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We are continuously reading and made aware about too much oestrogen and how bad it can be for us, it can increase our risk for cancer and autoimmune disease, then menopause arrives and we see ladies in line to take oestrogen.  How do we make sense of this?

Balance – as you get to know us better you will learn it is all about balance. As they say “too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing” we have all heard this.

Most times in a young lady’s life when she has normal functioning ovaries she will produce increased oestrogen levels, the oestrogen levels are balanced out with the progesterone levels (this is an over simplification to assist with explanation – always remember that all the hormones in our body play together as a symphony, we need tiny amounts in correct balance and only then we can create beautiful music, in other words, we feel great).

So often it happens that if we do not eat healthy, we allow ourselves to become overweight or constipated and can face a situation where we have too much oestrogen which is not healthy for us. BUT when we approach the perimenopausal and menopausal years our natural levels of certain hormones start to decline as the ovaries are decreasing in size due to the natural aging process and the oestrogen and progesterone levels are starting to decline naturally.

With lowered levels of oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone patients come in complaining of symptoms, poor memory, depression, anxiety, not being able to complete sentences, to name a few.

Here are some of the key benefits you’ll enjoy when certain hormone levels are balanced…

Oestrogen in terms of your brain, and yes men need a little oestrogen too for healthy memory:

• It acts as a natural antioxidant
• Decreases distractibility
• Decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease
• Improves the function of you neurons
• Improves your memory by increasing the availability of acetylcholine by enhancing an enzyme called choline acetyltransferase
• Increases the availability of serotonin
• Increases blood flow to the brain
• Increases the general sense of well-being
• Increases excitability
• Increases our calming neurotransmitter GABA
• Increases glucose and oxygen supply to our neurons
• Stimulates growth of dendrites and axons in the brain
• Increases verbal communication and articulation

And Progesterone in the body:

• Balances oestrogen out
• Improves the quality of sleep
• Assists with healthy bone building
• Improves mood and relaxation
• Improves bladder function
• Relaxes smooth muscle function in the body

And Testosterone in the body:

• Supports bone health
• Decreases excess body fat
• Elevates mood
• Memory maintenance
• Improves muscle mass and strength
• Improves self-confidence and motivation
• Improves libido

6 Considerations to improve brain function and impact our natural hormone balance:

1. TOXINS need to be removed: There are external toxins to consider such as lead, BPA, mould, diesel fumes; there are internal toxins from a leaky gut or inflammatory chemicals that the body will produce when out of balance.
2. Blood-brain barrier integrity: Things that can harm this barrier: toxins from a leaky gut, alcohol, poor sleep hygiene.
3. Blood flow to the brain: Cardiovascular risk factors need assessment and improvement.
4. Nutritional status: Incorrect eating patterns can result in nutritional depletions which will impact hormonal and brain health.
5. Neuroinflammation: Foods such as wheat, dairy and sugar can cause inflammation in the brain
6. Exercise and Hydration: After years of practice we can confidently say that HUMANS NEED MOVEMENT and don’t forget the intake of fluids in the form of clean water and herbal teas.

We want to encourage our patients to age well through improved lifestyle choices, there will be many patients assisted but there will also be patients that will need more intensive treatments to assist them with regards to this topic, after all if you struggle with your mind and brain health your quality of life is certainly impacted.  Let us work on it before there is something noticeable.

Yours in health

Drs Dos Ramos

Many families are well aware of the members that display the typical and acceptable forms of allergy such as hay fever, asthma, hives/urticaria or eczema. These members are usually sneezing, wheezing or scratching. Yet there are subtler and as important, telltale signs that can help us identify the unsuspected allergies.

Dramatic changes in appearance, health and personality can be due to unsuspected allergies and unless we identify the root cause we are not able to correctly advise and treat these individuals suffering from one or other allergic reaction.

