Dr. Sharif's blog

In classical homeopathy, we believe that each person has a “constitution” which is based on his/her temperament/personality traits as well as physical characteristics. Some constitutions are, in general, dryer than others. Some of the more common “constitutions” that are on the dry side include Pulsatilla and Natrum muriaticum/Nat mur. As you can see in the examples below, chronic dehydration can have life-threatening consequences. Many people, especially the “dry” constitutions, are at risk for such complications.

By far the majority of Pulsatillas are chronically dehydrated, leading to numerous health problems. Today, I had a very interesting case of a Pulsatilla male who had been hospitalized due to dehydration at some point in his life! Of course, other constitutions, due to life’s circumstances, can end up severely dehydrated as well, but did it surprise me that this gentleman had ended up in the hospital as a result? No!

I have seen Pulsatillas develop a headache for months in a row, develop hives or rashes, chronic eye infections, chronic “cotton” mouth, or even many cavities as a result of chronic dehydration. Almost all such dehydrated Pulsatilla individuals become thirsty minutes after taking their remedy. I have seen this happen and have actually captured this on camera on numerous occasions.

Since Pulsatillas don’t care for the taste of plain water, I believe they ought to consider adding something to their water to make it more palatable. A few suggestions include, adding a few drops of liquid Stevia, lemon juice, or various other "extracts" (such as vanilla, anise, or fruit flavors of different kinds) to your water. Another idea is to add a very small amount of Recharge or fruit juice to their water unless sugar is strictly contraindicated for their health. You can purchase Recharge from most grocery stores, and it comes in different flavors. This is where creativity can help you greatly.

Another common constitutional homeopathic remedy which can end up in trouble due to dehydration is Natrum muriaticum (Nat mur). Why? Nat murs have a dryer body to begin with- their body “runs” dry, manifested as dry skin and/or dry bowels (skin turned outside in). Dry bowels would of course translate to constipation, or tendency towards it. Unless they exercise regularly or eat properly, most Nat murs at least tend towards constipation. With this dry constitution, drinking a sufficient amount of water becomes more critical for them than most other constitutions. I have seen depressed Nat mur patients who feel significantly better emotionally minutes after drinking 1-2 glasses of water in the office, even without their remedy. One such patient who was nearly suicidal when he first came into my office, felt almost entirely well emotionally after drinking two large glasses of water in front of me as I was taking his case. I suspected severe dehydration in his case based on a few factors: I noted that his facial skin (including lips) appeared extremely dehydrated, he was taking diuretics (which make a person urinate more and lose water out of their body), and also on Lithium for bipolar depression (which coincidentally depletes the body of water). These factors were a very risky combination, leading to what I believe was severe dehydration of his brain, making him feel suicidal. How else can you explain the rapid recovery within minutes of drinking two large glasses of water? The image I got of his brain was like a flower wilting due to lack of water.

A very interesting case of how a patient’s low level of hydration caused so many problems and it took careful analysis to figure out a simple solution to such a seemingly complicated case:

I had a patient a few weeks ago who had been itching severely for 4 months or so. After careful questioning and reviewing the history of her case, I came to believe that this patient was severely dehydrated and toxic. She had been on dialysis for years, therefore, she had been toxic for years since her kidneys had not been able to properly detoxify and cleanse her body. She became constipated and was hospitalized for it in May. Constipation made her more toxic, of course, since the toxins stay in the body instead of coming out. At the hospital, they recommended that she reduces her water intake to one pint (16 fluid ounces) a day since she is a dialysis patient. The interesting thing is that she had been drinking a normal amount of water for years until this visit to the hospital. Note that water is probably the first therapy of choice for constipation. So, it’s surprising to me that her practitioners at the hospital made such a recommendation to her. It seems to me that even if she needed to reduce her water intake, this was not the time to make the change since she was very constipated, to a point where she was hospitalized. A week later she developed a severe case of shingles on her face. I believe the shingles came on because her immune system could not deal with the additional load of toxicity resulting from severe dehydration in a person who was already toxic for years (having been a dialysis patient). It turns that she was “allergic” to the pharmaceutical medication for shingles- Acyclovir. She became delirious initially, and eventually went into a coma for 3 days. If anyone is going to be “allergic” to a medication, it would most likely be someone who is very, very toxic. So, I believe that is why she reacted so negatively to this medication. Two weeks after being hospitalized for her reaction to Acyclovir, she developed systemic itching which has been extremely disturbing to her, severely impacting her sleep and day-to-day life. She has consulted her nephrologist over the last few months, but surprisingly no one has suggested to her to resume drinking the same amount of water as she used to drink prior to developing severe constipation. I am not sure why she became so constipated in May, but it’s clear to me that all the proceeding events (including shingles and her reaction to the shingles medication, followed later on by systemic itching) happened due to one wrong piece of advice when she was hospitalized in May for her constipation- “drink one pint (16 ounces) of water a day”. She came in today for her follow up visit, and reported that her itching was 90% alleviated by simply drinking more water.

