Author: Joan Haynes, NMD

Chronic Nasal Congestion and Sinus Infections

By - Sinus and Allergies

Joan Haynes, NMD

When sinuses are functioning normally, the mucus lining the cavity warms and moistens the incoming air and filters germs and particulates. But when the sinuses can’t drain properly, mucus accumulates making the area ripe for infection. An acute infection can often be treated with simple home care and immune-boosting strategies. However, chronic sinusitis needs a broader approach. In 1999, a Mayo Clinic study showed that almost 100 percent of chronic sinusitis patients tested positive for fungus. Chronic congestion caused by food or environmental sensitivities creates a perfect breeding ground for fungus and bacterial infections.

With my chronic sinus sufferers, I often begin with food allergy testing (to discover the source of the congestion) and a systemic antifungal protocol. We may also need to do an environmental evaluation, and improve digestion and stress response to improve overall health.

For an acute infection, you may want to try:

  • Allergy-Sinus Tincture (from BNH). 2 droppers-full every two hours. The herbs will thin the mucus, dry out the sinuses and fight infection.
  • Neti Pot. Irrigating the sinuses with a saline solution can reduce swelling and wash away irritants. The Rhino Horn is a great device and the instructions are very thorough.
  • N-acetylcysteine. 500 mg three times daily on empty stomach. Thins mucus secretions.

For chronic congestion and/or infections, you may want to try:

  • Food allergy testing either through an elimination-challenge diet or a food allergy panel.
  • Reduce mucus forming foods – dairy, refined flours, chocolate, eggs, fried and processed food.
  • Evaluation and treatment for fungal infection, including Candida overgrowth.
  • Regular use of essential oils, such as oregano, or combinations for respiratory health and immune boosting.

 

Health Savings Account

By - Make the Most out of Your Health Care

Joan Haynes, NMD

A Health Savings Account (HAS) makes a lot of sense for people who would  rather spend their money on alternative medicine instead of paying for insurance premiums for health care they don’t use.

In Idaho, Naturopathic Medicine and/or massage is covered by some, but not all insurance companies. Instead of paying high insurance premiums, many patients are opting for a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) along with a Health Savings Account (HSA). An HAS makes a lot of sense for people who rather spend their money on the kind of health care they want instead of paying for insurance premiums.

A HDHP, also referred to as a Catastrophic Health Insurance has deductibles ranging from $1000 to $5000 or more. HDHP are offered by many employers and can be purchased by individuals as well. There are many insurance companies that offer these programs.

Like a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), the HSA allows you to contribute tax-deductible dollars into the account and spend them tax-free on medical costs. However money in a FSA is lost if not used within a grace period. In a HSA funds roll over and accumulate year to year if not spent. HSAs are owned by the individual and most accounts accrue interest. HSA funds are used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability. However, beginning in early 2011, OTC (over the counter) medications cannot be paid with HAS dollars without a doctor’s prescription. BNH doctors can provide patients with a prescription.

Utilizing an HAS will help you get the kind of medical care you want. If you are going to pay for alternative medical care out of your own pocket, you might as well pay less.

Testing for Toxic Chemicals In Your System

By - Environment/Detoxification

by Joan Haynes, NMD

Could your chronic illness or allergic reactions be related to ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals? A newly available and finally affordable lab test (only $219) screens for the presence of 168 different toxic chemicals all from a single urine sample. Exposure to these compounds has been linked to allergic reactions, cancer, obesity, infertility, fibromyalgia, heart disease, diabetes, ADHD, autism, autoimmune disorders and more. 

We all know that our modern world is full of pollutants. But did you know that chemicals do not have to be proven safe prior to being introduced into use? The new documentary The Human Experiment, narrated by Sean Penn, is available on Netflix and I strongly recommend you watch it. It demonstrates how thousands of untested chemicals are ubiquitous in our everyday products, our homes, our food, and in us. 

Here’s just one example: 

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2, 4-D)  A very common herbicide most commonly used in agriculture on genetically modified foods, and as a weed killer for lawns.  Exposure to 2, 4-D via skin or oral ingestion is associated with neuritis, weakness, nausea, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, peripheral neuropathy, stupor, seizures, brain damage, and impaired reflexes. 2, 4-D is a known endocrine disruptor, and can block hormone distribution and cause glandular breakdowns. 

The Categories of Environmental Pollutants Tested by GPL-TOX lab test (168 compounds tested in total)

  • Phthalates
  • Vinyl Chloride
  • Benzene
  • Pyrethrins
  • Xylenes
  • Styrene
  • Otganophosphates
  • MTBE and ETBE
  • 2,4 Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D)

Recommendations for Detoxifications of Chemicals

First and foremost, we must identify and reduce our exposure to these toxic compounds in our homes and workplaces.   Secondly, working with an expert can be helpful. Naturopathic physicians are trained in accredited medical schools how to biochemically detoxify patients. Customized programs include specific nutritional and herbal supplements to promote the removal of toxins. In addition, we always focus on the whole person, including the gastrointestinal health, nutritional habits, and the mental/emotional factors and lifestyle activities of each individual patient. 

