At the Starsiak Osteopathic Clinic we are taking COVID very seriously. We are taking extra caution in keeping things sanitary and staying up to date with the governors orders and the ABMPs suggestions for a safe practice. As of right now the ABMP states there is no known way to eliminate the risk of transmission and infection and there is no risk- free environment in which to conduct business today. With that being said, here are some of the ways we are making sure we all stay safe while keeping the business open. 
All patients are to stay 6 feet apart, only one patient in the waiting area at a time, windows will be opened in between sessions for ventilation, hands thoroughly washed and sanitized up to the elbows before and after a massage, gloves can be worn if that feels safest to the client, minimal contact during check in and check out, all areas will be sanitized between patients. 
The only way to not get Coronavirus is to not be exposed, which means staying at home with 0 contact with anyone else. However, there are ways to protect your body and strengthen your immune system. One major thing that weakens the immune system is stress. This pandemic has definitely caused a lot of stress on our bodies. Some ways to get rid of stress are massage, yoga, meditation, supplements, etc. We offer massage, private yoga sessions, and many supplements that can help decrease stress and boost your immune system so that you can still enjoy life.

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-   I think there is no doubt that if you are reading this you have experienced or do experience stress. Short term stress is normal and needed for our survival. Our bodies have systems in place to help us deal with stressors, physical and mental. 
    
   When our bodies experience stress our heart rate and blood pressure may increase, breathing speeds up, knots in our stomach appear, etc. While these defenses are great in the face of actual danger.. Do we really need to feel this way on a daily or weekly basis because of things like work, children, money, relationships? Chronic stress contributes to a multitude of health conditions including: anxiety, depression, heart disease, cancer, chronic fatigue, insomnia, adrenal dysfunction, and so much more. All of these cause more issues in your life and it is like a never ending stressful cycle. The APA’s Stress in America Survey findings show that stress is interfering with our ability to function and is becoming a public health crisis.
What if there was something that could help your body adapt to stress better? So that you can save the increased heart rate and panic for actual dangerous situations and feel more at ease with the everyday stresses of life..
   
   Guess what! There is. These plants are called adaptogens. I love these guys. “Adaptogen” defines herbs that help “protect the body against physical, mental, and emotional stress by strengthening the immune system” (Medicinal Herbs 61). These amazing plants strengthen the body and create a healthier stress response.
    
Some of the effects of adaptogens include:

• Better energy circulation
• Decreased stress
• Balanced hormone levels
• Fight fatigue
• Improved attention
• Improved energy levels
• Improved organ function like liver and adrenal glands
• Improved function of body systems like gastrointestinal system

In addition to adaptogenic properties, most adaptogens have other helpful effects.  Some of the common adaptogens stocked and used by Dr. Starsiak are:

• Ashwagandha- improves sexual desire and function, increased muscle strength, decreased body fat, decreases joint pain, improves rate of sleep onset
• Shatavari- anti yeast, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti- anxiety, protects liver, balances hormones, anti- diabetes, treats menopausal symptoms, improves menstrual symptoms
• Guduchi- rich in antioxidants that have anti-aging properties, treats diabetes, helps with UTIs, fevers, infections, and digestive disorders
• Tulsi- (aka Holy Basil) anti-anxiety, anti- inflammatory, combats respiratory ailments, relieves arthritis, helps with digestive disorders
• Shilajit- brain function, anemia, anti- viral, helps with chronic fatigue
• Kapikacchu- treats Parkinson’s, anti- anxiety, relieves fever
• Adrenal Nourish (Gotu kola and brahmi, ashwagandha)- promotes balanced energy levels and stamina, supports function of the adrenals, anti-anxiety, nourishing to the endocrine system.

If you would like to know more about how you can use Adaptogens, call us to schedule an appointment with Dr. Starsiak.


