Archive for March, 2006
Face to Face with Jean Fitzgerald
Sunday, March 12th, 2006
Jean FitzGerald, co-director of the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine in Johnstown, is one of Kildare’s brightest minds. She spoke to the Kildare Post about her work at the cutting edge of medical research.
What is your occupation and how long are you in your current position?
I am the co-director of the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine (ICIM) for the last 7 years with my partner Felipe Reitz.
We both have backgrounds in the medical area: I trained originally in Homeopathy in London and had further experience in Naturopathy whilst working with one of Prince Charles Medical Advisors.
My partner Felipe has a background in Biology of medicine and has a passion for uncovering the underlying cause of patients’ complaints. We call him the medical detective.
Whilst our thinking is more drawn towards scientific and evidenced based medicine we created a medical centre which allows patients to access the best of both conventional and natural medicine. We do this by combining conventional diagnostics to uncover the cause of patients’ problems with natural medical solutions where possible or offering patients an integrated approach of the two. (more…)
Blood Offers a Window to your Health
Sunday, March 5th, 2006
By Neil Callanan
Unless you are bleeding, you probably never think about your blood. Adults have around five litres of blood, made up of plasma, white cells, red cells and platelets. Blood, and its health, can be a useful indicator of your general health.
A standard blood test involves taking blood with a syringe and them analysing the dead blood cells. The Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine in Naas, Co. Kildare, analyses a live sample in front of the patient. A blood sample is taken from a pinprick on your finger. The sample is viewed through a microscope and illuminated using ultra-dark-field. This allows the blood to be viewed in its living state. On the monitor, you can clearly see the red blood cells turn a purplish-blue colour with a bright white border.
White blood cells, and their comparative health, are clearly visible. By-products of the bagel I had eaten a couple of hours previously zoomed around the screen. (more…)