 THE CURIOUS MINDS CLUB 
While it seems like every second patient is on statins in Australia, NZ, America and most developed countries, over the age of 70, they actually are! But can you name a patient who has had their Lipoprotein (a) measured and is being managed for this by their GP?...
Ok everyone, we need to stay calm, which I know is the biggest challenge with something this serious, but let's focus on the steps we all need to take: Step 1: identify the products affected Step 2: Inform all your patients - not just the ones you have prescribed...
When I grow up I’d like to be a few different things, forget any ballerina or astronaut aspirations, my list includes a clinical psychologist, an integrative psychiatrist and last but by no means least, an endocrinologist. I’m fascinated by hormones, their regulation...
When I started studying naturopathy I quickly became full to over-flowing with inspiration that everyone could achieve wellness simply by making better choices with their diet, their lifestyle, activity levels and perhaps some slippery elm thrown in. As a senior...
Just this week Medscape featured an article arguing there's a need for all doctors (GPs & specialists) to undergo nutritional training. Â It follows on from a commentary in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine which criticised the deficiency of...
Recently in our group & individual mentoring sessions we’ve been looking at lots of patients’ urinary iodine results.  Many of you will know that I’m a bit of a fan of doing spot urinary iodine testing to gain some understanding about patients’ iodine, in spite...
I’ve received so much lovely feedback (fan mail!) recently I just had to share some with you (note I look much more excited than Meg does when I get mine!). It’s so exciting to be a part of our burgeoning naturopathic & integrative network.  From Alyssa Tait a...
So far this year I’ve been doing most of my presenting online which has been fantastic because we can all be in our PJs and no one’s the wiser (except now!!) but I do miss the face to face seminars where sometimes the real magic happens thanks to the two-way dynamic...
In spite of several advantages of salivary hormone assessment, one important piece of information you miss out on when you do this rather than blood assays, is the SHBG result. Sex hormone binding globulin is a protein produced in the liver that, as the name suggests,...
There are few complementary medicines that come onto the market with such a bang, opening up genuinely new therapeutic options for the effective management of such a broad range of health complaints. N-acetyl cysteine stands out for this reason and has changed the...
Globulins…ever thought much about them? Me neither really unless they were clearly below range which made me consider immune impairment but recently Dr. Michael Hayter, who I am co-presenting the Diagnostics Master Class (Health Masters Live) with, inspired me to...
I often say that if my surname was Rubin I wouldn’t be able to resist calling my son Billy. I am sure the joke would be lost on 90% of people & certainly on my poor child who might never forgive me but never on me – I get a giggle every time 🙂  Recently, I’ve...
I briefly mentioned in a previous post Dr. Robyn Cosford’s inspiring opening speech at this year’s MINDD conference.  A key point she made was the growing gap between what’s regarded as normal and what is actually healthy. Having worked in general practice for...
I’ve been curious about the push towards using so-called ‘active forms’ of B vitamins over the last 10 years in nutritional medicine – particularly with regard to B6 (pyridoxal-5-phosphate) and B2 (riboflavin 5’-phospate aka FMN) in light of substantial research...
I was honoured to speak at the MINDD conference again this year. MINDD is an organisation that really sets itself apart by providing incredible hands on support for parents, carers and practitioners in the area of integrative mental health management and one of the...
Many of you would now be aware of the shift from culture (stool MCS) to gene-based stool testing (stool PCR) which has now become available under Medicare subsidy. While this has been an exciting development that promised greater accuracy for the detection of...
A few years ago I heard Felice Jacka, Associate Professor (Deakin University), speak about her research linking mental health to certain Western dietary patterns and possibly many of you have already heard me rave about her work. This year I had the pleasure of...
Also presenting at the Science of Nutrition in Medicine Conference this year was Professor Eastman who is a world-renowned Australian endocrinologist with a primary interest in global iodine deficiency. He is also Deputy Chairman elect of the International Council for...
A key speaker every year at the Science of Nutrition in Medicine Conference is Professor Michael Fenech, who is a research group leader at the CSIRO. He’s internationally regarded as an expert in understanding the relationship between DNA damage and nutrition. If...
What an absolute pleasure to attend this conference this weekend just gone, where the presenters were researchers, most of them internationally acclaimed in their respective area and to find what they had to say SOÂ clinically relevant and to find the presenters...
As most of you know, I’m a big fan of establishing good communication with the other practitioners (GPs, psychologists, osteopaths, specialists etc.) also caring for my patients and what began as occasional letters that I found exasperatingly difficult & time...
In the Byron shire we have a fabulous local comedian called Mandy Nolan who makes a lot of fun of the health and food fads that regularly sweep this area and one of her favourite catch-cries is “I’m gluten intolerant-intolerant, if I meet another person who tells me...
We’ve all heard about the higher incidence of mood disorders (depression, anxiety etc.) in women and chances are we’ve all seen this reflected in the dominance of female clients who present seeking help but what’s this really telling us? Many of us are aware that men...