Possible clues to consider when you or your loved one has eaten or come in contact with something that you suspect bothers you and you experience some of the following:

• Excessive perspiration
• An offensive body odour that does not improve with bathing
• Pale face
• Expressionless face – spaced out kind of look during the allergic reaction
• Red ear lobes, some fair skinned children will have red ear lobes in a hot room, this is not an allergy sign.
• Wiggly and fidgety legs
• Dark circles or bags under the eyes
• Red nose tip
• Red itchy watery eyes
• Glazed eyes and spaced out appearance during allergy-related temper outburst
• When reprimanding your child you notice that they are not able to comprehend what you are saying and continue with the bad behaviour
• Light sensitivity
• Sound sensitivity after exposure to allergens, children can be found to cover their ears and scream that the noise is too loud
• Recurrent ear infections
• Bright red circular patches on the checks especially in children ages 1 – 4
• Rash below the lower lip or around the entire mouth
• Patients with food allergy can nervously lick their lips, lips can be dry and cracked
• Older children and adults can have a yellowish discolouration and slight puffiness

along the outer boarder of the lips

• Extreme drooling or salivation, the extreme drooling/ salivation may cause irritation in the corners of the mouth
• Ulcers and or open sores on the gums or checks
• Patchy coating on the tongue (geographic tongue)
• Thick white or grey coating on tongue
• Excessive thirst can indicate various things…kidney problems, diabetes, essential fatty acid (omega 3) deficiencies and ALLERGIES
• Hyperactivity and endless talking with limited speech content
• Continuous whining and repetitive sentences
• Speaking very fast/unclear speech/stuttering
• Cold hands and feet, especially seen in female patients
• Aching and paining in the lower legs especially at night
• Bladder issues
• Sleep issues
• Changes in handwriting

We are determined to find drug-free solutions to allergies else we will continue to see disease develop later in the lives of our patients, the immune system cannot handle being continuously over-burdened by allergens.

Please always think about food (wheat, corn, dairy and sugar), dust, mould and chemical exposure that might be triggering a reaction, even if a test does not show results.  We need to become more mindful in observing ourselves and our loved ones, our immune systems often respond to the environmental substances in an attempt to maintain the balance as we have already discussed.

When something is not good for you stay away from it! If you do not, you will compromise your health and your body will respond in various ways to help you maintain balance despite you not making change, this over many years will result in “dis-ease”.  Make the necessary changes, we want you healthy!

Yours in health

Drs Dos Ramos

Lets  talk about Brain Health, our brains are mostly smart, creative and flexible in their natural created state when we get into the life we often make incorrect lifestyle choices; live in stressful conditions; have injuries to our heads and all these have an impact on our brain health.  Depression a symptom that often presents itself in our consulting rooms like chest pain, it is not a diagnosis according to some doctors.  There are many causes of depression like grief; heart disease; gut problems; a brain that is working too hard or not hard at all; a traumatic brain injury from a vehicle injury or a sports injury; a low thyroid function is to name a few. The underlying root cause needs to be investigated and understood to help improve the quality of life of people suffering. In this blog, I would like to encourage us all to take heed of the 8 wise tips to improve our general brain health and for those suffering, please continue to search for the root of your imbalance.

Diet, nutrition, stress reduction, and management have shown to restore normal brain chemistry in.

