Dr. Masha, ND

Naturopathy

homeopathy

Children and Naturopathic Medicine

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Natural medicine, in particular naturopathic medicine, has safe and effective options for children of different ages. Starting from birth to adolescence. For the most part, each age has more or less predictable health concerns (with some exceptions). For example, children starting at age 6 months or earlier are at risk of frequent upper respiratory infections due to exposure to new unfamiliar viruses and bacteria while building their immune system.  This risk peaks for children ages 2-4 years. Other conditions include:  digestive discomfort, skin conditions, growth pains, and many others.

Natural medicine can deliver immediate results in some cases with little to no side effects. As a naturopathic doctor, I encourage patients to add naturopathic medicine to child’s health care.

Having naturopathic medicine as part of children’s well-being could reduce the use of potent pharmaceuticals, unnecessary hospitalizations, complications of common childhood infections, and many waking nights with a sick child.

In my practice, I offer families, Healthy Family Saturdays, where a whole family can come for one-hour visits. Families of different sizes and composition (LGBTQ community, single parents, grandparents with grandchildren or families without children) are welcome. During those visits, we discuss the diet of the whole family, sleep, family time together as well as natural remedies for acute health conditions and the best supplements to use for children of different ages.

Nutrition plays an important role in the health of the whole family.  For example, consuming sugary processed snacks instead of fresh vegetables and fruit can lead to higher infection rates and prolonged infection time. Bacteria and viruses that cause infections feed on sugar and, thus, increase in numbers. Sugars also diminish the quality of immune cells slowing down the recovery from an infection. Another concern is common food allergens which have detrimental effects on the skin. Skin eczemas require thorough investigation into the diet of the child and the whole family.

I also encourage families to have a well organized natural medicinary right in their homes with commonly used homeopathic remedies, safe for children essential oils, specific herbal combinations for children (herbal cough and digestive syrups, ear drops), a few vitamin and minerals complexes, and high-quality probiotics.

When a child gets sick, parents will be ready to help her/him recover from the illness faster and more effectively without any potential side effects.

If you have questions about how naturopathic medicine can help your child, you are always welcome to contact me at drmashand@gmail.com and I will be glad to answer your concerns.

As parents, we strive to make sure our children have safe effective options when they are not feeling well.

 

 

Allergies: can naturopathic medicine help?

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Allergies are very common. Worldwide, 10-30% of the population are affected by various allergies. Though pollen allergies are quite widespread, 12 million people in USA have allergies unrelated to pollen (NIH). When we think about allergies, runny nose, congestion, skin rashes come to mind. At the same time, allergies are very diverse in their presentation and can be to many different substances (natural and chemical).

What is an allergy? It is a reaction of the body’s immune system to the substances the body should not normally mount an alarming response to.

There are a few types of allergic reactions.

Type I reactions (usually itching, hives, swelling, sneezing, runny noise) involve immunoglobulin E (IgE)–mediated release of histamine and other mediators from mast cells and basophils. That is why for this type of reaction, many people take anti-histamine over the counter medications (such as Benadryl) and other type of allergy medications. There are also types II, III and Type IV reactions. For example, in type IV reactions, the body has a delayed response mediated more by T cells (a type of immune cells), such as nickel allergy, or contact dermatitis.

Chronic allergies, especially involving nasal passages or skin, can be very aggravating and upsetting. A person either feels that they have to be on pharmaceutical medications of the rest of their life to ease the symptoms or just suffer through the inconveniences of the reactions of the body to allergens without any assistance from medical community.

“It is peculiar that allergies can be secondary to many other chronic conditions, meaning that a person may have developed allergies due to another imbalance in the body, and as consequence, started developing allergic symptoms. This list includes but not limited to:

  • Adrenal insufficiency
  • Candida related complex
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Hypochlorhydria (lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach)
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Malabsorption
  • Migraine headaches
  • Nutrient utilization difficulties including zinc, vitamin C, potassium and others.
  • Cardiac arrhythmias and mental illness have been linked to allergies.”

Every year we learn more about allergies and how they are connected to our genetics, nutrition and lifestyle. Addressing digestive system, adrenals, improving detoxification functions in the body, limiting toxic overload, improving the hormonal balance, and identifying inflammatory foods can help many people combat their chronic allergies.

For naturopathic doctors identifying the cause of the imbalance in the body that predisposes one to allergies is one of the primary roles. Sometimes it requires additional advanced testing even though standard allergy testing (RAST test, for example) has been completed already.

Naturopathic doctors have a variety of different tools for allergies. There are a number of homeopathic and herbal formulations that can decrease nasal congestion and improve breathing through the mouth – this way allowing for more oxygen to the tissues and better sleep. Sometimes nasal congestion can be caused by eating certain inflammatory foods (thus, individual food sensitivity and food intolerance testing, such as Carroll testing).

As there are a number of herbal formulations that can be helpful to address nasal congestion and chronic runny nose, one particular herb comes to mind – Stinging Nettles (Utrica Dioca). As stringing properties of nettles can be removed by cooking, it is best to use freeze dried fresh preparations of the herb. (see the research study)

“Allergies are part of the modern life style but people afflicted with them do not have to suffer in silence. Natural medicine with all its tools can help improve every-day living and decrease the immune response, thus, prevent the allergies in the future.”

See a video about Natural Treatment of Allergies by Dr. Masha. N.D.