Issue No. 4 - December
Table of Contents:
Sustainability in Medicine
January Cleanse
with Dr. Kelly Jennings
Warm Up in the Winter Months with a Hot Stone Massage!
Gift Certificates Available
with Marya Gendron, LMT
What are Food Sensitivites and How do they Affect You?
with Dr. Marcea Wiggins
The Director's Corner
with Dr. Jason Zabell
Sustainability in Medicine
by Dr. Kelly Jennings
At Urban Wellness, we are doing our best to be sustainable and promote this value in our practice and with our patients. You’ve already heard about our low VoC (non-toxic) paints, our use of renovated hardware, and our commitment to local businesses. You’ve heard that most of our docs and staff bike or walk to work.
What you may not know is that naturopathic and Chinese medicine has sustainability as its primary focus. These holistic medicines will save you money; they help prevent the larger long-term costs of chronic illness and epidemic disease down the line. Goodbye to expensive pharmaceuticals! You can learn how to improve your overall health through nutrition, get help choosing which essential vitamins and minerals you need and which you don’t, and receive baseline blood-work to rule out any more serious cause for your symptoms. By following a cancer prevention program, especially if there is a family history of cancer, you’re saving money on therapies that are expensive and often not covered by your insurance. As your health improves, your productivity also improves, inspiring many companies to support wellness plans for their employees (please call Dr Jennings if you are interested in corporate wellness programs through your work).
My goal is to make holistic primary care medicine more affordable for you and more accessible to the general public. I am working with insurance companies to get you optimal coverage for your health care. Sustainability means creating a long-term treatment program that is affordable, effective and is based upon your financial situation. I offer sliding scale plans to those of you who qualify for financial support. Please call the clinic for more information.
I am open to suggestions for how to improve my programs. Your best compliment is your referral. Please help me to help me help others.
January Cleanse
Sign up for the winter cleanse program with Dr Jennings. You will follow a modified diet over 10 days, with three group meetings. Return participants are encouraged to join at a reduced rate. This winter’s cleanse begins January 22nd with a group meeting at Urban Wellness. Email drjennings@urbanwellnesspdx.com or call Urban Wellness to reserve your spot. Cleanse programs are individualized based on your constitution and level of health, and include an initial and follow-up consultation with Dr Jennings. Consultations are also available by phone.
Warm Up in the Winter Months with a Hot Stone Massage! Gift Certificates Available
by Marya Gendron, LMT
After numerous requests for hot stone massage at Urban Wellness Group, we're now set up to offer this luxurious and therapeutic service to keep you warm and healthy through the rest of the cold, wet, winter season. Our set of 75 basalt stones are the very best quality, custom-picked from the Oregon coast!
Hot stones of varying sizes are placed on different muscle groups, creating a unique and satisfying sensation of warmth and weight while other parts of your body are being worked on, either with stones or hands. The heat from the stones has the added benefit of helping to warm up connective tissue for greater release of held tension patterns. Heat also increases circulation within the body. Alternately, the stones can be cooled. Smaller facial stones are typically cooled rather than heated.
Consider giving the gift of therapeutic touch this Holiday Season with an Urban Wellness Massage Gift Certificate! Certificates are available at the front desk or easily purchased over the phone at 503.445.9771.
What are Food Sensitivities and How do they Affect You?
by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
Allergic reactions mediated by mast cells occur everywhere in the body. Mast cells line the entire digestive tract, all the mucus membranes of the mouth, throat, nose and lungs, along blood vessels and in the skin. When an allergen is encountered, antibodies get produced which then bind to the outside of the mast cells. Mast cells, which have antibodies attached to them, then become “sensitized.” Mast cells that have become sensitized to foods, pollens or other chemicals, can react by degranulating and releasing histamine, leukotrienes, SRSA, serotonin and various other inflammatory mediators. In addition the arachidonic acid that makes up the cell membrane of the mast cell gets used as substrate for further production of inflammatory leukotrienes. These reactions can manifest in many ways, impacting health in a variety of negative ways. For example, in the case of a blood vessel it reacts by dilating possibly forming a hive or rash. In the head it can trigger migraine headaches. In the gastrointestinal tract it can cause an increased permeability as shown by the leaky gut phenomenon, which has negative impact on many digestive disorders. There are many approaches to identifying what foods you may be sensitized to. UWG offers laboratory test that can be done in office and can identify both IgE (anaphylaxis or immediate) type reactions as well as IgG (delayed) reactions. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Wiggins today to learn more about food sensitivities and how they might be impacting your health.
