5th's Disease Alert: "Slapped Face Disease"

Recently we have been informed that 5th's Disease is going thru the Seattle area schools. Although those is a routine childhood illness, it can be devastating to adults that catch it. Once again I would like to address how to prevent catching a virus. First and foremost good health habits such as good diet, good hydration, appropriate sleep, no sugar, etc. But other things to consider: high dose vitamin A (50,000-150,000 IU), single high dose of vitamin D 25,000-100,000 IU, anti virals such as echinacea, astragelus, sambucus. We have many forms that are child friendly. Please be aware that vitamin A and D are fat soluble and can be toxic. So, if you are uncertain of your dosing contact your physician at Emerald City Clinic. Yours in health, Molly Linton

Vitamin Angels

Metagenics, a supplement company we offer here at Emerald City Clinic, is now part of the Vitamin Angels Program. This program is dedicated to reducing child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under 5 years of age.

For every 2 bottles purchased of any of Metagenics high quality EPA and DHA supplements in 2011, they will fund nutritional support for 1 year for a child in need.

Yet another great reason to take your omega 3 oils!

Cheers,

Gretchen

Benefits of Meditation

A great study with even greater findings! Meditation is shown to improve risks of cardiovascular disease; it decreased blood pressures, cholesterol and weight!

Please read:

From Medscape Medical News > Psychiatry

Meditation Improves Endothelial Function in Metabolic Syndrome

March 18, 2011 (San Antonio, Texas) — Meditation may help improve endothelial function in patients with metabolic syndrome, potentially reducing cardiovascular risk, new research suggests.

Presented here at the American Psychosomatic Society 69th Annual Scientific Meeting, a randomized trial in a group of African American patients with metabolic syndrome showed significant improvement in endothelial function in those randomly assigned to a year-long meditation program compared with their counterparts who underwent a program of health education alone.

"We found there was a significant difference between the consciously resting meditation group and the health education group in the flow-mediated dilation, which measures endothelial function," principal investigator Kofi Kondwani, PhD, National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, toldMedscape Medical News.

Dr. Kofi Kondwani

A risk factor for coronary heart disease, the clinical manifestations of metabolic syndrome include hypertension, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein, and abdominal obesity. A diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is contingent on an individual having 3 or more of these risk factors.

According to the investigators, the etiology of metabolic syndrome is complex, but psychological stress appears to play a role, possibly through overactivation of stress hormones. They also note that endothelial dysfunction, which is also influenced by stress, is a major consequence of metabolic syndrome.

A joint initiative between Morehouse Medical School and Emory University, the study randomly assigned 65 African American patients age 30 to 65 to undergo consciously resting meditation (CRM) (n = 32), a 12-month meditation program developed by Dr. Kondwani, or a 12-month health education program (n = 33). At study outset there were no significant differences in demographic characteristics or cardiovascular risk factors between the 2 groups.

The CRM group received three 90-minute sessions of initial instructor-led training. They returned once a week for the following 3 weeks, then once every 2 weeks for 2 months, and finally once per month for the remainder of the study. In the interim they were assigned "home rest" assignments that involved meditating for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day.

Improvements in Blood Pressure, Weight, Triglycerides

The study's primary outcome measure was endothelial function assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at baseline and 6 and 12 months. A secondary outcome was arterial stiffness, measured by pulse-wave velocity.

Trend tests were performed to assess changes in outcome measures and metabolic syndrome factors across the 3 study time points. The investigators found that FMD significantly improved from baseline in the CRM group (2.10 ± 0.79; P = .009) but that improvement was smaller in the health education group (1.36 ± 0.80; P = .09). Dr. Kondwani said there was no difference in arterial stiffness in the groups.

The researchers also found favorable and statistically significant trends in 3 metabolic syndrome risk factors in the CRM group but not in the health education group: diastolic blood pressure (change, -6.24 ± 2.75 mm Hg; P = .03), weight (-2.52 ± 1.16 kg; P = .03), and triglyceride levels (-32 ± 15 mg/dL; P = .04).

