Medical

Let’s debunk some misconceptions!

-By Dr Marlise De Jager

Botox® (Botulinum toxin) and fillers are two of the most popular injectable cosmetic treatments worldwide, but they are two VERY DIFFERENT products with different end results.

Not only are botulinum toxin and fillers two different substances, but they also differ in the way they work:

Botox® (Botulinum toxin type A) is a neurotoxin that is injected into muscles, reducing wrinkles by relaxing the muscles underneath the skin. So in simple terms, this product would temporarily paralyse a given muscle so as to not contract the skin and form a wrinkle.  (Insert before +after pictures)

Dermal fillers are most commonly hyaluronic acid, which is a naturally occurring substance in the body. It is injected beneath the surface of the skin to fill in wrinkles, lines, and scars or to add volume and fullness to targeted areas of the face. Fillers are commonly used in the cheeks, lips, and around the mouth. Plumping up these areas cause a more youthful look by smoothing lines and adding volume. (Insert before + after pictures).

Botulinum toxin and dermal fillers are both minimally invasive and very effective for the treatment of fine lines and wrinkles, among other cosmetic concerns.  They are both, also, very safe in the hands of a skilled practitioner.

Are Botox® or Fillers Better?

Botulinum toxin and fillers treat different problems and different areas of the face and skin.

They both play an important role in your anti-ageing routine and work even better when combined.

Both procedures are temporary. Botox results will last for three to six months, while dermal fillers will last for six to 18 months. You will need repeated treatments to maintain a youthful appearance.

Long Term Effects of Dermal Fillers and Botox

One of the most common concerns that people have when they are considering Botulinum toxin or dermal fillers are the long term effects.

Botulinum toxin is generally considered safe. The most serious side effects are when botulinum toxin is injected into the wrong muscle group or spread from the injection site, causing temporary paralysis of unintended muscles.

The overall incidence of long term adverse reactions secondary to the dermal injection of hyaluronic acid skin fillers is believed to be low, the vast majority representing a foreign body-related chronic inflammatory reaction.

Both injectable therapies are temporary and repeated treatments are necessary. If you decide to stop treatments, the only effect will be that your wrinkles will return, but it might be more slowly. You will still look younger than you would have if you had never been injected.

Both Botox and fillers are safe and effective procedures. By understanding the differences between Botox and fillers, you can decide which procedure is right for you. Always do your homework and have your injections performed by a reputable doctor. Every practitioner has different philosophies, techniques, and levels of experience. Communicate with your doctor about realistic expectations and results before allowing any treatment.

The best way to determine which product would be best for you is to schedule a consultation.

A preamble to our post on ozone therapy; first we need to understand what oxidative stress is.

-By Dr Clement G. Plaatjies

What is oxidation?

There are many chemical reactions occurring in your body at any given time.  These reactions are happening so that bodily functions can be carried out.  Simply put, oxidation occurs when an electron is donated during a chemical reaction.  When this happens, free radicals are formed.  Free radicals are necessary to ensure normal functioning of the body but, they have to be kept in check.  This is the job of antioxidants, which has the simple job of donating an electron to free radicals to restore stability and balance.  And balance, or homeostasis in medical terms, is what the body strives for.

What is oxidative stress?

When the aforementioned balance is tipped in one direction, havoc may ensue.  Oxidative stress is the term given to the state in which there are more free radicals than can be balanced by antioxidants.  Free radicals are highly unstable molecules and the donation of an electron by antioxidants renders them more chemically stable.  Free radicals have the ability to react with fat (lipids), DNA and proteins within the cell.  When this happens, normal cell function is hindered.  This could lead to neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as systemic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and even some cancers.  Oxidative stress is also related to premature aging.

What are antioxidants?

As mentioned before, antioxidants are basically electron donors.  There are MANY antioxidants, or free radical scavengers, in the body.  Some are produced by the body itself and some can be taken orally.

Foods rich in antioxidants include: 

• Berries (of any kind) and cherries
• Green tea
• Nuts

And many more.

Supplementary antioxidants include:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Resveratrol
• Co-enzyme Q10 (especially when combined with ozone therapy)

Conclusion:

The important point to remember here is that there needs to be a balance between free radicals and antioxidants, both of which are essential for normal body functioning.  The commercial drive towards consuming more antioxidants makes it difficult to know which end of the scale you’re tipping.   This is where ozone therapy may be beneficial.  Ozone has the unique property wherein in creates free radicals which stimulates the body’s own natural production of antioxidants.  This restores the homeostasis reducing oxidative stress.

