Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season. We thank you for choosing IHC and entrusting us with your healthcare. We hope you enjoy the last few weeks of 2024, and look forward to reconnecting in 2025! | Allergy Shots Now Offered! | I know it seems early to start talking about seasonal allergies, but now is the time to start allergy desensitization. Starting your allergy shots before symptoms appear may prevent them from getting worse! What is Subcutaneous Immunotherapy (SCIT)? Subcutaneous immunotherapy injections, or “allergy shots,” use controlled exposure to known allergens to reduce the severity of allergic disease. They are prescribed for patients with allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, or allergic conjunctivitis caused by environmental allergies. SCIT may be considered for individuals who have moderate or severe symptoms not adequately controlled by environmental control measures and/or medications. Immunotherapy is the only medical treatment that can potentially modify allergic disease. Some studies have shown it may even prevent asthma from developing in children with allergic rhinitis. How Does SCIT Work? A small amount of an allergen extract is injected into the skin of the arm. SCIT can “turn down” allergic reactions to common allergens, including pollens, animal dander, dust mites, and molds. In most cases, SCIT gradually decreases sensitivity to airborne allergens, with continued injections leading to further improvement. Symptom relief can last as long as three to five years, depending on individual response. What are the Advantages of SCIT Allergy Shots? SCIT offers many benefits, including: · Proven effectiveness through placebo-controlled studies · Prevention of allergic disease progression and potential avoidance of allergic asthma · Reduced need for allergy medications and their associated adverse effects · Lower long-term costs compared to ongoing allergy medications Offered by Dr. Hillary Godin, ND | Discover the Benefits of Intravenous Iron: A Boost for Your Health | Are you feeling constantly fatigued, short of breath, or having trouble focusing? These could be signs of iron deficiency, a common yet often overlooked condition. Iron is essential for producing hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout your body. Without enough iron, your body struggles to function at its best. While dietary changes and oral iron supplements are effective for some, they may not work for everyone. Factors like poor absorption, digestive discomfort, or the urgency of replenishing iron levels make intravenous (IV) iron therapy a highly effective alternative. IV iron delivers iron directly into your bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system. This ensures faster absorption and allows for higher doses, making it an excellent option for individuals with chronic conditions like anemia, heavy menstrual cycles, or those recovering from surgery. Unlike oral supplements, which can take months to restore iron levels, IV iron can often provide noticeable improvements in energy and well-being after 2-4 weeks. At the Integrated Health Clinic, we prioritize your comfort and care, providing a safe and supportive environment for IV therapy. Treatments take between 1-1.5 hours, depending on the type of iron prescribed. Recent blood work that confirms an iron deficiency can either be provided by the patient or ordered by our naturopathic doctors before the infusion. If you have ongoing fatigue and suspect iron deficiency or have been trying to increase your iron through oral supplementation without success, book a 15-minute screening consultation to determine whether IV iron could be right for you. It’s time to reclaim your energy and stop being held back by iron deficiency! Dr. Sarah Soles, ND | From the Cancer Care Centre | The Cancer Medicine Cabinet: Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO) For those of us working on the front lines with people living with cancer day in and day out, there is a deep desire to find answers for them now. The fact remains that many forms of cancer still lack efficacious treatments, despite all of the advancements in our understanding of cancer molecular biology, and development of precisely targeted treatments. The next generation sequencing of cancer DNA is now allowing for targeted treatments of the genetic drivers and pathways of malignancy. As exciting as these developments have been, the outcomes of most molecularly targeted agents, in terms of progression free and overall survival, continue to be modest.1 Furthermore, the costs to governments, insurance companies and to patients themselves for these new agents, are astronomical and out of reach for many; with most of these drugs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, per year, per patient. This results from the simple fact that pharmaceutical companies must be able to recoup the high costs for drug development and regulatory requirements, and the very expensive clinical trial costs.2 There are front-line clinicians and researchers internationally using and assessing drugs already approved for other indications, that have shown evidence of anticancer activity. This new field of repurposing drugs in oncology (ReDO) is gaining increasing interest for several reasons. The first and most obvious being that by using old drugs, we are already aware of their long-term toxicity, pharmacodynamic/kinetic data, bioavailability, and they have established protocols and dosing.3 Another factor that makes ReDO so attractive is the low cost of these existing drugs, juxtaposed to very high cost agents emerging from current pharmaceutical and hospital-based avenues. There is an enormous list of candidate drugs on the marketplace that fulfill the aforementioned two variables, making the difficulty, filtering through this long list of potential agents. The international collaboration known as the “ReDO Project” is working through potential agents to identify the candidate drugs with the highest clinical potential, and then to disseminate this knowledge to the clinical oncology and research communities.4 Some of the criteria used to assess drugs with high potential against cancer include: - It is already well-known and widely used clinically.
