424 Managing our Microbiome [12 June 2017]

Continuing the discussion of our gut microbiome, this week we’ll look at what we can do to improve it. Justin and Erica Sonnenburg devote a chapter of their 2015 book The Good Gut to this topic. They list 7 recommendations based on recent scientific research.

1. Get off to a good start. We start off sterile in our mother’s womb and get our first “inoculation” during the birth process (another reason to avoid unnecessary C-sections). Breast milk provides human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), the optimum food for the infant’s healthy bacteria – unmatched in formula and another reason why breast is best.

2. Avoid unnecessary antibiotics. I touched on this last week. The more antibiotics kids are on early in life, the sicker they will be the rest of their life. That said, sometimes they are a necessity. My throat infection turned out to be caused by an infected tooth. I’m now on round three of antibiotics – I’ll worry about my colon bacteria later.

3. Play in the dirt. Kids that live on a farm, or have pets, or play in the (pesticide-free) garden, have a more diverse gut flora and are healthier.

4. Feed your microbes. Eat a wide variety of high fiber fruits and vegetables like whole grains, legumes and tubers. If this is a big change in your diet, you may want to introduce them gradually to avoid flatulence.

5. Limit saturated fat. Pathogens which cause inflammation (the “bad guys”) thrive on saturated animal fats while the good guys prefer plant based mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil and avocados.

6. Consume beneficial microbes. Fermented dairy foods like yogurt and kefir are great provided they are unpasteurized and unsweetened. Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and some pickles are another source of beneficial microbes. Back in July 2015 [#326] I wrote about making your own fermented vegetables.

7. Use probiotic supplements. These contain large quantities of known beneficial varieties. We have a variety of probiotics in our store with strengths up to 100 billion. I’m using S. boulardii this week which is not affected by antibiotics [see #387, Sept 2016 ].

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

342 Toxic Chemicals and Reproductive Health [26 Oct 2015]

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) released a report October 1, 2015, on the threat to human health posed by exposure to chemicals. Reproductive health professionals witness first-hand the increasing numbers of health problems facing their patients due to exposure to chemicals. Here are a few quotes from the report:

• Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals during pregnancy and breastfeeding is ubiquitous and is a threat to healthy human reproduction. …even small exposures to toxic chemicals during pregnancy can trigger adverse health consequences.

• Miscarriage and still birth, impaired fetal growth, congenital malformations, impaired or reduced neurodevelopment and cognitive function, and an increase in cancer, attention problems, ADHD behaviors, and hyperactivity are among the list of poor health outcomes linked to chemicals such as pesticides, air pollutants, plastics, solvents and more…

• In the US alone more than 30,000 pounds of chemicals per person are manufactured or imported and yet the vast majority of these chemicals have not been tested.

• …international trade agreements weaken controls and regulations designed to protect communities from toxic chemicals.

• Exposure to toxic environmental chemicals is linked to millions of deaths and costs billions of dollars every year.

• The cost of childhood diseases related to environmental toxins and pollutants in air, food, water, soil, and in homes and neighborhoods was calculated to be $76.6 billion in 2008 in the United States.

• We are drowning our world in untested and unsafe chemicals and the price we are paying in terms of our reproductive health is of serious concern.

The FIGO report was authored by a group of physicians and scientists from the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Read the press release and full report at www.figo.org. Next week – tips on how to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

314 Home Birth Safety [13 April 2015]

It’s nearly six years since I wrote about midwifery (#11 May 2009). At that time the Saskatchewan Midwifery Act was only a year old. Saskatchewan now has 15 practicing midwives, located in Saskatoon, Regina, Fort Qu’Appelle, and Swift Current. See saskatchewanmidwives.com for more information on the practice of midwifery in the province.

A recently published six-year study of midwife-assisted home births in the USA (J. Midwifery & Women’s Health) compared outcomes of nearly 17,000 planned home births with matched low risk planned hospital births. A review of the study by the Midwives Alliance of North America summarized the results:

“Home birth mothers had much lower rates of interventions in labor. While some interventions are necessary for the safety and health of the mother or baby, many are overused, are lacking scientific evidence of benefit, and even carry their own risks. Cautious and judicious use of intervention results in healthier outcomes and easier recovery, and this is an area in which midwives excel. Women who planned a home birth had fewer episiotomies, Pitocin for labor augmentation, and epidurals. Most importantly their babies were born healthy and safe.”

One significant finding was that the caesarian rate for women planning home births was only 5.2% (10.9% of women planning home births transferred to hospital for various reasons) compared to the U.S. national average of 31% for full term births. The Canadian average in 2012 was slightly lower at 29%. The World Health Organization recommends a caesarian rate of no more than 10 to 15%. Caesarians, while convenient (and lucrative) for doctors and hospitals, carry some risk and are associated with poorer health outcomes for both baby and mom.

The study concluded: “Low-risk women [who planned midwife-led home births] experienced high rates of physiologic birth and low rates of intervention without an increase in adverse outcomes.”

For insight into the home birth movement see the documentary “The Business of Being Born” at thebusinessofbeingborn.com (or watch for free on YouTube).

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

288 Our Gut Garden [6 Oct 2014]

This week I will continue featuring a lecture by gastroenterologist Dr. Robynne Chutkan about our microbiome – particularly the bacteria which live in our digestive tract, which she calls our “gut garden”.