-Quinn

From how the media portrays drug use, to wrong knowledge  picked up here and there, it isn't hard to misunderstand addiction.  It's not a topic that's spoken of openly and frequently enough to really come to grips with it.
But, if you take a little bit of time to learn more about addiction and the reasons behind it, you can become more understanding and compassionate towards people suffering from it. 
To help you learn more about addiction, check out these common myths about why people take drugs that definitely aren't true. 
1. All Addicts First Started Taking Drugs to Get High
Despite what a lot of people think, not everyone who's addicted to drugs started taking them because they wanted to get high. In fact, doctors are prescribing very addictive medication every day. These are called opioids, and they're fueling a drug crisis in America.
In 2017, it was found that there were over 190 million opioid prescriptions. To put that in perspective, if everyone received a prescription, including children, over half of our population would be taking opioids. 
These opioids are so addictive that up to 12% of people taking them start abusing them.  By the way, 80% of heroin users started with an opioid prescription. It's a reason for using drugs that people often don't know about, but it's a huge problem in the US.
The problem here isn't with the addict, but with the medical industry. Make sure you know the signs of prescription drug abuse to keep your loved ones safe.

2. They Don't Want to Stop
The idea that addicts don't want to stop using or aren't trying hard enough is one of the most harmful myths out there. cOf course, there are some people who don't want to stop, but it definitely isn't always true.
The fact is that coming off of drugs is incredibly hard, even when you want to. This is because addiction changes the way a brain works. Over time, the brain and body become reliant on the drug to function close to normal. When you stop using it, everything in your body is shouting at you to start again.
Some withdrawal symptoms addiction sufferers have when coming off of drugs include:

• Intense nausea and vomiting
• Insomnia
• Fatigue
• Depression, anxiety, and other changes in mood
• Muscle aches and pains
• Diarrhea
• Hallucinations
• Intense craving for the drug
• Fast Heart rate
• Sweating
• Pupil dilation

Anyone that's seen an addict come off of drugs will know that it isn't easy and it's definitely not something they can just stop at will.

3. They Have a Bad Past
When people think of drug addicts, they often think of people with bad, troubled pasts. They imagine someone having grown up in poverty, from a broken home, and surrounded by other troubled people.
The truth is that addicts come from all walks of life and there's never a straight answer for why people use drugs. When people come in for addiction treatments, their pasts are all completely different from one another. They can be rich or poor, young or old; it doesn't matter. 
Drug addiction doesn't discriminate - that's the truth.
4. They Chose to Become Addicted
Although they may have chosen to take the drug in the first place - although that isn't always the case - no one really plans on becoming addicted. Why would they choose that?
The reality is that these drugs have a huge recreational appeal. From helping with social anxiety to relieving stress, there are tons of reasons why people might start using. But they're so highly addictive that before they know it, they're reliant on it.
People usually think they're in control, but the reality is that drugs take that control from them. The fact that even prescribed opioid users can become addicts is proof it's not as simple as a typical choice. 
Make sure to keep an eye for signs of drug use in men and women to make sure those around you aren't suffering. 

5. They Have Character Flaws
A lot of people think addiction is a character flaw, and that people with addictions are abnormal or outcasts. The truth is so far from that.  Everyone has some character flaws whether or not they have an addiction.
The National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism found that almost 20% of alcoholics lead functioning, normal lives. Drug users can have families, go out with friends, and have jobs. It's often when their addiction takes over that their lives begin to all apart, and the idea of character flaws is presented.
In reality, anyone can become an addict and it's not a character flaw, it's a disease.
6. Why People Take Drugs? They're Bored
A lot of people imagine that addiction begins when people are bored. They don't work and they have nothing better to do. Whilst boredom can be a cause, it's one of so many.
Here are just a few of the reasons why people do drugs:

• Succumbing to peer pressure
• To escape an unpleasant reality
• To relieve stress, anxiety, or other mental health problems

Usually, the main reason people start using drugs is down to one overriding point: to stop feeling bad. There's often an underlying issue, such as physical abuse, losing a job, or grieving for a loved one, which is the catalyst for drug abuse. They're suffering, and they turn to something to help them escape.
When addicts receive treatment, they often receive therapy too. There's a cause behind drug use that often runs deeper than we can see.
 Understanding why people take drugs is crucial to understanding anyone who might be suffering from an addiction. If you know someone with a substance abuse problem, make sure they get the help they need. 
Get in touch with our team to find out more about our addiction services. 

