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Over the last two decades there has been an increase in consumers demanding safe and effective natural solutions to their healthcare needs.  Because of this demand, Naturopathic medicine has emerged as a solution, offering natural therapies to the health care system.

What is Naturopathic Medicine? Naturopathic medicine is the art and science of restoring your body and health by following specific rules.  These rules are under the basic assumption that nature is orderly and this orderliness is designed to result in ongoing life and well being. This natural and dependable orderliness is believed to be guided by a kind of inner wisdom that balances ones body. 

Naturopathic physicians are licensed and trained in the art and science of natural healthcare at accredited medical colleges and are educated in standard medical curriculum, along with holistic and nontoxic approaches to treatment.  ND’s or Naturopathic physicians also have a strong emphasis on disease prevention and optimizing wellness; and provide a natural means to restoring your bodies’ natural composition. Naturopathic physicians often partner with conventional medical doctors to provide alternative therapies in conjunction with conventional medicine.

We take rigorous professional board exams so that we may be licensed as a primary care doctor and incorporates a natural approach to treatment when treating patients.

What are the benefits of seeing a Naturopath?  Naturopath treatments encompass both traditional and holistic methods, which is what I provide patients at the FFC Center of Portland.  I am able to improve the quality of life to my patients by practicing integrated medicine that incorporates effective treatments from both conventional and natural medicine.

The real benefit lies in the way I combine the conventional medical model with a vital, biological, organ based approach. This enables me to identify specific areas of intervention and to enhance the vitality and function of specific organs and organ systems to restore energy health.

Book an Appointment with Dr. Werner Vosloo

Premenstrual syndrome is a very challenging condition for patients to live with and for doctors to manage. PMS should be high on the public health priority list as so many women suffer from it a few days every month.   Not only is PMS hard to diagnose in a clinically meaningful way, but there are very few effective and sensible treatments available to patients in the conventional health care system. By sensible I mean those treatments that provide both acute symptom relief and also address and correct the cause of the syndrome over time. This is only possible in an integrated system of medicine where the primary focus is on restoring normal organ system function and balance.

There are over 200 symptoms documented for PMS and four main patterns in which this can be classified according to the perceived cause. In most individuals that are suffering from PMS there is a mixed pattern - more than one mechanism causing the symptom pattern.

Diagnose your PMS type:

The four following PMS patterns can be used to easily classify yourself into one or more biochemical/hormonal types depending on your symptoms. Many PMS sufferers can be classified into at least two types depending on the symptoms experienced.

Estrogen dominant:
If you experience symptoms of  anxiety, insomnia,irritability,aggression and general nervous tension, sometimes without knowing why you are so upset, feel alone no more. Up to 80% of PMS sufferers experience these symptoms. This is generally caused by an increase in estrogen in relation to progesterone, or luteal phase estrogen dominance. 

Water carrier:
This type is characterized by weight gain, abdominal bloating, swelling of the hands, feet,  face, and painful breast swelling. This is the second most frequent symptom group, affecting up to 66% of PMS sufferers. These symptoms often occur at the same time as the estrogen  dominant symptoms, and correlate with decreased dopamine and an imbalance in the hormonal system that regulates water and mineral balance (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis).

Carb Queen:
If you are a carb queen at the end of the month and crave    sweets, experience low blood sugar with headaches, fatigue, dizziness, faintness, palpitations and shakiness, you need some serious blood sugar support. You might also notice increased weight, acne and abnormal hair growth. Blood sugar instability and insulin resistance lead to polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. You might have a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The Downs:
Depression (a general down feeling, sometimes with suicidal thoughts) in the premenstrual period is caused by an excess of progesterone in comparison with estrogen. Neurotransmitter imbalances add to the depression, but this is  something that can be corrected. I also highly recommend that you ask one of our doctors to test your body lead levels as premenstrual depression has been associated with high hair lead levels.

Help yourself according to your type: (Product suggestions included, but discuss with your FFC physician to make sure it is appropriate to use)

Action list or Estrogen Dominant: Do liver and bile flow support, stay regular  with ground flax seed, avoid plastics, supplement safely with activated Vit B6, support progesterone with Vitex & move toward healthier hormones.

Action list for Water Carrier : Worry about swelling and breast pain no more…… well, despite some immediate relief, it will take a few cycles to have full effect.  Add evening primrose oil and Vit E, take enough Vit B6 and get friendly with magnesium.

Action list for the Carb Queen : Your sugar cravings indicate nutritional deficiency along with hormonal imbalance. You most likely are in need of omega three fatty  acids, B-vitamins and minerals. This explains the sugar cravings, adrenal sluggishness, and inflammation in your body. Supplement with fish oil and/or evening primrose or borage seed oil to correct your blood sugar instability. Feed your deficiencies not your craving. Eat plant proteins like nuts. Add omega 3 fats, magnesium, chromium, and B’s. Clean your liver, feed on flax, and nourish your brain with B’s and aminos.

