Intravenous (IV) therapies are recommended by physicians for a variety of reasons. IV therapy has been known to reduce inflammation, increase daily energy, boost cognitive ability, support the immune system, support adrenal function and replenish nutrient deficiencies. At Pacific Integrative Medicine, we us IV vitamin C therapy to aide in the effectiveness and reduce the side effects from surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. IV therapy is sometimes recommended as an adjunctive cancer therapy.
There are many benefits associated with IV therapy.
There are many nutrients that can be administered via IV therapy. Here are a few of our more common nutrients that are administered:
Ascorbate is a strong free radical scavenger. By creating high plasma levels of vitamin C via IV therapy, the belief is that it is a preventative to help stop further cellular damage and provoke a good immune response. IV vitamin C strengthens the body on a cellular level against infiltration of neoplastic cells, which promotes cytotoxicity of cancer cells and leaving the good ones alone. Vitamin C aids in wound healing as well. Ascorbate is involved in many processes of the body and is required in the synthesis of carnitine from lysine, neurotransmitter synthesis, cholesterol metabolism, detoxification of exogenous compounds and as an antioxidant.
ALA is chiefly an antioxidant, which has been shown to influence a variety of biological processes associated with oxidative stress, including diabetes, liver disease, and cancer. It has been shown to be helpful with diabetes, prevention of vascular disease, hypertension, and inflammation. ALA has also been shown to improve glucose and ascorbate handling. It is helpful in preventing or treating neuropathy associated with certain chemotherapies.
B6 is a co-factor for over 100 enzymes, B^ aids in protein and fatty acid metabolism, red blood cell (RBC) formation, and helps with the productions of DNA and RNA. B6 is needed for GABA production, amino acid formation, female hormone production, tryptophan, histamine, and B3 formation. It also helps to lower homocysteine.
supports the adrenals in in producing steroid hormones, supports healthy cholesterol levels, and aids in the synthesis of coenzyme A in fatty acid synthesis. B5 is required for carbohydrate metabolism, fat and protein synthesis, and it helps the body to make ATP (energy).
B complex 100 is a combination of thiamine (B1), riboflavin 5’phosphate sodium (B2), pyridoxine HCl (B6), dexapenthanol (B5), and niacinamide (B3). Can help with many cellular processes, energy productions, and support the immune system and nervous system.
Glutathione plays a role in catalysis, metabolism, signal transduction, gene expression and apoptosis. It helps to detox Tylenol, steroids, heavy metals, drugs, etc. Regenerates vitamin C in the body.
Selenium aids in detoxification of heavy metals, supports the thyroid, and aids in prostate health. It also increases the natural killer cell function, reduces inflammation, and aids in the production of glutathione.
Magnesium regulates the intracellular flow of calcium. It is needed for natural regulation of blood pressure, making ATP (energy) for the body, and is involved in over 300 metabolic reactions in the body. It may be used for osteoporosis, hypertension, insomnia, cramps, arrhythmias, migraines, asthma, and fibromyalgia.
Calcium helps to strengthen bones and teeth, helps with muscle contraction and nerve transmission and can help lower blood pressure. It also aids in the maintenance of the immune system, and glandular secretion. Some information supports that it will help with the prevention of colon cancer, anxiety, depression, and even kidney stones.
Vitamin B12 (given per IM not IV) helps the body process amino acids, aids in forming normal and long chain amino acids, supports the nervous system, and energy production. It is used to help treat pernicious anemia, depression, fatigue, and peripheral neuropathy.
At Pacific Integrative Medicine, our first goal for pain management is always to help reduce someone’s level of discomfort while we determine the source of their pain. Once the source is discovered an appropriate and comprehensive treatment plan can be created using safe and effective pain management treatments to provide relief, without addictive risk or negative side effects.
As aspects of the patients past and current health history are taken into account to assess the cause of pain and create a treatment plan using a diversity of therapies pain including:
This appears almost as a timeless therapy since its inception over 2,000 years ago. This therapy involves the insertion of very thin, sterile needles in specific points on the body associated with your pain syndrome. Insertion of needles at such points brings balance and harmony back to the body and allows for the relief of pain.
Trigger points are painful sites of muscular spasm and inflammation often located in the shoulders and near the spine, although one can have a trigger point anywhere there is skeletal muscle. Massage is often a way to help start the process of trigger point relief, however massage therapy has its limitations and trigger point injection therapy can finish the job. The therapy involves injection of either a mild anesthetic or a nutritional agent to help relax the muscle thus relieving the pain.
Believe it or not, what you eat could be causing your pain. Naturopathic physicians are highly trained in nutritional therapy and oftentimes our practitioners have found that sometimes simple changes in people’s diets significantly reduce their pain levels. As a result, patients are thrilled when a cause can be found in the diet as this means that pain relief, at least in part, may come from dietary changes.
