Is There a “Lyme Diet”?

For individuals affected by Lyme disease, treatment can take many forms. There are medicines and herbals. Complimentary therapies and mental health support. And diet can make a substantial impact for most people. Rather than one particular “Lyme diet”, nutrition is as individualized throughout one’s Lyme healing journey as it is throughout one’s lifetime. No one “diet” is meant to serve a person their entire lives—nutrition therapy is meant to shape one’s particular needs at any life stage or healing phase.

Living with Chronic Pain

As the weather is getting warmer and we are emerging from our winter hibernations through spring blossoms and soon into early summer, we will see a rise in tick borne infectious disease. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection we get from infected ticks. Symptoms of the initial infection may or may not include a bullseye rash but can also include fever, headache, chills, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes. If the infection isn’t treated promptly, symptoms can progress into neurological tissue and cause systemic and local inflammation that manifests as arthritis, severe joint and nerve pain, dizziness and cognitive issues, and memory problems.

A New Approach to Hair Loss- A Guide to PRP Treatment for Aesthetics

PRP therapy for hair loss is known as Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy. It is a simple, non-surgical procedure where the patient’s PRP is extracted by drawing blood and separating the Platelet Rich Plasma from the rest of the blood with a centrifuge. The plasma is then injected into the thinning areas of the scalp to stimulate hair growth and provide fuller and healthier looking hair. The procedure takes about one hour and provides reasonably reliable results with an incredibly quick recovery period. It is perfect for patients looking for an alternative to a full hair transplant or to supplement hair transplant procedures.

Healing the Naturopathic Way

My name is Dr. Kathryn Boulter, ND, I am so excited to join the Burlington community and bring more holistic healthcare resources to the region. As a naturopathic doctor, I believe that the body has an inherent ability to heal itself if the obstacles to cure are removed. This means focusing on diagnosing physiologic problems, as well as determining the ideal diet and lifestyle for your body. Over time I have become interested in the intersection of the microbial world (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) and our health. Microbes are a major source of imbalance that needs to be addressed for optimal health. My specialty is working with people who have complicated health concerns; for the people who have often not found answers in the conventional medical world, who have been told their labs are normal, but still feel unwell. I use my medical detective skills and holistic perspective to discover what is preventing you from feeling your best.

What Can You do to Prevent Ticks?

Happy beginning of spring! With the weather warming up, we are all so excited to venture outdoors, set up our gardens, walk new trails, and enjoy all that mother nature has to offer. However, this is the time of the year where ticks are also increasing their outdoor presence. It is important to remember that ticks are not only present in deep wooded areas, but are also present in common places that you may be in every day, such as your yard. It is best practice to try to be as tick safe as possible whenever you are outdoors, even if you are not in the woods. 

Tick Prevention and Good Nutrition

In this day and age, the likelihood of getting a tick bite, either directly or from a tick carried in by a pet, is pretty good! That’s the bad news. But now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, the good news is you can do something about protecting yourself. Certainly, equipping yourself with proper outdoor gear helps but you can protect yourself from the inside as well. That’s where good nutrition can lend itself. The right nutrition can really support your immune system, fighting infections and battling bacteria so it doesn’t take root, causing a myriad of symptoms. We can especially support our immune system by improving gut health (where most of the immune system lives) and lowering overall inflammation in the body. 

Tips and Treatment Approach to Lyme Using Chinese Medicine

Most people living in the northeastern part of the country have either had acute Lyme or have it chronically or know someone who has.  Those who knew they were infected and treated it early are the lucky ones.  Unfortunately, more often than not, Lyme becomes chronic and even worse is left undiagnosed for far too long.  Personally, I know I was bit two separate times, about 4 years apart within the last 12 years, but looking back on my health history, I actually think I’ve had Lyme for around 20 years.  I had headaches that began increasing in frequency until they were daily and debilitating at times for about 8 years and no one once thought to test me for Lyme. The two times I knew I was bit I was fortunate to be able to get antibiotics right away and took  them for 3 weeks and 6 weeks and I also took a lot of Chinese herbs both times which I know kept infection from infiltrating deeper.

How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Reduces Chronic Inflammation and Pain

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a treatment that provides high amounts of oxygen to cellular tissue. Due to certain laws of chemistry and physics, the pressure is what differentiates this therapy from standard oxygen therapy using an oxygen tank or concentrator. Under pressure, oxygen gas is compressed into smaller molecules (Boyle’s Law) allowing concentrated amounts of oxygen to dissolve in liquid plasma. This high concentration of oxygen then travels to low areas of oxygen in the tissues (Henry’s Law).

Acupuncture for Stroke Recovery

A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when there is a bleed or blood clot within the blood vessels of the brain. This can lead to paralysis, confusion, incoherent speech, seizures or death. The rehabilitation after stroke involves occupational/physical therapy and pharmaceuticals.

TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) has been used for post stroke treatment for thousands of years. It benefits stroke recovery by restoring the flow of qi and blood in the body to nourish the cells and inhibit further destruction of tissue. Most of the damage occurs during and soon after stroke so initiating treatment quickly is crucial for the most positive outcome. The ideal time to begin stroke recovery using acupuncture is within the first 3 days, if not sooner. Alongside other western medicine applications, acupuncture treatments should be 2-3 times per week.

Eat Your Heart Out

With February being Heart Awareness Month, we might consider if what we are eating is healing or harming our hearts; the organ which pumps life force throughout the body. Keeping our hearts healthy (or improving our heart health) should include a total lifestyle approach. What we eat matters, as does exercise, sleep, whether we smoke, and stress management.