Articles

Navigating the risks of polypharmacy

While the world witnesses a constant evolution in style, governance, and personal aesthetics, a contrasting trend emerges in the realm of healthcare. A significant number of patients find themselves in a cycle where their medical prescriptions remain unchanged over time, with the only variation being an increase in the quantity of medications they must manage. Polypharmacy, the concurrent use of multiple medications by a patient, particularly afflicts the elderly and those with multiple chronic conditions. While it can be a…

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The ABCs of CBD Products

The TNHA were the organisation which successfully motivated the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to lower CBD from schedule 4 under to Schedule 0 complementary medicine within certain exemption criteria in 2019. This lead to CBD containing products becoming a popular non-prescription choice for health-conscious consumers. Demystifying CBD Extracts for Everyday Understanding Cannabidiol, or CBD, has become a household name, promising relief from various ailments. CBD products come in different forms: ‘full spectrum’, ‘broad spectrum’, and ‘isolate.’ Full…

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Meditation for stress and hypertension

Mindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular in the last decade with an explosion in interest and research; in 2018 alone, 842 articles were published in academic journals. This has moved the practice of mindfulness from the domain of alternative and unscientific, into mainstream practices in medicine, psychology, education and business. The shadow of this has been the potential to water down the practice, with apps on phones and practices promising instant peace and calm. Although there are studies which support…

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Pushing the edges to a new frontier of medicine

The medical world and patients alike are searching for new solutions to chronic diseases that will not only mask symptoms but lead to full recovery. The place to find these answers is at the second SA Congress of Integrative Medicine from 17 – 18 November at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West. “At this stage of Integrative medicine (IM), each one of us is still a pioneer. We all have one thing in common… we are inventing this wheel…

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Integrative medicine clarified

There have been some remarks made on Twitter in the past few days by some journalists and others about the lack of credentials of several medical doctors [myself included]. These tweets have called these doctors “quacks” and the Pan African Conference on Integrative Medicine [PACIM] taking place at Spier, a “quackery conference”. These tweets are uninformed opinions and could be construed as hate speech. We feel that this is an opportune time to set the record straight. Integrative medicine: supports…

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