#Integrative Healthcare

[surinderbhalla]

Can Herbs Replace Prescription Drugs?

As the global focus on natural and holistic health grows, many wonder: can herbs truly replace prescription drugs? Herbal remedies have been used for centuries. Yet, their effectiveness is still compared to pharmaceutical drugs. Their safety also remains a topic of intense debate. This article dives into the science, expert opinions, and real-world examples to separate fact from fiction. Can…

[paintreatmentdirectory]

Trending: Increase of Integrated/Complementary Healthcare, especially as treatment for chronic pain!

[wellnessthroughhomeopathy]

☆ Ignite Your Wellness Journey with Personalized Homeopathy: Tailored Care!

Unlike conventional medicine, where a single prescription often fits the masses, homeopathy takes a personalized approach. Homeopathic practitioners delve deep into your physical, emotional, and mental state to create a remedy that resonates with your unique constitution. In a world where no two individuals are the same, this approach recognizes the significance of individuality in healthcare.

[afriblaq]

The so called "american dream"

The more you know 🌈

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine for Erin In The Morning:

On Monday, a team of nine international experts on transgender care drafted a 39-page response paper to the Cass Review. The paper argues that the Cass Review, including the additional York Reviews, has numerous methodological problems in both how it was conducted and how it interprets its data, and that it has been grossly misused by governmental bodies across the world in justifying bans on gender affirming care, especially for minors. The Cass Review is a review of the literature on puberty blockers’ effects on transgender youth conducted by Dr. Hillary Cass, a researcher who has no prior experience working with transgender youth, and who has consulted with Ron DeSantis appointed Florida medical board members in establishing the Review. In addition to the main document outlining clinical recommendations, it also has several systematic reviews conducted by researchers from the University of York. The Review has been used to justify bans on puberty blockers in England, and has been cited in court cases restricting gender affirming care across the United States.

“The Review repeatedly misuses data and violates its own evidentiary standards by resting many conclusions on speculation. Many of its statements and the conduct of the York [systematic reviews] reveal profound misunderstandings of the evidence base and the clinical issues at hand,” says the paper. “The Review also subverts widely accepted processes for development of clinical recommendations and repeats spurious, debunked claims about transgender identity and gender dysphoria. These errors conflict with well-established norms of clinical research and evidence-based healthcare. Further, these errors raise serious concern about the scientific integrity of critical elements of the report’s process and recommendations.” The article is entitled “An Evidence-Based Critique of ‘The Cass Review’ on Gender-affirming Care for Adolescent Gender Dysphoria,” and is authored by Dr. Meredithe McNamara, Dr. Kellan Baker, Dr. Kara Connelly, Dr. Aron Janssen, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, Dr. Ken C. Pang, Dr. Ayden Scheim, Dr. Jack Turban, and Dr. Anne Alstott. It was announced both by Turban in a post on Twitter, as well as on the Yale Law School’s website. Both McNamara and Alstott are professors at Yale who co-founded the Integrity Project, a project that aims to provide legal justice to marginalized peoples.

The core of the paper is divided into seven sections that each tackle a different element of the Review. The first section focuses on how the Review actually is compliant with established standards of care recommendations for providing legal protections for gender affirming care. The authors compare it to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) eighth rendition for standards of care and the Endocrine Society clinical practice guidelines, finding that recommendations for individualized and evidence based care are consistent across these different documents. The authors state, “the Review does not conclude that gender-affirming medical care for adolescent gender dysphoria should be banned. Thus, it should not be cited in support of bans on medical treatments for gender dysphoria.”

[...] This paper shines a new light on interpretations for the Cass Review, suggesting that it’s based on low quality work and has been falsely interpreted in legal proceedings across the world. The lack of expertise from Cass herself contrasts with the expertise of the authors of the paper, all of whom represent institutions across the world that have decades of research and clinical practice on transgender individuals. Legal decisions made using the Cass Review need to be reevaluated in light of the sweeping critiques found within this paper.

Yale Law School researchers wrote an article debunking the anti-trans Cass Review that has been used to justify bans on gender-affirming care in the UK and USA.

[spacedocmom]

Doctor Beverly Crusher @SpaceDocMom Anyone in any part of the health care chain who lies to a patient - especially to cover their own ass - is a terrible person and should be ejected from the field entirely. emojis: black heart, blue heart, masked, spoon 4:01 PM · Jun 7, 2024

x.com/SpaceDocMom/status/1799094255639560662

[ivygorgon]

An open letter to the U.S. Supreme Court

Abortion as reproductive healthcare is a right, PERIOD.

46 so far! Help us get to 50 signers!

