Special Interests
THE HEALTH PUZZLE
Special Clinical Focus
Naturopaths treat the person as a whole not the condition or disease. Sarah has a special interest in the following areas of health issues. Sarah has a passion for putting the pieces of the puzzle together for optimal health that is individualised for each patient, she also works alongside other health care professionals to gain the best outcomes for patients.
Please note this does not act as a diagnosis or replace the need for assessment or treatment by a medical professional. It is important to tell your other health care professionals what you are doing.
Please note this does not act as a diagnosis or replace the need for assessment or treatment by a medical professional. It is important to tell your other health care professionals what you are doing.
Gut Health
Digestive health is my biggest passion. Everything starts and ends in the digestive tract. If the gut is upset, inflammed and not happy this will have a flow-on effect to the rest of the body and general health. An unhappy gut can cause multiple issues such as bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, poor absorption of nutrients, food intolerances and sensitivities, fatigue, disrupted sleep, skin issues, immune issues, inflammation, mental health issues etc and these can impact your daily life making things unpleasant. I love getting to the bottom of why a person has digestive issues, this may be due to diet, lifestyle, nutritional issues and can be multifactorial.
Common gut issues:
Common gut issues:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Parasite infestation
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
- Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth (SIFO)
- Chronic Candidia (thrush)
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) - Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's disease
- Celiac Disease
- Reflux, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD)
- Food Intolerance - Allergy, intolerance, sensitivity
- Intestinal Peremeability, leaky gut, dysbiosis - Poor absorption of nutrients, diarrhoea, food intolerance, allergy, skin issues
- Gallbladder issues - gall stones, fat intolerance, maldigestion
- Medication induced gut issues - reflux, constipation, diarrhoea
- Gastroenteritis, travelers diarrhoea
- Haemorrhoids, Anal fissure
- Diverticulitis
- Family history of bowel cancer
- Ulcers - peptic, oesophageal, gastric, duodenal
- Gut issues despite testing being clear (stool, bloods, colonoscopy etc)
- Poor microbiome health
- Excessive bloating, gas or burping
Multiple, Complex, Chronic Health Issues
When you are feeling like 'there is no hope', 'you have seen almost every practitioner in town', 'its just something you have to live with', 'its all in your head'. These are common sayings I hear in my clinic. Where sometimes simply managing the 'symptoms' can cause other health issues.
I love to think outside the box when it comes to health, complex cases are my speciality. Everything in the body is connected in some way, simply categorising each health problem into a single 'body system' is not necessarily the answer when it comes to complex chronic health issues. Working on another area of health may have an effect on something entirely different eg working on gut health may also have a positive effect on mental health or the immune system, not just on digestion. An in-depth consultation covering past history, family history, current issues, diet and lifestyle may identify common threads and highlight areas that need attention for optimal health.
Multidisciplinary care is important when treating a patient with chronic complex health issues. This may include GP, medical specialist, chiropractor, physiotherapist, osteopath, dentist, massage therapist, counsellor, psychologist etc and your naturopath of course. Collaboration and communication is important.
Common Complex Issues (any combination):
I love to think outside the box when it comes to health, complex cases are my speciality. Everything in the body is connected in some way, simply categorising each health problem into a single 'body system' is not necessarily the answer when it comes to complex chronic health issues. Working on another area of health may have an effect on something entirely different eg working on gut health may also have a positive effect on mental health or the immune system, not just on digestion. An in-depth consultation covering past history, family history, current issues, diet and lifestyle may identify common threads and highlight areas that need attention for optimal health.
Multidisciplinary care is important when treating a patient with chronic complex health issues. This may include GP, medical specialist, chiropractor, physiotherapist, osteopath, dentist, massage therapist, counsellor, psychologist etc and your naturopath of course. Collaboration and communication is important.
Common Complex Issues (any combination):
- Pain and inflammation
- Hormonal issues (migraines, heavy painful periods, endometriosis, PCOS, infertility, irregular mensuration, PMS, acne, menopause)
- Sleep issues (usually accompanies other health issues)
- Thyroid (may be subclinical)
- Autoimmune conditions, poor immune system with recurrent infections
- Fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Post Viral Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Unexplained digestive/gut symptoms
- Chronic sinus, hay fever, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, hives
- Multiple sensitivities, chemical sensitives
- Anxiety and or depression that is unexplainable and or may be associated with other health issues eg hormonal issues, sleep disturbance, poor immune system, poor digestive health etc.
