The world has been stunned by this new research paper exposing the presence of lead, arsenic and other heavy metals in tampons. Honestly, this is not surprising at all. This should have been figured out long time ago ever since our environment, soil and water has been increasingly contaminated with various types of contaminants that get absorbed into our food/ clothing/ drinking water etc etc.

How do heavy metals get into the tampons?

Lead and arsenic in your tampons? Well, guess what! Tampons are made with a mix of synthetic and cotton fibers.

Where does cotton come from?

It comes from soil!!

What happens in soil?

Soil contains a huge variety of heavy metals/ toxins/ pthlatates/ plastics – you name it!!

How does soil get all that?

From recycling/ percolating of waste water/ trash and what not!
A study published in the Environmental pollution revealed that lead and barium levels exceeded the health-based guidance values in 10-14% of NYC community garden
soil samples.

FDA states that lead has entered the environment from the past widespread use of lead in paint, gasoline, and plumbing materials, as well as many other products.

Ok, so soil has these contaminants! Where else are they?

Did you know that your beverages such as wine and beer can have higher than acceptable levels of heavy metals such as lead and arsenic? One of the mechanisms that these guys can get in your drink is through the filtration techniques used. This study showed measurable levels seen in various food products such as juices, wine and beer.

These are over simplified explanations for sure but that is what is happening in reality.

So, even if you are not going around licking old walls or ingesting lead from lead paints or bullets, lead and arsenic in tampons, there really is no way around to escape exposure to these heavy metals/ toxins/ plastics etc.

Even if you consume 100 % organic foods (likely grown in any of these gardens), wear 100% organic recycled clothing, triple filter your water… you may reduce the load that you are exposed to but you cannot get to zero!

So, what can you do as a consumer???

Here are some quick and dirty recommendations by the EPA on how to reduce your load and decrease the risk of inadvertent consumption.

What can we as health care practitioners do to help!!

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE TO YOUR RESCUE!

Thanks to some really cutting-edge technologies, we can now:

– check the various toxin levels in your tissues and blood,
– check how your body is metabolizing them,
– check if you have any genetic combinations which do not allow proper processing and dumping of these metals and toxins in your body
– we can also check how the toxins may be altering the hormonal metabolism and possibly taking you down toxic pathways potentially increasing risks for breast or uterine cancers/ weight gain/ hair loss and so much more

Ok, now we know you have toxins or heavy metals, what next?

This is called precision medicine! We can now target specific issues and customize treatment plans which can help detoxify your body of these harmful toxins through chelation (oral or i/v) and other comprehensive strategies that help raise the anti-oxidant levels to remove the toxin load from not just lead and arsenic in your tampons but also from food and your environment.

And no, your insurance unfortunately will not pay for this!

What can you do immediately??

While you start saving to get a functional care plan, here is what you can start doing today to help curtail the exposure…

– Use organic tampons and change them frequently
– Can use menstrual cups if convenient
– Try and buy organic foods if possible and still wash them with water and vinegar and then rinse them again
– Look at EWGs clean 15 and dirty dozen lists
– Minimize use of plastic food containers or plastic bags
– Never heat food in plastics
– Use organic hair products if possible

And the list can go on and on!

Feel free to reach out to us if you want to get on to the path of true wellness with a little bit of our help!

Be strong, be safe, be prepared,

Dr. Adeeti Gupta

Ref:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024004355?via%3Dihub
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/garden/docs/soilpaper.pdf
https://www.nyc.gov/content/leadfree/pages/soil

Leaded Soil Endangers Residents in New York Neighborhoods

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463920305101
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/new-york-city-gardens-soil-lead-concerns/
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/leadtoxicity/cover-page.html
https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead
https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/lead-food-and-foodwares
https://research.library.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=environ_2015

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9116460/

Disclaimer:

We do not have any financial affiliation with the testing companies. We have simply placed the links on our website for the ease of use.

The post Tampons- lead- heavy metals- VOCs- plastics and more!! appeared first on Walk In GYN Care.

by Adeeti Gupta, MD

We were heroes, locking the clinic doors every night and walking home in the apocalyptic I Am Legend-like streets of Manhattan.

We were heroes to people lining the glass canyons shouting, screaming, clapping, and beating pots and pans to thank us for risking our lives to keep them alive.

We are heroes no more.

Patients come into our lobbies and exam rooms screaming, throwing potted plants, and cursing us several times a month.

Few weeks ago, a patient came into one of our offices, threatened her provider – assaulted her with a lamp (thankfully missed the provider), punched a hole in the wall, and showered verbal abuse on the entire office.  She then proceeded to physically threaten all the team members who were in the office at that time.  Our pregnant team member had to secure herself in a room for fear of being assaulted again.  When the police made it to the office, our place of work was in chaos until the patient was escorted away.  The entire incident shook the whole team deep to their core.

This is happening every day (more and more).

What changed?

It is whiplash-inducing how things have shifted.  In 2014, when I opened Walk In GYN Care, the nation’s first full-service Walk-In Center focused solely on comprehensive Women’s Health Care in the heart of NYC, the response was phenomenal. Within the last seven years, we have expanded to seven locations, including the West Coast, serving nearly 60,000 women annually. Women are grateful for being able to come into a warm, compassionate environment where they can get the care they need when they need it.

We are the same, but the rest of us aren’t.  Medical professionals make a commitment before any degrees are conferred or any white coats are worn.  We commit to care for everyone and anyone.  To first do no harm.  No harm to others while we expose ourselves to harm by definition.  We exist this way day in and day out.

