medicine for the last few years in New York  and New Jersey, before recently returning to the beautiful Northwest. He has been interviewed on numerous radio shows and T.V., and has lectured across the U.S.on a variety of topics related to natural health.

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New Product: QC Nasal Spray by Thorne

Product information from Thorne. Available for purchase at Glow.

 

Few things are more annoying than the pain and pressure of a stuffy or runny nose turning normal daily activities into truly miserable tasks. Thorne Research’s QC Nasal Spray is a homeopathically-prepared nasal spray utilizing quercetin chalcone 2X and Euphorbium 6X, packaged in a one-ounce, metered-dose bottle.

The flavonoid quercetin strengthens cell membranes of mast cells and basophils (a type of white blood cell), thus preventing them from releasing their histamine. Quercetin also affects enzymes that help maintain a normal inflammatory response. Homeopathic indications for Euphorbium include hay fever, headache, nasal discharge, stuffy nose, sneezing, and post-nasal discharge with a raw, sore throat.

QC Nasal Spray relieves dry and inflamed nasal membranes and sinus passages, sneezing, stuffy nose, watery nasal discharge, and headache. And this unique homeopathic medicine goes to work right where the body needs it most – the nasal mucosa.

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The Medical Use of Cannabis

by Candace McNaughton, ND

It is time to separate the stigma of recreational use of marijuana from the benefit of medical use of cannabis.  Many conventional medications (such as opiate pain medications) are harmful, intoxicating, and carry a risk of dependence.  There is so much more to the cannabis plant than the intoxicating properties of THC.

Naturopathic physicians in Washington State can authorize their patients to use cannabis to treat certain conditions which are debilitating or terminal.  This includes cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. It also includes chronic severe pain, glaucoma, Crohn’s disease, and hepatitis C if they are unrelieved by standard medical treatments.  Diseases which result in nausea, vomiting, wasting, appetite loss, cramping, seizures, muscle spasms, when these symptoms are unrelieved by standard treatments, may also benefit from the medical use of cannabis.

I am familiar with medical cannabis law and naturopathic physicians’ role in the legal recommendation of its use.  I am becoming increasingly convinced that not only is it good medicine, but NDs are the most qualified to understand it as medicine, in that botanicals are much more complex than pharmaceuticals.  Botanicals contain hundreds to thousands of chemicals, where pharmaceuticals contain just one.  I use the word medical cannabis rather than medical marijuana because that is the scientific name.  We refer to our medicines by scientific names to avoid the confusion that can arise with many common herb names.

I do not write authorizations for conditions that do not clearly fall under the law.  I do not believe in making many brief appointments with patients simply to fit many in one day.  I only authorize qualifying patients of mine to use medical cannabis after a complete understanding of their medical record and condition.  This means that they understand and have tried other options.  In accordance with the current law, I do not advise patients to buy the medicine, only authorize them to use it.

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Welcome to Glow, Candace McNaughton, ND

Trained as a family practitioner to address acute and chronic conditions, Dr. McNaughton specializes in allergies, autoimmune disease, and digestive issues.  She facilitates healing as a knowledgeable guide and partner, helping her patients make lasting changes and achieve health goals.  Her patients are motivated and are active participants in their healing process.

Dr. McNaughton holds your comprehensive medical record and helps you to coordinate care with other practitioners.  Her treatment approach is to remove obstacles to cure and improve the functioning of the body so that disease cycles are stopped or slowed.  Treatments can also minimize the side effects of medications and improve their effectiveness.  History, labs, and diagnosis are the same as conventional doctors. Therapeutics are natural medicine.

Dr. McNaughton’s patients feel heard and thoroughly cared for.  They feel safe, accepted, and respected, whether they share aspects of alternative lifestyles or “slip-ups” from the treatment plan.  Her patients appreciate finding ways to practically achieve recommendations rather than only following protocols. Instead of simply telling patients what to do, she works with them to plan how they can institute change.

Therapeutics used:

• Science-based herbal medicine
• Diet and nutrient therapy
• Detoxification
• B12/B Complex injections
• Antibiotics or hormones if necessary
• Medical cannabis evaluation

Dr. McNaughton completed her pre-medical education at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.  While there, she ran a natural health interest group; arranging for a variety of professionals to speak as well as giving several talks.  She graduated from Bastyr University’s naturopathic medicine program in 2003.

Dr. McNaughton is an experienced writer and speaker, giving talks at libraries, schools, community centers, support groups, and natural foods markets.  She published a front page article on acid/alkaline balance in the PCC Sound Consumer.  She spoke on natural medicine quick fixes at IgniteSeattle, a fast-paced event where speakers are given five minutes and auto-advancing slides.  She has been a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians since 1998, and spoke at their 2005 convention.  She has twice appeared on SCAN TV’s Being in Seattle with Rosemary Broccoli, and on KYPT Radio’s Northwest Point of View with Anita Mofitt.

In 2009, Dr. McNaughton completed a three-week academic and practical intensive in traditional and institutional medicine with Spanish immersion in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  She has facilitated a Spanish conversational group since 2005.  Her personal interests include yoga, hiking, and travel.

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Welcome back Derek!

We would like to announce Derek’s return to Glow. He’s been gone since early May studying abroad in China. Derek graduates from Bastyr’s doctoral program in integrative oncology and pain management June 18th. His first day back at the office will be Saturday, July 2nd. Glow wants to thank Jessica Vargish for her great work while Derek was gone. She has been a great asset to the organization.

Please give the office a call to schedule an appointment with Derek. His new office hours will be Tuesday through Saturday.

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pics from Derek’s China trip

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Derek: Blogging from Shanghai!

I landed in Shanghai yesterday. The flight was a bit too bumpy for me but we made it safely. I have not see much of the city yet, however, what I have seen has been great. It’s beautiful, clean and the air quality is significantly better than Chengdu. Chengdu was a great experience, I got to see a true blending of Eastern and Western medicine and the power the two create when they work together. It give me hope and ideas on how integrative medicine could work in the U.S. I heard that the hospital we’re working at next is much more westernized… I’ll keep you updated. We’ll see if this integrative trend continues in Shanghai. Well, I’m off to breakfast!

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