The walls of books you can see behind me in my office, during webinars etc are not stage-props. Not a single day would go by without me pulling multiple core texts down off these shelves to caress their paper pages. I recite the most often used ones: Shils Shike, Olsen (Modern Nutrition in Health & Disease), Mosby’s (Manual of Diagnostics and Lab Tests), Gibson (Principles of Nutritional Assessment) like members of my extended family. But I know I am a bit of a relic in this way and nowadays that’s seen as a very slow solution…
I’ve seen young people unconsciously spread their fingers wider on the paper page in front of them, trying in vain to ‘zoom out’. I’ve watched them frantically search for the ‘Control F’ function that is nowhere to be found. That’s what we old folk liked to call an index.
But I have to concede Control F stands for flippin’ fantastic…when some of even my most beloved books have turned using the index into some kind of combative sport…not naming any names, MOSBY’S 😵😫🥴 where the page number listed for each lab is just a rough ballpark indication that the information you’re seeking features somewhere in the book but possibly specifically not on that page! And in terms of a resource for drug herb nutrient interactions, I alone (apparently…!) love another book by Stargrove, for the reason that it exquisitely details every scrap of original evidence that is behind a theoretical or actual interaction potential and for exactly the same reason…it is never a fast find! Then Nina from my team showed me this nifty little tool Evidence-Based Drug-Induced Nutrient-Depletion Checker. I haven’t exhaustively played with this one but on first glance it’s solid. This search engine is referenced and you can access the reference list and source of information by simply clicking on the indicated reference number.It is an American based database so specific Australian pharmaceutical branding will not be included, just use generics. Finding fast facts is important when patients are in front of you so this might just make your job a bit easier.
So, will I make the leap into this century at last and end up burning all my books? Just try me…I’m the one in the front of this picture, guarding my stash 🙉
Separating the B12 from the B*S#!
B12 is a routinely under-rated and recognised micronutrient, which is in fact in high demand by many of our patients. As nutritional research pushes back against defining adequacy as simply the prevention of the deficiency-associated disease (macrocyctic anaemia, irreversible neurological damage) we enter a new landscape of more individualised approaches where we’re better able to recognise and treat those at risk of falling below ‘optimal’. But how do we accurately identify this and then choose the ‘best’ B12 (methyl- cyano- adenosyl- hyroxo-) supplement? Does it need to be this complex? Time to sort the B12 from the B*S#!! This recording comes with a bunch of great resources including a clever clinical tool.
You can purchase Separating the B12 from the B*S#! here.
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