Those who have never known a health care worker closely do not know how much risk they take daily to do their job.  Our job is to heal others…at all costs.  Our driving force is compassion and giving tirelessly to those in need.  We are on our feet all day, running around, changing dirty linens, cleaning disgusting beds, bathing sick people, and the list goes on.  Unlike the chart-toting bedside visits filmed for ER, Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs, our lives are filled with the less cinematic kind of menial labor-intensive stuff that many people cannot even imagine.  Yes!  We do this every single day, rain or shine.

Why choose this instead of a comfortable, remote, or flexible job?  We do this because we get fulfilled through making others’ lives better.  Yes, we get paid to do it, but there are many ways to make money.  How many professions exist where all one does is give and do so selflessly, tirelessly, and endlessly?  I can think of very few.

But back to the story…

Most of my team members are women, single mothers and sole care providers, working multiple jobs and trying their best to survive. These women showed up to work through those desolate streets every single day.  We were one of the rare women’s health centers that stayed open while the ERs overflowed with Covid patients.

Only women know that women’s issues do not stop because of a pandemic.   Women will still get breast, ovarian, uterine, or cervical cancers; they will still have bleeding issues with life-threatening anemia or serious infections leading to death.  And yes, they will still get pregnant and undergo childbirth or miscarriages.  And who takes care of all those situations?

The health care heroes.

So, we stayed open and ready every day.

Three days ago, at one of our other locations, the story repeated itself…  Another patient threatened the staff verbally and physically while spewing curses at the team.  The unfortunate part was that she had a 3-year-old kid with her who witnessed this entire scenario.

These two incidents are not isolated; they only increase in frequency and intensity. And these are not restricted to any particular location. We have centers in Manhattan, Astoria, Brooklyn, Bayside, and Los Angeles. It’s happening everywhere.

The rising tide of anger, entitlement, and frustration is being experienced in all service industries. The air stewards trapped 30,000 miles above with a violent customer or the cashier being threatened at gunpoint…the tales are only piling up.

I have practiced medicine for the last 25 years in three different countries in very extreme situations.  I have witnessed the entire spectrum, ranging from real poverty to the elite upper east side’s wealthy population.  Never have I seen such a terrible assault on humanity outside a psych ward.

What has led to the degradation of humanity to this level?

By adulthood, all of us have lived through a breakup, the loss of a job, or a car accident.  None of us were adults during the last global pandemic, and none knew what was coming…nor how we would feel in the aftermath.

The losses of the pandemic, the isolation from lockdowns, the rise in domestic violence, increasing mental health issues, and so much more have put everyone on the edge.  Inflation has added the cherry on top.  Everyone is angry, everyone is sensitive, and everyone feels that they deserve the best.

We understand. 

However, we still go on and about doing what we must do, even if we are exposed to these verbally and physically abusive patients.

No, we don’t excuse ourselves because we need mental rest; we simply continue caring for the rest of the patients and finish out the day giving our best to every single soul!

In our staff meetings, we now have to cover procedures for such violent outbreaks – both verbal and physical.  We had to install panic buttons in our offices.  All these conversations invariably turn to the question, will we stick it out and leave for a “safer job”?

Not one of the 100 staff has left.

Our team motto is “Caring with Compassion.”  I have strived to imbue that in my team from day one.  And they do… they are proud to provide compassionate and stellar care to all women all day, every day.

However, compassion is not a one-way street.

Have you thought that the person who is taking your blood pressure or checking you in, or examining you might be having a terrible day?  Yet, they showed up here today and are “giving” you a piece of themselves.  Don’t they deserve some compassion and kindness just like you do?  I simply urge you to look in the mirror and give us a little bit of the same.

Our commitment to care does not change.

Not because we are heroes.

Because we are human.

____________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Adeeti Gupta is a physician, entrepreneur, author and an educator. She is the founder and CEO of Walk In GYN Care.

The post We were Heroes appeared first on Walk In GYN Care.

In the past few years, I have been researching simple tools that can assist me, my team, and my patients in getting objective feedback. Years of rigorous research, participation in stellar leadership programs, and many workshops have led me to the same conclusion.

Honest self-reflection is our superpower.

Journaling is a release but also a form of self-feedback. There are a million journaling tools and self-help books out there. However, in today’s busy world, the thought of sitting down to pen (or type) your thoughts seems like a daunting task. After experimenting with variations of daily, weekly, monthly notes, feedback sessions, and goal settings, etc., I adopted this simple check-in system for myself and my team. Varying schools of philosophy have inspired the tools in the upcoming pages. The common theme aligns with the core concept that the “power of self” is key!!

Whether you are a CEO, manager, coach, student, or someone who simply needs a little structure to your life, you will find this a powerful ally.

This simple, easy three-step self-feedback loop is a formidable instrument in your journey to be a better leader, partner, coworker, or a saner, more peaceful you!

I have used it every day before bedtime for over three years, as have many of my friends and coworkers. Because it takes less than two minutes and has been so potent, I decided to formalize the system and share it with the world. This toolkit does not bind you by dates or years. You can pick it up and start anytime.

Just be transparent with yourself! Take a day to look back at a random page. If you have already overcome that obstacle, then celebrate that win. If the primary challenge still lingers, let this toolkit assist you with “solutionizing.”

You will find weekly quotes. Many are from traditional texts, philosophers, or my favorite books. Those that do not have any labels are my creations or adaptations of life mantras that have helped me thus far.

You can order your copy here  or at https://www.amazon.com/Reflection-REFLECT-YOUR-SANER-STRONGER/dp/B0BW23B57X/ref=sr_1_3?

Or simply ask our front desk for one if you plan to visit any of our offices.

So, please enjoy the path to freedom, success, and peace.

…………Dr. Adeeti Gupta

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