The average healthy adult should drink half their body’s weight in ounces of water. A dialysis patient should drink less. However, one pint sounds extremely unreasonable even for a dialysis patient. No wonder this woman feels that she “is dying”. Her skin color (which was gray), texture (old), and turgor (flat) revealed her extremely high level of toxicity today. I recommended that she start to drink the same amount of water as she used to prior to her hospitalization for constipation in May, since I could not find any specific reason why after years of being on dialysis she suddenly was advised to cut her water intake down from 6 or so glasses of water (probably close to 50 ounces) to 16 ounces a day. I also recommended that she take a higher dose of magnesium, take a high quality fiber supplement, and start applying castor oil over her abdomen. I am hoping the above suggestions will help with her constipation. I always jokingly tell patients that if there is one condition that I can treat 100% successfully, it’s constipation. I also recommended that she very gently start cleansing/detoxifying her liver. I hesitated to start a kidney cleanse today since she is on dialysis and I don’t want to push her kidneys yet. As the intestines and liver start to get some of the toxins in her body out via the stools, her kidneys will also benefit since these organs share the burden of detoxification for the entire body. If one of them is doing better, it will help the others. Less stress on intestines and liver (i.e. less constipation, or other GI issues, for that matter) means less stress on the kidneys, and vice versa. With less stress on these 3 organs (intestines, liver and kidneys), her itching should most definitely stop. Even though the above reasoning is based on common sense and is in fact scientific, it is missing in conventional medicine. And, I believe is one of the most important concepts missing in conventional medicine.

I would like to end this blog by pointing out that in my experience after eight of years of practice, I have come to believe that nearly 100% (with only a few exceptions) of my patients were chronically dehydrated prior to seeing me, and most of them continue to struggle with taking in enough water. I make the following recommendation on when/how much water to drink. Drink roughly half of your body’s weight in ounces of water per day. Drink 1-2 large glasses (depending on your body size) immediately upon getting out of bed in the morning, get ready for the day (take a shower, put your clothes on), and finally eat breakfast. This way, by the time you are ready to eat breakfast, the water in your stomach has probably mostly worked its way out into your intestines. You don’t want to drink much water with your meals as too much water can dilute the digestive juices. Perhaps a few gulps with a meal is fine, but no more. After meals, wait for a good 45 minutes to an hour, or even more, before you start drinking a lot of water. Once your food has moved out of your stomach into your intestines, or at least mostly digested in your stomach, I feel it would be fine to start drinking a lot of water again. Drink a lot of water between meals, 45-60 minutes after meals all the way up to 10-15 minutes before meals. I’d recommend avoiding much water consumption in the evening after dinner since it will most likely make you get up in the middle of the night to urinate, disturbing your precious sleep.

Herbal (non-caffeinated) teas do count in place of water. Caffeinated teas (black or green) do not count since caffeine has a diuretic effect. Coffee (or even coffee alternatives) most definitely does not count as a source of water, and neither do juices of any kind (unless the juices are extremely diluted). Thicker drinks such as milks of various types don’t count either. For each glass of such thicker or caffeinated drinks you drink, you ought to drink a good size glass of water to counteract the water depleting effect of such fluids.

