Toxins Damage The Nervous System

It is well known that the pesticides in our food supply cause damage to our nervous system. Literature has shown that in increase in neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease can be related to toxin exposure. (1) To reduce your chances of developing chronic degenerative disease, I suggest a regular lifestyle approach that reduces your risk (exercise, organic foods, antioxidant vitamins) and a regular detox program. Call the clinic if you would like more info on our program that is supervised by Dr. Bennett and Dr. Trenciansky.

1) Giasson BI, Lee VM-Y. 2000. A new link between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. Nature Neuroscience 3(December):1227-1228

7 Day Detox Miracle

I wrote the book, 7 day Detox Miracle almost 10 years ago and since then I am amazed at how the book has continued to be a valuable clinical message to all my patients. It is an easy to read guide on how the body heals itself with fasting, diet modifications, supplements and sauna therapy. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so, if you have read it, check back in with the simple message- spend a week each year cleansing the blood through simple detoxification strategies.

Theo Is Doing Just Fine

Many patients ask how Dr. Stephanie and baby Theo are doing. I will add a post to let everyone know Dr. Tenciansky and Theo are doing just fine. Theo is here with his grandmother, Svata, enjoying his much needed, and demanded, attention. Christmas is just around the corner and Santa can't decide if he has been good or bad. Soon, we will find out.

Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Not Folic Acid Supplementation

Good Morning America had Dr. Richard Bresser on the show on November 18th, 2009 and he warned people against taking over the normal daily allowance for folic acid and b12 because of a recent study done in Norway which found an increase in cancer for those taking folic acid. The conclusions in this Norweigan study were flawed from poor research design, yet Dr. Bresser has gone ahead and offered an inflammatory and hysterical opinion, scaring those who take multivitamins with B12 and folic acid into thinking they are increasing their risk for cancer. The benefits and safety of folic acid are well established. Folic acid prevents neural tube defects, prevents stroke (1), reduces the incidence of hip fractures (2) and helps reduce the incidence of migraines (3) Folic acid has even been shown to prevent cancer of the colon in those patients suffering from ulcerative colitis (4)

The study Dr. Bresser is referring to was published on November 18, 2009 in JAMA (5) and the conclusions of the authors were that that lung cancer is caused by folic acid supplementation. This bizarre conclusion comes from data that was taken in a rather unscientific way. It might be surprising to the average person who trusts medical research because medical studies, published in prestigious medical journals, are supposed to be scientific, unbiased and created by intelligent researchers whose job is to provide factual conclusions. And to make matters worse, we now have Dr. Bresser talking on national TV, on Good Morning America, promoting bad science and weakening public confidence in using vitamin therapy.

The dissonance of this Norweigan study encourages a deeper look at how this study was constructed. First, this study was put together from information gathered in two other studies- the NORVIT [the Norwegian vitamin trial, a 2005 randomized trial of homocysteine-lowering with B-vitamins for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease after acute myocardial infarction] and WENBIT [Western Norway B-vitamin intervention trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007). These Norwegian researchers claiming folic acid increases cancer, did not even do their own study, they took data from two other studies, both of which in the opinion of some experts were in themselves flawed. This recent JAMA study was a secondary analysis from information designed to examine the benefits of folic acid on heart disease. Neither of theses studies (the NORVIT and the WENBIT) study set out to study folic acid and the risk of lung cancer. In fact, almost all the people in these studies were current (40%) or past smokers. Of those individuals who developed lung cancer in these studies, 93% were present or past smokers. There is no credible research conclusions in this Norwegian study to state that if you take folic acid you will be more likely to get lung cancer. This much touted study by Dr. Bresser shows that if you smoke, you are more likely to get lung cancer and folic acid will not protect you from this risk. Last, and most importantly, folic acid has been supplemented in the food supply of North america for 10 years, since 1998, and there has been no detectible increase in lung cancer rate. In fact, lung cancer rates have been falling since the introduction of folic acid.

1) Wang X, Qin X, Demirtas H, Li J, Mao G, Huo Y, et al. Efficacy of folic acid supplementation in stroke prevention: a meta-analysis. Lancet 2007;369:1876-1882

2) Sato Y, Honda Y, Iwamoto J, Kanoko T, Satoh K. Effect of folate and mecobalamin on hip fractures in patients with stroke: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2005;293:1082-1088.

3) Di Rosa G, Attina S, Spano M, Ingegneri G, Sgro DL, Pustorino G, et al. Efficacy of folic acid in children with migraine, hyperhomocysteinemia and MTHFR polymorphisms. Headache 2007;47:1342-1344.

4) Lashner BA, Heindenreich PA, Su GL, Kane SV, Hanauer SB. Effect of folate supplementation on the incidence of dysplasia and cancer in chronic ulcerative colitis; a case-control study. Gastroenterology 1989;97:255-259.

5) Ebbing M, Bonaa KH, Nygard O, Arnesen E, Ueland PM, Nordrehaug JE, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality after treatment with folic acid and vitamin B12. JAMA 2009;302:2119-2126.

