Dr. Anna MD
Skincare
Canadian Healthcare Hard Truths #7
Human Error in Medicine is a Leading Cause of Death in North America https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225187/
As we experience front line worker burnout, staff shortages, complex patients and out of date technology “medical error” and iatrogenic events will happen even more. We should not keep penalizing individuals, instead look at how we can reinvent systems like GE, Motorola and the Airline Industry did. These are not single errors, they are chronic system errors and 25% of them can be attributed to side effects of drugs or drug interactions. 2 major system advances in recent years have been 1) including the pharmacists 2) pharmacogenomic testing.
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21/07/2022
The most important decision you will ever make in life is who you choose to share your journey with you. Your partner can either help “make” you, “complete” you and “empower” you or completely “break you” into 1000 little pieces. The pieces can be glued together, but will never be the original again. I “borrowed” this post from , who in my opinion, is our Prime Minister’s greatest asset 🥰.
Instead of focusing on prevention, lifestyle management, & education, most American mainstream media advertisements focus on chronic illness, that is largely preventable, with lifestyle modifications. There is no magic silver bullet for bad habits due to lack of education and support. Good habits start at home and in school. How about much higher funding for recreation centres, school programs, & significantly higher taxes on junk food? Some chronic conditions are inherited and unavoidable, but many, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high lipid profile, lung and bladder cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and many other health issues like polymyalgia rheumatica, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, & chronic fatigue can be alleviated with lifestyle management.
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Let’s go back in time to the Greater Victoria Hospital Society in 1991. Why were things so good? Family practice , emergency room doctors and interns ran the hospital…not the Health Care Administration Association.https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Research/HealthCareFinancingReview/Downloads/CMS1191815DL.pdf We had fresh porridge in the morning, on site laundry services, cleaning staff that we socialized with and knew on a first name basis…so what happened? Population grew so hospital staff grew but not in the clinical roles! Labour unions fought for more hospital administration which doubled but nursing and doctor numbers remained the same. More federal transfer payments to bandaid a broken system will not fix anything. Someone bold needs to cut administration in 1/2 because they are not the people who will change your wound dressing, give you a bed pan or cast your broken leg.
We need more “support” workers…respiratory therapists, LPN’s, Social Workers, Specialized nurses to help with pain management and sedation, therapists etc…people who actually help sick patients and not just go around with clipboards collecting data on “quality assurance ”, “infection control”, “surgical times”, “computer numbers”, and deciding who qualifies for an N95 😷 mask. I asked for one once (pre COViD) and my request was turned down because the patient “did not meet the criteria”🤨.
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My parents immigrated to Canada, from Communist Poland, in 1975. Like all immigrants, they worked very hard, never complained, so I could have a better life in Canada. They never
boasted of their accomplishments so I’m going to boast for them! I used to see them as opinionated Eastern European people with rigid traditional values. Today I see them as unbelievably forward thinking, accepting and tolerant of the human condition. I am very lucky to have them teaching me by example and reminding me not to be a “Don Quixote”😅.
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I started being suspicious of “Dutch tests” and “Bioidentical Hormones” when a pharmacy owner approached me, with an all expenses paid trip to Florida, to learn exactly what to say and how to prescribe. Somehow the consumer is duped into thinking that “Natural” or “Bioidentical” is better (poison ivy is “natural”). If that is what you think, then by all means continue using aromatherapy, crystals and naturopaths and stop complaining that you need a real doctor 🤷♂️.
The facts: to help transition into the wisest phase of your life you need to do both aerobic and weight training, limit alcohol and caffeine, quit smoking and pay attention to the types of food you eat (less processed, lots of fruit and veggies).
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11/07/2022
It’s no wonder Dr. Anna hated Home Economics in 1980. This kind of preaching and our “Recipies for Young Adults” Cookbook was sponsored by the Manitoba Beetgrowers Association where the introduction read “white sugar is great for the developing mind and body”🤪. Now of course this is how Allergan is marketing “preventative Botox” for teenagers. The power of marketing is strong, big industry is a bully, be a ❤️.