Dr. Kondwani also pointed out that certain psychological factors, including some measures of depression, significantly improved in both study groups. This indicates that "that just because an intervention has an impact on patients' psychological well-being doesn't necessarily mean it is going to change their physiology."

These findings, he added, suggest that physicians should not hesitate to encourage their patients to learn meditation. "It will not hurt and invariably it will help. They also shouldn't get hung up on the type of meditation. It's highly likely that even if patients weren't trained in meditative practice but just sat quietly for 20 minutes twice a day there would be benefit, "said Dr. Kondwani.

Iodine: Prevention is worth a pound of cure

Dear ECN community,
We as physicians at Emerald City Clinic do not want to participate in mass hysteria, we just want to have each of our clients be in the best possible position if we were to be exposed to radiation. Most of our clients are deficient in iodine anyway and could use a LITTLE anyway. The situation with Japan changes hourly and could get significantly worse. Therefore we think it prudent to be at full iodine capacity without overdosing, as too much iodine can cause problems with your thyroid. Hence one of our strongest recommendations is the consumption of food based iodine such as seaweed (as long as it is from a clean source). Here is a well written NY Times article:

Radiation Plume Course Charted by U.N. Agency - NYTimes.com.

The physicians at Emerald City Clinic have experienced that often governments do not tell everything to avoid mass hysteria/panic. We support that but want each of our clients to be in a good position if the situation gets worse. It appears that the likelihood of levels of radiation rising in the atmosphere is certain. How much we on the west coast will get is still debatable, but we have clients all over the world and need to address this with everyone. So please make sure your iodine levels are good just like your vitamin D or calcium/magnesium.
Respectfully, Molly Linton and the physicians at Emerald City Clinic

radiation protection recommendations

Emerald City Clinic Family and Friends,

It has become obvious that many would like some clear guidelines and information about how to protect yourself against the radiation that may come over from Japan. The most common medical recommendation is taking iodine- proper levels of iodide in the body leave no room for radioactive iodine to be absorbed. Iodine is excreted and recycled through the body in 24-48h cycles so it is most important that you have good iodine stores on board at the time that the radiation comes to the west coast, if and when it makes it here. The threat of radioactive iodine is thyroid cancer; taking iodine has been proven to prevent thyroid cancers caused by radiation exposure but it will not reduce your risk of all cancers and all side effects of radiation exposure. Our prevention preferences are listed as follows:

A) Eat Seaweed

As Naturopaths, we believe in using the least invasive and most natural therapies first. Taking iodine supplementation alone will cause a disturbance in thyroid functioning for about 15% of the population; eating FOODS with iodine will not do this. We recommend incorporating seaweed into your diet as best you can- kelp, nori, bladderwrack, wakame and other sea vegetables. Nori, specifically, is available in seasoned sheets for easy snacking and are even in certain varieties of crackers. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission recommends that adults (150lbs) consume two to three ounces (wet weight) of sea vegetables per week, or two tablespoons daily to protect from radiation toxicity. This should be increased fourfold during or after direct exposure to radiation. Recommendations should be adjusted appropriately for weight in treating children.

B) Seaweed extract

We are dispensing a bladderwrack seaweed extract, Fucus, in tincture form for those who prefer or would like to give to their young children who are seaweed averse. Fucus tincture should be taken 2 droppersful 3x a day for an adult and 1 dropperful 3x a day for children under 12 years of age, as the dose is weight dependent. Please consult your physician about dosing if you are pregnant or treating children under the age of 2.

Proper dosing for kelp tablets: 10 tabs per day for adults, 5 tabs for children.

C) Iodine

If you wish to take potassium iodine, we have drops available but please dose carefully! The current recommendation is:

One 130mg tablet a day for adults, ½ tablet a day for kids 3-12

But this is ONLY appropriate before or during direct exposure to radiation in the event of an accident- not for prophylactic or maintenance use. These doses are unsafe for thyroid health under normal conditions.

A safer iodine dose, if radiation starts to travel here is:

Adults: ½ Iodizyme tablet per day or 1 drop Potassium iodine/TriQuench

Children 2-12: ¼ Iodizyme tablet or 1 drop i Potassium iodine/TriQuench in a tablespoon of water- give child ½ tablespoon of the mixture.