A cadaver who holds viable organs ripe for life-saving donations can impact eight individual human lives. One citizen can save eight viable human beings, living breathing people with families, likely with social security numbers, even jobs, but most certainly: with economic investment in their very existence. But, without the express consent of a dead person, that means nothing. The body will be processed for eternal rest rendering its lifesaving organs useless to the living. As is legal, as is that cadaver’s right, the right to body autonomy.

Why then do the citizens of the United States come to hear that the supreme court is of the opinion that the same body autonomy granted to corpses in the face of documented citizens is not extended to women in the face of undocumented fetuses? It is the right of a person to decide what their body is used for, before death as well as after. This includes their reproductive rights. In fact, forced pregnancy is an assault on the human rights set forth by the United Nations (UN) of which the United States of America (USA) is a permanent member of. Denial of reproductive healthcare such as abortion is a violation of human rights.

Depending on the supreme court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the already tenuous protections provided by Roe v. Wade will be entirely up for debate. Regardless of your personal beliefs on the morality of abortions, know that unprotected access to abortions will, and has already, resulted in women being charged with manslaughter over uncontrollable miscarriages, families weeping for doctors to abort miscarrying fetuses that are actively killing their beloved wives and mothers, women who are sentenced to death by pregnancy with a non-viable fetus. Even a healthy woman and fetus can, and do, turn deadly at a moment’s notice. To speak nothing on why a person might decide against the permanent body and life changes outside of concerns about mortality. Or how these policies disproportionately affect transgender people, people of color, and impoverished people. Or even how we have proof that reinforcing sexual education, access to birth control, paternity protections, and family welfare programs all are more cost-effective, more impactful, and more humane ways to decrease the rate of abortions.

To restrict access to reproductive healthcare, access to abortions, to any of these people, to do so will kill Americans. Do not cripple Roe v. Wade.

To quote Planned Parenthood, “Our bodies are our own — if they are not, we cannot be truly free or equal. Across the country, some politicians are trying to make decisions about our bodies for us. We won't let the abortion bans sweeping the country put our lives and futures at risk, and we won't be silenced while our fundamental right to control our bodies is taken away.

“Everyone deserves health care that's free of shame, stigma, or judgment. Together, we say: Get your bans off our bodies!”

▶ Created on May 26, 2022 by Ret. SGT Guild, Breeding Chattel

📱 Text SIGN PINRVQ to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW IVYPETITIONS to 50409

[orthosispsychosis]

we should have universal basic income and free healthcare specifically so the people who make all the weird online media i enjoy will update more frequently.

[teachanarchy]

Why Going to the Pharmacy Sucks Now

[llewelynpritch]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/small-book-more-memory-nye-aneurin-bevan-honour-our-nhs-pritchard-ma-ldp7e/ PART I: 1 - 4 A human-centric, holistic, rights-based advocating regenerative culture, just transition to a regenerative society. Rapidly end fossil fuel finance by implementing climate justice valuation strategies rooted in human indigenous rights with moral compass as educational opportunities to better protect our life-sustaining systems in the cost of living climate crisis on planet Earth.

[victoriawoodhullforpresident]

For the radfems in medical fields, how do we build the argument that the body is holistic, not just a mishmash of parts? What research should we be reading? In terms of women’s health (e.g., a healthy reproductive system is part of overall health even if you don’t want kids) and health in general (e.g., the ridiculousness of treating eyes and teeth as if they’re bonus parts).

[eatclean-bewhole]

Hear this and watch it in its entirety. Chris is a cancer survivor who, like my mom, educated himself and has healed naturally. The corruption he speaks of is why I left nursing school to become a nutritionist. I mean no offense to nurses. I can appreciate the sacrifice and service. I especially appreciate the nurses trying to bridge the gap between medicine and nutrition. For me, nursing wasn’t a good fit. As I was shadowing in hospitals, it became clear that I would not be on the proactive side of health, like I intended. Once I started studying nutrition and its powerful healing effects on the human body, I became enamored. I haven’t looked back since and I will continue to do my part in getting this information out. You are only being told one side, but it’s a human right to know ALL of your healthcare, preventative, and treatment options.

#cancer #chemotherapy #radiation #health #cancertherapy #inegrativenutrition #integrativemedicine #cancerfighting #cancersupport #cancercare #cancertreatment #holistichealth #holistichealing #hyperbaricoxygentherapy #vitaminctherapy #holistictherapies #healthy #health #healthychoices #healthyliving #healthylife #healthybody #healthcare #nutrition #HealthyDiet #infrared #integrativenutrition #nutritionist #integrativenutritionist #healthtips

[firespirited]

I’ve never feared the Roko’s basilisk or Skynet, the same way Del Toro’s not scared of the horror monsters.

because whether it comes from AI or outer space, we’re going to organize the anthill into math patterns and gifts and we’ll tame each other like The Little Prince and the fox... or not

If after all that it eats us, or explodes the planet to make an intergalactic highway, that was going to happen anyway.

