Rachel's Blogs
Increasing Patient Buy-in: Compliance Changers
Have you ever noticed that our products don't work if our patients don't take them?!🙄 The reasons for non-compliance, dis- or non-engagement, poor patient buy-in & follow through are many: *My dog ate the instructions * My inbox swallowed the instructions...
Have You Received a Nudge?
A recent foreboding article featured in NewsGP Pathology requests under the microscope warned, 'More than 5000 GPs are about to receive a letter from the Department of Health about their pathology requests.' This is a ritual cleanse performed by Department of Health...
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RIP 2021?
It's quite the meme of the moment and while I completely get the sentiment behind its original meaning, my take is a little different: Results in Practice 2021! How were yours? Here were some of ours from the cases presented in group mentoring: 💪 We correctly...
When CKD C(omes) K(nocking) at your D(oor)
And it will. It knocked again on a practitioner's door last week. She in turn knocked on mine. It turned out to be a very familiar story: Firstly: Patient presents distressed - recently a nurse applied the term 'Chronic Kidney Disease' to HER (note no one has ever...
Were We Wrong – Is B6 Da Bomb?
And not in a good way, right. While we've known about the potential for peripheral neuropathy with excess B6 supplementation since the 1980s, currently there's a seismic shift in our sense of safety even with previously regarded 'safe' levels. You may have heard...
Female Pattern Hair Loss ≠ A Female With Hair Loss
I'm intrigued by the silence. Hair loss in women is frighteningly common, following pregnancy, menopause & with extreme stress (wait is that a tautology? 🙄) In fact it can strike at any age and for a multitude of reasons. When it happened to me a few...
Following The Fenton Fall-Out
I confess I was a chemistry nerd 'way back when', but my skill for stoichiometric calculations had sadly slipped by the time my kids needed help with high-school science & now my son, who's about to graduate from chemical engineering, is my 'chem-friend'...
Made it to 100!
Ok, so maybe I don't quite look like this after 100 episodes & almost a decade of our Update in Under 30 series but sometimes, in the depths of researching & developing each episode I can feel like this! The idea for this subscription series came out of a...
The Breakfast Bench Test
You may have noticed I don't often have recipe raves, swap serving suggestions or generally dialogue about diet. That's because about a decade into my career as a naturopath I hit food fatigue - my enthusiasm for explaining basic food swaps and increasing kitchen...
I’ve been Digitalised, Time-stamped & Generally Improved
But sadly, still not cloned! While it may sound like Big-Brother was responsible, it was the efforts of my tremendous team responding to feedback from fans - who said things like: I just LOVED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of the MasterCourse in Diagnostics but would love to...
It Could
You know when you learn about a 'new' dis-ease driver and then you actually have to stop yourself from diagnosing every patient with it? I've done this dance with Gilbert's Syndrome for over a decade, so too maybe have some of you? And while there have been many,...
No One Panic!⚡
Are we all just a bit prone to panic at the moment? I received a 9pm call from my 21year old son. Trying desperately to disguise my reflexive s'mothering, I ask in a voice feigning carefree, 'Everything ok?' to which he replies, 'Well, [long pause] not really..."...
The Low Fat Fix?
"After our group session I suggested the low fat trial but she was 'no, no, no....I can't take anything more out of my diet'. It was at the beginning of lockdown & she had other stressors as well. So I asked her to be mindful of her fat intake & if one meal...
When Is IBS BAD?
No, this is not a trick question & it's certainly not a silly one. IBS, as many of us know, has a very loose diagnostic criteria: visceral hypersensitivity coupled with altered motility in the absence of organic disease. Hence it tends to 'loosely' fit a vast...
Naturopathic Nanna’s Club
I'm 100% confident that, as a professional group, among our highest values about healthy, preferable, food choices, would be characteristics like: 'as close to nature as possible', 'unrefined', 'unprocessed', 'unadulterated'. Tell me I'm wrong. So, when I keep...
I’m Using My Inside Voice 🙄
Maybe it's tax-time, just my wintery whinge or a tirade triggered by missing my twins' 21st birthday due to border restrictions 😶 but I'm sorry for all the shouting of late...about interpreting iron studies, about the copper misinformed etc etc. and my...
Copper Crimes (via Misinformation) 🤯
I haven't personally seen every medical condition known to occur, nor every micronutrient deficiency & toxicity picture in the flesh but that doesn't mean I doubt their very existence. Sadly, it would seem some practitioners due to a) not knowing 'where' to look...
Cracking At The Corners?
Name a B vitamin. Hey, Bingo! It's on the list! What list? The complete one from all the review papers & references to possible links between individual nutrient deficiencies & Angular Cheilitis - inflammation & cracking at the corners of the mouth. So...
Not A Savant? Me Neither
I'm a fluoro gal myself. I take copious notes the old school way, on paper with pen and vast...
SOS! 2 Distress Flares In 2 Days 🤦♀️
While many of us have made it our business to ensure we are competent IN the business of understanding patients' iron studies, it sadly seems, many even in teaching and training positions, still have not 🙁 I was sent 2 messages this week that had me lost for words...
Elders & Young’uns – Best Of Both Worlds
Last week I had my say about acknowledging our elders & mentors, this week I want to speak to the power of the young peeps. Just like a younger sibling, nipping at your heels can act as a great motivator to move faster, or having children can inspire us to do...
I Stand On The Shoulders Of Others
I stand on the shoulders of my elders. [I hope it's not too painful for them, it's been going on a long time now!!] And I regularly lean on my mentors - who are often my peers, practitioners specialising in areas different from mine. I recite their names often like...
Slippery Little Sucker Indeed!
[Ahem] Ok let me explain...Several catch-cries from Australian ads have earnt themselves a lifelong place in my head and heart,...