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Recurrent Kidney Stones…a few tips on what you can do to prevent them. If you cannot remember anything I said try lemon water in the morning, stay well hydrated all day long, don’t use calcium supplements, and be careful with juicing for calcium oxalate stones (80%) and meat/keto with uric acid stones (20%). Remember real food is often medicine and be very wary of supplements.
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07/07/2022
Just like fashion, skincare trends come and go…just because it’s “fashionable” and “popular” are you going to follow?
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Real Life…The Dishwasher Series.
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media
05/07/2022
Have you ever considered a little cosmetic enhancement but were terrified to look like this? The “Softlift” technique is a paint by number approach for “facial rejuvenation” and this is what happens if you keep injecting your face, with multiple syringes filler and Botox, annually. Yes, physicians should take some responsibility for your body dysmorphia but it’s a business and they don’t 🤨. The Liquid Face Lift or Softlift is a term coined by Allergan, the makers of Botox, Juvederm, Belkyra, Latisse and Coolsculpting. The company has an expert, Dr. Mauricio de Maio, a Brazilian Plastic Surgeon who has written several books on how to rejuvenate a face with toxins and fillers…way too many fillers so you look like a bloated pin cushion. But then again, some people love this look🤷♂️. Anyways it’s not our practice and we have turned many clients away. We do not encourage tear trough filler, overfilling lips, cheeks or foreheads. We also regularly dissolve botched fillers that are overdone or lumpy, break down adhesions and treat granulomas.
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04/07/2022
How to “fix” Canadian Healthcare? Start focusing on taking responsibility for yourself and your everyday life choices. Healthcare does not start with simply more funding, it starts at home, at school, at Birthday parties and play dates with EDUCATION. It is not government’s role to look after all your chronic self inflicted illnesses. Sounds harsh? 80% people over 65+ have at least one chronic illness, 70% have 2 or more. Billions of dollars are spent on beauty and body sculpting machines that will not “fix” internal health. High blood pressure 58%, Cholesterol 47%, Arthritis 31%, Ischemic Heart Disease and Type 2 diabetes 30%, Chronic kidney disease 18%, Depression, Dementia, Chronic Pulmonary disease and the list goes on and on. OBESITY is a major issue with all these chronic illnesses and accounts for failed joint replacements, increased intraoperative complications, increased wound infections, and higher morbidity and mortality post surgery. So what do we do? The top 4 “Lifestyle” modifications: 1) NUTRITION (more fruits, veggies, & unprocessed foods, avoid refined sugars and high trans fats). 2) ACTIVITY (swim, walk, cycle) 3) QUIT to***co, va**ng, ci**rs 4) Limit or QUIT alcohol
Obesity is linked to inflammation and even mental health has been linked to inflammation https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/pcn/multimedia/relationship-between-inflammation-and-mental-illnesses
Sometimes the truth is hard to hear. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2011001/article/11411-eng.htm
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03/07/2022
https://images.app.goo.gl/noFFVPjC6YpbwzM69
Beauty, Fashion, Shopping and Glamour…most women love it right?
So what are the problems? This is an image of Chile’s Atacama Desert where 59,000 tons of clothing reach Chile annually (manufactured in sweat shops in China and Bangladesh), sold in Europe and North America before being dumped in South America. Much of this clothing is synthetic, laden with chemicals and takes hundreds of years to biodegrade, if at all! “Fast fashion”, the cosmetic industry, and consumerism by a world population approaching 8 billion is not sustainable. Wonder when the beauty, fashion and retail industry will wake up? https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/beauty-has-a-waste-problem-and-its-not-packaging/amp
02/07/2022
https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/fashion_style/2021/04/20/how-can-beauty-fix-its-giant-waste-problem.html
Clean vitamin based skincare, refillable and recyclable. The Oil, The Wash, The Cream. Made in Canada 🇨🇦 packaging made in EU.
