Insomnia and Stress? Perhaps it’s time to listen to your body Debbie Smrz, BSc, ND Have you notice your sleep quality starting to decrease since you’ve hit middle age? Studies suggest that starting in your 30’s and 40’s, the average person loses 27 minutes of sleep per night for each subsequent decade. The time it takes to fall asleep may vary, as do waking episodes. What’s more, your ‘internal body clock’ or circadian rhythm often becomes less efficient, often due to stress levels. When one is in balance, your circadian rhythm will follow the sun, with hormones such as melatonin producedd to help us sleep, and other hormones [...]

Three Simple Tips For Managing Stress During This Time Tracie Smith Acupuncturist Having trouble sleeping, experiencing body aches or feeling overwhelmed with life’s activities? Managing stress during these challenging times is may help support maintaining your overall well-being. When the pandemic started, I had to wear many hats and started to see myself getting frustrated easily. I was short-tempered and easily triggered by the silliest things! “Put that sock in the laundry basket!” I also started to experience body aches and my sleep was suffering because of how the pandemic was going to “play out.” Learning techniques for managing stress became crucial for me. In Chinese medicine, we [...]

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BACKPACK TIPS Dr. Edward Chan, R.AC As we round September, those of us with children and teens returning to “in school” learning, here are some tips regarding backpacks. Encourage light packing: Start with good habits. Place all the items that you and your child think you might need to pack. Decide together what’s essential and what can be managed. Pack only what is needed. Load it evenly: Place the heaviest items closest to the centre of the back for stabilizing your child’s centre of gravity and helps prevent slouching, tilting to one side, or falling over. Make sure it’s the right weight: The loaded backpack should be [...]

Thyroid and Acupuncture Tracie Smith, Acupuncturist Thyroid disorders fall into two categories. There is hyperthyroidism characterized by an overactive thyroid gland that produces too much thyroid hormone. Typical symptoms of hyperthyroidism include high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, moist skin, sweating, tremor, nervousness, appetite changes with weight management, diarrhea, and/or frequent bowel movements. The other category is hypothyroidism that is characterized by an under-active thyroid gland. The symptoms are quite different for each category. Typical symptoms of hypothyroidism include a hoarse voice, slowed speech, puffy face, drooping eyelids, sensitivity to cold, constipation, weight gain, dry hair and skin, and depression. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) regards both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism [...]

Support Your Energy and Your Thyroid Health! Dr. Naomi Ha, ND The thyroid gland is the master regulator of all metabolic processes in the body. So what exactly does that mean? It means that it is  responsible for maintaining your body temperature and keeping your heart beating, along with promoting energy production. If you’ve been feeling tired day in and day out, and have noticed that you lack the energy to keep up with your daily routine, it’s worthwhile to get its assessed. A full thyroid assessment includes the measurements of it stimulating hormones (TSH), thyroid hormones, and thyroid antibodies. It produces two different thyroid hormones, T3 (triiodothyronine) [...]

Thyroid problems: nodule, autoimmune, cancer? Dr. Wendy Zhou, ND What is thyroid? Thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland in the lower, front side of the neck. It produces hormones to regulate metabolism and is important for all metabolic activities in the body. When the thyroid goes wrong, we often see blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol levels being affected. In early stages, thyroid dysregulation is not often felt through symptoms. As thyroid cancer disease progresses, people may feel tired, weight changes, decreased appetite, dry skin, loss of hair, mood changes, decreased concentration, and many more. The severity depends on the progression and time. Thyroid Nodule Nodules are just [...]

Keep Calm and Drink Water! Dr. Edward Chan, Chiropractor Typically, our bodies contain 60-65% water and many bodily functions are dependent on proper hydration. Some functions include body temperature regulation, carries nutrients to cells, help metabolism and joint lubrication. Adequate hydration helps your spine. By keeping the body hydrated, spinal fluids can deliver nutrients and water, maintain spinal disc lubrication and remove waste products via diffusion. Spinal disc hydration is facilitated by movement and rest. Generally, daily amount for women is 2.7 litres and men, 3.7 litres, keeping in mind your environment, the season, activity level and your health (any illness, chronic disease and or medication). Therefore, many [...]

Having Thyroid Symptoms But Your Lab Tests Are Normal? Here’s Why! Dr. Debbie, ND Do you have thyroid symptoms but your lab tests come back normal? Here’s a possible cause. Based on thyroid hormone blood levels alone, it is estimated that approximately 10% of the population may have hypothyroidism. Some clinicians feel this is a poor measurement tool, and that by using multiple criteria, including history, signs and symptoms and basal body temperature, a more accurate estimate would be between 15 – 40% of the population. Why the discrepancy? It might not be your thyroid gland that is the problem, but your bodies ability to convert T4 to [...]

New Beginnings Dr. Edward Chan, Chiropractor As we move into another season of our lives, and as activities are returning to ‘normal’, let’s press the focus on our health. Pause. Slow down, take time for yourself. I suggest starting with 1-3 minutes during the day where you can sit comfortably and not be interrupted. Breathe. Start breathing in a normal rate and only focus on your breathing during your pause time. If there are wandering thoughts about TPA reports, do to list, past events or even future events, kindly acknowledge them, and center back to your breathing. Choose. Decide on your new beginnings health pathway. Reassess and set [...]

Inflammation & Cancer Dr. Wendy Zhou, N If your body is a garden, the cancer is the weeds, then having surgery is equivalent to pulling out the weeds. Your chemotherapy/radiation might be the weed-killer prior to or after your gardening sessions. Inflammation is a part of the neglect over time that makes weed grow again. Are you following this analogy? Let’s keep on going and specifically talk about inflammation - it is like not watering your garden. By not watering the garden, it creates that dry environment where healthy roots cannot flourish and old/damaged plants cannot recover. Similarly, inflammation is a low broil which: damages DNA promotes fatigue [...]