The Director's Corner
by Dr. Jason Zabell
Greetings and happy holidays to our patients and extended community. I would like to sincerely thank the members of our community for your support, encouragement, and continued business since we opened our doors on January 1st of 2008. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with you all during our first year of business. Now, more than three hundred new patients later, we are about to embark on our second year with continued dedication to the highest standards of natural medicine and patient care.
I am pleased to report that beginning this January, Urban Wellness Group and our practitioners are working to become preferred providers within more Portland insurance networks. Some of these networks include: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, ODS, CHP, ASH, Lifewise, Signa, Aetna, Health Net and Pacific Source. If you have questions about whether or not your specific provider is within any of these networks, please contact your insurance representative. It is our hope that this development will better serve your healthcare needs and make your experience at UWG as efficient and comfortable as possible.
I and the entire UWG staff wish you a happy and healthy new year and look forward to seeing you in 2009!
Jason Zabell, ND, MSOM, L.Ac.
Issue No. 3 - November
Table of Contents:
Considering Getting the Flu Vaccine? Know the Facts Before You Act
with Dr. Kelly Jennings
Body Awareness: Young and Old, Everyone Benefits
by Marya Gendron, LMT
Vitamin D Levels: Something to Consider
by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
Considering Getting the Flu Vaccine? Know the Facts Before You Act
by Dr. Kelly Jennings
November marks the onset of flu season, when people begin to wonder whether to get flu shots. In general, I don't think healthy adults & children need them. There are many safe alternatives to prevent the need for the flu shot; you should certainly be well-informed and know your options. Come into the clinic for a free consultation to learn more.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that everyone over age 65 get a yearly flu shot and a one-time dose of pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccine as part of their adult vaccination schedule. The CDC is also recommending flu shots for infants over 5 months of age.
What you should know:
1) Use of the influenza vaccine was not associated with preventing hospitalizations or reducing physician visits for the flu in children age 5 and younger during two recent seasons, perhaps because the strains of virus in the vaccine did not match circulating strains, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/flu-vaccine-not-associated-with-reduced-hospitalizations-or-outpatient-visits-among-young-children-17517.html)
2) Prevention is key. Researchers have shown that exercise alone protects mice against the flu, even when these mice were specifically infected the influenza virus. (http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2004/1/2004716.shtml)
When you exercise you increase your circulation and the blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of finding an illness before it has a chance to spread. In a sense, exercising helps your immune system to be more efficient in weeding out and acting upon viruses and diseases.
3) Know what’s in your vaccine!
Some common additives to the flu vaccine include thimerosal, formaldehyde, chicken egg protein, hydrocortisone and phenol. (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf).
4) Be aware of conflicting interests.
According to the Detroit News, most flu vaccines are purchased and distributed by the government. And the folks at the National Immunization Program (NIP) have millions of vaccine units to move. Every year we get an official flu vaccine media blitz from Department of Health and Human services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC oversees
the NIP. In a February 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases compared flu-related mortality among older people to rates of immunization. Their finding: During the past quarter century, immunization rates for the elderly have climbed substantially while the elderly flu-related mortality rate has stayed the same. The authors of the research wrote: “We conclude that observational studies substantially overestimate vaccination benefit.”
5) It May Work, It May Not
Each year the flu vaccine is newly redesigned, using several strains from different types of flu that were common the season before. So the 2008-09 vaccine is, in theory, ideal for protecting you from last year’s primary flu types. Vaccine developers assume that whatever new flu mutations come our way this season will not be much different than last year’s strains. The CDC admits that “In some years when vaccine and circulating strains were not well-matched, no vaccine effectiveness may be able to be demonstrated (Bridges,JAMA 2000). It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that may affect vaccine effectiveness.”
6) The Best Defense
If you pick up a flu virus, you won’t necessarily come down with the flu. Whether or not you become ill––or how sick you actually get––depends on how well your immune system deals with the virus. The key is immunity.