I often tell patients that their problems are not that they have this disease or that, rather that their body does not have the right fluids. (Refer to the book titled “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” by Dr. Batmanghelidj, MD. The subtitle reads: “You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty. Don’t Treat Thirst with Medication.”)

Drink up (water)!

Dr. Sharif

I am often amazed at the variety of conditions that naturopathic medicine can help, and have always wanted to share a typical day in my practice with others. So, finally, I took a moment to turn this wish into reality! May you find this blog interesting and hopefully even useful.

Note: The therapies below are all tailored uniquely for each patient. The exact name of the supplements and the dosing varies from person to person, and for these reasons, I have left such information out. These therapies should not be taken by the patients on their own without a consultation with their naturopathic/homeopathic practitioner, as patients can mount reactions to natural medicines if they take an inappropriate medicine and/or excessive doses of even the “right” medicine/supplement.

My first patient was a physically fit, middle-aged man. Ironically, he suffers from low testosterone and enlarged breasts, which is maddening to any man, especially a man with his level of physical fitness. Based on his MD’s recommendation, he had tried using testosterone without much success. That’s why he had decided to try naturopathic medicine. Upon careful examination of his blood test results and his homeopathic “constitution” (which is based on the unique combination of a person’s physical traits, signs/symptoms, AND personality traits/temperament), I shared with him that clearly his liver was suffering from an imbalance, leading to hormonal issues which had resulted in the breast enlargement. (Note that the liver is in charge of balancing most of a person’s “chemistry”, and is in particular in charge of processing all the hormones. His blood test results revealed high cholesterol (in lower 200’s) and extremely high triglycerides, in the 400’s, and an abnormal liver test- low alkaline phosphatase.) I made some dietary recommendations along with a liver cleansing protocol and his “constitutional” homeopathic remedy to balance his temperament. Coincidentally, his “constitutional” type has poor liver function; in other words, his sort of temperament and poor liver function go hand in hand. I am confident that his cholesterol and triglycerides will be lowered in time as he follows the recommendations, his liver test (i.e. alkaline phosphatate) will normalize, and his breasts will slowly decrease in size.

My second patient who was returning for her third visit, reported having felt wonderful for a few weeks after her second visit, but she had taken a turn for the worse lately. She was complaining of fatigue, depression, digestive complaints, and blood sugar issues. At her first visit, she had reported having “hormonal” issues, and having tried natural, bio-identical, hormone therapy for a number of years without satisfactory results. I had offered her a basic detox program, an adrenal support supplement, and some digestive enzymes. At her second visit, she reported having “much better” energy, but had reacted negatively to the detox supplements. (I had received an email from her after her first visit about possible side effects to her detox program, and had asked her to stop the detox process, which she did). At her second visit, I offered her a “constitutional” homeopathic remedy along with a Vitamin B12 injection which she was certain had been extremely helpful in helping with her fatigue. At her third visit, upon a more detailed interview regarding her blood sugar dys-regulation, I decided that she had severe adrenal fatigue. (Note that adrenal “disease” is a medical condition and is extremely rare, but adrenal “fatigue” refers to an imbalance in adrenal gland function that occurs with chronic stress, and many individuals in the modern world seem to suffer from.) I offered her a few different supplements to balance her adrenal function. I also offered her another vitamin B12 injection which she had responded so favorably to at her second visit (Note: If I were to offer her more vitamin B12 injections, we would need to measure her blood levels of vitamin B12 in order to assure optimal levels). Additionally, I believe this patient’s nervous system had responded very well to the balancing effect of her “constitutional” homeopathic remedy. Of course, we will have to revisit this at her next visit.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that patients such as the one above, unfortunately, go to many doctors (medical or even naturopathic) to try to “balance” their hormones without much success. Unfortunately, it is still not second nature for natural medicine health care providers (and certainly not medical doctors) to prescribe liver cleansing which, I believe, should be at the core of every woman’s hormone balancing program. Sadly, what seems to be at the core of most of such patients’ care are numerous expensive female hormone panel tests and continual modifications of their dosing of natural HRT (female hormone replacement therapy) or even thyroid hormone replacement to “correct” the hormonal imbalance, hoping the patient’s numerous signs and symptoms (including depression, fatigue, digestive problems, etc.) would become alleviated. This approach clearly falls short of taking into consideration that each symptom could reflect an imbalance of many different systems, not just the hormonal system. For instance depression can clearly be a sign of an imbalance in the nervous system or even the digestive system, not just the hormonal system, regardless of the fact that the patient (say, a woman, in this case) might happen to be going through menopause. Of course, all these systems intertwine, thus, the dire need for a more holistic approach to health care, even by naturopathic doctors.