Action list for The Downs: We need to increase your estrogen to progesterone level. Use daily liver support and flax seeds to balance hormone ratios as discussed under Estrogen dominance. Take Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), eat soy to increase estrogen naturally. Find a doctor that knows how to balance brain hormones with the use of amino acids. Keep you liver clean, fill up with flax, encourage estrogen with herbal Black cohosh, consume some tofu and consider brain balance for brighter days.

To make sure we are interpreting the symptoms right, confirm with laboratory testing through your doctors office. Reliable hormone level measurements will also enable your physician to accurately prescribe bio-identical hormones for fast and reliable symptom relief.

No medicine can take the place of an active fun filled lifestyle and a healthy high fiber diet packet with fresh fruit and vegetables. I highly recommend approaching vegetable foods with wild abandon and enjoy a healthful body.

Book an Appointment with Dr. Werner Vosloo

Integrated medicine incorporates elements from both natural and orthodox medicine to create comprehensive and multidimensional diagnostic and treatment plans. This multimodality approach is an absolute requirement for the successful treatment of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. The reason for this is, many body systems are affected and that calls for a total body approach to restore healthful function. Prescribing drugs to help with sleep, pain and to stay awake is only the first step toward stabilization but is by no means adequate as a long term strategy to return to health.
 
The Naturopathic doctors who hold a state medical license and provide primary care for patients (in Oregon and twelve other states) are a prime example of vitalistic integrated medicine providers. These physicians use a ‘whole-person’ health focused approach. Their emphasis is on restoring health and wellness through sound scientific treatments. These include prescription drugs to help with symptom control and patient stabilization, as well as focused patterns of nutrition to restore organ and body vitality and function.

Integrated medicine has its focus on health and healing rather than disease and procedural treatments. It views patients as whole people with minds and spirits as well as bodies and includes these dimensions in the diagnosis and treatment. It also requires patients and doctors to work together to maintain health by paying attention to lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, quality of rest and sleep, and the nature of interpersonal relationships.

The awareness cultivated by integrated medicine practitioners’ results in a drastically different consultation process. This process focuses on the whole person and works to help doctors identify the different pieces of the health puzzle and place them together. Integrated medicine is not about teaching doctors to use herbs instead of drugs, it is a philosophy of inclusion and openness; the openness to use modern day biochemistry and medical science while at the same time studying and addressing the dynamic aspects of the illness. 

Integrated treatment protocols require active patient participation because its not just about taking pills, it’s about caring for the whole body, mind, and spirit through lifestyle changes and through the doctor honoring a ‘whole-person’ bio-psychosocial perspective. Research shows that the consultation process and holistic approach adopted by practitioners of complementary medicine make patients feel more in control of their illness and of the recovery process – patients have choices in the type of treatments and modalities used and also the pace of the restorative effort.

Integrated medicine restores core values which have been eroded away by social and economic forces.  It is good, wholesome medicine and we have every hope and intension for the effective integrated medicine of today to become the mainstream medicine of the future.

Book an Appointment with Dr. Werner Vosloo

Dietary patterns are strongly linked to 7 of the top 10 causes of illness and death in North America, including heart disease, obesity, several cancers, and diabetes.

The diet-gene-health interaction is receiving a lot of attention by research scientists as it is proving to be a very effective way to control disease outcome with more than just condition-specific positive changes. The newest studies indicate that in as little as in three months of implementing a healthy lifestyle, prostate cancer cells changed the expression of about 500 genes.

In the latest 2008 prostate cancer study, free PSA was reduced and most importantly, known cancer causing genes were down regulated and protective genes were switched on. This is very positive as these are genes that code for inflammation, fat metabolism and oxidation – all processes playing very important roles in the development in most first world chronic disease. The other important change observed in this group of men were weight loss and central obesity (a risk factor increasing all cause mortality), lowered blood pressure and lipid profiles among other improvements. The medicine used: eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.

The next important step is to find out how to make sure you have the right nutrition for your body type and genetic expression.  One of the more specific and individualized ways of assuring you are on the right track, is though Nutritional Genomic Testing. Currently tests that assess your individual expression of genes that either predispose you for, or protect you against cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, hormonal disorders, inflammatory conditions, immune and auto-immune conditions, environmental toxin related diseases, osteoporosis and autism to name the most important ones. The NutriGenomic tests include measures of specific defects in genetic expression/enzymes and specific interventions that would be most effective at correcting biochemical blocks or bottlenecks causing lack if immunity and a buildup of undesirable chemicals like cholesterol, toxins, proteins and hormones.

Many people suffering from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have challenges with the above. The great news is that now we can test to see where the problems are and which nutrients and medicines are needed to compensate for the suboptimal genetic expressions predisposing folks to have problems.

Back to basics: we are and become what we eat. Now we have science guiding us in what we should eat for our specific individual genetic make up to ensure better health. With the help of functional medicine doctors you can identify and prevent diseases before they become symptomatic.