The Integrated Pharmacist

  How do you feel when I mention the word "stress"? It's possible the word itself might cause your shoulders to flex and your heart to race. Stress has been linked to poor health outcomes. Even for those who don't have serious health issues, stress can make life complicated and difficult. Today on the Integrated Pharmacist Podcast, I want to talk about what stress is and how we can manage it appropriately with complementary and alternative medicine. Everybody deals with some level of stress. Whether it's from work or school demands, taking care of your home and loved ones, negative changes in your environment or traumatic events, stress can have mental, emotional, and even physical consequences. But not all stress is brought on by negative things. Even enjoyable experiences can bring on stress - weddings, family vacations, and financial gains can contribute to a person's stress. But not all stress is bad! We actually need some stress. As a sho...

  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...