The flu shot is designed to prepare the immune system to fight specific virus strains. But you can prepare and strengthen your immune system by taking these steps:
* Exercise regularly
* Eat a balanced diet of nutritious, fresh, whole foods
* Manage stress levels
* Get the right amount of sleep
* Supplement! Use proven immune system enhancers, such as Vitamin D, C, A and antioxidants; all of which have been shown to help fight colds and flu. Selenium is also an effective flu fighter, as is zinc and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an amino acid that stimulates your body to produce the powerful antioxidant enzyme glutathione.
Body Awareness: Young and Old, Everyone Benefits
by Marya Gendron, LMT
One of the most general and important benefits of massage is greater body awareness. The pains that people come to see me for are often the result of lifestyle habits and repetitive-stress body mechanics that remain unconscious until the pain is too intense to ignore.
Part of recovery, then, is the ability to notice the changes in tone, flexibility, and range of motion afforded by the massage, and to bring this awareness and new felt sense into all that we do. When we have a new frame of reference for what a balanced and relaxed state feels like, we are more able to identify when we are stressed and consciously relax into tension.
While on vacation over the past month, I gave massage to close family members, mostly people nearing their 60's. I treated old football injuries, whiplash, multiple sclerosis, and the stiffness and pain caused by one family member's caregiving duties. The benefit of those massages continues on in my family's increased body awareness.
The importance and value of body awareness through knowledge of anatomy was also brought close to home when I was invited to share some massage techniques and perspectives on massage as a career to high-school age students in an interactive anatomy class. This class, taught at a charter school by a good friend of mine, helps teenagers to have more body awareness by exploring anatomy in combination with yoga. The class is being filmed for video production as well. What an exciting project! I will also be involved in the design and layout of the interactive anatomy curriculum in book form for use by teachers and parents homeschooling their kids.
Vitamin D Levels:
Something to Consider
by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
As the sun in the Pacific Northwest begins to wane, consider having your Vitamin D levels evaluated. Vitamin D deficiency is being detected now more than ever and can impact your health in many negative ways.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists released a report in October of 2007 that stated approximately one in four patients who have chronic pain issues were also found to have low levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency can cause or exacerbate heart disease, chronic pain, Fibromyalgia, hypertension, arthritis, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, PMS, Crohns Disease, cancer, MS and other autoimmune diseases. The Vitamin D Council states that Vitamin D deficiency can also cause stroke, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting and birth defects. Many people in this part of the country have pronounced Vitamin D Inadequacy or Deficiency. Since Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and can be toxic if taken inappropriately, supplementation to establish healthy levels is best done under the supervision of a doctor. Schedule an appointment today with Dr. Wiggins to have your Vitamin D status evaluated.
Resources:
ImmuneSupport.com - Vitamin D Inadequacy May Exacerbate Chronic Pain
Vitamin D Council - Vitamin D Research and Research Requirements Link
Issue No. 2 - September
Table of Contents:
Advancing Brain Health with Naturopathic Medicine
with Dr. Gene Bowman
Optimal Wellness Program
with Dr. Roman Krupa
Autumn Cleanse 2008
with Dr. Kelly Jennings
Optimizing Massage Treatment through Self-Care
by Marya Gendron, LMT
Offering the Best of Emergency and Natural Medicine
by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
The National Institues of Health awards Dr. Gene Bowman a new grant for brain research. Also Dr. Bowman has a new paper in press for publication.
- NIH Clinical Research Grant. This is a five year federal grant awarded to Dr. Bowman to identify the nutrition and exercise that best promotes healthy brain aging. He will study three groups of patients: 1) healthy elderly with intact mental abilities, 2) elderly with mild memory deficits and 3) elderly with early Alzhemier's disease. The main goal is to indentify and develop a customized nutrition and exercise plan to prevent and slow Alzhemier's disease. Stay tuned for those wishing to participate in this exciting study.
- New Publication in Press for January 2009. Dr. Bowman and a team of neuroscientists have discovered that maintaining high levels of vitamin C in the brain is not only important for brain health and mental function, but also to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. This article will be published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease supporting treatments that Dr. Bowman utilizes at UWG clinic with his patients to promote brain health and overall wellness.
Optimal Wellness Program with Dr. Roman Krupa
Dr. Krupa will be holding his Optimal Wellness Program - an integral holistic roadmap to help you achieve a high level of health - in November. Stay tuned for more details in future e-newsletters!