Other tips:

Rosemary: the oils and anti-oxidant properties of rosemary have been shown to reduce the ill effects that radiation has on our cells. This can easily be added into your diet as an herb or can safely be taken in tincture extract amounts of 3 droppersful per day in adults, 1 full dropper for children 2-12.

Caffeic acid: found in apples, citrus fruits and cruciferous vegetables. Also found to mediate ill effects of radiation. We often ask that you all eat your fresh fruits and vegetables daily and now there is another reason. Caffeic acid is not available in supplement form.

Epsom salt baths is another way to keep your body balanced after general radiation exposure:

Dissolve 1 pound of sea salt or rock salt and 1 pound of baking soda in a hot bath — as hot as can be tolerated — and soak into the water until the bath becomes cool. This usually takes about 20-25 minutes. Adding bentonite clay or baking soda to the bath adds to the radiation detoxification effect.

Summary:

A) eat seaweed/kelp as described above

B) Fucus/Bladderwrack tincture

C) Iodine in various forms (adult dose)

Iodizyme: ½ tab per day or 1 tab every other day

TriQuench- 1 drops per day

Topical Lugol’s iodine. A short office visit (15 mins) is required to teach proper administration.

Iodine testing is available upon request.

THERE WILL BE NO REFILLS OF IODINE WITHOUT DOCTORS’ ASSESSMENT.

We will continue to update you all with our guidelines about iodine necessity as the situation changes.

Lovingly,

The Physicians of Emerald City Clinic

Radiation Exposure from Japan

Please take precautionary protection of yourselves. The most important thing is getting iodine in a whole foods source. My favorite is kelp tablets, kelp tincture, nori, etc. The doses should be 10 kelp tablets/day, a 5 x 5 sheet of nori or equivalent, or 2 dropperfuls of kelp in tincture form 3x/day. We have kelp tincture (we do not have kelp tablets) at the office as well as many forms of iodine. If you do not have access or do not like seaweed then you can take iodine. It is safe in doses of 12.5 mcg/day without upsetting other things in your metabolism. We should be taking Epsom salts baths daily as it absorbs radiation. This is also true after taking a plane flight. Protect your liver with organic dark foliage. Water and electrolytes are essential. Most importantly we need to pray for the health of human kind and our planet. You do not need an appointment for these products; we can supply the kelp tincture, and iodine if you need them. This is the same protocol I recommended with the Chernobyl incident. Respectfully and lovingly written by Dr. Molly Linton.

Interpreting your insurance: How to Read Your EOB

Dear ECN Clients,

This year we are putting in extra effort to reach out to our community through monthly educational seminars. Last month's Detox class was a great success, and we'd love to see continued participation from all of you!!

This month our class is going to be presented by Dr. Molly Linton and her office manager, Amanda Zuluaga, and will focus on how to read those crazy letters you are constantly receiving from your insurance company-- we call them Explanation of Benefits, or EOBs.

Although it's hard to believe, there are insurance companies out there that WILL provide you with some reimbursement for your visits here at Emerald City. Often, insurance companies will need more explanation, different codes, etc. before reimbursement happens, which they will tell you on the EOB.

This class will be held on Tuesday, March 22nd at 7pm at Emerald City Clinic, free of charge. Please give the office a call at 206-781-2206 if you are interested in joining us!

See you soon!

New Handout on Website: "Breathing Exercises"

How we breathe has a profound effect on our life and health. Not only does it change how much
oxygen is going into our bodies and how much waste is coming out of our bodies, it also affects
cardiac function, immune system function, mood, stress levels, hormone levels, digestion, strength,
endurance and a wide variety of other things. In short, how you breathe can influence almost every
aspect of your health and wellbeing.

Check out the remainder of our handout: "Breathing Exercises" on our website at: http://www.emeraldcityclinic.com/educational/handouts.php. The link to the handout can be found under the Health Maintenance section.

While you're there, peruse the other incredibly helpful and insightful handouts we have to offer!

Enjoy!