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Medical Education & Writings
Unraveling Alzheimer’s: The Microbiome, Nutrition, and Heavy Metals
Alzheimer’s isn’t just something to worry about when you’re in your golden years. It can start attacking your brain decades before you notice signs of memory loss. Over the last three decades, integrative and functional medicine has made huge strides in pinpointing...
One Food to Avoid if You Have Stubborn Gut Problems
If your gastrointestinal health is failing, it may be the food you are eating every day. Clinicians, consumers, and many scientists recognize the link between the food we eat and our gastrointestinal health. In integrative and functional medicine, specialized diets...
An Imbalanced Oral Microbiome Can Cause Throat Cancer, But You Can Prevent It
Val Kilmer’s recent death from throat cancer has put head and neck cancers in the spotlight. This talented and handsome actor-comedian fought throat cancer and eventually lost the battle. We will talk about how an imbalanced oral microbiome can contribute to head and neck cancers and what dentists and consumers can do to stack the deck in their favor when it comes to cancers of the upper body. Hint: visiting the dentist, testing, and balancing the oral microbiome are some of my main takeaways, which you will find summarized at the end of this article.
Two Natural Treatments for Heart Failure and a Test To Find Out If You Need Them
If you want a heart that pumps well into old age, keeps a proper rhythm, and moves blood through the body smoothly, then you need a heart that is all charged up. We will discuss my top two supplements for a healthy heart: coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and L-carnitine....
Increase Nitric Oxide Naturally with These Heart-Healthy Foods
Circulation problems can show up as blood pressure imbalances, forgetfulness, impaired vision, or could take the fun out of romantic nights with someone special. If a person has bleeding gums, they are even more likely to struggle with the signs that blood is not...
What Vitamins are Good for Children’s Teeth and Gums?
Why are some kids prone to cavities and oral health issues more than others? Kids struggle with cavities and weak tooth enamel. Sometimes children’s teeth have pits in the enamel, with brown or yellow discoloration.1 They may get mouth sores. It's not just a kid...
The Best Oral Microbiome Tests
Clinicians and consumers often ask me, “What is the best oral microbiome test?” It’s a good question, considering the mouth’s vital role in overall health and the surge of new oral microbiome tests now available. I will lay out the most important criteria to...
Technologies for Testing the Oral Microbiome
The oral microbiome, or the microorganisms that live in our mouths, can set us up for good health or disease. Oral microbiome testing helps practitioners and consumers pinpoint the microbes in their mouths and how they might be figuring into oral health symptoms....
Cass Nelson-Dooley, MS, is a researcher, author, educator, and laboratory consultant. She studied medicinal plants in the rain forests of Panama as a Fulbright Scholar and then launched a career in science and natural medicine. Early on, she studied ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, and drug discovery at the University of Georgia and AptoTec, Inc. She joined innovators at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory as a medical education consultant helping clinicians use integrative and functional laboratory results in clinical practice. She owns Health First Consulting, LLC, a medical communications company with the mission to improve human health using the written word. Ms. Nelson-Dooley is an oral microbiome expert and author of Heal Your Oral Microbiome. She was a contributing author in Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine. She has published case studies, book chapters, and journal articles about the oral microbiome, natural medicine, nutrition, laboratory testing, obesity, and osteoporosis.
