My resolution for 2024 is to write a blog!
Medical Care is all about teaching.
I am an OBGYN in practice for over 30 years treating women in all phases of life. I am also an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and have been teaching medical students, residents, Family Physicians, Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners throughout my career.
Many people do not realize that the word doctor comes from the Latin verb “docere” which means to teach or a scholar. The most important people that I teach are my patients.
Chronic diseases are becoming more common
In the last 30 years, my practice has changed dramatically. All physicians will attest to the fact that there is much more chronic disease than there used to be. The sad fact is that conventional medicine lacks the tools to treat chronic diseases effectively. Conventional medicine is a reactive form of medicine that is well suited to treat acute conditions but when it comes to chronic disease….not so much!
In my field the chronic disease that I see more and more are hormonally related … ie endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Why is there such a rise in these conditions? The simple answer is Endocrine Disruptors! Endocrine Disruptors are environmental pollutants that affect our bodies like out-of-control hormones and play a role in the conditions that I mentioned above, as well as many other diseases.
Why is this important?
Because all these conditions affect fertility!
Fertility Rates are Plummeting
Most first-world countries now have fertility rates way below replacement levels…which means that in one to two generations there will no longer be a workforce to sustain the population! This is a crisis!
Functional Medicine Holds the Answers
What is the answer?
We can no longer ignore the impact of our lifestyles on our health! Conventional medicine pays little attention to the lack of nutrients in our diets, our sedentary lifestyles, our exposure to toxins in the air, water, and food, and our genetic variations which can impact our body’s response to all of the above.
There is one form of medicine that accounts for all of these factors … and that is Functional Medicine. Functional Medicine is an approach to medical care that evaluates all aspects of a person’s lifestyle and how it impacts their health. It uses both conventional and integrative approaches and it is holistic. It is, however, time-consuming. The practitioners need to work with the patient as a team and need to delve into the patient’s history in detail.
We need to use this approach in dealing with chronic disease and infertility is, in effect, a chronic disease.
Health Ownership is important!
I also believe in Health Ownership….in other words, that everyone needs to take their health in control and work with their physicians in a partnership. Patients should be aware of what tests are being done, for what reason, and what the results are. They need to be responsible for addressing their lifestyle issues if they want to see results!
And that is my spiel…
The point of this blog is to keep you up to date with new research in the area of fertility and to develop action steps based on the findings.
I hope that you will find this of interest!
I wish all of you a very happy, fruitful, and fertile 2024!