I am very excited to share that we were featured on Eyewitness News tonight! See our video clip here. My wonderful patient Irene told the story of her cure from rheumatoid arthritis, which will inspire many others with chronic conditions to seek out Functional Medicine to treat the underlying cause of their illness.  And of course, Lauren Glassberg highlighted Marti in the Kitchen, teaching Irene about healing foods and recipes, and Elizabeth in the meditation room, teaching relaxation techniques. The segment really showed all we have to offer.  Thank you, Lauren!

Every day the smells from the kitchen float through our Functional Medicine clinic, and remind us all how important food and nutrition are to our health. We have a cooking school within our health center because most people know this is important, but they don’t know where to start to make changes in their diet.  We will show you how. We will teach you in the kitchen.  Everyone is welcome!  You can come in and take a class whether or not you are an existing patient.  Check out our full class schedule, I guarantee you will find one you like.  Come with a friend and have fun!

We hope to see you soon!

We had over 200 people visit us yesterday to participate in our open house classes and cooking demonstrations. We could feel the enthusiastic energy of our patients, clients and visitors, and are thrilled with the feedback and unanimous positive responses we received. Thank you to everyone who attended!

Our complete array of services at Blum Center for Health are now officially up and running!

In response to your feedback, we are completely revising our membership program. Our wish is to create a program that will bring you into our community and help you experience all we have to offer. We think you will now find the included services more comprehensive and compelling.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon!

Blessings and good health to you and yours,
Susan

The news is not good for women who take or have taken combined estrogen-progestin therapy.

I’m thrilled to be writing my first blog entry for The Blum Center for Health’s website! We have a new name and new website and are moving into our new physical space in early December. I can’t wait for all my patients to go into our beautiful, functional, teaching kitchen to learn how to make the changes I suggest as part of their treatment plan. I’m also thrilled to have an on-site MindBodySpirit program and a dedicated meditation room so that everyone can have a place to learn how to relax as part of their medical plan. Of course, you can come in and use these facilities without seeing me or one of our Functional Medicine staff, but having it all integrated is the best medicine.

For my first Blog, I want to talk about Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Just the other day I read a study in my October 20, 2010 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that I need to share with all my patients. But let me give you a little background first. There are two different kinds of HRT. The first is the kind of HRT that women have been given for the past fifty years. It’s a combination of estrogen from pregnant horses (called Premarin) and a kind of progesterone called a progestin that looks nothing like human estrogen. The second kind of HRT is called bio-identical, because the estrogen and progesterone are exactly, biologically identical to human hormones, even though they are also synthetic. Premarin and Progestins behave differently (badly) in the body compared to bio-identical estrogen and progesterone.

The former is also the kind of HRT that was researched in the Women’s Health Initiative Study. The first bad news from that study came in the year 2000 when results revealed that women who took this form of HRT had an increased risk of breast cancer, stroke and pulmonary emboli and no protection from cardiovascular disease. However, many questions still remained unanswered, so these researchers followed the women for another 11 years. The results were just published in JAMA and revealed that the risk of breast cancer was definitely higher for the women who took the estrogen-progestin therapy. It’s beginning to look like the progestins are even worse than the estrogen.
But, even worse, the breast cancer was more aggressive and more likely to result in death. Despite this information, there are still some doctors who advocate using this form of HRT for a very brief period of time for relief of menopausal symptoms. I cannot understand this when it is highly unlikely that this will prove to be safe.

Why hasn’t the mainstream medical world adopted the use of Bio-Identical Hormone therapy instead, which has shown to be much safer than using these big Pharma drugs? I will leave that discussion for another day, but I believe it is imperative that we do what is best for our patients and resist the drug companies that try to push us in a different direction to prescribe Premarin and Progestins. If you are already taking these kinds of hormones, you can call me, or find a Functional or Integrative Medicine Practitioner who prescribes Bio-Identical Hormones through a compounding pharmacist.

Call our main number (914) 652-7800 to schedule an appointment.

The comprehensive class descriptions are the place to start. You can choose an individual consultation with a MindBodySpirit practitioner based on the kind of work they do, the conditions that benefit from their work or on referral. For a more in-depth consultation regarding the MindBodySpirit approach as it applies to your personal situation, schedule an appointment with Elizabeth Greig, FNP, our Director of the MindBodySpirit Program.

No. Anyone can register for a single class or class series. Occasionally, there is a pre-requisite for a particular class; in that case, it will be listed in the class description. Registration can be done online, but please call us if you need assistance.

No. Anyone can take one of our cooking classes.

Our classes are designed to accommodate the most common health concerns. When you see Dr. Blum, Elizabeth, or one of our nutritionists, they will suggest the class or classes that are most relevant to your treatment plan or needs. You can also consult our concierge for help finding one that best suits you. Our website offers comprehensive descriptions of each Nutrition in the Kitchen class, which range from more nutrition-focused to those that teach culinary techniques and skills, along with a key that tells you if it’s gluten free (G), low inflammation (I), low sugar (S) or dairy free (D).