This is an edited transcript of the discussion. For a deep dive, please watch the video.
E Brian Johnson:
I’m very happy to introduce you to Karolyn Gazella, who is the publisher of the Natural Medicine Journal, which is the official journal of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Why don't we kick it off right away with one of the stories that you've featured in the Journal?
Covid Recovery for Integrative Health Care Professionals
Karolyn Gazella:
We've been covering Covid-19 a lot since its inception and we're still in the midst of a horrible pandemic. So we still cover it. So as an example, in our February issue, my colleague and good friend and editor at the Natural Medicine Journal, Dr. Lise Alschuler, was the lead author on a paper on Covid Recovery for Integrative Health Care Professionals. It was published in the journal Explore NY and it was phenomenal. It was comprehensive, it was evidence-based and she authored it with her colleagues at the University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Center. I wanted to get Lise on a podcast to dig a little bit deeper which was hugely successful and really appreciated by our listeners.
E Brian Johnson:
Is this about the long tail effect that we're seeing now with people that have recovered from Covid?
Karolyn Gazella:
No, it's different. This paper was more about helping people with mild to moderate symptoms to recover the long haul. Now for that podcast, we have an amazing doctor, Dr. George Shatz, who's also from the University of Arizona. He is actually building the Covid Clinic at the University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Center. He also just finished up a grant to study Covid long haulers that the National Institutes of Health just allocated one billion dollars to get to the bottom of this. It's very fascinating, but it's very frustrating. And, you know, we've been covering long Covid since last October, so it's been on our radar for quite some time now.
E Brian Johnson:
Why did you get onto that so early? It’s something that people are only really understanding right now. So how did you catch onto that so quickly?
Karolyn Gazella:
We follow the scientific literature. So even though the mainstream media hasn't picked up on it, all of the journals that I read on a weekly basis, for example, the New England Journal, have been tracking it. I was really perplexed because, for example, the long haul syndrome in one individual can be cognitive. So they have brain fog and they can't think properly. I have a friend at the University of Colorado who's going to be studying cardiovascular effects, so something totally different. There are mental health effects and then there are people who still can't catch their breath. So it's very, very complex. And the more I read about it, the more I realized that an integrative approach was going to be effective due to the complex mix of symptoms and mechanisms that are going on. So I knew that our readers would be interested in following these long-term effects.
E Brian Johnson:
And you know what? With so much misinformation out there about Covid-19, it's good to know that the Natural Medicine Journal, which is so scientific and evidence-based, is getting this important evidence-based information out to integrative health professionals. I think it's so needed.
Karolyn Gazella:
It really is. And, you know, I worry that there's a lot of Covid fatigue. And I don't want our listeners and our readers to get to Covid fatigue, which is why we’re very selective. We only cover Covid when there's something to talk about. For example, we released an interview that I did with Dr. Heather Zwickey on vaccines. That's a moving target, lots of things going on. There are things that practitioners need to know. For example, vaccines can impact a mammogram of all things. These are things that our practitioners need to know. And Dr. Heather Zwickey has been absolutely amazing. She's an allergist. She's a professor. She's our go-to person. And I can call her up with questions. And these are the same questions that practitioners are getting from their patients. So we want to give them the facts so that they can share that with their patients. So that's on vaccines. And that just came out.
It's been exciting for us and it's been really rewarding, honestly, because, during the pandemic, you can feel kind of like, “I need to do something about this”. And the Natural Medicine Journal actually has been doing something about it.
E Brian Johnson:
It's wonderful to see you getting this important information out there. So another thing I know that you are excited about covering in the Journal is helping people with insomnia. Why don't you tell me a little bit about that?
Insomnia: Sleep, Stress And Mood.
Karolyn Gazella:
Well, I'll tell you one thing. At the Natural Medicine Journal, we just can't get enough information about sleep, stress and mood. Those are the big three for us right now, especially during this pandemic. I was interviewing Dr. Jaffe, another awesome expert and he said 80 percent of the reason people go to clinics and hospitals is because of those three things: sleep, stress and mood. So sleep is huge.
Insomnia is reaching epidemic proportions. So in the Natural Medicine Journal, we have this section called Abstracts and Commentary where we take a study and we have one of our experts comment on it. The whole purpose of that is because doctors are busy, so they may not have read these studies so if we can expose them to this new information, it’s a win/win. So this particular study is with weighted blankets, right? Before this study, honestly, I had only heard of them for children and adults who are autistic or who have attention deficit disorder. I had not heard about them for insomnia. So it really piqued my curiosity. The research was amazing. I mean, after a year of using weighted blankets, 78 percent of the participants said their insomnia was gone. They were in remission. Amazing!
