Dr. Tiffany Prado, DACM, L.Ac

03/16/2020

MOST RECENT EMAIL UPDATE

It's 4:52am, and I haven't slept a wink, despite working 18 hours this weekend. I overdid it on cocoa powder in the turmeric milk last night, in an attempt to get Beatrice to drink it. That's how sensitive to caffeine I am. But it isn't just that. I am working hard to help soothe my heart in these q...

03/11/2020

A report from the developing COVID-19 response in California.

3/8/2020

Notes from the front lines:

I attended the Infectious Disease Association of California (IDAC) Northern California Winter Symposium on Saturday 3/7. In attendance were physicians from Santa Clara, San Francisco and Orange Counties who had all seen and cared for COVID-19 patients, both returning travelers and community-acquired cases. Also present was the Chief of ID for Providence hospitals, who has 2 affected Seattle hospitals under his jurisdiction. Erin Epson, CDPH director of Hospital Acquired Infections, was also there to give updates on how CDPH and CDC are handling exposed health care workers, among other things. Below are some of the key take-aways from their experiences.

1. The most common presentation was one week prodrome of myalgia, malaise, cough, low grade fevers gradually leading to more severe trouble breathing in the second week of illness. It is an average of 8 days to development of dyspnea and average 9 days to onset of pneumonia/pneumonitis. It is not like Influenza, which has a classically sudden onset. Fever was not very prominent in several cases. The most consistently present lab finding was lymphopenia (with either leukocytosis or leukopenia). The most consistent radiographic finding was bilateral interstitial/ground glass infiltrates. Aside from that, the other markers (CRP, PCT) were not as consistent.

2. Co-infection rate with other respiratory viruses like Influenza or RSV is 24 hours apart.

10. All suggested ramping up alternatives to face-to-face visits, tetemedicine, “car visits”, telephone consultation hotlines.

11. Sutter and other larger hospital systems are using a variety of alternative respiratory triage at the Emergency Departments.

12. Health Departments (CDPH and OCHD) state the Airborne Infection Isolation Room (AIIR) is the least important of all the suggested measures to reduce exposure. Contact and droplet isolation in a regular room is likely to be just as effective. One heavily affected hospital in San Jose area is placing all “undifferentiated pneumonia” patients not meeting criteria for COVID testing in contact+droplet isolation for 2-3 days while seeing how they respond to empiric treatment and awaiting additional results.

Feel free to share. All PUIs in Monterey Country so far have been negative.

Martha L. Blum, MD, PhD

03/04/2020

03/01/2020

My phone has been ringing off the hook, and people want to know what to do about COVID-19

Here's my input:
PREPARATION for CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19)
Dr. Tiffany Prado, DACM, L.Ac.
971-225-0333

Most of this comes down to improving hygiene and boundaries. TAKE HYGIENE AND BOUNDARIES SERIOUSLY.

1. WASH YOUR HANDS. Wash them with soap and warm water for 20 seconds each time, including your wrists. Wash frequently: before and after bathroom use, after touching doorknobs, after shaking hands (but stop shaking hands! Wave or bow instead. People will understand). DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE, unless you just washed your hands, and then wash again.

2. If you have any symptoms, STAY HOME. That includes a slight cough, runny nose, slight warmth/feverishness, body aches/headache, scratchy or sore throat, congestion, or unexplained fatigue. Staying home helps you rest (improving your outcome) and prevents more spread. Pay close attention to your body. In my experience, people do NOT notice their initial symptoms, or they disregard it as normal. TUNE IN to your body, and actively look for symptoms of a cold or flu, or anything else unusual.

3. If you have any symptoms and you have to be around other people, WEAR A MASK. If you don't have a mask, don't worry, use a bandanna or another cloth. It will help, though a mask is better. No stores have masks right now, so don't drive all over town looking for them. Refer back to numbers 1 and 2 above. If you do NOT have symptoms, you don't really need a mask. Most masks are not going to be sufficient for you anyway, and they're out of stock everywhere. The masks work by SYMPTOMATIC people are helpful to reduce the aerosolization of the virus -> the tiny particles containing the virus are caught in the mask instead of spread through the air.

4. If you're out in public (symptom free of course, see above) KEEP YOUR DISTANCE from other people. 6 feet is reasonable, but in places with high foot traffic, keep as much distance as possible and pay attention to those around you. Did that person walking in front of you just sneeze? Do you want to walk right through all their sneeze particles? Remember that people are contagious BEFORE they have symptoms, AND most people don't notice the very first symptoms anyway (see #2). It takes a few days after being exposed to actually have symptoms appear. If at all possible, use grocery delivery services, and avoid big crowds and heavily trafficked areas.

5. Maintain the integrity of your skin: use your favorite lotions after washing, or if you don't have a favorite, talk to me because I use (and have) lots of great oils like sesame oil, coconut oil, tamanu oil, etc. You probably have something in your pantry that you can use in a pinch. All that hand washing can make your skin dry out in this weather, and that can cause cuts or breaks in the skin. Hand sanitizer can also disrupt the pH of your skin and break down the outer layers, making your skin less of an effective barrier. Avoid Triclosan in your hand sanitizer. Bring your lotion or oil with you when you go out.