Losing weight isn’t as simple as fewer calories in, more calories out…

-By Dr Clement G. Plaatjies

In fact, we should reconsider how we think about calories altogether.  Instead, start being mindful about how your body responds to carbohydrates (sugar), fats and proteins.  What your body does with these three macronutrients is dependent on so many factors, especially what your hormones are doing!  We could all agree that limiting yourself to a 1500 calorie-a-day diet and only eating sugar or fat or meat will have different effects on the body.  A proper history should be taken by your doctor to understand your underlying hormone status, as well as any other factors which may affect your body’s ability to absorb, utilise and excrete these nutrients.

Exercise plays a big role in your body’s hormone state, so obviously it will affect what happens to those calories you consume.  But, what exactly is exercise?  Well, to answer that maybe consider what exercise is NOT.  Walking the same distance everyday for the same duration is not exercise.  If you’re not constantly challenging your body with progressive loading, you’re not exercising!  You need to walk further or faster each time you walk for it to be considered exercise.  For those of us (present company excluded) who spend most of our day at work walking in the factory, office, on the farm…wherever…that does not count as exercise.  Set aside half an hour each day, for three days a week to get your heart rate to the point where you can only say 3 words at a time (because you’re out of breath, of course); that’s how you know you’re at the right exercise intensity.  Maintain that intensity for the full half an hour (or 15 minutes six times a week) and you’ll be doing the minimum recommended amount of exercise.  So, exercise hard enough to release the hormones you need to cause your body to burn fat, build muscle and most importantly, make you happy!

Okay but, what about my genes?…I hear you ask

People often think that because their parents were overweight, they’re destined to have the same fate.  Not necessarily.  Yes, you may be genetically predisposed to gaining weight because of “bad genes”, but it’s clearly not that simple.  We can easily modify our genes by what we eat or by our physical activity level.  So simply considering your diet and exercising correctly will make the genetic argument, for the most part, null and void.  That said, consider this, maybe it’s not so much that you’re genetically predisposed to gaining weight but rather you’re predisposed to the poor eating habits you picked up from your parents.

So by now we understand that diet is a bit more complicated than we’ve let on, and exercise actually means putting in work.  But, is that ALL we can do to lose weight?  Well, no, because fortunately we also have medication and supplements we could use.  However, even meds and supps are under the influence of what your body decides to do to them once consumed, and how they react when you’ve stressed your body with exercise.  So there is this interplay between the three which we need to get right.  We need to ensure that the one aspect doesn’t overpower the other.  It also means that you simply cannot just do one and expect to see the results you want.  Or maybe you will see those results, but they definitely will not be maintained.

So what’s the point of all this?  Firstly, you’re not going to lose weight and keep it off if what you’re doing is causing you to gain weight.  Seems obvious yet we still think that continuing to eat the way we are will just be cancelled out by a single drug.  Secondly, to truly get the results you want, your doctor will spend time taking a thorough history, examine you and possibly even draw blood to get a better understanding about how your body works.  Once we know that, we’ll have a better idea as to what is needed to get the body you want.

When a doctor draws blood from you, what do your results really mean?

-By Dr Clement G. Plaatjies

When a doctor draws blood from you, he/she uses reference ranges to determine whether your blood value is “normal”.  In essence, your doctor is asking: “Do your values fall within the same range as 95% of the population?”  This means, all we can actually tell you is whether you’re ill or not.  What if you’re an outlier? What if your body functions at a different range of “normal”?  Remember, YOU ARE UNIQUE!  If your value is lower than the optimal level then something needs to be replaced, if it’s higher than optimal then something more needs to be done.

What these reference ranges don’t tell you is whether you’re functioning OPTIMALLY…the best way possible!  What should your glucose be to ensure you’re functioning at your best and not just not diabetic? What must your ferritin be to make sure that your iron stores are sufficient to maintain your body’s demands? 

This is where optimal ranges come in.  The optimal range for any blood test is the range we use to determine whether you’re an OPTIMALLY FUNCTIONAL human being as opposed to “just sick”.

Here’s an example:  When assessing liver function, 9 biomarkers are tested.  Should one be outside the reference range, a doctor may not react.  We usually need to see two or three abnormal markers before we intervene.  In fact, if something is below the reference range, this may also not induce any action. But, a simple liver biomarker being low could be a reflection on your zinc levels being low.  For men, this could be a very early marker of prostate cancer before it even becomes cancer!  For this reason, we need to interpret blood results according to the optimal range and consider blood as a single entity and not look at values in isolation or confined to a single set of results per organ system.

At EPSWI, our full blood chemistry analysis allows us to tell you if you’re functioning at your best (optimally) or if there are problems lurking.  By picking up imbalances before you actually fall ill, we become proactive in preventing illness altogether and not just act reactively to abnormal blood tests when a diseased state has already established itself.