8 wise tips to assist in improving Brain Health

1. Get 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every evening: sleep deprivation is bad for the brain, it slows the brain and causes a reduction in performance and mental function tests. When we are sleep deprived we tend to be more irritable and lacking in mental and emotional stamina.  Tired brains tend to forget things more often, are more forgetful and are generally not as sharp as people sleeping enough
2. Laugh and do something that is fun and new: This helps to relieve stress, it is a time that you are able to shut out all the day-to-day stresses, “a little time for me”, when you look after your own needs and feel fulfilled you are more able to give of yourself. Doing something new stimulates the brain to grow more dendritic connections, this in turn helps us to communicate better and become smarter. Have fun, life is precious!
3. Eat a colourful plate of vegetables and AVOID trans-fatty acids off your plate: Various colors of vegetables and fruits have different phytonutrients and they have significant effects in stimulating the brain, research has shown these tiny molecules to biological response modifiers, this means that these chemicals found in vegetables and fruit have the ability to modify our immune response….Vegies are GOOD for us!! Trans-fatty acids are DANGEROUS for our brains and they are found in baked goods, margarine, chips and fried foods. These bad fats are incorporated into our cell membranes and they make our brains sluggish and increase brain aging
4. Avoid white sugar and drink plenty of clean water : Need we say more!!
5. Get some exercise and focus on deep abdominal breathing: Exercise is a great way of getting your body to detoxify naturally and deep abdominal breathing assists in rectifying the body’s pH
6. Great brain supplements to consider: Where to begin with supplements? If you don’t enjoy taking pills consider these well known supplements for brain health, they have also been shown to prevent brain degeneration. DHA (Usually found in your omega 3 capsule)300mg daily, Vitamin E 200IU daily, Vitamin B complex (Containing the following: B1 -50mg, B3 – 50mg, B6 – 50mg, Folate 200mcg, B12 – 500mcg) daily and Phosphatidyl serine 100mg.
7. Check your Homocysteine levels annually: A simple blood test that could alert you to a potential brain problem long before you experience the first symptom. Homocysteine is an amino acid that is produced by every cell in the body, it serves a function in our biochemical pathway but excess amounts of homocysteine can result in your brain shrinking, can reduce hand-eye coordination and lead to depression.
8. Think three times before taking a drug: If you are using prescription medication or using over the counter medication more than three times weekly please make sure that these medications are NOT depleting your brain of important nutrients. Many drugs deplete the body of vitamins B and CoQ10 which are essential to brain health.

Enjoy discovering your improved brain health!

Yours in health

Drs Dos Ramos

Photo by Just Name from Pexels

About 20 million South Africans are affected by allergic respiratory diseases and they are commonly triggered by pollen and fungal spores also known as aerospora. Depending on the geographical area and time of blossoming these aerospora are more prevalent in the environment.  Then we also need to consider food allergies, globally in the past few decades they have grown worse, with the food we are eating continuously, so depending what we are choosing to eat repeatedly we are impacting our immune systems daily. In the consulting room, we can agree that we are both treating more and more patients with allergy related problems.

So how do we look at allergies? …Allergies are often times a chronic condition where you experience an abnormal reaction to an ordinarily harmless substance that is referred to as the allergen.  These mild or severe abnormal reactions often represents a form of immune system dysfunction, the immune system is allowing for an “over” reaction to the harmless substance.

We need to ask questions, in order to look for the root cause, as we are interested in health and lifestyle modifications to continuously improve our health and well being.  By taking an anti-histamine and or a corticosteroid (which are oftentimes highly effective) we are not necessarily treating the root cause but suppressing the symptoms. In some cases it is not possible to avoid antihistamines, we would also like to inform you that there are natural products that have good antihistamine properties, for example, quercetin, bromelain and homoeopathic remedies(these are dependent on the individual patient’s symptoms).

Questions to consider:

1. What in my life is contributing to the creation and continuation of my immune dysfunction?
2. What interventions do I need to consider to normalize and then optimize my immune system functioning?