My third patient was a woman in her late 40’s who had suffered from severe depression and insomnia, intermittently for nearly five years. Based on her temperament, behavioral patterns, and personality traits, I decided that her “constitutional” homeopathic remedy was Sepia which helped elevate her mood before she even left the office. She felt so much happier and uplifted within minutes of taking this remedy. I also recommended some flower essences for her which I am sure will help her with the “darkness” she had felt in her being for quite some time. There are times when flower essences can help with subtle energy imbalances that even homeopathic remedies cannot address. It has taken me years of practice to figure out what psycho-emotional imbalances benefit from a homeopathic remedy versus flower essences, or other natural therapies, for that matter. I am certain this wonderful lady’s life has taken a turn for the better. (For more information on how natural therapies can help with psycho-emotional concerns, you can refer to two previous blogs on our website on depression. Note that other natural supplements such as 5-HTP or Saint John’s wort can be helpful in treating depression. However, in my experience a person’s “constitutional” homeopathic remedy can often be quite noticeably more effective than other supplements. You can learn more about homeopathy by reading various articles and slideshows or watching patient testimonials on our clinic website.)

My fourth patient was a 14-year-old boy with complaints of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and bedwetting. This case was much easier than all of the other ones so far in the day since he had already tried other natural supplements, and was mainly missing homeopathy from his treatment program. This is not surprising since most naturopaths do not prescribe homeopathic remedies. His “constitutional” homeopathic remedy happened to be Sulphur. I assured the mother that the boy would feel better in both regards (i.e. ADD and bedwetting) with this remedy (in 1M potency), and asked them to return in one month. Of course, he is going to need more doses of homeopathic Sulphur in the future, but I believe he will be much more functional in school and in his personal life with this one dose for the time being. What a blessing homeopathy is for parents, and of course, kids.

As a side note, I have had varying degrees of success treating ADD and/or autism. ADD is significantly easier to treat than autism, of course. In regards to autism, in some cases, the kids respond very impressively; and in other cases, the response is very poor. A great case I’d like to share here is that of a little boy named Liam. His video is on our website, under the “Kids’ Corner” page. He has responded extremely well to UNDA drops, specifically the ones which detoxify the main organs of cleansing, namely liver and kidneys. A few visits later, I added his “constitutional” homeopathic remedy, which happened to be Pulsatilla, to his treatment protocol. The remedy provided improvements mostly on the emotional level. These improvements were quick and profound to the extent that his parents, relatives, and teachers were very satisfied. Last, but not least, he responded amazingly well to “organotherapies”, namely the organotherapy Corpus Collasum. Why organic Corpus Collasum, and why did he respond so well to it? Well, since he was not sleeping well enough even with his homeopathic remedy, his parents took him to a doctor at a sleep clinic who ordered a sleep study for him. The study revealed that the nerve impulses were not moving properly from one side of his brain to the other, implying that the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres, known as Corpus Collasum, did not function properly. Apparently, the doctor had recommended a pharmaceutical medication which was supposedly going to help with this problem. However, due to the numerous potential side effects of this medication, Liam’s parents consulted with me to find out if there is a natural equivalent to this medication. Lo and behold, there is! Homeopathic Corpus Collasum has helped significantly improve not only Liam’s insomnia, but also his vocabulary, and the changes were striking enough that one could not attribute them to any other factors such as passage of time, other therapies or lifestyle/dietary changes. Note that his “constitutional” homeopathic remedy helped him more on the emotional level (i.e. helping him with his mood), but the organotherapy preparation of Corpus Collasum helped him more on the mental level (i.e. helping him with his language skills).