It’s like in Star Trek, The one with the Whales, all we can do is work on having a welcoming environment and something to show for the traits that make us different from other apes.

Besides, I trust logic based sentience over our power-mad billionaires any day.

[emorphistechno]

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, or FHIR, are a crucial component of contemporary healthcare. It is a protocol for electronically transmitting medical data. It is intended to make it simpler for patients to access their health information as well as for healthcare providers to transfer data among systems. Modern web technologies are the foundation of FHIR, which was designed to be adaptable, modular, and extendable. As a result, it is an effective tool for handling healthcare data. Electronic health records (EHRs) are becoming more prevalent, and there is a growing need for efficient and secure data sharing. In reality, it's crucial to comprehending how to begin using FHIR. We will discuss the fundamentals of FHIR in this FHIR implementation guide. Provide step-by-step instructions for using this cutting-edge technology as well.

[hazzzyrider]

one of the most challenging parts of helping mental health i learned from work is modern (especially westernized, especially americanized) healthcare has essentially polarized how we treat trauma into either:

a. unconditionally dumping all my pain and trauma into our support network without any regard of effect or any skill at listening and soothing our friends doing it OR

b. our trauma should only be placed on professionals to solve and handle

the reality is that most therapists will aim to help encourage people to learn how to self-care, self-soothe and eventually learn how to share and communicate healthily to their support network what they want from sharing trauma (the activity isn't the goal, it's the end result eg. feeling better, needing a way to process or express pain).

part of that process requires also learning how to seek out, maintain and foster a good support network. and SOMETIMES, that can mean seeking out support groups entirely divorced from our current circles.

there is no silver bullet to trauma. and social media is TERRIBLE at expressing nuance.

so yeah like, if you fear your trauma expressions might be too much for friends? a counselor or therapist or peer group can be great but it's usually not a permanent solution. and that goes vice versa for expressing to your friends because the act itself can be a process for both sides to learn how to soothe and help each other.

and something i think people miss out is this isn't a problem you solve and be happy it's gone. it's mostly a long-lasting process with potential retraumatization and even maladaptative coping lasting YEARS. and that shit requires both good professional help and good support and good unconditional loving from all around.

“stop traumadumping to your friends tell this to your therapist” my god they paywalled human connection

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Madison Pauly and Henry Carnell at Mother Jones:

The conversion therapists met last November at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. Behind the closed doors and drawn blinds of a Hampton Inn conference room, a middle-aged woman wearing white stockings and a Virgin Mary blue dress issued a call to arms to the 20-some people in attendance. “In our current culture, in which children are being indoctrinated with transgender belief from the moment they’re out of the womb, if we are confronted with a gender-confused child, you must help,” declared Michelle Cretella, a board member of the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity. “We must do something.” Cretella was delivering a keynote speech at the first in-person conference in four years of the Alliance, which describes itself as a “professional and scientific organization” with “Judeo-Christian values.” Its purpose: to defend and promote the practice of conversion therapy by licensed counselors.

Not that they’d call what they do “conversion therapy.” That term lacks a precise definition, but it is used colloquially to describe attempts to shift a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In the 1960s, some psychologists tried to make gay men straight by pairing aversive stimuli, like electric shocks or chemically induced nausea, with images of gay porn—techniques that ran the risk of causing serious psychological damage even as they failed to change participants’ sexual orientation, researchers eventually concluded. Today, “conversion therapy” generally takes the form of verbal counseling. Participants are typically conservative Christians who engage voluntarily—motivated by internalized stigma, family pressure, and the belief that their feelings are incompatible with their faith. Others are children, brought into therapy by their parents.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has concluded that conversion therapy lacks “sufficient bases in scientific principles” and that people who have undergone it are “significantly more likely to experience suicidality and depression.” Similarly, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, published a report concluding that “none of the existing research supports the premise that mental or behavioral health interventions can alter gender identity or sexual orientation. Interventions aimed at a fixed outcome, such as gender conformity or heterosexual orientation…are coercive, can be harmful, and should not be part of behavioral health treatment.”

Accordingly, the Alliance and the ideas it promotes have been relegated to the scientific and political fringes. In the 2010s, as acceptance of gay rights grew rapidly, 18 states and dozens of local governments passed laws forbidding mental health professionals from attempting conversion therapy on minors. Yet by 2020, a new front had opened in the war against LGBTQ people. Republican state legislatures started passing laws targeting transgender and nonbinary children at school—restricting their access to bathrooms, barring them from participating in sports, and stopping educators from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. The most intense attacks have banned doctors from providing the treatments for gender dysphoria backed by all major US medical associations. Nearly 114,000 trans youth live in states where access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy has been wiped out.

