Category: Greg Sperber's Blog
July 9th, 2009
Working with Patients on Anti-Epileptic Drugs
Published on July 9th, 2009 @ 04:17:08 pm , using 605 words, 2099 views
by Dr. Greg Sperber
“Dear Dr. Sperber,
I'd love your opinion on using Chinese herbs with the drug Tegretol (Carbamazepine). I had called a few months ago and we had a discussion about lithium. I now have a patient on Carbamazepine for seizures, 1 tab - 200mg/day only. I know this is also a Central Nervous System drug and I have read about it in your book, Integrated Pharmacology. This patient is on it for seizures and has been her whole life although she recently pushed her MD to lower the dose from 3 tabs to 2 to 1. She is 63 years old.
PermalinkJuly 8th, 2009
Seven Steps to Avoid Drug-Herb Interactions in Your Clinic
Published on July 8th, 2009 @ 04:12:16 pm , using 872 words, 789 views
by Dr.Greg Sperber, BMBS, DAOM, LAc
Recently, my patients have been more resistant to taking herbs. The concerns of quality in China manufacturing in addition to a regular onslaught from the medical profession and the media about drug-herb interactions have combined to make many consumers wary. However, combining herbs and drugs is quite safe. It has been done for decades in China, and in reality, only a very few combinations, occasionally, have been shown to have a true interaction. Of course, there are steps to prevent known and predict unknown negative mixtures.
May 12th, 2009
More Advice on Dealing with Patients with H1N1 Flu
Published on May 12th, 2009 @ 09:02:37 am , using 331 words, 852 views
by Greg Sperber, MD, DOM
So there is attempt to change the name from the Swine flu to H1N1 influenza. Half a dozen of one…They are both technically correct and it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is how we deal with our patients. First we should be discouraging patients with flu-like symptoms from seeing us as they could contaminate others and current guidelines are to stay home when feeling ill.
If you do see patients the CD has the following recommendations for healthcare professionals (from http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidelines_infection_control.htm):
April 29th, 2009
Swine Flu: Concern Yes, Panic No
Published on April 29th, 2009 @ 01:50:06 pm , using 667 words, 3934 views
by Dr. Greg Sperber
Recently, there is a lot of concern about the swine flu. This flu has some very unusual characteristics. Since we as practitioners, are among the first approached for information from our friends, families, and patients, it is a good idea to understand what is going on from a Western medical perspective and if there really are any concerns.
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