My fifth patient was another new patient, a woman in her late 50s. She had numerous health concerns which she was truly hoping I could help alleviate. She resides out of state, but had decided to visit us based on her friend’s recommendation. Her complaints included chronic cough, acid reflux, fibromyalgia, edema, constipation alternating with diarrhea, diverticulosis, and severe hip pain. After a thorough medical history and physical exam, I decided that this woman was extremely toxic. She had worked at a dental office as a manager for nearly 30 years, and likely has genetically weaker organs which had not been able to detoxify her body properly of the work-related toxins, resulting in her numerous health problems. I recommended that she takes her “constitutional” homeopathic remedy in the office, which appeared to relax her within a few minutes, along with a thorough detox program suited for her extremely toxic body, a couple of supplements to help with her digestive concerns, and a supplement to temporarily help her with bodily aches and pains. I say “temporarily” because I am certain that her bodily aches and pains will be reduced significantly or even entirely with time as she follows a good diet, takes her “constitutional” homeopathic remedy as needed, and follows a good detox program. Meanwhile, there is nothing wrong with taking natural anti-inflammatory supplements for immediate relief from acute pain. I also suggested neural therapy (injections of Traumeel and other homeopathic remedies subcutaneously) to address her severe hip pain which was holding her back from sleeping well at night. She decided to consider trying the injections at her second visit in two weeks, before she leaves for home. I described to her how her chronic dry cough would most likely be alleviated nicely with the remedy since I noticed how her muscles relaxed minutes after taking her homeopathic remedy in the office. I described to her that as she felt the overall relaxation in her body with the homeopathic remedy, so would her lungs, resulting in less tightness in her chest, leading to hopefully less or no coughing spells. If the remedy does not help her sufficiently, then we will definitely have to look deeper into the various possible other causes of chronic cough, including food allergies. (Note: thankfully, serious diseases of the lungs, including COPD, asthma, etc., have already been ruled out by her medical doctors.)

My sixth patient, another new patient, had had a continuous dull headache for six months, and incurred a total of $15,000 worth of cost to his insurance and $2,000 out of pocket for testing and therapies to address his headache without any success. When he came to me, he was clearly very frustrated and hopeless. He had decided to come see me based on his daughter’s encouragement. (It’s always interesting to me how most men decide to try natural medicine after either their wives or sometimes even their children, relatives, co-workers become converts!) Upon examining his case, I decided that the cause of his headache was extreme dehydration. Why so? Based on his temperament/personality traits, I knew his “constitutional” homeopathic remedy was Pulsatilla. Pulsatilla individuals almost always hate drinking water, and they end up dehydrated as a result. He was a large man weighing over 300 pounds, but drank less than 50 ounces of water a day. A good rule of thumb for the proper amount of water consumption is half your body’s weight in ounces of water. So, his body would love to have around 150 ounces of water a day, not 50 or less. He was severely dehydrated for years, resulting in extremely high load of toxins accumulating in his body, causing the constant headache. I offered him a strong dose of his “constitutional” homeopathic remedy, Pulsatilla 1M, and recommended that he drinks much more water. His headache, much to his surprise, was entirely alleviated within less than 15 minutes during the course of the visit. And, the cost of the remedy was only a few dollars, as opposed to thousands of dollars he had spent up to this point. Think about how natural medicine can help significantly lower the costs that we are facing in the health care industry.

I had other patients today that I didn’t consider extremely exciting, so decided to not write about them. Naturopathic doctors see far fewer patients per day than conventional doctors (i.e. MDs, DOs, etc.). I typically spend 1-1.5 hour with a new patient, and 30-45 minutes with a returning patient. Naturopathic doctors find it necessary to spend this large amount of time with their patients in order to provide optimal care. I could probably help my patients to a good degree even if I spent far less time with them, but would likely miss some details that may be essential for gentle, rapid, and permanent restoration of health.