5 Influences needing consideration in Allergies:

1. Psycho-emotional Influence – Emotional and mental stress has been shown to influence the immune system, many of us can bear witness to experiencing the onset of an allergic episode following a period of stress in our lives.  In order to best help ourselves, we need to consider our home and working environments and implement changes to help us reduce stress.  Techniques that have shown to be of significance: Prayer, meditation, abdominal breathing, and good sleep.
2. Gastrointestinal Influences –           Impaired digestion and increased mucosal membrane permeability (also known as leaky gut) has a negative impact in the microbial population in the digestive system, this impacts our immune function and can lead to systemic inflammation (worsening our allergies).  The 4R program is often used to heal the digestive system…Remove (areospora – keep windows closed, wash hands regularly; food – reduce or eliminate wheat/dairy/sugar), Replenish (digestive aids), Reinoculate (pre and probiotic supplements, or the foods in our diet that increase our natural probiotics to thrive) and Repair (L-glutamine / omega 3).
3. Environmental and Xenobiotic (synthetic chemicals) Influences –  The environment where we find ourselves living, working and sleeping needs assessment.  We need to consider our exposure to the following: food allergies and intolerances; ultraviolet and ionizing radiation; microbial toxins from the environment such as mould from water-damaged buildings; insufficient sun exposure resulting in vitamin D deficiency; heavy metals such as mercury; xenobiotics such as pesticides, herbicides, petrochemicals and industrial chemicals we are exposed to.  We need to enhance our ability to detoxify and find out if we have genetic SNPs that prevent us from detoxifying these chemicals efficiently. (This is more complicated and will need another blog on detoxification and another on genetics…)
4. Endocrine (Hormonal) Influence – Several hormones in our bodies have an ability to regulate our immune systems assisting us with good health.  It has been seen in patients with immune system dysfunction they often have lower levels of certain hormones, in the case of allergies, lower levels of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone. It has also been shown that patients with increased levels of oestradiol (oestrogen the dominant hormone present in women)or exposure to oestrogen-like compounds(xenoestrogens) may suffer with immune related dysfunction.  It is important to have the hormonal aspect assessed and consider natural ways of re-establishing the balance, a tip is to assist the liver to detoxify the excess oestrogen and once again learn to relax to keep your hormones in balance, avoiding an oestrogen dominant situation
5. Histamine Influence – Patients with too much histamine may also struggle with allergy-like symptoms.  The body usually has two enzymes that are responsible in breaking down the histamine, our natural antihistamines, this ensures that the excess histamine does not cause troubles.  The two enzymes: n-methyltransferase(HMT) and diamine oxidase (DAO).  Most of the problems we experience are from DAO and the reasons can be that there are gastrointestinal issues resulting in decreased DAO levels, certain foods and medications block the action of DAO.  There are natural supplements to also help increase this enzyme else we need to look at healing the digestive system and restoring natural function already mentioned.

Our 5 Top Steps to healing from Allergy

1. Remove the most common offenders for starters: Wheat, dairy sugar.
2. Eat a diet high in whole natural foods, plenty of vegetables, some fruit and nuts, a little protein (1gr per kg body weight usually), and a fair amount of clean water.
3. Heal the gut with nutrients as mentioned….l-glutamine, pre and probiotics, omega 3…
4. Make prayer, meditation, and abdominal breathing part of your daily morning routine
5. Get 7-8 hours of good uninterrupted sleep every night.

Yours in health

Drs Dos Ramos

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a type of sleep disorder. Individuals with insomnia find it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or both. People with insomnia often don’t feel refreshed when they wake up from sleeping, either. This can lead to fatigue and other symptoms.

What is Fatigue?

Fatigue is a term used to describe an overall feeling of tiredness or lack of energy. It isn’t the same as simply feeling drowsy or sleepy. When you’re fatigued, you have no motivation and no energy. Being sleepy may be a symptom of fatigue, but it’s not the same thing.

Fatigue is a common symptom of many medical conditions that range in severity from mild to serious. It’s also a natural result of some lifestyle choices, such as lack of exercise or poor diet.

Causes

Insomnia

Short-term insomnia may be caused by stress, an upsetting or traumatic event, or changes to your sleep habits.

Chronic insomnia lasts for at least three months and is usually secondary to another problem or a combination of problems, including:

• medical conditions which make it harder to sleep, such as arthritis or back pain
• psychological issues, such as anxiety or depression
• substance use

Fatigue

There are many potential causes of fatigue. They can be divided into three general categories:

• lifestyle factors
• physical health conditions
• mental health issues

Lifestyle factors

If you’re experiencing fatigue, your activities and other lifestyle choices may be the root cause. For example, fatigue can result from:

