Emily Parke, DO, is board certified in anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology, trained in medical acupuncture, and specializes in Functional Medicine.
So what are the minimum labs we’re looking at when we do hormone replacement therapy? We obviously want to look at an estrogen level, so an estradiol, we definitely want to look at a progesterone level, and we also want to look at least a total testosterone, if not a total and free testosterone. And…
What about checking lab values when you’re on hormone replacement therapy? I do find it to be helpful, but we also want to consider symptoms. So we always look at labs and symptoms combined when we’re doing hormone replacement therapy. We check labs to make sure that numbers don’t get super, super high, and we…
Did you know that there’s a difference between food allergies, food sensitivities and food intolerances? Food allergies, the reactions tend to happen pretty immediately and then food sensitivities, the reactions can happen as much as three to four days later after being exposed to the food. And food intolerances have nothing to do with the…
Eating a wide variety of whole foods is a key way to ensure a nutrient-rich diet full of vitamins and minerals. But what happens when you eat something your body doesn’t agree with? For example, you might eat a food item and suddenly experience digestive symptoms like diarrhea, cramping, and bloating—or these symptoms might not…
What about adding testosterone replacement for women on hormone replacement therapy? Well, it can be really, really helpful for energy, libido, body composition changes. When we go through menopause we lose about half of our own body’s ability to make testosterone, and so it can be a really helpful part of hormone replacement therapy. Now,…
What about progesterone therapy in menopause? So if you are on hormone replacement therapy with estrogen and you have a uterus, meaning you have not had a hysterectomy, then you should be on some form of progesterone. The preferred method for progesterone is oral micronized progesterone. And we do like oral progesterone because we do…
When doing hormone replacement therapy for women, there are about four different ways we can get hormones into the body, especially estrogen. So our estrogens drop, and that’s what gives us the main symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, mood changes and so on. Vaginal dryness, all those things. So getting estrogen…
In our modern world, plastics are all around us. Because they have poor biodegradability and are often not efficiently recycled, our environment is contaminated with microplastics. They’ve been found in beaches, oceans, soil, and freshwater systems. Even in remote areas of the world, microplastics have accumulated in ecosystems. Transferred through the food chain and used…
Sometimes you need extra help losing excess weight and getting blood sugars under better control. Maybe you’ve been trying for years or maybe the post-baby weight won’t go away no matter what you do. That’s where weight loss medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide may be able to help. Many of these medications were traditionally used…
In this session, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of the Paleo diet and lifestyle—what it is, why it works, and how it can help you feel your best. We will kick things off by introducing the core principles of Paleo eating and sharing why I personally love using it as a tool to identify food…