Location: Urban Wellness Group
Date: Nov. 6 -Dec. 18
Cost: $349
Autumn Cleanse 2008 with
Dr. Kelly Jennings
Autumn Greetings! The weather has gotten a bit chillier and with it brings the advent of cold and flu season. Practice prevention! Fall is considered the best time to do a cleanse, to clear the body of all the ice cream and barbeques of summer days and give your immune system a healthy boost as we enter the rainy season. Fasting and cleansing have been shown to be effective for the prevention of colds & flus and to help with many kinds of disorders; food allergies, poor digestion, obesity, diabetes & other chronic ailments. Give the clinic a call if you would like to find out more about how a cleanse can help you.
Dr Jennings will be leading two fall cleanses this season! Each cleanse is 7 days long & includes 3 group classes that cover the basics of cleansing, nutritional counseling, diet therapy & individualized food allergy testing. Participants will get a free initial and final consultation as part of the program.
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The first cleanse will begin on September 18th and continue through September 25th.
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The second cleanse will begin on October 23rd and continue through October 30th.
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Each of the 3 group classes takes place in the evening, from 7-9 PM at Urban Wellness Group.
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Hurry to register, space is limited to 15 participants per program.
Cost for the total program is $265. Return participants are invited to join at a reduced rate of $235.
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Optimizing Massage Treatment through Self-Care
by Marya Gendron, LMT
One of the joys of practicing massage in a wellness clinic setting is the opportunity to work with a clientele that generally understands the importance of self-care. Positive treatment outcomes for musculoskeletal discomfort increase rapidly with consistently-applied self-care activities, which may take the form of stretching, hiking, meditation, being in nature, dancing, exercise, eating well, and giving and receiving affectionate touch. Taking and making the time to use our bodies in diverse ways leads to greater flexibility, mobility, relaxation, and therefore enjoyment of life.
As I visit my family in New Mexico in the next month, I will be leaving my practice in the hands of Tito (an amazing bodyworker specializing in Dynamic Balancing). I rest assured that my client's wellness will continue to unfold while I am gone, thanks in part to their consistent self-care. I will also be without my own weekly visit to my massage therapist while away, but will replace this with more hiking, swimming, and dancing to keep my body awake, happy, and engaged with the world.
I look forward to a return to my practice at Urban Wellness Group in late October. For those of you seeking massage services during my absence or upon my return, please call the front desk to arrange an appointment.
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Offering the Best of Emergency and Natural Medicine
by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
Per standard fare for our beautiful pacific northwest, it has been a busy summer with lots of amazing things happening. Outside of doing a bit of personal travel, I have been working closely with an organization called North West Rock Medicine, which I mentioned in the last newsletter. I have volunteered and provided much medical care at several events throughout the summer, seeing well over 100 patients outside the office. It was amazing to utilize my background in emergency medicine in conjunction with the wisdom of natural medicine to treat everything from stinging nettles exposure, allergic reactions, lacerations, corneal abrasions, sprained ankles, back injuries to dehydration and heat exhaustion. What a challenge and how rewarding! The fall will bring expanded clinic hours and a lecture series. Enjoy the last hours of summer and embrace the turn of the seasons!
Issue No. 1 - August
Table of Contents:
- Friends and Visitors Enjoy Food and Good Company at Urban Wellness Group's Grand Opening on April 19th!
- Massage: an Integral Component in Holistic Care by Marya Gendron, LMT
- Doctor as Teacher: Dr Krupa Lectures on Skin Health, Intentional Parenting, and more . . .
- The Sun is Shining Brightly and so is Our Growing Clinic! by Dr. Marcea Wiggins
- In Your Corner: Taking Your Health to a Deeper Level by Dr. Kelly Jennings
- Natural Health Pharmacy - Your Premier Source for Superior Quality Herbal, Homeopathic, & Nutraceutical Products
Massage: An Integral Component in Holistic Care
Because massage is so enjoyable, many people associate it with luxury and not as an essential part of healthcare – although the ability to fully enjoy is a sign of health and also improves health. Healthcare needn’t be unpleasant to be of benefit.
Actually, massage is the most effective treatment for those experiencing musculoskeletal problems and structural imbalance. It can also be an important source of renewal and healing for people with fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, eating disorders, automobile injuries including whiplash, or post-traumatic stress - to name just a few. And it is the perfect antidote to a lifestyle characterized by many hours sitting at a desk in front of a computer.