• physical exertion
• lack of physical activity
• lack of sleep
• being overweight or obese
• periods of emotional stress
• boredom
• grief
• taking certain medications, such as antidepressants or sedatives
• using alcohol on a regular basis
• using illicit drugs, such as cocaine
• consuming too much caffeine
• not eating a nutritious diet

Physical health conditions

Many medical conditions can also cause fatigue. Examples include:

• anemia
• arthritis
• fibromyalgia
• chronic fatigue syndrome
• infections, such as cold and flu
• Addison’s disease, a disorder that can affect your hormone levels
• hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid
• hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid
• sleep disorders, such as insomnia
• eating disorders, such as anorexia
• autoimmune disorders
• congestive heart failure
• cancer
• diabetes
• kidney disease
• liver disease
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• emphysema

Mental health issues

Mental health conditions can also lead to fatigue. For example, fatigue is a common symptom of anxiety, depression, and seasonal affective disorder.

What is Biopuncture?

Biopuncture injectable therapy is an effective and inexpensive way to promote the natural regulatory processes in the body that reduces inflammation, enhance the body’s natural immunity, and promotes healing and better health.

❖ Biopuncture is an injection therapy in which specific body zones or points are injected with highly diluted natural products, the majority of which are derived from plants, in order to regulate inflammatory processes and support natural repair mechanisms. Most of these injections are given into the skin or muscles.

Generally, these injections of homeopathic solution are dilute micro doses of plants or minerals given intramuscularly in one small injection site.

The natural substances injected include sterile homeopathic formulas, B12 vitamin, saline, glucose, and analgesics such as Procaine, Sarapin, and Lidocaine.

One injection intramuscularly has a systemic effect on the entire body. For more localized areas, an application known as “Bio puncture” can be used for conditions such as an acute sprained ankle or frozen shoulder. Their application in the area of immune enhancement and pain reduction are paramount.

The injections are cost effective and they generally produce positive results.

What does it treat?

When buying a new appliance or car, you get an operating manual that takes you through step by step on how to care for it, keep it running as smoothly as possible for as long as possible, there is always a section on troubleshooting, we all diligently store and refer to these manuals.  With our wonderfully complex bodies, we arrive into this world without an operating manual.  The sad reality is that many people do not take good care of their bodies until they begin to break down and produce symptoms.  Understanding the basics that govern our health will ensure that we live life more enjoyably and longer.

Many will be aware of the RDA’s (short for Recommended Dietary Allowance) for our various vitamins and minerals that have been promoted as our nutrient guidelines, they will meet the needs of most healthy people.  These recommendations will certainly prevent absolute nutritional deficiency diseases such as scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), beriberi (vitamin B1 – Thiamine deficiency) and pellagra (vitamin B3 – Niacin deficiency), yet the RDA’s are not designed for optimal health.

RDA’s can be compared to “minimum wage”, they keep you away from nutritional diseases (comparable to starvation when you don’t have enough money) but they do not allow you to live a life of optimum health and wellness.

Many studies have documented that doses above the RDA provide significant health benefits.  In saying this we also need to be aware that taking nutrients at high doses for extended periods can also be dangerous for the body.  Important to know is that you can not consume high doses of Iron, Vitamin D, A and E  and selenium for extended periods as they will produce toxicity.  Yet in general, it is individuals who do not ingest sufficient levels of nutrients for optimum health and produce disease than the occasional person who will overdose on a nutrient and cause toxicity.

It is the correct use of nutrients along with a healthy diet, exercise and lifestyle that will result in most people having a well-functioning immune system and a healthy ageing process.

Increasing levels of stress and environmental pollution, poorer nutritional content of foods we are eating and increasing use of chronic medications are all resulting in our nutrients being depleted without us being aware of it.  The environment that we are living in today directs us to seriously consider using a well-formulated multivitamin and multimineral supplement regularly.

Today we have been made aware of the nutritional depletion caused by drugs that people use for chronic medical conditions.  Some well-known drugs used very regularly and some nutrients depleted by them:

A thorough case taking will ensure that we look into what drugs you are using and which nutrients will need replenishing.