FX Medicine Podcast Central

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.*****

Biofilms are a strategic and evolutionary mechanism that bacteria have adapted as a means to resist host immune defences. In integrative medicine, this emerging area has become a new dimension in the treatment of resistant gut infections. Today we're joined by Helen Padarin, who shares her valuable clinical expertise treating infections, biofilms and gut imbalances. Helen's approach is not to attack "bad" organisms directly, rather, to undo the ways pathogens evade the immune system, support host immune defences and restore tissue heath to help bring balance to the gut ecosystem. *****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.*****

Through his personal journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Clint Paddison knows only too well just how debilitating and challenging RA can be. This led him to develop "The Paddison Program", a new, and somewhat controversial approach that challenges the status-quo of accepted evidence in complementary medicine. Following his own diagnosis he found himself confined to his bed and robbed of his usual physically active lifestyle. Clint immersed himself in RA research and through his own personal trial and error, he developed protocols that helped reverse his disease. The results are nothing short of incredible, and he's gone on to teach thousands of other's his methods and help them too, gain control over this degenerative condition. *****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.*****

It is estimated that 1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis. As significant as this figure is the condition is also believed to be grossly under-diagnosed. The burden of this disease can substantially impact attendance and productivity at work or school. Sufferers typically face ongoing medications, invasive surgeries and long term issues with fertility management. Natural medicine has much to offer in the management of this condition regardless of age or severity. Stacey "The Babymaker" Roberts has worked with countless women with endometriosis and today she shares some valuable insights from her clinical experiences that will help guide practitioners to make informed, intelligent treatment decisions. 

Genetic testing is a rapidly emerging area weaving its way into integrative medicine practice. Dr Denise Furness is a geneticist, as well as a qualified nutritionist and thus has the perfect blend of expertise to help practitioners navigate these new waters in a practical and safe way. Today, Dr Furness takes us through "Genetics 101", covering terminology, clinical relevance and shares some case studies of how she applies genetics in her clinical practice. This podcast will be the first in a series helping to demystify this area of medicine.

From his beginnings as a chef, Richard Sager went on to study Dietetics because he fell in love with the science of food. Early in his career, Richard witnessed how an integrative approach to nutrition and dietetics could make a difference to bariatric surgery outcomes. Richard went on to continually deepen his integrative approach and was recently awarded with a BioCeuticals Integrative Medicine Award recognising his industry leadership. Currently, Richard works in the 'Top End' (Northern Territory, Australia) where works with local communities to educate and inspire people to improve their health and wellbeing through food choices. Richard takes us through complexities of applying nutrient dense diets to his patients whilst overcoming cultural or even accessibility obstacles. His considered and collaborative approach is inspiring and really shows the layers to a career in applying nutrition within the public health sector.

According to Lara Briden, "Periods are the monthly report card of women's health". For generations now, women have been led to believe that issues with their periods are "normal", and that they're easily controlled or tamed with hormonal treatments, like the oral contraceptive pill. As a specialist in women's health Lara Briden has devoted her career to deconstructing these fictional views of women's health with her informative blog "Lara Briden's Healthy Hormone Blog" and a recently authored book "The Period Repair Manual". Today Lara talks to us about the hallmarks of healthy menstruation and what can go wrong.

It was Hippocrates who said "All diseases begin in the gut" and as science evolves, it seems to only continue to validate that notion. Whether you term it "leaky gut", "intestinal permeability" or by some other marker, such as zonulin… damage to the functionality of the gut and the microbiome pose tangible threats to health. But how do we assess it? Enter Beth Bundy, our resident expert in the area of functional pathology. Beth will take you through the various assessment methods open to health professionals to evaluate intestinal permeability, including any underlying pathology as well as measure treatment success or failure.

Is your home or workplace making you or sick? Headaches, nausea, gastrointestinal upsets, respiratory ailments and mood changes...all these symptoms and more may be explained by Sick Building Syndrome. Nicole Bijlsma is a naturopath, acupuncturist and pioneering researcher in the field of building biology. Nicole joins us today, ahead of her speaking engagement at the upcoming AIMA/CMA Annual Conference (September 2016) on the topic of Geomedicine. Nicole takes us through the many, often invisible, environmental culprits behind a plethora of chronic health conditions. She leads listeners through identifying the symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome, testing and risk-minimisation techniques. Sick Building Syndrome may be something to consider in confounding health conditions that aren't being resolved through traditional approaches.

Skin conditions can be notoriously challenging to treat and seborrhoeic dermatitis is no exception. Today we are joined by naturopath, Danny Urbinder to discuss his expertise in managing this stubborn condition. As a sufferer himself, Danny shares some excellent personal insights into the condition and discusses his successes and failures when it comes to treatment, including including nutritional and herbal supplementation, topical treatments, and dietary and lifestyle advice. Personal experiences tend to lead to an insatiable thirst for knowledge on the subject and a quest for answers which listeners can indeed benefit from.

Bloating, foul-smelling wind, chronic abdominal discomfort, nausea, even malnutrition. These are all symptoms of SIBO - Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Unlike the large bowel, the small intestine is ordinarily home to much more modest numbers of bacteria under normal conditions. SIBO is largely caused through poor diet and digestion, overuse of antibiotics and antacid medications, or some physical abnormalities. Its characteristic symptoms often don’t respond to traditional GIT therapies making it essential to have an expert to guide you through treatment. This is where Nirala Jacobi comes in. Educated in the US, where naturopaths undergo pre-med before specialising in natural medicine, Nirala takes us through this rapidly emerging field of SIBO, including how to test, how to treat and where to gain further education in this area. 

Psoriasis can be a devastating disease not just because of the outward expression of the red rash and silvery scales, but also because of the co-morbidities and frequently unsatisfactory results gained by medical management alone. Patients need natural practitioners with expertise in treating complex skin conditions and Ananda Mahoney is a wealth of both knowledge and clinical expertise. In this podcast, Andrew and Ananda discuss the management of psoriasis using natural medicine. Ananda also shares her history, and her learning curve to find out what natural medicines have worked and which haven’t, and provides practitioners with some simple strategies to safely work alongside medical therapy to successfully manage stubborn skin conditions.

Today's podcast explores "Coffee". Arguably the most popular beverage in the world, it has been the subject of much conjecture in the scientific literature. An ever-growing body of evidence suggests that coffee has numerous health benefits ranging from gout to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. What truths can be gleaned from the amassed research? This is what we hope to answer in today's podcast with self-professed coffee enthusiast, Dr Lise Alschuler.