  Strong doctor-patient relationships significantly improve patient health outcomes. Positive relationships within primary care settings may be the most powerful of all. 
Yet an increasing percentage of American adults do not have a primary care provider. There are many reasons for this lapse, but one of the biggest factors is a simple lack of understanding of why primary care is important. 
Keep reading to learn why primary care matters and what it can do for you. 
What Is Primary Care?
Put simply, primary care is when you have a personal doctor who knows you and who is your go-to source for all your health care needs and concerns.
Where specialists focus on an area of the body or a technique, primary care doctors specialize in knowing their patients. Primary care providers (PCPs) are trained to:

• Perform general wellness checks 
• Diagnose conditions based on patient symptoms
• Prescribe medication or treatment for common ailments
• Help patients manage chronic conditions
• Provide health and lifestyle education
• Connect patients with specialists and support resources 

Instead of working out of hospitals, primary care doctors typically work within communities. They serve individuals and families and build healthy lives and neighborhoods. 
Who Should Seek Primary Care?
Ideally, everyone should have a primary care provider. Research consistently shows that adults with PCPs:

• Are healthier
• Experience a better quality of life
• Have lower rates of cancer, stroke, and heart disease
• Are less likely to be hospitalized for any cause
• Live longer
• Have lower overall health care costs

Tragically, about one-third of men and twenty percent of women do not have PCPs or access to crucial primary care services. 
Primary Care and Early Intervention
Primary care medicine is necessary for personal, community, and national health.  PCPs improve patient health outcomes in many ways. One of those ways is through early intervention. 

PCPs deliver routine care including annual physicals. These regular check-ins are important. They allow doctors to identify symptoms that might suggest the onset of serious conditions.

Testing and early intervention can head off health crises before they escalate. For example, a PCP may recognize that a patient is sugar sensitive. He or she may recommend simple diet and lifestyle changes.

Acting before patients develop full-blown diabetes can prevent decades of struggling. It can also prevent life-threatening health complications from ever occurring.

Patients without PCPs often do not get care until their conditions are advanced and hard to treat.   
PCP Relationships and Quality of Life Research shows that patients find tremendous comfort in having a doctor they know and trust. 
Patients are more likely to share the full details of their symptoms, conditions, and habits with providers they trust. This enables doctors to more accurately diagnose the sources of problems and to create treatment plans that genuinely work for patients. As a result, patients more consistently comply with those plans and see better results.
This means that in addition to the mental and emotional comfort a strong doctor-patient relationship provides, it pays very real dividends in patient health outcomes. Beyond that, it creates the foundation for more widespread gains in overall quality of life.   
Quality of Life
Primary care by definition includes health education. PCPs work with patients to create and build healthy lifestyles that allow them to live their lives to the fullest. For example, PCPs can assist patients with:

• Smoking cessation
• Substance use cessation or moderation
• Developing an appropriate and enjoyable exercise routine
• Making appropriate dietary choices

Continuity of Care
Continuity of care of a fancy way of saying that patients with PCPs get coordinated, cohesive attention. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this. 
Patients that visit specialists hit-and-miss to address concerns they can't ignore often:

• Receive expensive testing more often than necessary because results are not shared
• Get conflicting advice from different practitioners
• Are prescribed dangerous combinations of medications or treatments because each prescriber is unaware of what the others are doing 

Primary care providers, by contrast, coordinate patient care. They work with other practitioners to ensure that information is shared and that treatments and medications are safe together and appropriate for the patient. They remove the burden of tracking, evaluating, and communicating treatments and needs from patients. 
Cost Savings.  Studies show that primary care services reduce patients' health care costs. This is largely attributable to PCP's ability to help patients catch and treat conditions while they are small and simple to address. 
It also reflects the fact that patients without PCPs must often resort to emergency rooms and other costly sources for all of their care needs. Primary care providers, by contrast, can offer quick and affordable care for non-emergency needs. 
Specifically, seeing a PCP for non-emergency care is three to seven times less expensive. Working with a PCP can save patients an average of 33 percent on their health care costs annually. Increased use of PCPs nationwide could save the United States up to $67 billion annually.  
Most primary care services are covered in whole or in part under even basic health insurance plans. 
Primary Care and Chronic Conditions One of the most overlooked primary care specialties is PCPs' ability to help patients manage chronic conditions.
Chronic conditions are epidemic in the modern world. While their commonality makes them easy to take for granted, their effects can be crippling. PCPs play a key role in helping patients manage these conditions and limit their negative impacts on quality of life. 
PCPs can provide:  

• Regular visits and testing to monitor symptoms
• Informed, personalized treatment plans
• Support and education
• Low-cost interventions during flare-ups
• Information on new treatment options as they become available

Finding a Primary Care Provider
​Given the vital role that primary care providers play in health, it is important to choose your provider wisely. Let Indianapolis's leading PCP introduce you to everything primary care has to offer, today.  