Meditrine- daughter of Asclepius and symbol of medicine

The children of Asclepius included his daughters Meditrine, Hygeia and Panacea who were symbols of medicine, hygiene and healing (literally, "all healing") respectively. Asclepius is the Greek god of Healing and was most probably a skilled physician who practised in Greece around 1200BC (and described in Homer's Iliad). Eventually through myth and legend he came to be worshipped. He is the son of Apollo and the nymph, Coronis. While pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis secretly took a second, mortal lover. When Apollo found out, he sent Artemis to kill her. While burning on the funeral pyre, Apollo felt pity and rescued the unborn child from the corpse. Asclepius was taught about medicine and healing by the wise centaur, Cheiron, and became so skilled in it that he succeeded in bringing one of his patients back from the dead. Zeus felt that the immortality of the Gods was threatened and killed the healer with a thunderbolt. At Apollo's request, Asclepius was placed among the stars as Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

In the picture above you can see Asclepius in the center with his three daughters to the right- Meditrine, Hygeia and Panacea.

Dr. Trenciansky Meets With Dr. Cathy Carlson-RInk

Dr. Trenciansky discusses babies and medicine with Dr. Carlson-Rink at Theo's recent weigh in. He topped out at 10.11 lbs after 8 weeks so the baby end of the discussion was very optimistic. Dr. Carlson-Rink shared her experiences with Dr. Tenciansky discussing obstetrics, H1N1 vaccinations, doctoring and mothering, and of course medical politics in North America.

Carole Is Back

Carole took a few weeks off to take care of her domestic life. Jen did a fantastic job covering her shift but we are all glad she is back. SOmeone has to put the hammer down!

Dr. Trenciansky Helps Out From Home

Dr. Trenciansky is getting back on her feet after six weeks of recovery from her birth and delivery. From home, she spends time going over details of the clinic with the staff and Dr. Bennett. She also asks about all the patients and spends time with Dr. Karen McGee, her maternity leave locum, reviewing patient charts and making sure everything is running smoothly. Everyone feels the benefit of Dr. Trenciansky's close attention to the care of everyone at Meditrine Clinic.

Jen Just Finishes Two Weeks On Her Own

Jen Vadik has done a fantastic job of learning the ropes at the clinic and coming in to spell off Carole while she went on vacation. With so many new tasks to learn and doing it all with a smile, Jen has passed her "training day" in flying colors. Carole comes back today and there are hardly any piles of un-filed charts to deal with. Working at the clinic is a seriously demanding job and patients and doctors all appreciate the skill of an enthusiastic naturopathic clinic assistant. Thanks so much Jen!

Dr. Bennett Fills In For Dr. Trenciansky During Maternity Leave

Since Dr. Trenciansky is on maternity leave, I have been filling in for her at the clinic. Our hours are a bit different, now Friday has become extra clinic day so I can catch up on the backlog of patients trying to get an appointment. Since I was unable to take care of everyone with adding an extra day, Dr. Trenciansky asked Dr. Karen McGee to come in and help out on Wednesdays. With all this flurry of activity, Carole Smith is doing a fantastic job running the front desk.... at full speed!

Dr. Steph loves being a new mother but she is not getting much sleep!

On August 29th, 2009, Dr. Stephanie Trenciansky Had Her Baby!

At 4:30 PM during a staff interview, Dr. Stephanie went into labor. Her midwife, Dr. Cathy Carlson-Rink ND LM arrived by 6 PM. After a quick assessment, it was decided that the planned home birth would have to be changed to a hospital delivery. A hurried drive to Surrey Memorial hospital got us there by 8 PM. A rapid admittance allowed Stephanie to focus on the job at hand. With contractions coming fast and furious, she was ready to push by 11:30 PM. Finally, at 1:55 PM on Saturday August 29th, 2009, a beautiful baby boy was born.

The nurses and pediatrician were fantastic at helping Stephanie through the whole process and leaving any regret that the home birth was averted, far behind. Cathy stayed to make sure Dr. Stephanie was fully recovered and finally left at 5 AM after a long night of skillful obstetric care. By 9:30 AM, after Dr. Peter Bennett walked the halls of the hospital and determined there was no edible food, the proud parents and Theo checked out of the hospital not heeding the stern advice of the on-call nurse.

Once home, Dr. Peter Bennett started to whip up food and care for the completely exhausted new mother.

Before and after the birth, so many patients, family and friends made kind gifts of cards, flowers and stylish new-born attire. For this gush of kindness and love, we are all deeply grateful.

Congratulations Gary Reed!

Dr. Peter is thrilled to congratulate Gary Reed on his second place finish in the men's 800 metres final at the 11th IAAF WOrld Athletics Championships in Osaka. Dr. Peter is currently in Osaka working with the Canadian athletes and sent some photos and a press piece to share with everyone.

We invite you to listen...

We invite you to listen to our helpful and informative podcasts online. These podcasts created by Dr. Peter Bennett cover such important topics as Bee Venom Therapy, Stress, Blueberries, Detox and more. http://www.peterbennett.com/podcasts.html

7 Day Detox Goes Russian

This summer I was contacted by a group in Russia who had read my book the 7 Day Detox. As it turns out my book was recreated and publised in Russian. Neat! I was invited to visit Russia and the patients who read 7 Day Detox in Russian. I took them up on their invite and travelled to Russia for two weeks. While there I visited a hospital where they use naturopathic methods including hydrotherapy, sauna, ozone therapy, laser and more! The Russian doctors were so interested in my training and were fascinated that in Canada a Naturopathic Doctor is so hands on. They couldn't believe that Dr. Stephanie and I work on our patients directly and that we have no nurses like in their clinic. It was an amazing trip full of learning. Thank you to my new Russian friends! ~ Blog Post By Dr. Peter