Most of our patients have tried conventional approaches (i.e. pharmaceutical medications) and even other natural therapies without much success. Fortunately, in addition to the repertoire of all the conventional natural therapies, I also practice and specialize in homeopathy (oral as well as injections) which has proved to be not just an integral part of my practice, but a real must in curing these very difficult cases that have not responded to drugs or natural supplements. (You can do a search on “homeopathy” on our clinic website to learn more about homeopathy, and watch some of the patient video testimonials under the section “Homeopathy Testimonials” to find out more about what other patients say about their experience with homeopathy). Note that in the recent past, I have also started to do “homeopathic injections” for the treatment of acute/chronic pain. The results are nothing short of beautiful. Patients come in with severe pain, they receive these homeopathic injections, and feel significantly (and sometimes entirely) better before they get off the exam table. In the near future, I will be creating a page on our clinic website called “Neural therapy” or “Pain Management” to share some information regarding this highly effective, safe, and rather inexpensive homeopathic approach to treatment of acute/chronic pain, as well as to share patient testimonials. I never thought I’d find a therapy as impressive as oral homeopathic remedies, and now I am finding that homeopathic injections are just as impressive! But then again, the injections are also homeopathic- and that’s the key word, “homeopathic”! Highly effective, safe, and inexpensive, as is always the case with homeopathic therapies.

I will take this moment to recommend reading another blog I wrote a while back titled “what is missing in most patients’ natural prescriptions?” To summarize it, Constitutional Homeopathy and a deep detoxification program (i.e. Biotherapeutic Drainage using UNDAs, etc.) are the two main therapies missing. Most of my patients, prior to seeing me, have already tried numerous nutritional and/or herbal supplements, lifestyle and dietary approaches, and even female or thyroid hormone therapy without satisfactory results. You can learn more about “Drainage” by referring to a long slideshow presentation under the Educational Slideshows on our website. In short, “Drainage” is the European version of what we call “detox” in North America. Drainage therapies are gentler, yet deeper acting than conventional detoxification supplements or dietary programs.

I also would recommend that you read an article titled “7 Steps to Healing” on the “Educational Articles” page of my clinic website to learn where detox and homeopathy fit under the large umbrella of therapeutics.

I would like to end by saying that I feel truly blessed to be a naturopath. I believe there is nothing that feels as good as serving humanity. And, it’s a day-to-day occurrence at my office to see patients get significantly better from ailments/imbalances that they have suffered from for months/years to no avail. Patients feel healthy and joyful with natural medicines.

In health,

Dr. Sharif

There are numerous companies that are presently manufacturing supplements in North America. These supplements can be obtained at health food stores, online, and at doctor’s offices. I believe it’s important for consumers to know that some of these companies have impeccable quality assurance and manufacturing standards, and some follow literally no quality assurance protocols and create products that may either be useless or even potentially harmful.

Some supplement manufacturers routinely, and illegally, sell their products without first having to demonstrate that they are safe and effective. Presently, quality assurance testing is only optional on the part of supplement companies. You may be wondering what FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is doing regarding this subject? As of now, FDA has not yet made full use of even the meager authority granted it by the industry-friendly 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Therefore, my advice to you is to always do a background check (which is not easy to do) on the manufacturer before you purchase their products. The higher-end supplement companies do NOT sell to over-the-counter venues, and only sell to doctors’ clinics. To my knowledge, doctors’ offices, by and large, only carry supplements from these higher-end companies which gladly share their quality assurance paperwork for each and every product. Note that such companies can carry such prestigious certifications as ISO 9001 which is by far the world’s most established quality framework, currently being used by over 1 million organizations in 170 countries worldwide, and sets the standard not only for quality management systems, but management systems in general.

