INTERESTING TIMES

The old code was a restatement of the naturopathic treatment principles. The new code more explicitly addresses the issues which could affect our licensing. I like it that the new code specifies that we shall not give remedies without explaining what's in them. If only conventional physicians would do the same.

( The new Code of Ethics )

Here: https://www.rxisk.org/Default.aspx
Looks like an interesting new site. Not sure how scientific or clinically useful it will turn out to be.

I'm told that for any petition with over 25,000 signers, the White House promises to give an official response. So we've met that hurdle. Would it be cool if naturopathic medicine were covered in the mandated insurance scheme to come? I'm not sure, but that's the direction we're headed in. I've been contemplating advertising myself as a medical advisor who is NOT biased by what is reimbursable by insurance. After reading recently that at least 9/10 of the lesions removed as supposed melanomas are NOT melanomas, my cynicism has increased a notch. Insurance encourages doctors to do what is covered, and discourages them from doing what is not covered. Too bad insurance rarely covers what is actually needed. As I have, and will continue to say: Insurance is not healthcare. The inclusion of naturopaths in insurance is a double-edged sword.

The gist of the new finding by Dr Schor is that many hypothyroid patients may be missed because up to now nobody has realized that TSH levels fluctate on a pattern not much different from cortisol. This is no surprise to me since I have already learned that when we awaken naturally in the morning, it coincides with an increase on our body temperature, whereas when we fall to sleep, our bodies cool down. Thyroid hormone is a heater upper; without it you are cold. Based on what I know of the release patterns of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), CRH (cortisol releasing hormone), and GH (growth hormone), I am going to assume that all hypothalamic hormones follow a diurnal rhythm, and that it is possible that they might all pulse in the pre-dawn hours and decrease in the afternoon.
( notes from email newletter )

She gets it right, here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-rothenberg-nd/naturopathy_b_1660830.html

Medical researchers have discovered a new disease that has no symptoms. It is impossible to detect, and there is no known cure. Fortunately, no cases have been reported thus far.
--George Carlin

I've started creating a naturopathic "black book" in which I'm compiling diagnostic and treatment information for the conditions which come up in the course of my clinical education. This project eats all of my free time. Medicine is, for me at least, an infinite subject. I'm near the end of this education. I feel the need to make some decisions about how I will practice. What will MY protocols be? What will my treatment hierarchy be? When and to whom will I refer? I'm also considering how I will practice when in a state where I can legally practice medicine and prescribe pharmaceutical medications, as versus when I am in an "unlicensed state" and must not diagnose or prescribe. I'm sorting among the opinions of a great many doctors, doing the research to decide what I will do, and keeping those notes off this record. It just wouldn't be right to give away naturopathic trade secrets online. Though the astute reader can deduce a great deal about the field from the four years of assorted notes I have posted here.

Lots of great quotes from research articles (complete with pubmed links) here:
http://heracommunityclinic.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/just-quotes-about-probiotics/

On 11/1 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Medicare reimbursement for physicians would be cut by 27.4% in 2012---instead of the 29.5% that was previously planned. Doctors that get by on federal payment for seeing older folks are SOL. Older folks are likely to be in a pickle too, as fewer docs will stick with them, given the hoop jumping required to get paid diddley in the first place. As a naturopath I won't qualify for medicare payment in the first place, so I have limited sympathy for those physicians who consider this cut to be akin to a death sentence. The medscape article suggests that nearly 13% of family physician practices may have to close due to the decrease in financial viability. There is another way for us to take care of our elders. We just haven't found it yet.