The Integrated Pharmacist

  Cardiovascular disease refers to the disease of the heart and blood vessels. Although we continue to learn more about this disease, it continues to be one of the top killers in the United States. Today, I'd like to take a look at what integrative and functional medicine have to offer. Cardiovascular disease is a multifaceted problem that results in life threatening cases of heart attack, embolism, and stroke. These different events are all caused by a problem in the arteries. As we understand it currently, molecules that carry cholesterol called low-density lipo-proteins (or LDL) get stuck under the linings to our blood vessels. As they build up, immune cells try to consume them. Their high cholesterol content causes the immune cells to foam up. As more cholesterol builds up in the vessel lining, bulges begin to obstruct the flow of blood and (perhaps more importantly) red blood cells. This fatty build up can become calcified, making the vessel brittle. Brittle and bu...

Welcome to another episode of the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast. This is my first in a new series based on disease states rather than a specific modality or product. My goal is look at the major health concerns through the lens of complementary and alternative medicine and find evidence to substantiate that approach to health. I'd like to begin with diabetes. Diabetes is essentially the body's inability to deal with sugar. Often, the targeted chemical in the body is insulin. Insulin is like the key that unlocks the sugar gate to each of our cells. When it isn't working properly, sugar builds up in our blood where it can cause complications throughout the body. For patients with Type 1 diabetes, their bodies don't make insulin. Most often, this is because their immune system developed a response to the pancreatic cells that produce insulin. In other words, their bodies attack their pancreas to the point that they cannot produce insulin on their own anymore....

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast. First, I'd like to apologize for the brief hiatus. Between studying for board exams and moving across the country for residency, I haven't had the resources to produce an episode. But I am happy to be back at it. My current position as a pharmacy resident in functional medicine has sparked a number of potential topics. On the top of the list is a controversial supplement called Co-emzyme Q10 or CoQ10. CoQ10 is a special kind of molecule that assists in the processes of energy creation so that they happen more readily. If enzymes reduce the threshold of certain reactions, the coenzyme is like the key to unlock the enzyme door. We know this specific coenzyme is used heavily by mitochondria - that's the energy-producing factories inside all of our cells. In a process called the electron-transport-chain, CoQ10 helps our cells produce more energy from the food we eat. With ...

Greetings, listeners!  Welcome to another episode of the integrated pharmacist podcast.  Today I'd like to share with you one of my favorite herbal medications - the elderberry.  With the current COVID-19 pandemic causing socioeconomic upheaval, people are scrambling for some miracle product that will prevent themselves from getting the dreaded disease.  From disinfectants and face-masks to unproven medications, very little seems to be off the table at his point. Elderberry has taken some spotlight in all of this, because of its history of use in other viral infections.  Research suggests one of it's effects is similar to the human hormone interferon.  Interferon is a chemical that virus-infected cells release that helps prevent neighboring cells from getting infected.  The in-vitro trial I refer to demonstrates mostly late-stage activity against influenza virus infection as well as immune response activation to up-regulate specific cytokines dur...

How do flowers make you feel?  How do emotions effect our health?  Today on the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast, we're talking about a very specific therapy derived from flowers.  Bach Flower Remedies were created in the 1930s by an English scientist named Edward Bach.  This flower therapy is based on two beliefs: the homeopathic idea that dilution makes the treatment stronger; and the metaphysical idea that thoughts and feelings can manifest as physical problems.  Bach believed the essence of flowers was released by the rays of the sun in natural spring water.  Preparations of Bach Flower Remedies involve either collecting dew off of flowers, infusing water with flower essence while exposed to 3 hours of sunlight, or potentially by boiling for a short time in spring water.  Brandy is then added to enhance the medicinal effects of the infusion.  Each of these preparations are designed to infuse the spring water with the energy of the flower invo...

Fasting is the practice of going without food for a period of time.  People engage in fasting for health and religious reasons.  Today, on the Integrated Pharmacist podcast, we're talking about the effects of fasting on human health. The goals for fasting might include weight reduction, toxin elimination, better mental clarity, improved cardiovascular health, blood sugar control, and even improved cancer treatments. There are multiple ways to fast.  Intermittent fasting includes limiting food consumption to an 8 hour period every day.  Some people go without any food or water for 24 hours.  Some fasts include water and may extend the fast to 48 hours.  Still others consider fasting for as long as 21 days while on a liquid-only diet.  This type of diet typically includes vegetable juices or some other way of providing the body with essential vitamins and minerals while keeping caloric intake to about 250 to 350 a day. Although many people have found ...

***Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to be used as legal or medical advice.  It is written as my person perspective on how medical professionals could blend western medicine with other modalities*** A growing number of people are developing sensitivity to gluten without having celiac disease.  Is there something they can do to improve these negative symptoms?  This week on the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast, we're talking about Enzyme Therapy.  This approach to health recognizes that foods we eat can affect overall health.  Enzymes throughout the body can help certain chemical processes happen.  If the right ones are administered, food can potentially be digested even better.  This could lead to healthier guts and bodies.  We already practice this in western medicine.  We have medications that are concentrated pancreatic enzymes.  These are typically given to patients whose pancreas does not work optimally such as in cystic fibrosis ...

***Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to be used as legal or medical advice.  It is written as my person perspective on how medical professionals could blend western medicine with other modalities*** Greetings, and welcome to another episode of the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast.  Fad diets come and go.  So often, they're built on extreme limitations with the goal of dropping weight quickly or offering longer, more vibrant life.  These fad diets came into being during the 19th century when people drifted culturally away from ethnic and locally grown foods to diets based more on comfort and pleasure.  This new style of eating obviously had a negative effect on health and wellness, so new diet trends continue to spring up.  Extreme diets have included low-fat, low-carb, high fiber, and high protein.  There have been diets based on specific foods or food-groups like cabbage and grapefruit, restrictive diets, liquid diets, and much more. Of course, fad ...

***Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to be used as legal or medical advice.  It is written as my person perspective on how medical professionals could blend western medicine with other modalities*** Greetings, listeners.  Welcome to another episode of the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast.  Today I'm talking about detoxification.  This is a topic that involves subjects I've covered in previous episodes including #10 chelation therapy and #12 colonic therapy.  This therapy revolves around the idea that toxic chemicals surround us.  It's in our food, in the air, on the grass, and in our beds.  Literally the paper receipt you're given at the store has harmful chemicals on it.  Some people think these environmental toxins build up in our bodies and we need help getting rid of them. Detoxification therapy can include fasting and special diets, chelation, colonics, hydrotherapy, and hyperthermia.  The idea of needing to detoxify arose in the 1800'...

***Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to be used as legal or medical advice.  It is written as my person perspective on how medical professionals could blend western medicine with other modalities*** Gut health is a growing topic in the medical community.  With emerging evidence about the gut microbiome, scientists and doctors are reevaluating how we treat the gut.  Today on The Integrated Pharmacist Podcast, I'm going to discuss colonic therapy.  Historically, pharmacy walls were lined with elixirs, formulas, and herbs meant to treat diarrhea and constipation.  Even today, we have medication that help use evacuate our bowels such as Magnesium Citrate and MiraLax.  Intuitively, we recognize the danger of not being able to defecate.  If constipation is left untreated, it can lead to bowel impaction which is where the stool becomes so big or hard that the bowels are unable to pass it on their own.  If impaction is not treated, it can lead to s...