- Already known toxicology, with a low toxicity profile, even with long-term use.
- Known to affect a relevant oncological target within its mechanism of action.
- Shows a high level of evidence of anticancer activity – in vitro, in vivo and human data.
- Shows evidence of anticancer efficacy at standard dosing without significant toxicity.
- The drug is not currently being widely pursued as an active agent in oncology.
Some of the drugs already identified by the ReDO project, that meet the above criteria, and that are already in clinical use or are actively being researched, include: - Ivermectin
- Cimetidine5
- Celebrex, Diclofenac, and Aspirin
- Mebendazole6
- Itraconazole
- Clarithromycin
- Doxycycline
- Nitroglycerin
- Disulfuram
- Metformin
- Hydroxychloroquine
This list of drugs includes a very diverse range of medications, from anti-inflammatories, to heart-burn medications, to diabetic medications and even antibiotics. Each of these drugs have early human data showing benefit in various cancer entities. These drugs also have known and very diverse mechanisms of action relevant in oncology. Some of these agents are directly cytotoxic, but many are acting on various hallmarks of the tumor microenvironment. A case in point is the H2RA cimetidine, for which there are a number of clinical trials established showing that peri-operative and post-operative cimetidine provides a survival benefit when given as an adjunct to curative surgical resection of colorectal cancers, confirmed in a Cochrane review.7 Sadly, these results still have not been translated into standard oncological clinical practice, despite the fact that there is an acknowledged need for further improvements to current treatment strategies. A clinician knowledgeable in assessing the genomic and stromal biology of their patient’s malignancy, is uniquely positioned to be able to use repurposed drugs in the treatment of these patients. For example, should their patient with colorectal cancer suffer symptoms of gastritis or GERD, cimetidine may be the double-hit medication of choice. Should their patient with triple negative breast cancer also have type 2 diabetes, metformin may be the most desirable oral medication to include in their management of diabetes. This of course needs to be prescribed, monitored, and checked for compatibility with all other medications to avoid possible drug-drug interactions. Your IHC cancer care doctors have full prescribing authority, and are experienced in managing such off-label use of these and other medications. Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND, FABNO(USA) References: - Fojo T, Parkinson DR. Biologically targeted cancer therapy and marginal benefits: are we making too much of too little or are we achieving too little by giving too much? Clin. Cancer Res. 16(24), 5972–5980 (2010).
- Hay M, Thomas DW, Craighead JL, Economides C, Rosenthal J. Clinical development success rates for investigational drugs. Nat. Biotechnol. 32(1),40–51(2014).
- Ashburn TT, Thor KB. Drug repositioning: identifying and developing new uses for existing drugs. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 3(8), 673–683 (2004).
- Pantziarka P, Bouche G, Meheus L, Sukhatme V, Sukhatme VP, Vikas P. The Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO) Project. Ecancermedicalscience 8, 442 (2014).
