Functional Medicine | Women's Health
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Hair thinning is actually a very common issue that I see in the clinic, and it can be extremely distressing for women. In this article, I will review some of the causes of hair thinning that I test for, and some solutions to get your hair growing again. One important thing to note is that getting the hair into a re-growth …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Fatigue, or tiredness is the number one complaint that brings people in for naturopathic care. There are many underlying factors to investigate in determining the cause of tiredness. Below is my top 10 list of factors that that can be causing your fatigue. Many of these are missed in a conventional medical work-up, or …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Fatigue is an issue that I have been seeing even more than before in my clinic consults, and I wanted to write about an area to look beyond low iron, B12 and thyroid function. Reactivated Epstein Barr virus is something that I see very frequently with persistent fatigue, especially when it comes on suddenly and may …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND I’m writing this article because it’s a pattern I see quite regularly, where exercise or nutrition habits are taken too far, and then some type of hormone imbalance develops. This is usually more subtle than an overt eating disorder, where the imbalance of caloric intake and energy burned is more extreme. There can be too …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Were you diagnosed with hypothyroidism, put on medication and expected to feel so much better and still don’t? This is something I hear all the time - my thyroid is underactive, that’s why I’m tired, overweight and my hair is falling out. Really, if your thyroid is optimally treated there should no longer be lingering …
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By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Today’s article will talk about the link between Epstein Barr Virus and autoimmune thyroid disorders. This can be an essential piece of the autoimmunity puzzle, and one that can allow antibodies to reverse and thyroid function to return to normal if it is addressed thoroughly. As you may already know, when we treat …
By Dr. Shawna Darou, ND Your thyroid gland is central to your metabolism, and it impacts almost every system in the body. It can cause menstrual cycle changes and infertility, it can increase cardiovascular risk factors, cause depression and cognitive issues, impact gut motility, and lead to swelling in the body. Thyroid issues are extremely …
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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 and Dr. Emily FitzGerald, ND It seems that everywhere you look online right now, people are promoting a ketogenic diet: for weight loss, energy, mental clarity and more. Yes, it’s true that most people will lose weight rapidly by cutting carbs, but are the rest of the claims legitimate? And what are the risks? The …
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