Bambú Naturopathic Clinic in Portland, OR • April 2010 Newsletter

in this issue:

Welcome!

As we welcome back the sun to the Pacific Northwest, we would be remiss not to address the biggest health care story to emerge in almost a century. Here is our take on health care reform and other important health news. Happy April!

Health Care Reform - Basically

Now that the health care bill has passed, people are trying to figure out what it will mean for them. Here is a summary of what this legislation has achieved and how it may impact your access to naturopathic medical services.

By 2014, this bill will require all Americans to hold health insurance. If you already have insurance through your employer or on your own, this will not affect you in any way. But, if you do not, you may be subject to a fine.
In order to make this mandate affordable for all American citizens, the government is going to provide subsidies to people in lower income brackets.
In addition, the government will establish state health care exchanges which (with larger buying power) will be able to provide more variety of plans and lower prices on plans than the average employer.

In effect, this reform is predicted to expand coverage to 32 million currently uninsured people, and to reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.
Furthermore, after this law is enacted, health insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to children for preexisting conditions. This caveat will apply to all Americans in 2014.
Children will be able to be covered by their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.
The federal government will now regulate any new insurance plans that come into existence by requiring a minimum amount of benefits per plan (no maximum will be mandated).
This legislation also implements consumer protections like offering an appeals process for any consumer wanting to dispute the rulings made by their insurance companies about individual coverage.
In addition, the health care bill provides tax credits to small businesses who purchase health care insurance for their employees and stipulates that several small businesses can come together to negotiate insurance premiums for their employees. This will provide an increase in their bargaining power.
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act was reauthorized in this reform process.

For naturopathic medicine...

Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort by the AANP (American Association of Naturopathic Physicians), NDs are still not included on any loan forgiveness programs, including those associated with the Indian Health Care Act
But, under the non-discrimination provision, insurers will NOT be allowed to discriminate against any health care provider that can be licensed in a state.
This means that insurers will be mandated to cover ND care if NDs can be licensed in that state.
In the “workforce development” language of the bill, the health care workforce has been defined to include licensed alternative and complementary providers as well as integrative health practitioners.
Comparative Effectiveness Research, which evaluates and compares health outcomes, will now include complementary and integrative treatments.
This bill has implemented tax benefits for employers who offer wellness programs for their employees… providing lots of opportunity for NDs to lead an employer-driven wellness revolution!

While we can never know how proposed legislation will ultimately affect our overall way of life, we at Bambú Clinic, are very hopeful that this health care reform is a first and important step in extending highly effective and affordable health care to all Americans.

In the News

With healthcare reform in the news and many people wondering what the future holds for medical treatment options, we thought you’d like to know about a recently published study that caught our attention. The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas has shown that the homeopathic remedies Carcinosin and Phytolacca are as effective as the chemotherapy drug Taxol in treating breast cancer cell lines.

Researchers studied a homeopathic protocol from the Banjeri Clinic in Kolkata, India, a clinic that has good success with homeopathic treatment of patients with cancer. Homeopathic remedies are often discounted in scientific circles, as they are very dilute remedies and do not contain the large amounts of active chemical constituents that are generally part of scientific studies. However, in this case and in a growing number of other studies, not only did the homeopathic remedies show significant anti-cancer properties, but they equaled the chemotherapy drug Taxol in their action, with the additional benefit of no side-effects of conventional chemotherapy.

We at Bambú Clinic are excited to see a study that supports what we and our patients know: working with the body’s own healing mechanisms can bring about health on all levels. While further research will be needed, this published study indicates that homeopathic treatment of patients with cancer is scientifically supported as a valid treatment option. Read the study abstract.

The physicians at Bambú regularly offer supportive care to patients dealing with a cancer diagnosis. If you would like to talk to one of the doctors about this study or learn more about our approach to treating patients with cancer, please call to schedule some time to consult with one of our doctors. We would be happy to take some time to see if our approach would be a good fit for you.

Anti-Cancer

We’d like to invite you to read one of our favorite new books: Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life (link to powell’s), by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber. Dr. Servan-Schreiber is an MD/PhD psychiatrist who is living with brain cancer. The second edition of his book, published in December 2009, is a wonderful collection of science, insight, and emotional exploration on the subject of cancer. He details his own experiences with diagnosis, treatment, and what he has learned along the way about why people get cancer, why patients survive this diagnosis, and what steps we can all take to prevent and treat all types of cancer. For those of you who read the first edition, we’d recommend you take a look at this new edition – it is far more focused on the mental/emotional aspect of cancer survival than the first edition.

We particularly like this book because it combines a cancer survivor’s experiences on all levels – physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. When Dr. Servan-Schreiber went through his initial treatment for brain cancer, he asked his oncologist what lifestyle changes he could make to help prevent a recurrence of his cancer. His oncologist answered that there were no changes necessary. Dissatisfied with this answer, Dr. Servan-Schreiber began to research which lifestyle changes would allow him the best chance of living a healthy, full life for as long as possible. Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life details those lifestyle strategies that have been shown to promote health on all levels. Pick up a copy, sit down with a cup of tea, and enjoy reading this wonderfully enriching book.

We hope you found this information helpful. We strive to help our patients find a healthy way in the world. If you have topics you'd like us to address in future issues please let us know. We are always available for questions and comments.

Warm Regards,

The Physicians of Bambú Clinic