- Pantziarka P, Bouche G, Meheus L, Sukhatme V, Sukhatme VP. Repurposing drugs in oncology (ReDO) – cimetidine as an anti-cancer agent. Ecancermedicalscience 8, 445 (2014).
- Pantziarka P, Bouche G, Meheus L, Sukhatme V, Sukhatme VP. Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO) – mebendazole as an anti-cancer agent. Ecancermedicalscience 8, 443 (2014).
- Deva S, Jameson M. Histamine type 2 receptor antagonists as adjuvant treatment for resected colorectal cancer. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 8(8), CD007814 (2012).
| Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy | Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is a cutting-edge, minimally invasive treatment designed to promote healing and regeneration by using the growth factors naturally found in your blood. This versatile treatment has a wide range of clinical applications and is gaining recognition for its ability to address pain and accelerate recovery. Dr. Jess Hobson, ND Naturopathic Physician - Pain and Sports Medicine Click here to read the full blog | | Pancreatic Cancer and IV Vitamin C A randomized trial of pharmacological ascorbate, gemcitabine, and nab-paclitaxel for metastatic pancreatic cancer This fall, a study was published on patients with stage IV pancreatic cancer who underwent standard of care conventional chemotherapy combined with intravenous (IV) Vitamin C at the University of Iowa. The results of the trial have garnered attention in newspapers across Canada and the US. In the study, patients who received IV Vitamin C (75g, 3x/week) in conjunction with their chemotherapy regimen (gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel) exhibited improved overall survival and progression-free survival compared to those who did not. Furthermore, while there was no difference in quality of life, there appeared to be an improvement in side effects of constipation, insomnia, and financial challenges associated with the disease. Although the trial involved a small cohort of patients, these results may serve as a foundation for larger clinical trials to come. Read the paper here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11491967/ News article: https://www.foxnews.com/health/pancreatic-cancer-patient-survival-doubled-high-dose-common-vitamin-study-finds Dr. Sarah Denotter, ND, MScIHC - Oncology Resident of Dr. G. Parmar | Doctor Favourite Receipes | Zippy Tahini Dip/Dressing With all the charcuterie boards and sweet treats of the holiday season, I've been left craving some veggies! If you need a little salad pick-me-up, look no further. This ginger tahini dressing will give a little pop to steamed veg or even a slaw mix. And, if it sits in your inbox until January it's a great starter for any whole food kick-off to 2025. Ingredients: - 2 TBSP Tahini - 1 TBSP each lemon juice and lime juice (or try all lemon like the original version) - 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil - 1 TBSP water - could skip if you like a thicker texture for a dip - 1 tsp fresh grated ginger (or more to taste) - pinch sea salt - 1/4 tsp pepper Directions: Whisk in a jar and then store any leftover in the fridge. It's best practice to store nuts/seeds and their butters in the fridge or freezer to prevent them from going rancid. Did you know - 2 TBSP tahini also contain 126mg Calcium. Enjoy! From: https://sharonpalmer.com/tahini-ginger-dressing-vegan-gluten-free/ Nutritional info on tahini: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=76&contentid=12198-1 Dr. Nicole Duffee B.Sc., N.D. - Naturopathic Physician | Holiday Hours Dec. 24- closed at 1pm Dec 25 & 26- closed Dec. 31- closed at 1 pm Jan. 1- closed Hours of Operation - Fort Langley Monday & Tuesday - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Wednesday - 9:00 am to 7:00 pm Thursday & Friday - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday - 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Hours of Operation - White Rock Monday - Friday - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday - 10:00 am to 3:00 pm On Line Follow-up Bookings For all existing patients, we suggest you take 5 minutes and register below for our online booking platform. This will give you better flexibility to book your appointments 24 hours/ day, 7 days a week at no cost. Click the registration request link below, on the clinic page click the send registration just below the login button. Click to Request Registration Link | We care about you. We approach every patient as a unique individual with needs specific to your health. Expect a caring approach from us all. Visit our website to learn more. | | | | |
