LL Integrative Life Center

The vaccine is here! This is a link for Part 3 from a well written 3 Part Blog about the Covid vaccine. It is in a Question & Answer format- easy to digest for those short on time & bandwidth. https://gretchenlasallemd.com/covid19-vaccine-coming-soon-/

Everyone is yearning to return to a preCovid Life, including myself! As many know, vaccines have been developed and will be available soon. The piece below, written as part of a series, by a fellow physician was laid out nicely. Be prepared to allot some time for it. Am looking forward to reading more, especially on how the new vaccines work and are different then traditionally developed vaccines.

Thank You Dr. Gorodinsky! In these times, when people are feeling unsure if they want to see a provider, this is great! Thank you so much for sharing your gifts.

MANAGING STRESS: Many pillars to this- Lifestyle is foundation. Breathwork, gratitude, community, exercise/movment, healthful food choices, quality sleep.... BUT How do you achieve this without feeling like it is ‘one more thing to do?!’ Calming & Adaptogen Herbs paired with lifestyle additions can be a complimentary tool in coping with life’s stressors. These can help create the ‘space’ our body and mind need to reset, thus the ability to perceive and handle stressors di...fferently. Calming Herbs are a wonderful way to bring the gentleness back into your life. They work to calm and nourish our nervous system. It can be a good way to help our system to maintain more evenness throughout the day. Chamomile, Passion Flower, Lemon Balm are just a few examples. Adaptogen Herbs are a nice compliment to the above for managing stress. It works by moderating cortisol along the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal). Cortisol is generated as a response to stress and is a necessary hormone that influences many actions in the body such as blood pressure, inflammation, & electrolytes. However, with persistent HPA axis stimulation, our system adapts to this chronic cortisol drive, and that is when dysregulation from our optimal state occurs with unwanted physical manifestations. Ashwagandha, Ginseng, Holy Basil are some examples. We sometimes need a bit of assistance to begin the journey of caring for ourselves. #managestress #medicinalherbs #wellness #selfcare

Here's a creative analogy to help you decide your own risk tolerance as we open up communities. ------------- Sharing from another MD-great analogy: COVID socializing... I’m a family medicine physician. I see many posts and get many questions from patients about what level of socializing is safe in the time of COVID. Can my kids play with friends? Can we have a socially distanced barbeque? It’s challenging because there are many unknowns but, fortunately, we do have a very good framework to think about how to do this and that is SEXUAL DECISION MAKING. We are used to doing this ourselves and educating our patients about safe choices. Social activity, like sex, is an intrinsic biologic drive. We as doctors have to help people navigate this safely with the best information possible. Here’s how I think about it in order of lower to higher risk. Safest: Stay at home equals abstinence. Only 100% safe method. Not sustainable in the long term AND abstinence only education only leads to people taking more risk because they don’t have the knowledge to keep themselves safe. Next: Mutual monogamy with protection. In sex this means condoms, in COVID it means masks and social distancing. In sex it means one partner, in COVID it means one other household. Very safe. Minimal increased risk compared to abstinence. Next: Monogamy without protection. Also very safe with one major caveat. It ONLY works if both partners are monogamous. Before you do it you have THE TALK and you have to have trust and open communication. You need to know that your partner is not having unprotected interactions with anyone else. But what if you don’t want just one partner or family? What if you want to see more people? The answer is PROTECTION. If you are going to have multiple sex partners you must use condoms EVERY SINGLE TIME. If you are going to have multiple social partners you must use masks and social distancing EVERY SINGLE TIME. And, just like in sex, not all protection is created equal. All parties in masks is safer than one party in masks. Masks are safer than physical distancing (since no one really can follow 6 feet apart 100% of the time). Smaller groups are always safer than larger groups. Few interactions are safer than many interactions. And alcohol and drugs cloud your judgment and put you and everyone at higher risk. So, find where you fall on the spectrum. What level of risk feels comfortable to you? But please be thoughtful and safe, to protect you, your family, your friends and your community