Massage also has many other benefits, supporting all functions and systems of the body. To read more about the benefits of massage, click here.
I give massage at Urban Wellness Group on Mondays and Tuesdays. I enjoy working alongside natural health practitioners, offering massage services as part of an overall wellness program. To find out more about my approach to massage, my educational background, and my offerings, visit my website at www.breathoflifehealingarts.com.
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Doctor as teacher:
Dr. Krupa lectures on Skin Health, Intentional Parenting, Vaccinations, Gluten Sensitivity, and Anti-aging
Dr. Kupa has had great reviews of his New Seasons lecture: Sun, Skin and Your Health. Read more about this topic here.
Upcoming classes/lectures for late summer and fall include:
- A class on the growing controversy of vaccinationshere at UWG.
- Intentional Parenting: Parents as Genetic Engineers, a lecture for soon-to-be Moms and Dads, will discuss how the latest findings in epigenetics show how what we eat, what we think and our beliefs all become hardwired into the genetic code of our unborn.
- Gluten Free is a lecture examining the hidden pandemic of gluten sensitivity/celiac disease in this country. Find out how the roots of anxiety, depression, autoimmune disease, neurological conditions and other conditions lie in undiagnosed gluten sensitivity and how to test for it and treat it.
- Also, keep an eye out as Dr. Krupa will be unveiling his Anti-aging Program this fall.
The sun is shining brightly and so is our growing clinic!
We have rounded the 6 month corner with great success. My own personal practice has grown faster than I could have hoped and I have had the great pleasure of helping many people find their path to health and healing. Early in February I joined a business group to help grow a diverse patient base, which has been invaluable, however I have found that a large majority of my practice are people from my already amazing community. I have deep gratitude for this and having the ability to be a part of uncovering the root cause of people's discomforts and concerns.
After helping organize and run our grand opening event in April, I turned my attention to other opportunities to get involved in the community. In May, as a group, we helped OPB fundraise through a telethon and most recently I had the opportunity to be a guest on a women's oriented show on KBOO to talk about the connection between fibromyalgia, chronic pain and trauma or stress. As the weather grew nice I began offering medical services to outdoor summer events through an organization I support called North West Rock Medicine. I have stayed busy with all these endeavors and look forward to continuing to grow the practice even more in the coming months.
In health and well being,
Marcea Wiggins N.D.
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In Your Corner
Taking your Health to a Deeper Level
by Kelly Green Jennings, ND, MSOM
Getting Ready for Fall
It may seem sacrilegious to say but fall is on its way. One of the best ways to prepare your body for the fall season, and help prevent the cold and flu season is by doing a short cleanse. Dr Jennings leads guided group cleanses that vary according to the season. The transition from summer to fall is one of the best times to do a cleanse, to clean the body from all the ice-cream and BBQ’s, burgers and milkshakes you’ve been indulging in and eat a more balanced diet that will keep you healthy all year long. Perhaps you really want to get a jumpstart on your health for the upcoming year, or you’ve been battling allergies and you want to finally seek a more holistic solution for your health problems. With 7 years of experience leading group cleanses, Dr Jennings can help you. Her next cleanse will begin on Thursday, September 26th, just in time for the fall equinox. Hurry to sign up – space is limited to 15 participants! Call Urban Wellness Group at 503-445-9771 for more information about the cleanse and how to register.
For a full page article on cleansing, please click here.
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Natural Health Pharmacy – Your premier source for superior quality herbal, homeopathic, and nutraceutical products
Urban Wellness Group is proud to offer a new service! Existing and incoming patients can now get their supplements drop-shipped through Natural Health Pharmacy, an affiliate of Urban Wellness Group and carrier of the highest-quality herbal, homeopathic, and nutraceutical products. Natural Health Pharmacy products are available exclusively through health care providers at Urban Wellness Group.
Natural Health Pharmacy actively seeks out companies that test their products through third-party laboratory analysis — assuring the purity, safety, and consistency that we as healthcare professionals expect and rely on for our patients’ care.
For existing patients and community members, we are offering a 10% discount for a limited time. Enter coupon code # 24ee86 at checkout. Shipping is free for orders over $99.
Natural Health Pharmacy looks forward to serving you on your path to vitality!
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