Although I have seen many cases where lower-end over-the-counter supplements were not helpful for my patients, I have not seen many cases that, to my knowledge, patients were actually being seriously hurt by over-the-counter supplements. What prompted me to write this blog, however, is the following story:

Recently when a patient of mine came to see me, she reported how much better she had been feeling after she stopped taking two over-the-counter supplements that she had been using for quite some time. It turned out she was taking Nature Made’s calcium and magnesium supplements. Apparently, taking these supplements was interfering with her sleep which she desperately needed since she suffers from depression and poor memory. Both of these conditions are typically seriously impacted by sleep deprivation. Typically, calcium and magnesium are helpful for insomnia. However, these particular over-the-counter supplements were worsening this patient’s insomnia. Upon further examination of the supplement bottles, I noticed a long list of potentially harmful chemicals (as opposed to healthy nutrients) that the manufacturer had so boldly admitted putting into these supplements. The list of ingredients in Nature Made’s calcium supplement bottle is as follows:

Calcium Carbonate, Maltodextrin, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Croscarmellose Sodium, Acacia, Titanium dioxide (artificial color), Magnesium Stearate, Silicon Dioxide, Polyethylene Glycol, Triehtyl Citrate, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Citrate, Corn Starch, Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3. Note that in addition to calcium and vitamin D, which are supposed to be the main ingredients, the remainder of the ingredients are mostly chemicals that are, at the best, somewhat questionable, if not frankly toxic. Some of these chemicals are artificial colors and some are fillers.

Another example of an over-the-counter supplement that I have never, in my practice of 8 years, seen to be effective is Glucosamine Sulfate from Costco. (Note: Glucosamine Sulfate is a wonderful supplement that is commonly used for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain, which is caused by wear and tear of cartilage in joints.) I have had numerous patients who took Costco Glucosamine Sulfate without experiencing any relief from their osteoarthritis pain. Almost all of these same patients found significant relief within weeks of taking Glucosamine Sulfate from higher-end companies.

According to Consumer Reports, there are numerous supplement ingredients that should be avoided because of health risks, including cardiovascular, liver, and kidney problems. Not all these ingredients are known toxins (such as heavy metals and pesticides), some may actually be “safe” ingredients (such as nutrients including selenium or chromium), but the amount may be off the chart, rendering the supplement toxic. Consumer Reports claims that because of inadequate quality control and inspection, supplements contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, or prescription drugs have been sold to unsuspecting consumers. Note that the FDA rules covering manufacturing quality don't apply to the companies that supply herbs, vitamins, and other raw ingredients. Additionally, China, which has repeatedly been caught exporting contaminated products, is a major supplier of raw supplement ingredients. And, the FDA has yet to inspect a single factory there.

Due to numerous complaints by consumers regarding a particular over-the-counter supplement a couple of years ago, the FDA tested the contents of the products at the manufacturer’s facilities. Most of the samples contained more than 200 times the labeled amount of selenium and up to 17 times the recommended intake of chromium. Even “healthy” ingredients, if taken in unhealthy amounts can cause severe health problems.

As can be seen, it’s critical to use supplements that are guaranteed to have high quality. There are numerous such companies in North America. Douglas Laboratories, for example, which manufactures a doctor’s line of supplements as opposed to an over-the-counter line, offers uncompromising operational practices at their facilities which include the following:

-cGMPs (current Good Manufacturing Practices) for nutritional supplements in accordance with USP (United States Pharmacopeia)
-NSF International has GMP Registered Douglas Laboratories manufacturing facility
-ISO 9001 certification of in-house laboratories performing Chemical, Physical, and Microbial testing
-ISO 17025 accreditation of in-house laboratories
-Veri-Match electronic label match to formula system to ensure content accuracy
-VCP (Vendor Certification Program) to ensure raw material quality
-FDA Audit Compliant
-Approved facility to product Organic Certified Products
-Approved facility to produce NSF Sport Certified products
-Member of Council For Responsible Nutrition

At Whole Health Clinic, we carry only doctor’s lines of supplements made by the purest supplement companies in North America and Europe. All of these companies offer various quality assurance certificates on their products. The following is a non-exhaustive list of supplement companies at our dispensary: Thorne, Seroyal (Genestra and UNDA), Standard Process, Douglas Laboratories, Biogenesis, Integrative Therapeutics, Hahnemann laboratories, and Priority One.