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02/07/2022
There has been a move recently to stop celebrating Canada Day, but let’s remind ourselves just why Canada is so special. We don’t need to eliminate Canada Day to recognize the wrongs of the past…genocide, confederation, assimilation, & religious indoctrination, instead could use it as a platform where we educate about residential schools and inter generational trauma and still celebrate this great country we live in. My parents immigrated and I became a Canadian citizen in 1976, and culturally I don’t consider myself Polish but Canadian. My dad chose Canada over the USA because he loved the wild places, nature, and the more inclusive mentality where we help look after those who cannot help themselves. My husband ran for the provincial Liberal leadership and during that process I realized that there are so many “hardcore” partisan supporters. Why can’t we just accept that there are certain ideologies in all 3 parties that make some sense? That is what makes the fabric of this country so special, and hopefully we can respect individual opinions and work together (just like our “blended” family 😅) and not be divided like down south…”hardcore” blue and red with “irreconcilable differences”.
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Happy Canada Day July 1, 2022. My first date with the father of my boys was on July 1, 1991 when we were both rotating interns at Island Health which was known as the Greater Victoria Hospital Society. He came from a very Catholic family and living together was prohibited. So after 9 weeks of “marriage preparation classes”, including the class on the “rhythm method”, and certainly no birth control, we were married Spring 1993. Two children later in 1997, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. His father knew it too and presented me a book about Pope John Paul “Witness to Hope”, while his mother gave me a silk leopard print nightie 4 sizes too big. I continued to try, and keep trying, because maybe if I just tried a little harder things would get better🤷♂️, while I lived with someone completely unpredictable, irresponsible, self absorbed, erratic and totally neglectful of our family. He would dictate charts until 3 am in the garage while drinking scotch or get called out at midnight for yet another “surgical emergency” but could never understand my call schedule. Fast forward 17 years post divorce my message to women is never feel guilty about what you need to do in order to grow and thrive. Be brave, believe in yourself because it’s much better being single than being in a union that completely drains you of joy. There were many years that were extremely hard but that experience has also made me who I am today. Stronger, wiser, empathetic, capable, forgiving and far more resilient than I ever imagined.
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30/06/2022
Stop putting chemicals in the water and on yourself. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm Dr. Anna Zinc Sticks are SPF 70, great for chafing, insect bites and minor skin abrasions, safe for babies & water resistant. Order online www.drannamd.com
Office will reopen July 5 10 am 250 590 0883 for product pickup and refills.
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28/06/2022
Dr. Anna MD is a Lifestyle Management & Cosmetic Medical Clinic as well as a Specialist Consulting Platform. It’s impossible not to take a political view when we see what is going on with women’s health south of our Canadian border. Taking a side, and not standing by impartially, because you are scared of controversy or conflict, allows the bullies to keep pushing their backward agenda. The reason The Handmaid’s Tale by was so successful is because it shows what happens when girls are brainwashed from an early age. The 3 recently appointed US Supreme Court Judges lied under oath (perjury) to get appointed saying they would NOT overturn Roe vs. Wade. What does one believe in when the people who are heads of the highest court in America are lying? comments?
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25/06/2022
Lifestyle Management … that’s our motto. This includes maternal health and the right to choose. The United States of America 🇺🇸 is going backwards fast. For such an amazingly advanced nation with innovation, technology, “bastion of global democracy” for a century, slowly being taken over by hard core self interest groups both from left and right with no ability to work together. How did this happen? Power of internet, social media, meta platforms, twitter, fake news, spreading their agenda online. Historically, this is how global dictators have taken over in the past and subjugated the masses, except now they have access to 3-5 billion people on social media and nuclear weapons. Putin was a taxi driver who took over an entire country…think about that!
This is also why we have a mental health crisis…Social Media. Cyber bullying, depression, anxiety, isolation, disrupted sleep, and opportunity to spread harmful rumours, po*******hy, illicit drug sales, and abusive language that can leave lasting emotional scars. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336744824_Social_media_use_and_adolescent_sleep_patterns_cross-sectional_findings_from_the_UK_millennium_cohort_study
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24/06/2022
We pride ourselves on transparency, science and honesty. You will not see us “pushing” fat reduction, skin tightening or complicated skin care “regimens”. As my plastic surgery colleagues say “there is no such thing as a skin tightening machine”. There is also no such thing as “preventative” Botox when you have a 20 year old client. Medispas are owned and operated by physicians who are supposed to do no harm. Injecting 20 year olds with Botox and filler only leads to body dysmorphia, depression and unhappiness. Please think about this the next time you see a young girl asking for “preventative Botox” or lip filler.
