News & Updates

February 2012: The Globe and Mail reports that prevention reduces emergency room costs.  Read the Gary Mason editorial here.

January 2012: The New York Times reports that the over-medicated children of America (30 million kids on drugs and counting) have not only serious side effects but could be making disorders, such as ADHD, worse.  Read Ritalin Gone Wrong by Alan Sroufe here.

October 2011: Who to Believe When it Comes to Supplement Usage?  Fact or fiction in research headlines.  Read Dr. Ingrid Pincott's article here.

October 2011: BINM, western Canada's only accredited naturopathic medical college, has announced they will start a six-year program for part-time students pursuing a degree in naturopathic medicine, which will begin in 2012.  Press release here.

May 2011: BINM, western Canada's only accredited naturopathic medical college, will be introducing a midwifery program in the fall of 2011.  See the full press release here.

February 2011: CFLs and immune-suppression. Do compact fluorescent light bulbs compromise the immune system? Read the article here. Cola and cancer: Generic ingredients pose hidden health risk. Read the article here.

January 2011:Oxygen Therapy Benefits Diabetics: Lund University in Sweden has just published a study that will appear in a journal of the British Medical Association. The aim of this study was to follow two groups of diabetics with chronic foot ulcers. One group was treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the other group was given a placebo (they were put in a hyperbaric chamber but treated with air instead of 100% oxygen).  Of important note is that even the air group will effectively be getting more oxygen.  Even so, the group that were treated with 100% oxygen scored significantly higher in their physical and mental/emotional health.  They reported: better social functioning, better mental health, better physical health.  Overall, the study concluded that hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves long-term health related quality of life.  Link to PubMed to see the abstract.

January 2011: Government health care costs are spiralling out of control. But one area where costs can be reduced is through disease prevention, the focus of naturopathic medicine. Read a recent op-ed piece in the Vancouver Sun on political leadership and preventive medicine here. [PDF]

November 2010: After an explosive expose on 60 Minutes regarding a patient hospitalized with H1N1 who recovered after IV vitamin C treatment, there has been much fall out in the medical community. Some hardliners claim that since there are no empirical studies to prove IVC efficacy then the patient did not survive because of the treatment. Others beg to differ. Link to the NZ station that aired the episode..

December 2009: CAM and cancer. Read the Vancouver Sun story [PDF] on the patient who saw an ND while undergoing standard cancer treatment.

December 2009: Steve Nash quits the white stuff! Victoria NBA star Steve Nash consulted with a naturopathic doctor who provided advice on diet and nutrition. By simply reducing sugar in his diet, Nash was able to increase his energy, on-court stamina, and improve his sleep and well-being. See the Men's Journal article here.

September 4, 2009:

Naturopathic Doctors and Prolotherapy

Read the July 17, 2008 article on prolotherapy highlighting the practice of Dr. Heidi Rootes in downtown Vancouver. See also an excerpt from the New York Times, below, on prolotherapy.

The New York Times reported on the growing interest in prolotherapy on August 7, 2007.  To read the entire story, link here (you will need a UN and PW, free from the site).

An excerpt from the article follows: Prolotherapy involves a series of injections designed to produce inflammation in injured tissue. To appreciate the value of such a seemingly counterproductive measure, you need to know something about connective tissue and how the body normally repairs it.

When tissues are injured, inflammation is a common natural response. It stimulates substances carried in blood that produce growth factors in the injured area to promote healing. Ligaments, tendons and cartilage have very poor blood supplies, which can result in incomplete healing.

The healing process can also be impeded when injuries are treated with anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or Naprosyn, or prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to relieve pain and swelling.

Unlike injections of corticosteroids, which also suppress inflammation and provide only temporary relief for a chronic condition, prolotherapy injections given over the course of several months are meant to provide a permanent benefit. In effect, prolotherapy tricks the body into initiating a healing response.