Last, but not least, it is noteworthy that certain natural medicines are by prescription only. These include such pharmaceutical items as natural thyroid hormone (also known as Armour thyroid), and female bio-identical hormones (such Estrodiol and Progesterone). There are other natural medicines that are by prescription only, but are not pharmaceutical, and thus not available over-the counter or at drug stores, and are only available at your licensed alternative medicine health care practitioner’s office. These include high potency homeopathic remedies (in 200C, 1M, 10M, or higher potencies), and potentially even gemmotherapies, oligotherapies, organotherapies, etc.

Whether you can obtain any of your medicines or supplements over-the-counter or not, it’s always advisable to discuss your health concerns and choice of supplements/medicines with your health care provider. For instance, you may have read that Vitamin B3 (niacin) can help lower your cholesterol, which is true. However, you may not know that niacin can cause hot flashes. If you happen to be a menopausal woman with high cholesterol, who is suffering from hot flashes as well, you may not realize that niacin, although it may be helping lower your cholesterol, may be worsening your menopausal symptoms. Therefore, what appears to be a “safe” nutritional supplement (even if it is high quality), may be worsening your overall health. Thus, the need to consult with your naturopathic physician as to what supplements you would benefit from taking or should actually be avoiding.

In health,

Dr. Sharif

Dear patients,

If you have MS (multiple sclerosis) or know someone who does, you may want to read the following information and watch the
attached video clip.

"Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a term used to describe compromised flow of blood in the veins draining the central nervous system (i.e. brain and spinal cord). CCSVI has been hypothesized to play a role in the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). This hypothesis was first put forth by Dr. Paolo Zamboni in 2008. An endovascular intervention for the syndrome has been attempted; however, further research is required to determine if the benefits outweigh the risks of the procedure.

The hypothesis and procedure has generated optimism among people with MS but received skepticism from the majority of the medical community as the procedure may lead to serious complications while its benefits have not been proven. In addition, concern has been raised with Zamboni's research as it was neither blinded nor controlled and further studies in 2010 and 2011 had variable results. This has raised serious objections to the hypothesis of CCSVI originating multiple sclerosis. Additional research efforts investigating the CCSVI hypothesis are underway." (Source: Wikipedia)

The following video is on Dr. Zamboni's findings:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20091120/W5_liberation_091121/

Dr. Sharif

Dear patients,

I would like to share with you the following article on statins which are cholesterol lowering medications.

It's important to note that if you are taking a statin medication, you should not stop taking it without consulting with your doctor.

In health,

Dr. Sharif

Source: Curr Opin Cardiol | Posted 6 days ago

Are statins diabetogenic?; Sampson UK, Linton MF, Fazio S; Current Opinion in Cardiology (Apr 2011)

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Statins are widely utilized for low-density lipoprotein lowering and for prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Although these drugs have a good safety record, increased risk of developing diabetes during extended use has recently garnered attention. Here we review clinical trial evidence related to statin use and incident diabetes, and the potential mechanisms for this association. RECENT FINDINGS: The increased incidence of diabetes with rosuvastatin treatment in Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: an intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER) reignited attention on the link between statin therapy and diabetes. The JUPITER findings are supported by two recent meta-analyses of large-scale placebo-controlled and standard care-controlled trials, which, respectively, observed a 9% [odds ratio 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.17] and 13% (risk ratio 1.13; 95% CI 1.03-1.23) increased risk for incident diabetes associated with statin therapy. However, the underlying mechanisms for this association remain unclear. Experimental evidence supports a paradigm implicating inhibition of ?-cell glucose transporters, delayed ATP production, pro-inflammatory and oxidative ?-cell effects of plasma-derived cholesterol, inhibition of calcium channel-dependent insulin secretion, and ?-cell apoptosis.

SUMMARY:
The aggregate of large clinical trials supports the notion that statins modestly increase the risk of incident diabetes. Because diabetes is a risk equivalent condition for coronary and peripheral arterial diseases, these findings create a paradox whereby needed statin therapy may be withheld to avoid excess risk of diabetes while representing the strongest cardiovascular risk reduction tool in diabetics. We simply recommend regular glucose monitoring in patients taking statins.