Hormones
Hormone balance is important as it affects teenagers, men, women and the elderly. Happy hormones, happy life. I love helping people with hormonal issues to bring the balance back to life. This is such a broad area of health. Hormones are effected by diet, exercise, lifestyle, nutritional, environmental, mental and emotional factors. It is important to look at all of these areas when balancing hormones.
Common hormonal issues:
Common hormonal issues:
- Mensuration issues (heavy, painful, irregular periods)
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) - sugar cravings, poor sleep, altered bowels, acne, mood changes, anxiety, fluid retention etc
- Migraines (associated with mensural cycle)
- Endometrosis
- Oestrogen dominance, xenoestrogens
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Infertility, multiple miscarriages
- Peri-menopause, Menopause, Andropause
- Acne
- Weight gain or loss
- Anxiety and or depression associated with hormonal changes eg. menopause, PMS etc
- Breast tenderness, fibrocystic breast disease, early breast development, gynecomastia (male)
- Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) - enlarged prostate
- Hair loss
- Low libido
- Thyroid issues
Kids' Health
I love working with children. They usually respond really quickly with minimal intervention. I like to focus on diet, educating both parents and the child. It is important to get the child involved in their own health. Diet plays a major role in kids' behaviour, sleep, immune system, learning and growth. It is important for them to have a balanced diet that is packed with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, good fats, quality protein, legumes, grains and dairy. Variety is key! Often children are eating a diet full of processed foods containing sugar, colours, flavours and preservatives reduction or elimination of these foods has a major impact of the Childs health. I have options that will help with fussy eaters and kids' on the spectrum with food issues (colour, texture etc).
Food intolerance and allergy can be an issue for some children causing skin issues, digestive upset, pain, irritability and behavioural issues. A treatment plan will be adapted depending on the food and issues in the child, so they get all the nutrients required for optimal health. I do not believe in eliminating large food groups in children unless absolutely necessary. If foods have to be eliminated for a short period of time, working on the body digestive and immune system can be helpful so foods can be reintroduced as soon as possible.
Common Kids' Health issues:
Food intolerance and allergy can be an issue for some children causing skin issues, digestive upset, pain, irritability and behavioural issues. A treatment plan will be adapted depending on the food and issues in the child, so they get all the nutrients required for optimal health. I do not believe in eliminating large food groups in children unless absolutely necessary. If foods have to be eliminated for a short period of time, working on the body digestive and immune system can be helpful so foods can be reintroduced as soon as possible.
Common Kids' Health issues:
- Poor immune system (recurrent colds, flu, ear infections, tonsillitis, molluscum)
- Digestive (diarrhoea, constipation, undigested food in stool, tummy bloating, pains)
- Sleep issues (night terrors, difficulty getting to sleep, waking during the night)
- Behavioural (temper tantrums, moody, teary, irritable, clingy)
- Food issues (fussy eater, poor appetite, intolerance, sensitivity to texture, colour)
- Autism
- Aspergers
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and (ADD)
- Spectrum and Learning difficulties and Pyrroles
- Atopy (Asthma, allergies, hay fever, eczema)
MTHFr
MTHFr stands for Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase. It is an enzyme that converts folate (vitamin B9) into the active form that is able to be used by the body for a number of processes. A MTHFr gene mutation may change the way you metabolise and covert folate and folic acid from your diet into activated folate. This can then impact on long term health. Folate is needed as part of the methylation cycle which happens in the liver and needed for phase II liver detoxification.
Testing: This is a simple blood or buccal saliva swab test. The current SNPs tested for are:
Common problems associated with MTHFr gene mutations:
Testing: This is a simple blood or buccal saliva swab test. The current SNPs tested for are:
- MTHFr C677T
- MTHFr A1298C
Common problems associated with MTHFr gene mutations:
- Multiple misscarages
- Neural tube defects (cleft lip/palate or Down syndrome)
- Poor methylation and liver issues associated
- ADHD, ADD
- Alzheimer's
- Atherosclerosis
- Autism
- Autoimmune
- Cardiovascular issues (specifically Blood clots, Stroke, Embolism, Heart attacks, Deep Vein Thrombosis DVT)
- Oestrogen dominance
- Mental health