Category: General

Endothelial Function Testing Steve Parcell, ND Endothelial function testing is an exciting new non­invasive approach to assessing the health of blood vessels. This test was primarily used at research centres untill now. The endothelium is the layer of cells on the artery wall that come into contact with the blood. There are several ways to assess endothelial function; most involve testing the endothelium’s ability to relax the vessel wall or to make the vessel wall more compliant (flexible). The test is easy and non invasive. Here’s how it works: When blood flow increases through a vessel with a healthy endothelium, the vessel opens up wider to accommodate the increase. You can see this flow­mediated vasodilatation, as it’s called, by using ultra sound. To do the test we place a blood pressure cuff around the wrist and inflate it to a pressure high enough to cut off blood flow to the hand. After five minutes, we release the cuff and the blood rushes back to the hand. This sudden increase in blood flow stimulates the endothelium to make NO (nitric oxide) and in response, the arm artery increases in diameter for a short period of time. We can see the vessel...

Coconut oil is a highly saturated vegetable fat that has a very good smoke point profile. This means that coconut oil can handle much higher heat than other oils. This is important because it is the oxidative changes from high heat that makes many oils bad for us. As a rule of thumb, if an oil is smoking in the pan the heat is too high. Recent studies on olive oil indicate that the beneficial poly-phenols in olive oil begin to get destroyed even below the smoke point. In a recent study from Barcelona in the journal of antioxidants, the effects of heat on extra virgin olive oil was studied. They found that at 120 Celsius 40 percent of the polyphenols were destroyed and data showed that at 170 Celsius up to 70 private percent of the polyphenols were degraded. The results of the study showed that during the process of sautéing, there was a definite degradation of the polyphenols of EVOO. Time also played a role, the researchers found. It affected some of the phenols such as hydroxytyrosol, but the overall content of polyphenols was unaltered with the long term heat exposure to the oil. The team noted that...

You have had your heart scan by either referring yourself for a scan or you were referred by your another health care provider.  I have found that many medical providers do not know how to read these scans. There are common medications that he repeated often such as: 1.      Calcified plaque does not rupture so do not worry about it (calcified plaque can rupture especially if it is mixed plaque and the point of the scan to track progression of disease and make sure your treatments are working) 2.      It’s not a complete test because it does not show soft plaque (true and a carotid intima media thickness test checks for soft plaque and if your calcium score keeps going up more than 50 percent a year you got soft plaque) 3.      It's a useless test (just not true, find a different doctor) 4.      An angiogram would be better (an angiogram is completely different and really just indicates degree of stenosis not disease activity and is highly invasive) 5.      You cannot reverse plaque so why bother checking for it (plaque can be reversed and can be slowed down significantly.  Since heart attack is the #1 cause of death checking to...

Post-flood Mold Information and Resources

Breaking news for those affected by allergy or mold in the greater Denver and Boulder area: A new type of immunotherapy is now available. The recent flooding has given rise to more indoor mold problems than ever before. Mold can hide behind walls which adds to the problem. Mold can be toxic to people and animals as well as cause allergy symptoms. Bottom line: people can get sick and allergies can get worse. Immunotherapy (allergy shots) is a treatment in which small, regular doses of the same allergens that trigger symptoms are given to a patient. This is sometimes also referred to as desensitization therapy. The concept is very naturopathic (treat the cause with natural methods) and even homeopathic (like cures like). There is a new exciting form of immunotherapy now known as sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, in which daily doses of allergens are dropped under the tongue by the patient in their own home. This is NEW, convenient and very effective. Plus you don’t have to drive to the doctor’s office to get a shot every week. Typically allergy shots are administered in the doctor’s office, weekly, for a period of 3 to 5 years and then discontinued. Commonly...