29 Dec 2014 | Clinic, FAQ, RAN Store
As we head rapidly towards the change over of our calendars we would like to offer you a special on the very best educational recordings from 2014 – buy 2 CDs before Jan 31st and receive one complimentary Premium Audio Recording of your choice OR purchase 4 CDs and receive a 3 month Premium Audio subscription for free.
It’s been a busy year during which Rachel has delivered 7 very successful new seminars in the area of mental health and beyond, most notably fortifying her role as a leader in the field of diagnostics and pathology interpretation. This has included collaborations with ACNEM, Biomedica, Health Masters Live, MINDD and Nutrition Care, however, each recording is classic Rachel – full of fresh perspectives on diagnosis & treatment, colourful analogies & humour. In case you missed some of these this year or want a copy for keeps – here’s a quick summary of the 2014 recordings included in this end of year offer: (more…)
8 Dec 2014 | Clinic, FAQ
“Two great speakers – inspirational in the first half and bang on in the second – I now know how much I don’t know”
Just out now in time for Christmas…no seriously though… this year I had the good fortune to team up with Biomedica and in particular Rachel McDonald and we delivered a 3 hour seminar called Mental Health in Holistic Practice. The intention behind this collaboration was to shift the education focus for practitioners from a prescription based approach, to one really about the clinical reality of managing mental health clients. Probably most of you will agree that the ‘treatment’ counts for only a portion of the positive outcomes in your patients and this is particularly true in clients challenged with mental health issues. After more than 20 years in practice working in this area, I’m keen to share what I’ve learned so other practitioners can get there much much faster! (more…)
14 Aug 2014 | News
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 between you and me!
So guess what? I’m coming to Sydney on the 31st August (and then Brisbane 6th September and then Melbourne 13th September) to touch base with many of you again. I’m joining forces with Rachel McDonald from Biomedica to talk about the real world application of naturopathy in mental health conditions. (more…)
28 Jul 2014 | Clinic, News
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 way I practice… seriously!
Recently I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Biomedica completely and utterly focussed on N-acetyl cysteine – its key actions, pharmacokinetics, applications and contraindications. In the process of researching for the webinar I learnt so much and to my surprise found even I was under-utilising my favourite supplement! How familiar are you with its application in cystic fibrosis, fertility, biofilm eradication etc. etc ? Not to mention, it’s incredible versatility in mental health. Recently, buoyed by some new research suggesting the efficacy in severe glutamate excess of much higher doses than previously studied for depression and bipolar, I have stepped up my doses in patients with some forms of addiction, OCD, refractory insomnia to 4g/d with great results! I could talk all day about NAC but perhaps for a starter if you missed the webinar you might want to listen to the recording? We have the Clinical Knack of NAC now available as a CD with audio and notes for purchase on the website:
https://rachelarthur.com.au/product-category/audio/
This in-depth 1 hour webinar offers practitioners new to NAC, the practical knowledge and tools they need to start using it effectively and for the practitioner already dispensing it, to really broaden their understanding of indications , correct many misunderstandings and get the latest research on the why, when and how to use it. From reproductive to respiratory health, from heavy metal burdens to biofilms and athletes to addicts, this webinar covers the latest information about NAC’s real therapeutic potential. Having been a favourite nutraceutical/prescription of Rachel’s for some time, she punctuates the presentation with many of her own cases.
2 Jun 2014 | Clinic, News
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 parasites in our patients, there remains limitations. One of the biggest is the fact that the PCR test is based on just one stool sample compared to the 3 day samples used in the culture test.
While this is rationalised, both by the pathology companies and some doctors, by higher test sensitivity and specificity, it flies in the face of our understanding about the irregular shedding of parasites i.e. the presence of the parasite in an infected individual’s stool can vary from nothing to severe, just day to day, therefore diagnosis must be based on several days of stool collection to account for this.
A practitioner I mentor, faced with several patients with negative PCR results but a clinical picture and other pathology results (raised eosinophils, impaired iron levels etc.) that strongly suggested the presence of parasites has been debating this with her shared care providers trying to encourage them to still refer patients for the stool PCR but performed over several samples.
She came across this article as a nice piece of supportive evidence Irregular shedding of Blastocystis hominis (Venilla et al 1999): ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9934969
While there are numerous other studies confirming the irregular shedding of most parasites this is a handy paper perhaps to use to strengthen the case for PCR stool tests performed over 3 days rather than 1. Let’s face it – it’s a big enough ask to get our patients to collect stool – we should really ensure we have optimised their chances of getting an accurate result!
