Rachel's Blogs
White Australia Pathology?
Here's a newsflash for absolutely no one, we're all practising healthcare in racially diverse communities, right? Take Australia for example. At last count, at least 1 in 4 were not born here and of those who were, 3% are indigenous and many many more come from...
Creatine Supplements: Brain Over Brawn
I think I'm finally able to put my 'late-90s-Creatine-frontline-trauma' behind me. Back then, like many good nats in training, I was working the trenches of the health food stores and was faced on a daily basis with two types of men with two types of Creatine...
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Ironing Out Some Old Misunderstandings
It's that time of year when we tend to set our intentions both personally and professionally. For me, between the many meals, pressies and dunks in the river, I slip into some 'silent work'. In particular, I find myself flagging a couple of key areas that I want to...
So, What Kind Of Drunk Are You?
I know, timing, huh?! It's almost like I've been sniffing around your recycling bins but I didn't need to of course, at this time of year it's a fairly safe bet you're madly winding it back a tad from your most outrageous annual alcohol imbibing. And so are all our...
New Goals & Some Good News (At Last!) in Gilbert’s Syndrome
Earlier this year at a Mental Health Training for IM doctors, 3 practitioners (myself, a doctor & a psychiatrist) walked into a bar...not really, but we did each present a case study of challenging patient & in whom we had some great outcomes. All 3...
Dear 2019 Minties (ahem) Mentees
Turn-up the sound, lean back (as there are quite a few names here) and watch it all the way to the end!, Click here and enjoy our little video to honour each of our mintees (aka mentees) in 2019. https://youtu.be/219EbNQhGBI Use the force...... well, maybe...
I Was Wrong
I take my job to heart. When someone asked me recently to choose the single value that spoke most to me personally I couldn't seem to go past, 'Purpose'. I feel very honoured to have contributed to the learning of so many health professionals in their undergraduate...
We Know – But Do They?
When a teenage girl presents seeking her first oral contraceptive pill (OCP) script, what information is she privy to that enables her to make an informed decision? Read the insert inside the box? Please. Which 50 year old, let alone 15 year old does that? Forget it!...
Too Simple To Be Sensible Science?
This year I heard a great quote that hit the spot for me: anyone who offers you a simple solution to a complex problem is lying or misguided, the solution to a complex problem will inherently be complex. Dang! I'm frequently reminded of this in relation to many...
While You Were Sleeping
Remember the days when we had the brain all back-to-front & upside down? Anatomy & physiology told us it was an island, completely protected by the blood-brain-barrier from pathology in the rest of the body, that it was incapable of regeneration after damage...
Your Bigger Role In Mental Health: Beyond the Bottles
When I returned to seeing clients after my stint working in the pharmaceutical world of antidepressants & antipsychotics I was truly excited by the potential in our dispensary. 18 years later I remain just as excited. But what I hadn't yet understood was just how...
How Low Can You Go…With Cortisol?
Assessing Adrenals can be hit and miss, especially given that even more so than other labs, timing is everything. That's why endocrinologists typically won't look at anything less than a 24hr urine collection. If the total output is deemed to be high = Cushing's and...
Does Holistic Health Include The Hardest Workers?
Did someone explain the kidneys are like a really important, not to be forgotten, under-estimated, ignored or under-valued kind of organ in your training as a naturopath? No, me neither. I mean I know Buchu and Uva and Zea (on a first name basis only, clearly!) and...
Iron – Another Important Discovery
Yet another super-helpful part of Iron-Land has been mapped!! Ever struggled to correct chronic iron deficiency in athletes or even just weekend warriors? Yep, me too. One of the key barriers being the 2-3 fold rise in hepcidin in response to exercise. Hepcidin...
Are You Going Hot & Cold On Thyroid Cases?
What's the most common thyroid disease you're seeing in practice? Nope, try again. I'm serious. There would be very few of us who'd get this right without cheating. It's nodules. Current figures suggest 1/2 of all us middle-agers have them and by the time we're 80...
Is Integrative Medicine Mentoring On Your To-Do List?
Having just spent the last four days in Sydney delivering education at ACNEM to doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other medical professionals, I am reminded afresh about what we all share: a passion for problem solving and a diagnostic detective determination! ...
You Record Something Then This Happens…
I had to say to a mentee just yesterday, "You're going to see the topic for the Update in Under 30 this month and think it's inspired by your patient but it was actually about the 3 other cases I'd seen this month, before yours!" Yep...I'm talking about thyroid...
More Punch in Progestins?
This week's wonder-full paper and light-bulb discovery was prompted by a 34 year old woman with a history of Depo Provera injections over several years to control unruly menstrual bleeding and pain. She was subsequently diagnosed at 28 with osteoporosis. That's not a...
Are We Missing A Different Kind of ‘Hyper’ Child?
Stop press. No, seriously. This new research warrants the attention of every practitioner working with children & teenagers. In the largest paediatric study of its kind to date, which included 2,480 children aged 10-18yrs diagnosed with hyperthyroidism...
Group Mentoring…What’s it all about?
https://youtu.be/sN-sel64IGc For all those Mentoring Virgins 😇 out there wanting a clearer understanding of what it's really like to be part of my group mentoring, this video is a little snippet from a session with one of my groups. This year has flown...
Will Hair Testing Nail Your Patient’s Nickel Problem?
How might your patients' Nickel exposure wreak havoc with their health? What might that look like? It may be lurking behind labels like IBS, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, contact dermatitis of unknown origin,(with or without alopecia) or even CFS. "Then how does...
NEW Accurate Pathology Results Interpretation…Starts Here
Behind their deceptively-dated inkjet printing and boring black and white font (punctuated occasionally by a comparatively thrilling red H or L) mainstream pathology results actually offer a goldmine of information and insight about your patients....if you know...
“It’s’ Not A Prebiotic, Not A Probiotic…It’s Bathwater To The Rescue”
Sometimes timing is everything. I recently FINALLY had my (almost) lifelong dream come true, installing a self-care-haven-outdoor-bath and guess what, a few days later I stumbled across an exciting study talking about the benefits of baths! But it's not in the...