Read more about these toxins, the lab test, and when it is recommended at The Great Plains Laboratory, Inc. To have the test ordered, and for a follow up plan of action, contact Boise Natural Health to schedule an appointment.  

Medical Research – A Disturbing Corruption

By - Make the Most out of Your Health Care

Doctoring Data: How to sort out medical advice from medical nonsense

by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick

Book Review by Dr. Haynes

Almost all of the medical research is funded, conducted, and reported by the corporations with vested interests.  Dr. Kendrick has been studying the problems in medical research for over 30 years.  After reading his book, I will never look at health news or published research in the same way again.  It turns out we simply can’t believe what we are being told.

Dr. Kendrick’s book was compelling and his witty, irreverent writing makes it a fun, if disturbing, read.   He explains the basics of understanding a study and then shows us how to question data we’ve previously taken as fact.  He tackles cancer, heart disease, blood pressure, hormone replacement therapy and more.  He shares that the popularly accepted “cholesterol hypothesis” has been disproven for many years but continues to thrive due to profits made from statin medications.

As a naturopathic physician, people often expect me to be skeptical about Big Pharma medicine.  But questioning the current medical system is not limited to those practicing alternative medicine.  Both the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet are the most well respected, peer-reviewed medical journals in the world.  Here’s what their own editors have to say about the state of medical science today:

 “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.  I take no pleasure in this conclusion which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.” Dr. Marcia Angell, editor of the New England Journal of Medicine

“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analysis, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.” Dr. Richard Horton, the current editor-in-chief of the Lancet

With all this doubt about truth in medical research, what is a patient to do?  I strongly believe in the tenants of Naturopathic Medicine and use them as guiding principles with all of my patients (see a more detailed description):

  1. First Do No Harm – primum non nocere
  2. The Healing Power of Nature – vis medicatrix naturae
  3. Discover and Treat the Cause, Not Just the Effect – tolle causam
  4. Treat the Whole Person – tolle totum
  5. The Physician is a Teacher – docere
  6. Prevention is the best “cure” – praevenire

I encourage all patients and practitioners interested in being savvy consumers of medicine and advocates of their own health to read Dr. Hendrick’s book.  It is one of the most informative books I’ve come across and is enjoyable to boot!

My Passion for Patients with Cancer: Naturopathic Oncology

By - Cancer

Joan Haynes, NMD

In addition to my busy family practice for the last 18 years, I’ve been studying cancer and treating patients with cancer for almost 14 years.  The world of integrative cancer care is taking off.  With so much research being done, educating my patients about new evidence-based therapies is exciting.  I just returned from a cancer conference at the National College of Natural Medicine where I graduated in 1997.  This month I am attending the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians Annual conference, of which I am a member.

Studies show that the vast majority of people with cancer choose to also include complementary and alternative medicine in their fight against cancer.  Often with little support from their oncologist, patients are trying to read the latest book, sort out reliable web sites, field recommendations from friends and family, and pick from an overwhelming variety of natural products.  Naturopathic physicians who specialize in cancer can help guide people through this maze of overwhelming choices.

Naturopathic physicians are trained in accredited naturopathic medical schools in modern scientific nature cure. We are trained in both modern science and natural medicine. We emerge from our training well versed in the use of botanical medicine, homeopathy, diet, cleansing, nutritional supplementation, orthomolecular medicine, psycho-immunology and other complementary and alternative medical techniques.  We serve as capable guides for patients interested in exploring alternative medicine.

Trying to do it on your own can be not just overwhelming but unwise.  While some natural supplements taken along with chemotherapy, surgery or radiation can make those treatments more effective, other supplements can interfere negatively and inhibit a conventional therapy from working.  My job is to understanding the standard treatments employed by medical oncologists and to help my patients understand their choices in collaborative model of cancer co-treatment.

The role of diet and exercise cannot be understated.  New research shows that people with cancer have better outcomes if they exercise and eat a whole foods diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  At Boise Natural Health our practitioners are trained in nutrition and can meet with patients to help them transition to healthy eating see our nutritional services page for more information.

Naturopathic Medicine can be useful at every stage of cancer care: before, during and after conventional treatments.  My goals with my patients with cancer are:

  1. Education about potential drug/nutrient/botanical interactions.
  2. Limit and/or prevent side effects and long-term toxicities related to treatment.
  3. Recommend nutrients, botanicals and natural therapies that have evidence-based anti-cancer effects, without interfering with the efficacy of conventional therapies.
  4. Ensure health of physiologic systems to eliminate, minimize and/or treat factors that contributed to cancer development.

When people are considering my services, I prefer they schedule a free 10 minute phone consultation to see if we are a good fit.  If not, I can make referrals to more appropriate providers.  I look forward to working with you on your journey to healing.

Read information about fees.