The Benefits of Early Disease Intervention

I always tell my patients in my clinic of integrative medicine in San Jose CA that when you try to fix early disease states or address early symptoms that just are not quite right, you are essentially heading off a catastrophe before it happens.

The reason this is important is that most diseases are years in the making. If you start to address your early symptoms that don’t seem quite right, you are likely able to fix the problem before the disease fully develops.

There was a recent story lately on the news about an HIV baby that was treated with a full cocktail of HIV medications as soon as the baby was born and after it got the early full dosage therapy, years later, they are finding that the HIV is almost non-detectable in the body even without medications currently. They are now just monitoring the young child to make sure that the viral count in the body remains non-existent.  The virus was so effectively suppressed that they thought maybe the child was misdiagnosed years before but the genetic studies show some traces of the virus in the body but is now not obviously active.

I was very interested in this story because it just goes to show us that when diseases are addressed early on with medications, supplements or lifestyle changes, very good things can happen. This is what I’ve always said to my patients. There is absolutely no point in waiting for the disease to fully develop before you take it seriously. The time to take it seriously is as soon as you notice something is not right.

I have seen a lot of my patients who are pre-diabetics change their lifestyle and get their blood sugars into the solidly normal range. Along with the positive lifestyle change, usually their cholesterol, weight, energy, and quality of sleep improve.

I use the HIV baby story not to say that I am a strong proponent of always using medications early in a disease state, but rather to say that something should be done early on and that ignoring symptoms or labs that are borderline abnormal isn’t the best course of action in your quest to achieve overall health.

For those readers who know of someone who is pregnant with HIV, this story may be worthwhile for her to bring up with that someone so that she can talk to her doctor about it. For those of you who are fortunate enough not to have HIV or know of anyone with HIV, I want to use this story to remind you that when you address a disease state or symptom early on in its course, you will always end up ahead of the bad things to come. So, if there is something that is concerning you about your health, please see your doctor or nutritionist or gynecologist or psychiatrist sooner rather than later. Ultimately, doing so will lead you to a healthier and happier place…because we all know that preventing a spill is always easier than cleaning up a mess afterwards.

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PMS…How To Make It Better

PMS is something we as women have had to deal with every month for most of our young adult and adult years. While we become concerned if we miss a period for obvious reasons, we are also not very happy to see our monthly friend as well which usually comes with some bloating, pain, and mood changes. So, how can we manage our PMS symptoms just a little bit easier? Let’s give these tips a try…

1. Watch your diet a week before your usual PMS time. Food has a huge impact on PMS symptoms, so aim to eat a low salt and low sugar diet about a week before your PMS week. This will help her PMS cravings and symptoms to be a little less severe. The reason I suggest making the diet change a week before your usual PMS week is because once you hit your PMS week, you may not be able to control the cravings for salt or sugar. By pre-emptively addressing the symptoms and eating cleaner, you should ensure that your PMS week is a little less difficult.
2. Drink green tea. This is important because it is a natural diuretic which means that it will help you feel and look less bloated. It also helps with your metabolism so that you feel a bit more energy during your PMS time and can potentially help you keep some of your PMS weight gain down.
3. Get plenty of sleep. When you don’t get enough rest, your body likes to crave carbohydrates and tends to bloat more. It worsens the fatigue that you may already feel with PMS and it definitely worsens mood. So, not getting enough sleep means that your PMS symptoms will likely appear like it’s double the strength of not feeling good…and let’s face it, the normal strength of PMS symptoms is already more than enough.
4. Exercise. When you exercise the week before and during the week of your PMS, your symptoms tend to be less than usual. Exercise helps to release happy hormones and helps your body to get rid of bloating and cramps. When you work out, you are also less likely to have monstrous sugar or salt cravings…basically, it is a winner all around.
5. Spend time with people who bring you joy. This time of the month is probably not the best time to meet up with people who are draining or irritating to you. However, meeting up with people who usually bring you joy and make you feel loved is a good idea because being around them will trigger happy hormones that will help your body hold onto that happy and loved feeling long after your rendezvous with them.

So, while this is a time of the month that is traditionally not your favorite, there are ways to ensure that you get through the PMS a bit better rather than sink into the misery.  As I always tell my patients at my clinic of integrative medicine in San Jose CA, when you tackle your symptoms head on and plan ahead for them, you have a choice in helping your body manage its hormones. By living a healthy and balanced lifestyle and addressing your health issues, you can optimally and favorably control your symptoms instead of having those symptoms control you.

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Low Calcium In Your Body…Why That’s a Big Problem

We take for granted that every little function our body does requires nutrients, or what I call, fundamental building block tools, for it to occur efficiently. One of those essential components is calcium. It is an essential mineral in our body that is required for normal muscle functioning as well as for all our organs to perform normally. Without it, our muscles hurt and are weak, our heart can’t pump regularly and our blood pressure might even be elevated or off.

So, what foods have calcium and why might someone be deficient? And when it does, what are the symptoms we see with calcium deficiency?

Calcium is found in many foods such as dairy, enriched whole grains, and dark green leafy vegetables, just to name a few sources. As we get older, though, we naturally absorb less of what we are eating so we are at higher risk for nutrient deficiency. So the most common reason for calcium deficiency are either from not getting enough in your diet or your hormonal system that regulates calcium is not working right. If your calcium is always low, you should have your doctor check on your parathyroid hormone level and make sure that it is working fine. If it is not, you will need to see a hormone specialist, the endocrinologist.

When we are calcium deficient, the organs in our body cannot functionally optimally and some adverse reactions can occur. Some of the common symptoms of calcium deficiency can be bone or muscle pain, muscle cramps, irregular heart beat or arrhythmias, blood pressure dysregulation, increased bruising or bleeding, nerve pain or dysfunction, and poor appetite.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms or if you are suspicious that you may be deficient in calcium, you should see your doctor immediately for testing of your levels of calcium and parathyroid hormone.

In general, I recommend about 500-1200mg per day of calcium supplementation depending on the person’s size, age, and risk factors for osteoporosis, hypertension, heart disease, and muscle or nerve pain issues. Because every person’s body is different and we all have different diets and lifestyles, it would be very important to check with your doctor first before you start your calcium and ask him or her what the appropriate dosage is for you.

While I always tell my patients in my clinic of integrative medicine in San Jose CA that I am a big proponent of always getting your nutrients through your foods first, I am well aware that some of us need supplementation to get the amount of what we need. So, my recommendation is to eat as much as you can of calcium-rich foods…but when in doubt, ask your doctor to check your levels and to help you pick out the right dosage of calcium supplementation for you.

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