Published May 18, 2005 in the North Island MidWeek

Jerry, age 45, came into the office the other day concerned about his liver. May is Liver Awareness Month and he had a close friend of his just diagnosed with Hepatitis C yet his friend had no symptoms. His doctor has just ordered liver enzymes on a routine blood test and they showed marked elevations. I explained to him that with his extended health plan he would most likely get coverage for 80% of the $170.00 that it would cost for the comprehensive blood test that I routinely do in my practice. He wanted to know more and I told him that I send his blood sample to a lab in Edmonton. He wanted to know why he couldn’t go to a lab here in Campbell River. I then proceeded to explain to him that in the province of British Columbia the Medical Association has a stipulation that MD’s risk losing their licenses if they associate with naturopathic physicians. A lab in BC needs to have a pathologist so if the lab agrees to work with ND’s then the pathologist could risk losing his license.  Other provinces are more liberal and therefore we use a lab in Edmonton. So then in the same breath I suggested, that if Jerry was as incensed by this as the naturopathic physicians are, he could help us out!

Having just returned from our association meeting in Vancouver last week armed with nice new glossy brochures I showed him how he could take this brochure to his MLA and explain very clearly what the naturopathic physicians of this province are looking for. Lab privileges are certainly included. Not only is the BC economy losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars because naturopathic physicians are taking their lab business to Alberta, the government of BC is not allowing people to choose the type or health care they prefer. Naturopathic physicians are wanting their scope of practice to be accepted. We have been working with the governments of BC for the past 75 years and we still don’t have a scope of practice. Secondly we want to be integrated into the health care needs of the people of BC. When the hospitals and waiting rooms around the province of BC are bulging, people need to know that naturopathic physicians can treat your flu, treat your bladder infection, treat your bronchitis and more importantly give you comprehensive  treatment plans for chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Jerry came back a few weeks later with a few comments from his medical doctor that I hear all the time. If you go to a naturopathic physician they only give you a bunch of vitamins! Or they cost too much! Or what they prescribe is not proven. It turned out that his MD only ordered one of the liver enzymes so I ordered the other four that I routinely do. The MD said his liver enzymes were normal but a reading of 35 U/L for ALT is well above my optimal value of 20 U/L. Jerry wanted to know why my values were different than an MD. I told him that MD’s are looking for pathology and treat once they find pathology. I explained that naturopathic physicians are looking for optimal function and will treat to return this function to optimal thus preventing pathology from developing.

I am always very concerned about serum ferritin or iron stores in men as high levels indicate inflammation and hasten the oxidation or aging of the body. If the ferritin is over 150 ug/L then I encourage them to donate blood once or twice per year. If a person has a blood disease then this is more difficult because MD’s won’t order phlebotomies in the hospital unless there is a frank hemachromatosis (iron overload).

I heard recently that most MD’s are not open to receiving from their patients information from the internet about their health condition. However it is often very true that by the time a patient gets into see their doctor they know more about their disease than the doctor does because they have taken the time to do the research. Most MD’s don’t want to hear about it!

The long and the short of it is that Jerry wanted to work with a doctor who would work along with him to come up with a treatment program to optimize his liver function. He could see that the milk thistle, selenium, lipoic acid and other remedies were helping to bring down his liver enzymes and that he felt better too. He understood that these remedies were more than just vitamins. They were proven therapies when prescribed in therapeutic dosages to be very effective. I developed a maintenance treatment program that he could live with.

There is always a cost for health care. In the case of the average British Columbian it is hidden in our taxes. We think it is free but it is not. It has been requested of the government, even by some MD’s, that every patient receive an invoice after their visit to their MD totaling how much the visit and the testing cost. Patients would then begin to see how much they are costing the system and that would put into perspective the costs of naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine is very cost effective in how many sick days are not taken, how many surgeries are prevented and how many drugs are not prescribed.

Jerry does not have hepatitis C, his liver enzymes are now normal. He is back playing sports, has lost 20 pounds and is generally feeling his old self again and he proudly told me he has an appointment with his MLA to give him a piece of his mind!