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18/06/2022
The Dream Catcher Legend
In life there are many forces-some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces they will steer you in the right direction. If you listen to the bad forces they will hurt you and steer you in the wrong direction. The web will catch good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole. The dream catcher is most commonly associated with Native American culture (Ojibwe people).
The Lakota believe the dream catcher holds the destiny of their future. May all your dreams come true.
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🇨🇦
A man who can fix stuff around the house is a very useful man 😅❤️❤️❤️. Contact me for more information $65/hour and call out fee.
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🇨🇦
I “borrowed” this post because it is priceless. There is no such thing as perfection (in fact it’s actually considered a mental illness or personality disorder and correlated with eating disorders, depression, anxiety, OCD and suicidal ideation). Nothing in life is perfect but we can keep trying to do good, be good and spread kindness and humour and positivity.
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04/06/2022
Wear your SPF today
Zinc Sticks (SPF 70) mineral@blockers. Versatile uses…antiperspirant, anti chafing, diaper rash and calms minor skin irritations and insect bites.
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02/06/2022
Our #1 lip and cheek tint.
Worry free ingredients and 20 colours to choose from. Made in Canada. www.drannamd.com
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01/06/2022
If you are like most working mothers, busy students, or on a budget, start looking at “cosmeceuticals” and “medical grade” skincare with a bit of skepticism. There is a paucity of medical literature for true “evidence based” skincare with proper pathological microscopic examination and the term “cosmeceutical” is used for marketing having you believe you are purchasing something g stronger and more effective. Over exfoliating, peeling, over processing skin, “eye” creams and “neck” creams are once again marketing. Keep your skincare routines simple … wash, moisturize and mineral sunscreen. Learn to interpret the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) and if your products have more than 10 ingredients beware. There are usually 1-2 “active” ingredients such as Vitamin A (A for acne) B&C (B &C for pigment), D (D especially beneficial in psoriasis) and ceramides. Not much else is “evidence based” in medical/dermatology or internal medicine literature.
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🇨🇦
31/05/2022
Vitamin C in skin health. Fact or Fiction? The role of Vitamin C in skin health has been under discussion since it’s discovery in 1930’s as a treatment for scurvy. Of all the hypothesized benefits of Vitamin C and skin health, it’s beneficial effect on wound healing is the most dramatic and reproducible. Lund C.C., Crandon J.H. Ascorbic acid and human wound healing. Ann. Surg. 1941; 114: 776-790. Vit C is used topically as an anti inflammatory but the delivery via topical application remains challenging and is not evidence based. As an antioxidant it seems to have some protective effect against UV radiation. Topical ascorbic acid on photoaged skin. Clinical topographical and ultra structural evaluation:double blind study vs. Placebo. Humbert, Haftek, Creidi, Lapiere, Nusgens et Al. Exp Dermatology. 2003 June;12(3):237-44
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30/05/2022
“Sensitive” skin prevalence has skyrocketed…why?
Marketing, advertising and “brainwashing” on skin care “regimens” and beauty “rituals” and routines has us stripping our skin’s acid mantle and actually harming the body’s largest organ. Be gentle with skin and nourish it from inside out with healthy nutrition, hydration and limiting alcohol and caffeine. Quit va**ng and smoking and sweat more!
If your cleansers and moisturizers have more than 10 ingredients beware. Pay attention to packaging g and consider refilling and recycling.
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29/05/2022
The term “Cosmeceuticals” (fusion of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) was first coined by Albert Kligman in 1984, after some very unethical experiments on Holmesburg prisoners in Philadelphia. Retin A was founded as an anti acne medication and is now manufactured by Bausch Health Companies Inc. Every single dermal filler company has a “medical grade” skincare line. There is very little true “evidence based” Antiaging skincare even though every medispa is selling a number of products. What can you do for healthy skin? Proper nutrition, limit caffeine and alcohol, don’t smoke and wear mineral based sunscreen. Use cleansers and moisturizers that have ingredients you understand (INCI decoder) and pay attention to packaging as most of it is non recyclable. Beyond Soap by Dr. Sandy Skotnicki and The Beauty of Dirty Skin by Dr. Whitney Bowe are great reads both written by Professors of Dermatology.
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