Last year, I received leaked emails illustrating how these laws are crafted and pushed by a network of anti-trans activists and powerful Christian-right organizations. The Alliance is deeply enmeshed in this constellation of actors. Although small, with an annual budget of under $200,000, it provides both unsubstantiated arguments suggesting LGBTQ identities are changeable and a network of licensed counselors to lend their credibility to these efforts. Among the collaborators were David Pickup, the Alliance’s president-elect; Laura Haynes, an Alliance advocate; and Cretella, the former executive director of an anti-trans pediatrics group who described gender-affirming medical care at the Las Vegas conference as “evil” and part of a “New World Order.” (“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” she assured attendees. “I’m just someone who has been in the battle of the culture of life versus the culture of death long enough to see the big picture.”) All three have testified before state legislatures against gender-affirming care. When a US senator introduced a pair of bills to restrict trans youth health care in 2021, his press release quoted Cretella calling gender-affirming treatments “eugenics.”

[...]

If the Las Vegas conference made one thing clear, it’s that conversion therapy is alive and well, even in places where it’s been banned. One counselor told me he makes it a habit not to document his treatment plans in writing to avoid getting in trouble and simply treats “family dynamics” in states with conversion therapy bans. In a 2015 survey of more than 27,000 trans adults, nearly 1 in 7 said that a professional, such as a therapist, doctor, or religious adviser, had tried to make them not transgender; about half of respondents said they were minors at the time. By applying this rate to population estimates, the Williams Institute at UCLA projects that more than 135,000 trans adults nationwide have experienced some form of conversion therapy.

Despite the data, lawmakers frequently don’t believe that conversion therapy is still happening in their community, says Casey Pick, director of law and policy at the Trevor Project, the LGBTQ suicide prevention group. “We’re constantly running up against this misconception that this is an artifact of the past,” she says. So, five years ago, the Trevor Project began scouring psychologists’ websites and books, records of public testimony, and known conversion therapy referral services, looking for counselors who said they could alter someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation. As the research stretched on, Pick noticed webpages being revised to reflect changing times. “We saw many folks who seemed to leave the industry entirely,” she says. “But others changed their website, changed their keywords, [from] talking about creating ex-gays to talking about ex-trans.” Last December, Pick’s team published their report documenting active conversion therapists. They found more than 600 were licensed health care professionals and an additional 716 were clergy, lay ministers, or other unlicensed religious counselors.

According to Pick, some conversion therapists have embraced a new label for what they do: “gender exploratory therapy.” It’s a term that Cretella used to describe the approach she recommended, and unlike the other euphemisms thrown around at the conference, this has gained traction. In 2021, a group of therapists, who ranged from conflicted about medical interventions for kids with gender dysphoria to skeptical of the very concept of transgender identity, formed the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA) to promote an approach they characterize as neither conversion nor affirmation.

Some current and former leaders of the group, which claims a membership of 300 mental health providers, have been involved in influential organizations lobbying against gender-affirming care across the world, such as the Ireland-based Genspect and the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, a nonprofit registered in Idaho. They���ve notched some big wins: In November 2023, the UK Council for Psychotherapy—the nation’s top professional association—declared that it was fine for counselors to take GETA’s “exploratory” approach to gender. This April, a long-awaited review of gender-related care for youth in England’s National Health Service endorsed exploratory therapy, according to Alex Keuroghlian, an associate psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School. And in the United States, in cases in which families of trans children have sued states for banning gender-affirming care, the state often calls expert witnesses who endorse “exploratory” psychotherapy as their preferred alternative treatment.

After all, the idea of “exploring” one’s gender identity sounds benign. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which issues guidelines on gender-­affirming treatment, recommends that clinicians working with teens “facilitate the exploration and expression of gender openly and respectfully so that no one particular identity is favored.” Yet, as with mindfulness, “that term has now been hijacked by folks on the other side,” says Judith Glassgold, a clinical psychologist who chaired the APA task force that in 2009 documented the lack of science behind conversion therapy.

GETA’s guidelines instruct therapists to dig deep into “the entire landscape of the young person’s life and subjective experience,” probing all possible reasons they might identify as transgender. The catch, says Glassgold, is that “exploration” means “trying to find negative reasons why someone’s diverse.” Last year, SAMHSA issued a report saying that “approaches that discourage youth from identifying as transgender or gender-diverse, and/or from expressing their gender identity” are sometimes “misleadingly referred to as ‘exploratory therapy.’” These approaches are “harmful and never appropriate,” the report concluded.

Mother Jones has a detailed report on a new form of the medically discredited practice known as conversion therapy called gender exploratory therapy. Gender exploratory therapy is the practice of making a person revert to their gender assigned at birth, which is essentially forced detransition by another name.

Read the full story at Mother Jones.