Prolotherapy has been in use since the 1950’s and entails injecting a solution into the problem area – generally a joint, ligament or tendon – in an effort to stimulate the healing process and alleviate pain. The fundamental goal of prolotherapy injections is to kick-start the body’s regenerative response by promoting tissue growth. The resulting “weld” will ideally improve function and reduce pain without the need for opioid-based painkillers or surgery.
Prolotherapy is most commonly used to alleviate:
- Chronic pain in joints
- Chronic pain in ligaments
- Chronic pain in tendons
- Knee pain
- Shoulder pain
- Lower back pain
- Tennis or golf elbow
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendonitis
If you are struggling with chronic pain or have tried multiple treatments that have proven to be ineffective in addressing your discomfort, contact Pacific Integrative Medicine for a consultation.
Pacific Integrative Medicine seeks to empower women by teaching them about their body, how to recognize changes and how to successfully and safely deal with such changes. We offer compassionate women's medicine care alongside clinically proven and cutting-edge therapies.
We work with each woman as an individual because each woman has their own genetic uniqueness, a variety of possible lifestyle differences, and the ever-evolving changes that body's cycle through. Finding a balance for each woman takes time and investigation through researching medical history, physical exams as well as laboratory testing when indicated.
The incidence of women’s diseases continues to increase as has the number of medications available to abate symptoms. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how or why you have a particular imbalance? Pacfic Integrative Medicine takes a comprehensive approach with regards to women's medicine in order to assess female patients and create a treatment plan that encompasses resolution of imbalance and prevention of chronic disease
In addition to safe hormone replacement therapies, we offer the use of peptides to enhance your bodies youthful cell signaling which can turn the clock back to a more youthful time in life.
We recognize men's health as a specific focus and are committed to addressing conditions that solely pertain to males or by approaching common conditions from a male-specific perspective. Whether hormonal imbalances, stress related health conditions, erectile issues, prostate health, or enhancement of one’s overall health, and physical endurance, we recognize the importance of keeping each individual’s needs in mind.
Men, however, are reluctant to take action when they don’t feel physically or mentally well. Studies have often shown that men saw their doctors less often than their female counterparts.
As of 2012 a survey conducted by the Centers of Disease Control demonstrated that 27% of men (as compared to 14% of women) had no office visits to a doctor or other health professional in the past 12 months.
Although, this has improved over the years, a large number of men still find it difficult to see a doctor and discuss their health concerns.
It is especially difficult for men to discuss issues related to sexual dysfunction, bowel related problems and emotional concerns.
It’s important not to ignore these symptoms because they often present due to underlying health issues and can be early warning signs for more serious problems.
What do I do now?
- If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer, you've probably asked that question - what do I do now - dozens of times. There is so much that surrounds a cancer diagnosis that trying to keep up can make your head spin.
- The simple truth is that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to cancer.
- Every person develops cancer for a unique set of reasons, so each person's treatment will differ. That's the case even if two people share the 'same' cancer diagnosis (like two people with breast cancer for instance).
- It's easy to see why a simple question like "What do I do now?" might not be so simple after all. It might involve several rounds of testing, trying several treatments to identify what treatment works best in your case.
- That's true of conventional treatments, and we believe the same holds true for any means of positively affecting your clinical outcome.
- Our first line naturopathic cancer therapies are designed to do just that. Naturopathic medicine employed in a cancer treatment plan can have positive effects on your treatment, quality of life, and overall survivorship. This is especially true when naturopathic therapies are used in connection with conventional therapies.
- We believe it's important to try to understand why your cancer developed in order to provide tailored support to maintain your health as you go through treatment and to maximize efforts to avoid recurrence.
Naturopathic therapies in cancer care are beneficial for a number of reasons:
- May be useful in minimizing the side effects of conventional treatment. This is especially useful in cases where side effects have required dosage or frequency of treatment to be reduced. We may be able to support you and keep your treatment on track.
- May be used to support your immune system whenever appropriate.
- May include therapies or lifestyle changes which interfere with the development or slow the spread of cancer in the body.
- May make cancer more susceptible to conventional treatments.
- May provide a noticeable improvement in the quality of life.
Some naturopathic therapies can have a negative interaction with some conventional treatments or medications. That’s why it is essential to understand when not to use a specific naturopathic treatment or when to adjust it to have the intended effect. Our doctors understand the mechanisms of action of conventional treatment and are skilled at integrating naturopathic treatments into a larger integrative protocol.
More and more, people are coming to understand the value of an integrative approach to cancer care.
Simply put, naturopathic oncology refers to the application of the art and science of naturopathic medicine to the field of cancer care and treatment.
