FX Medicine Podcast Central

In recent times the pathogenicity of parasites has been called into question. Though Blastocystis hominis and Dientamoeba fragilis are being increasingly detected in patients with unresolved gut disorders, the jury is still out on whether intervention is medically necessary. Due to her speciality in digestive disorders many of these patients find their way into Alessandra Edward's naturopathic practice. What might surprise you is that she is not heavy-handed with antimicrobial therapy. Listen as Alessandra takes you through her patient-centred approach and shares her clinical expertise in identifying and treating parasite-derived gut disorders. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

What is the clinical significance of genetics in detoxification? As integrative medicine continues to gravitate towards bio-individualisation, understanding how to apply this kind of information is going to be crucial to the future of practice. Today Dr Denise Furness navigates us through some of the most common detoxification SNPs as well as their clinical relevance and how she applies this information to her patient treatment plans. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

There is a growing body of research which links toxins to the development of a variety of health conditions but identifying the toxins that may be to blame in patient illness can take some core detective skills. Dr Mark Donohoe has decades of experience uncovering the toxic burdens of his patients. Today he talks about the complexity of agricultural and urban exposures that can be undermining patient health and shares his top recommendations for health professionals when approaching these kinds of cases. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

By world standards, Australia has excellent air and water quality, a fact which most of us take for granted. But leading expert in environmental assessment and building biology, Nicole Bijlsma, poses the question "Can we afford to be so complacent?" In this podcast, Nicole takes us through the extent of these environmental hazards and highlights for us the enormity of the health consequences. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

Approximately 1 in 100 women under 40 will experience premature ovarian failure (POF), however most women wont become aware of it until they attempt to have a baby. Clinically, POF can present with similar symptoms of menopause however it occurs much earlier in life than the mean menopausal age of 51 years. Today, Stacey (The BabyMaker) Roberts takes us through the clinical presentation of POF including testing, herbal and nutritional supplementation and psychological interventions with which Integrative Medicine practitioners can support these patients. Stacey will also cover the most important caveats and conundrums facing practitioners to enable them in making safe and effective judgements for their patients. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

We can all envision that relaxed sigh from the first sip from a nice cup of tea. Why is tea so relaxing? Research suggests that the calming properties of tea are partly due to L-theanine, an amino-acid constituent of tea which is commonly used for anxiety relief. Today, renown cancer care specialist Dr Lise Alschuler takes us through the diverse range of conditions for which L-theanine may be useful from the more obvious uses such as anxiety, insomnia, ADHD and learning, through to emerging uses including immunity, cardiovascular health and promising applications for co-therapy with chemotherapy. It seems that the therapeutic actions of L-theanine are congruent with the demands of some of our most common chronic health issues, making us pose the question: is L-theanine the panacea to modern life? *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

The thyroid is a fickle little organ. It is essential to so many important functions of the body and yet, there are so many aspects of modern life that impact upon its optimum functioning. As a result thyroid disorders associated with autoimmunity are a growing disease burden, particularly for women, many of whom turn to integrative medicine to help them find their way back to "feeling well" again. Naturopath, Helen Padarin has been helping patients with both diagnosed and undiagnosed thyroid disorders turn their health around. Today she shares her clinical pearls of wisdom on what to look out for in patients, what to test for and what treatment approaches to consider in rebalancing the autoimmune thyroid. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

The postpartum period should be one where parents bond with their new addition, where everything is rosy and the future looks bright. Sadly, for many couples this is not the case. Today Belinda Reynolds, a Dietician and mother of two, takes us through the pressures and issues facing new parents and how we differentiate normal baby blues from a deeper, more debilitating postpartum depression. Belinda discusses the nutritional deficiencies that need to be addressed as well as the evidence for dietary and lifestyle interventions that can both treat and prevent pathological mood issues.  *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

Following on from last week's podcast, we welcome back Dr Mark Donohoe to continue his discussion on chronic fatigue syndrome. In part 1 of the series, Dr Donohoe posed the question of whether chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease or person's adaptation to stress. In this episode, he continues to explore this question and draws on his own clinical experience to share with listeners how to get patients "readapted to their world”. *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you have read here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****

References to an illness with symptoms strongly resembling those of chronic fatigue syndrome can be traced back to as early as 1750. By the 20th century, this condition gained more attention after a series of unexplained epidemics, causing weakness and fatigue, affected large numbers of people. By 1988 the term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was developed as working case definition of the illness. Given that there was no clear biological mechanism, CFS has often been claimed to have a psychological cause and many clinicians have long been sceptical over its existence as a disease entity, often concluding that the disorder is, quite literally, “in a person’s head.” In more recent years robust evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is in fact, a biological illness has emerged. Researchers have identified distinct immune and brain changes in patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr Mark Donohoe has been working with CFS patients for more than two decades. In this first instalment of a two-part podcast series, he discusses the history of CFS , the myriad of underlying contributing factors, how it differs from other types of fatigue, his own valuable clinical observations and much more.  Look out next week for Part 2.  *****DISCLAIMER: The information provided on FX Medicine is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please seek the advice of a qualified health care professional in the event something you learn here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.*****