E Brian Johnson:
When you consider how people spend so much money on all kinds of medications and other things to help them sleep better, to find something so simple as a weighted blanket can have such an impact, I think it's a wonderful story.
Karolyn Gazella:
Right? And, you know, it's safe. They're not that expensive. When it comes to integrative medicine, there are just so many tools in the toolbox. If a doctor is trying to help with insomnia, they'll talk about sleep hygiene and they may mention melatonin - and now a weighted blanket. We can come at it from a lot of different angles, which I think is really indicative of why integrative medicine can be so successful.
E Brian Johnson:
Do we have a sense of why weighted blankets work?
Karolyn Gazella:
We do, actually. You know, the weight is kind of like a hug. And we know that when you get hugged, you release oxytocin and your parasympathetic system is increased and your sympathetic system is decreased. So there's an actual hormonal thing that's going on.
This was made famous by Dr. Temple Grandin. I don't know if you remember her, but she is a brilliant autistic scientist and she actually created a cage that she would go into when she was feeling anxious and she would pull a lever and the cage would wrap her like a hug, and then she would calm down and then everything would be fine. It is just fascinating the way that a blanket has the same kind of effect. It's very calming. It actually produces good feeling hormones in the body. So there's actual science to support it.
Spirituality In Health Care
E Brian Johnson:
What a fantastic story that is! To finish our program today, let us talk about the role of spirituality in health care, another story you have covered in the Natural Health Journal.
Karolyn Gazella:
I have to tell you, Brian, I was a little hesitant. I don't talk about religion per se with colleagues, although I consider myself quite a spiritual person. I had the opportunity to interview Dr Frederic Craigie, who is really considered a leading scholar in the area of spirituality. And I jumped at the chance. And Dr. Craigie was amazing. He's so thoughtful in his process. And I just really enjoyed interviewing him.
I think it's something very serious that practitioners need to look at. Should we be talking about spirituality? Of course. Dr. Craigie says yes. The research tells us that people want to talk about spirituality and purpose at work. When we can meet them on their healing journey and we can allow them to bring spirituality into their healing, they have better outcomes. So it was a fascinating interview and Dr. Craigie was wonderful. Really wonderful.
E Brian Johnson:
I think it's really important to give people the space to talk about meaning in their lives because, you know, the traditional religions have fallen away in terms of importance in many people's lives. Let's face it, if you are seeing a healer, you may be carrying some fear inside of you. Which may be the perfect opportunity to bring spirituality into the conversation.
Karolyn Gazella:
Absolutely. And, you know, I wanted to ask him what about a practitioner who is a practicing atheist, somebody who doesn't believe? His answer was so simple and so spot on. He said it doesn't matter. The practitioner’s views don't matter. The practitioner is there to open the door for the patient to heal. So it has nothing to do with the practitioner. It just helps in the healing process. So I just changed my view. My conversation with Dr. Craigie was awesome. I really enjoyed it.
E Brian Johnson:
And where will we find that conversation?
Karolyn Gazella:
The Natural Medicine Journal has a tab for podcasts and that is where you’ll find my interview with Dr Craigie. You can also sign up for the Natural Medicine Journal there too. Again, we're an open-access journal, so there's no cost. All we ask for is your email.
Go to naturalmedicinejournal.com and sign up and you will automatically get anything that we're doing to your email on a regular basis.
E Brian Johnson:
Thank you, Karolyn Gazella, publisher of The Natural Medicine Journal.
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About Karolyn Gazella
Karolyn A. Gazella is the coauthor of the Definitive Guide to Cancer, Return to Beautiful Skin, and Boost Your Health With Bacteria. Karolyn has been involved in the natural health industry for more than 17 years. She is the publisher of the Natural Medicine Journal, a peer-reviewed e-journal for healthcare professionals, and she has written hundreds of articles on the topic of natural health. Karolyn is a regular contributor to Better Nutrition magazine and the managing editor of the Healthy Living Guide series.
Learn more at Natural Medicine Journal
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The opinions expressed in this Nutramedica program are those of the guests and contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nutritional Fundamentals For Health Inc.
This video is intended for licensed or registered health professionals and students of health professions only. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information contained in these programs is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