The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 ushered in the age of antibiotics. Infectious diseases that were often fatal before then could now be quickly and easily cured. Now, nearly 100 years later, we are threatened with losing much of that advantage through over-use of antibiotics. One estimate claimed 20 to 50% of antibiotic use was inappropriate for the condition being treated. The proliferation of antibiotic-resistant “super bugs” is a growing concern among medical researchers. A lesser-known danger is the damage to our microbiome, particularly the gut bacteria, causing an unhealthy change called dysbiosis.

Dysbiosis is being linked to many different health problems: inflammatory bowel disease like colitis and Crohn’s; diabetes and obesity; auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS and fibromyalgia; and even neurological conditions like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. The microbiome also plays an important role in our immune system.

Babies born by C-section (27% in Canada) miss out on their first “inoculation” of beneficial bacteria from the birth canal. The benefits of vaginal birth last well beyond infancy in improved health and immunity – lower rates of asthma, allergy and other inflammation. Multiple rounds of antibiotics routinely given to children add to the problem.

Chutkan poses the question “What should we be feeding our gut garden in order to optimize our microbiome to keep us healthy?” And answers it with a quote by Michael Pollan: “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” She also advocates judicious use of drugs – not just antibiotics but other drugs like steroids, hormones and NSAIDs which also contribute to dysbiosis. And she warns against our obsession with sanitation – we shouldn’t be afraid of a little dirt! In short “Live dirty, eat clean!”

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

021 Semmelweis – a lesson of arrogance [20 July 2009]

Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) was a Hungarian physician working in the obstetrical ward of Vienna General Hospital in the late 1840s. He was greatly distressed by the high death rate from childbed fever in his ward, which at 18% was 4-5 times greater than that of the other division attended by midwifery students.

One day in 1847 while Semmelweis and his colleagues were performing an autopsy between deliveries (a routine occurrence), one of the doctors cut his finger with a scalpel. Within a few days he developed symptoms similar to childbed fever and soon died. As a result of this, Semmelweis instructed his medical students to wash their hands with chlorinated lime water before attending patients. This simple rule lowered the mortality rate to 1.3%.

Semmelweis’ great discovery, however, was met with hostility and ridicule from his colleagues and from the Viennese Medical Society. He was forced to return to Hungary, where he instituted his handwashing rule in a hospital in Pest with similar success. Despite the undeniable evidence, physicians throughout Europe rejected the idea that their actions could be the cause of childbed fever, and drove Semmelweis into a mental asylum where he died in 1865.

What lessons can we learn from this story? One is that it takes time for new ideas to be accepted. Semmelweis was just a few years ahead of his time, His theory of lack of cleanliness as a cause of disease didn’t fit with the accepted theories of his day. Within a few years of Semmelweis’ death, Louis Pasteur convinced most scientists of his germ theory of disease, and Joseph Lister developed antiseptic surgical practices. Semmelweis is now considered a pioneer of antiseptic procedures.

Another lesson is that confrontation rarely brings the desired outcome. Frustrated with the knowledge that his discovery could save the lives of thousands of women, Semmelweis wrote increasingly angry letters to obstetricians who opposed his theory, accusing them of ignorance and even of murder. Patiently and accurately communicating your ideas to others is more effective than accusatory name calling.

A final lesson is that arrogance within a health (or any) profession is detrimental to progress. We all should be able to welcome, and look objectively at, new evidence affecting our practices, and be ready to make changes accordingly. Future columns will explore more recent examples showing that we still have this lesson to learn.

For more on this fascinating chapter in the history of health care, see:

http://www.sciencecases.org/childbed_fever/childbed_fever.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

011 Midwifery [11 May 2009]

Yesterday was Mother's Day so midwifery seemed an appropriate topic this week. The Midwife Act of Saskatchewan was proclaimed into law a year ago in March 2008 providing for funding of midwifery services by provincial health insurance. So far all Saskatchewan midwives operate out of the major cities but hopefully services will soon be available in rural areas like Rosetown.

Midwifery provides care throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and for 6 weeks following birth. Midwives are licensed to use certain drugs that may be required during birth. The birth can be planned for home, birthing centre, or hospital setting.

The philosphy of midwifery is that birth is a natural process which usually only requires support rather than intervention. Midwives encourage informed decision making and respect the beliefs and values of the woman and her family.

The safety of midwifery is well established with studies showing that the practice of midwifery reduces morbidity (injury to mother and baby) and mortality rates for low risk pregnancies. Rate of satisfaction by the moms is also much higher for midwife attended births.

My wife and I had a variety of positive experiences with midwives with the birth of our children: midwife facilitated prenatal class; midwife attended home birth; and midwife assisted hospital birth. More recently, our daughter had a pleasant (her description) experience with the midwife attended hospital birth of our first grandchild; she especially appreciated the post-natal support.

There is a rapidly growing demand for midwifery services in Saskatchewan so any woman looking for a medical career should consider becoming a midwife. Colleges in Ontario, BC, and Manitoba offer 4-year degree courses; another is planned for Calgary. For more information contact the Saskatchewan College of Midwives (www.saskmidwives.ca) and the Midwives Association of Saskatchewan (www.saskatchewanmidwives.com). 

This article is intended for educational purposes only; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.