Functional Medicine | Women's Health
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Progesterone is a key hormone for women’s health, produced by the corpus luteum, only after ovulation. It has a tremendous influence on your mood (think PMS), sleep, period flow, fertility, and more. It is also important as the hormone that balances out our estrogen levels, keeping us out of an estrogen dominant state. What …
Continue Reading about Hormone imbalance spotlight: Luteal Phase Defect →
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND If you’re feeling tired and burned out, it may be time to look beyond low iron, low B12 levels and thyroid hormones. You have probably heard about mitochondria, but may not know how important they are to your health and especially your energy levels. Mitochondria are the energy centres of your cells, and we have over …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND In my studies about cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, I have come across a wealth of information about the health impacts of indoor mold exposure. It’s an interesting toxin, in that not everyone reacts the same way: approximately 25% of people have a genetic susceptibility to develop an inflammatory response …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND After reading my recent blog post “Why all women should start thinking about Alzheimer’s prevention in their 40’s”, you may be interested in what an assessment looks like. Dr. Dale Bredesen has coined the term “cognoscopy” to describe the proactive screening we can initiate as young as 40 years old to identify and address …
Continue Reading about How to reduce Alzheimer’s risk factors, before it starts →
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I would like to share a perspective on your health that can be extremely helpful to return to, especially when chronic illness begins, or a new confusing symptom shows up apparently out of nowhere. Is your glass overflowing? Our bodies are generally able to hold a fair amount of stress - emotional and physical, but this …
Continue Reading about Have you reached your tipping point? →
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I’ve been studying extensively the latest research, and especially the Functional Medicine approach to Alzheimer’s disease because it has become clear to me that this devastating condition is one of the most important things we need to focus on with women’s health. The statistics below will likely shock you as much as they …
Continue Reading about Why all women should think about Alzheimer’s prevention in their 40’s →
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Testing for blood sugar imbalance and specifically insulin resistance is a very frequent test I request. The reason is that we are experiencing a growing number of cases of blood sugar imbalance, and diabetes at much younger ages. It is extremely important to detect insulin resistance early, because this is the phase of …
Continue Reading about 6 Surprising signs that point to insulin resistance →
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND What is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis? Hashimoto’s is a very common autoimmune condition that causes hypothyroidism or under-active thyroid. Your immune system attacks the thyroid gland causing inflammation called chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, which then leads to under-production of thyroid hormones and a slower metabolism. …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND The first step in determining how your health issues began and understanding their underlying causes is to create a timeline of your life. This timeline will identify health issues, important changes, stresses, medications used, and any other events that may have shaped your current health for each stage of life from …