It doesn't fight against established conventional cancer treatments and protocols, it supports them.
While people can approach their cancer treatments from an 'all-in' perspective (relying solely on either conventional or naturopathic medicine) we often see the benefit of incorporating both in the treatment of the disease.
Cancer isn't a simple condition.
The research, understanding, and treatments for cancer are constantly evolving. It takes more than just a passing involvement with a cancer case here and there to stay up to date with the most current understanding and best practices of care. Further, it's critical that people with cancer have the ability to identify naturopathic doctors who truly have an in-depth understanding of cancer to integrate into their care team.
By sharing our own experience, along with clinically supported, and evidence-based information, it's been shown that naturopathic methodologies are helpful in:
- Improving the quality of life during cancer treatment.
- Speeding recovery from intensive conventional protocols.
- Helping to manage side effects from both the disease and its corresponding treatments.
- Decreasing traditional treatment breaks, or dose reductions due to side effects.
- Increasing the effectiveness of conventional treatments.
- Aiding the body, with a focus on preventing recurrence of the disease.
Conventional cancer treatments can be hard on an already strained body, and before a person can even receive them, their doctor needs to believe that the treatment will do more good than harm.
Dr. Gibson has the education, and the experience needed to understand and integrate supportive treatments for people with cancer, which may help to maximize their response to conventional treatment.
Each patient is seen as an individual, not as a diagnosis.
By taking the emphasis off the disease, seeing a person first instead of just a diagnosis, we're able to approach individual patient care in a unique way.
Cancer develops for a different collection of reasons in each person. We look for those reasons through the use of targeted testing, as well as our depth of knowledge of the physiology of cancer. By understanding not just the intricacies of the disease, but also how it's interacting with a person's body, we're able to generate the appropriate treatment plan to decrease the opportunity for cancer to survive in their body.
No approach is as comprehensive in supporting the body, whether in a healthy or a diseased state as naturopathic medicine.
How Dr. Gibson Approaches Cancer Care
Each person's experience with cancer is different and support must be individualized for optimal results.
One of the first things to acknowledge as a cancer survivor is that it's okay to not feel great.
That's why aftercare is enormously important; not only to help you recover from the impact of the disease and its treatment but to limit the chance of recurrence.
With the right help, we believe you can not only recover, but you can make positive changes to feel even better than your old self before your battle began.
How we can help: The first step in any treatment plan is to understand why a person is experiencing their symptoms. Sometimes this means running specific labs depending on the individual's history and treatment paradigm.
Some complaints are associated with particular disease types or treatment complications, others could be associated with any type of serious illness.
We understand that restful sleep after cancer treatment can be hard to find. At the same time, sleep is incredibly important in survivorship. It's been estimated that an astounding 90% of our healing happens while we sleep. Our doctors are experts at listening to your body's signals to uncover the reasons your sleep may still be disturbed even after you finish treatment, and maximize your ability to find restful sleep again.
Some cancer treatments can affect your body's ability to produce enough of the energy that it needs to keep you feeling yourself. This kind of fatigue isn't something you can sleep off. You could likely benefit from a physician's targeted advice and treatment plan to restore your body's ability to produce and manage its energy.
It's important to keep your body moving. There are several beneficial components to exercise in survivorship, but we want to make sure you're going about it safely, and with your specific case in mind.
Many cancer treatments involve changing the hormones in your body. Modulating the hormones that your body produces may produce significant effects that you'll now have to face in survivorship. We want to make sure you not only understand your treatments while you're going through active cancer care; but what effects your treatments will have both now and in the long-run. Naturopath
There are several reasons: hormonal, emotional, and physical, that could change the way a person with cancer...or their partner may approach intimacy. This could manifest in changes in both physical intimacies, as well as the relationships with people you've been close with like family or friends. A huge aspect of life after cancer involves the people we spend our lives with. Our doctors can help to address not only the physical changes but also the unseen scars that cancer can leave in peoples lives.
Our emotions play a huge role in our health and overall prognosis. Our doctors are able to help people understand and accept what happened in their lives, and we're still here to support you and provide encouragement at a time when you likely need it the most. A battle with cancer can seem overwhelming but when that battle is 'won', people can be left feeling more alone and vulnerable than ever before. If you've made it through a battle with cancer, that's awesome! But we appreciate, and we hope you understand your body even after conventional treatment ends.
One of the most important things about survivorship is trying to understand how to avoid recurrence of the disease. Even after a 'victory' over cancer, people can be left with a constant fear that cancer will come back. Any change in your health now comes with the question: 'Is it cancer coming back?' Our doctors want to ensure that you understand your situation and the landscape of your relationship with the disease. Cancer may be a part of your life for as long as you live, but with the right lifestyle and other naturopathic interventions, we can assist you to do everything you can to help you come out on top.