Suboxone is a medication that reduces the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. But can you get addicted to Suboxone? Here's your Suboxone addiction guide.

On average, 130 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses. The opioid epidemic is tragic and despite some efforts, our country and the world, in general, are nowhere near getting it under control.  Although it is difficult, it is possible to break free from addiction. The best way to do this is different for each individual, but many have found suboxone to be a big help to them on their recovery journey.  However, some people feel that taking Suboxone is just trading one drug for another. Many worry about the possibility of Suboxone addiction, as well.

Are people in recovery from addiction to opioids at risk of becoming addicted to Suboxone? If so, how can they stop this from happening? Is addiction to Suboxone better than an addiction to opioids, or is it almost the same thing? Is the risk high enough to avoid Suboxone, even if it might save your life?

For the answers to these questions and more, read on.

What Is Suboxone? 
Suboxone is the brand name for a medication that is a combination of two different drugs: buprenorphine and naloxone. It is used for the treatment of opioid use disorder. 

People addicted to opioids will experience intense and painful withdrawals when they try to quit the use of prescription opioids or heroin. Suboxone eliminates withdrawal completely. 
Suboxone can be taken in tablet or film form. In both cases, the drug is dissolved in the patient's mouth and absorbed directly into the blood stream. This type of administration creates the option for users to take it themselves at home, instead of forcing them to visit a clinic each day for their treatment as in the case of methadone.

How Does Suboxone Work?

The primary ingredient in Suboxone is buprenorphine. It is a partial opioid agonist.  Buprenorphine binds the opioid receptors very strongly, but does not activate it as strongly as opioids of abuse.  So, while it eliminates withdrawal it doesn't create the high like other opioids.  Buprenorphine also stops cravings, thereby helping to keep that person from returning to abusing opioids. 

How Many People Use Suboxone?

This medication has helped and continues to help many thousands of people that are trying to break free from opioid addictions. In 2018, $1.9 billion dollars worth of Suboxone was sold in the United States, but fortunately, its purchase and use are covered by health insurance in most cases. 
Experts estimate that about two million Americans are addicted to opioids today, and only about ten percent of them are receiving treatment..

Does Suboxone Really Work?

Overdose rates are reduced by 75% through buprenorphine usage.  Success with buprenorphine increases over the first year of usage. With people who choose to stop burprenorphine after 1 year of use succeeding 49% of the time at not restarting other opiates.  Compare that to someone who tries to quit cold turkey, statistically they have less than a 10% chance of success.  Buprenorphine gives you time to get your life in order while it wards off withdrawal and eliminates the disruptive craving/seeking cycle of other opoids.    
When it comes time to stop taking it, users are tapered off at their own speed. It's likely that they will experience some relatively mild withdrawal symptoms,but this is minimized through changing doses very slowly.  
Because of the length time for which patients must continue using Suboxone, some worry about the possibility of Suboxone addiction.  Is it possible to get addicted to Suboxone?
This is really the wrong question to be asking.  The patient is already addicted, suboxone is the treatment.  People don't use suboxone to get high, it doesn't produce the intensity of experience as the opioids of abuse.   It is more likely that someone would return to abusing other opioids than develop a new addiction to buprenorphine/suboxone.  
Buprenorphine has a built-in ceiling. If a person takes more Suboxone than directed, he or she will not experience stronger effects. This helps to limit Suboxone abuse. 
Is Suboxone Trading One Addiction for Another?
No, this is not the case. Suboxone users use buprenorphine  to ward off withdrawal and cravings for opioids.  They do not use it to get high.  Its' use is functional and not fueled by craving, but rather the physiologic consequences of prolonged opioid usage.  It serves as a crutch for a period of time, while a person heals the consequences of addiction.  This allows them to make amends and improve social relationships and initiate a commitment to healthy living, so when the time to stop the medication arrives their support network and stress management abilities are well developed.    
Suboxone gives users an opportunity to step down their addiction in a way that is manageable over time. For many, having this option saved their lives. Although medication-assisted treatment does not work for everyone, for some it is the factor that makes addiction recovery possible in both the short and long term.

Dr. Starsiak's Healthy Thoughts Blog.