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Questions and Answers Segment
Your questions answered
every 2 weeks. If you have a question for Dr Elstein,
click here.
QUESTION 1:
A friend of mine, a male 56 year old has been diagnosed
with Sarcoidosis and had been put on Prednisone - 400mg
per day - reducing for the next 2 years. Is there
any natural remedy or supplements, which will help in
his speedy recovery from this disease?
Answer:
I have a patient who is suffering from this
disease and together we are exploring the hypothesis
that a bacterium called mycoplasma fermentens is a
trigger for the development of this disorder. A blood
test, which explored the presence of a number of
abnormal germs including this mycoplasma bacterium,
turned out to be positive for this organism.
She has now undertaken a course of antibiotics in
order to eradicate this mycoplama species and if this is
successful we hope that this has a positive impact on
her disease process.
QUESTION 2: Are there remedies for
brittle hair due to taking tamoxifen? Will this
condition be reversible when I stop taking tamoxifen?
Answer: Nutrient
deficiencies might be implicated and here zinc and the B
vitamins should be explored.
Taking extra biotin and the nutrient
para-aminobenzoic acid might also be helpful. Have your
thyroid hormones measured, as these might be low.
I would imagine that since tamoxifen has an
antagonistic effect on oestrogen and this hormone has a
positive effect on the health of your scalp that when
you terminate this treatment your brittle hair might
disappear.
QUESTION 3: Can you please advise of any
laboratories in Queensland that test for candida
antibodies as mentioned on your site? I have a
gynaecological appointment coming up for chronic vaginal
thrush and have tried everything, including boric acid
suppositories made up by a compounding chemist in
Melbourne. Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Answer: This
test, which measures candida antibodies, is pretty
freely available-most laboratories do it.
I don’t have any magic bullet cures for candida
but with regard to chronic thrush I do find that
eliminating yeast and sugar from the diet, taking
supplements of acidophilus and bifidus and herbal
remedies such as pau’d arco, olive leaf extract and
oregan mountain grape can be effective.
QUESTION
4: I have been prescribed 150ug Oroxine
for treatment of an underactive thyroid. What long
term side effects are there, and how can these be
avoided - I have heard that bone demineralisation can
occur?
Answer:
It’s only when you are taking excessive
thyroid hormone treatment that your bone status might be
compromised. Over
supplementation can also lead to irregular heart rhythms
but if your levels are monitored this should not be a
problem. In
fact regular monitoring is mandatory.
QUESTION 5:
QUESTION 6:
QUESTION
7:
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Woolloomooloo
Sydney
AUSTRALIA
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