6. Take care of your immune system! Stay warm, eat your vegetables, have sufficient protein daily, avoid cold temperature food and drink, sleep for 8 hours per night, and take things you already know help you to feel better. If you have elderberry syrup, or another trusted wellness formula (*personally I do not recommend echinacea-based formulas*), start taking it consistently - a few times per day. If you do NOT have things like that and you want them, contact me ASAP because I made large batches of a potent antiviral formula and a warming immune tonic that is safe to take even if you've been exposed to a pathogen (both in tincture form, expected to be gone quickly as there has been high demand already). *NOT ALL IMMUNE TONICS SHOULD BE TAKEN IF YOU'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO A PATHOGEN* because many of them will strengthen the pathogen too, for example: astragalus and cordyceps.

The 6 suggestions above apply EVEN IF
- you "just have a cold"
- COVID-19 hasn't officially spread to your area
- you have a strong immune system
- you "never get sick"
- you think it's a hoax

Take hygiene and boundaries seriously.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at the number above or via fb messenger.

02/28/2020

The first group of 23 patients have recovered from novel coronavirus pneumonia and were released on Wednesday morning from Jiangxia makeshift hospital, the first medical institution entirely managed by traditional Chinese medicine doctors.

12/22/2019

U.S. regulators have approved a vaccine to protect against the deadly Ebola virus, a crucial step in the battle against an infection that’s considered one of the world’s deadliest killers.

08/01/2019

Thank you for sharing, Dr Mike Armour:

“Our latest meta-analysis on for .

This is an update of our previous Cochrane review with more complex analysis of dose components and with a focus on comparative effectiveness:

- acupuncture outperformed sham and acupuncture plus SSRI/SNRI outperformed medication alone.

- trials from China showed much greater effects than those outside of China, but this was due to a much greater of treatment and total number of treatments compared to those done in the West

TL;DR acupuncture is an effective treatment or adjunct for depression but is important to get the greatest clinical effect”

Background: Depression is commonly treated with anti-depressant medication and/or psychological interventions. Patients with depression are common users of complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, either as a replacement for, or adjunct to, their conventional treatments. This systematic review....

02/22/2019

Our medicinal herb shop is revolutionizing the libation landscape, one happy, healthy sip at a time!

Be well. Be happy.

🙏🌿 srsly tho, who doesn't want a little happy juice? We now offer all the following supplements from The Little Flower for cocktails:⠀
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*Happy juice* is made of 3 ingredients, damiana, shatavari, and ashwagandha⠀
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*Damiana* is a fragrant leaf that nourishes the kidneys and brain. It lifts the spirit, soothes and tonifies the nerves, and increases the libido. ⠀
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*Shatavari* is an adaptogen which tonifies and regulates/balances the reproductive system. It is in the asparagus family, primarily a yin tonic, and also promotes libido. ⠀
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*Ashwagandha* is an adaptogen with libido enhancing properties, that boosts energy gently, while also promoting restful sleep. It reduces cortisol (the stress hormone), relieves symptoms of anxiety and depression, and boosts brain function. ⠀
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*Elderberry* boosts the immune system to prevent colds and flus, but also has potent anti-viral and anti-microbial properties that fight colds and flus.⠀
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*bitter orange peel* is an uplifting herb that reduces pain and inflammation, particularly for things like digestive upset and menstrual cramps.⠀
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*Fo-ti / he shou wu* has strong blood-building capability, popularized by its tendency to bring color back to gray hair. It also reduces symptoms such as dizziness, insomnia, and fatigue.⠀
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*ginger* in addition to its well known effects on digestion (reduces nausea and bloating, ginger also warms the body, reduces pain, and helps the immune system.

01/29/2019

Fewer than 50% of adults regularly get a good night’s sleep.

People suffering from sleep disorders usually also have fatigue, anxiety, depression, and daytime functioning impairment.
Sleep labs and pharmaceutical companies are benefitting from our collective inability to find balance enough in our lives, in our bodies. It is estimated that we now have almost 3,000 sleep labs and their profits are on track to hit the 10 billion dollar mark by 2020. Annually, over 40 million prescriptions for sleeping pills are dispensed, adding another 2.8 billion dollars to the sleep industry.

Prescription sleep medications include benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and various hypnotics, such as xanax, ativan, ambien, and lunesta. Often these are associated with various side effects such as habituations, tolerance and even addiction.

There is another way.

For thousands of years people have used herbs to help with sleep disorders - in fact there are sleep-inducing medications derived from plant sources. Identifying the root of the problem, and addressing it with the appropriate whole plant extracts and acupuncture techniques, is proven to improve sleep. Let’s talk about it.

https://portlandintegrativemedicine.janeapp.com/

12/08/2018

The cozy room.