An Apple a Day? Healthy Choices vs. Inflammation

My pre-60th birthday journey to improve my previous test results from Seasons of Farragut continues! This month I decided to focus on the first tenet in our Seasons wellness regimen – nutrition!

About two years ago I took the ALCAT test and was astonished at my lengthy list of reactive foods! The ALCAT is a fascinating food sensitivity test in which white blood cells are introduced to a variety of foods, chemicals, and herbs. The severity of the reaction determines if a substance is mild, moderate, severe, or normal within my body. Since knowledge is power, I decided to receive the news that gluten and dairy were on my “severe list” as a positive indicator rather than “buyers’ remorse” for having performed the test!

Lyn-Genet Recitas has written a book, The Plan, which explains how inflammation from food intolerance can cause symptoms such as joint pain, skin disorders, fatigue, weight issues, headaches, and digestive disorders. Whereas a food allergy can have almost an immediate effect, a food sensitivity may not show up for several hours to 3 days later. For weight gain, it’s not as much about the calories as the chemistry of the body. One person may benefit from last night’s salmon and broccoli but someone else may actually gain 2 pounds. Inflammation from food intolerance causes damage to the lining of the gut. As the lining becomes “leaky” with gaps present, foods begin to slip through not completely digested. This causes the body to attack undigested foods.

As we age, inflammation can increase which causes our systems to slow down. Many of us have much less stomach acid and digestive enzymes to break down food. This can ultimately alter our weight and our health. Reactive foods cause our bodies to produce more histamine which causes water retention via dilated capillaries. The brain responds by increasing the production of Cortisol. As more Cortisol is produced, fewer sex hormones are produced since both sets of hormones depend on the same building blocks. Increased Cortisol causes an increase in glucose which causes an increase in blood sugar! This domino effect alters the good bacteria in the gut and can increase yeast production. The altered gut flora leads to a weakened immune response since about 70% of our immune system is in the gut.

The thyroid gland can also be affected by food intolerances. White blood cells that attack undigested foods may migrate to the thyroid gland and begin to attack it. Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid gland. This is determined by a blood test that measures the number of specific antibodies against the thyroid gland. As I began to avoid gluten, my own antibody level began to decrease. I was able to decrease my thyroid replacement dosage. This month, I repeated my ALCAT test and found that many of my food intolerances had improved. Not only had I attempted to avoid specific foods, but I also worked intentionally on healing my GI tract. I take a powerful probiotic daily as well as a digestive enzyme with my dinner. For one month of each season, I take a protein shake that is loaded with L-Glutamine. This amazing amino acid helps to heal the leaky gut. It is packed with anti-inflammatories and herbs to help my liver and GI tract detox.

Two years ago, I had about a dozen foods on my severe list.  This year, I only have one – apples!  So, I’m going to give them up for the next 6 months. My moderate reactive list contains 18 foods which I will have to have great discipline to avoid. These are healthy foods but for me, can cause hidden inflammation.  Gluten now causes moderate reactions in my body. I have noticed that when I indulge in gluten, the next morning, my joints ache and my stomach hurts. I doubt if I will ever reintroduce gluten. Dairy is moderate also. Fortunately there are lots of great choices for me and I look forward to continual healing of my GI tract.    Our Nutritional Consultant, Carolyn will keep me focused on this life-long journey of wellness. Be sure to check out her amazing recipes on our website!

Long term benefits with this specialized nutritional therapy will keep inflammation down and hopefully help me avoid chronic disease as well as weight gain. If you would like more information regarding the ALCAT test, call Seasons today. Let’s age intentionally with nutrition being our number one “medicine!”

Man vs. Estrogen: It’s Not Just A Woman Thing!

Testosterone is the defining hormone of a man. Estrogen is the defining hormone of a woman.

So when we talk about estrogen, it’s that word men whisper in secret when the women in their lives seem a little hormonal, right? When people find out that my wife and I have 3 daughters, the resulting comment is usually, “Wow, that’s a lot of estrogen in your household!” (Thankfully, I have a son, too, who helps balance the estrogen to testosterone ratio at our house!)

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, guys, but estrogen is not exclusive to women. We make estrogen, too. In fact, some of us make a LOT of estrogen. Too much, in fact. And it creates some serious problems.

But before we talk about estrogen, we need to talk about testosterone. Testosterone levels in American men are at an all-time low! There are four major reasons for that: stress, weight, endogenous estrogens, and xenoestrogens. In this post, I’ll address three of those – stress, weight, and endogenous estrogen.

So let’s get started learning four important facts about testosterone, estrogen, and men!

What problems do high estrogen levels create in men?

1. High estrogen = low testosterone. One of the primary causes of low testosterone is a high estrogen level. Estrogens can be endogenous (produced by your body) or exogenous (from the environment, also known as xenoestrogens). Estradiol and Estrone (two of the three kinds of estrogen produced by your body) feed back to the hypothalamus and pituitary and shut off testosterone production.

2. High estrogen = inflammation. Not only do high estrogen levels decrease testosterone in men, they also increase inflammation. And this is VERY significant. Inflammation, just like stress, is a biochemical process.

Inflammation is the natural result of the immune system. Remember the last time you got a paper cut?  It was incredibly painful, probably red, warm and swollen, all cardinal symptoms of inflammation. Inflammation, in the right setting, is actually the body protecting itself.  However, when the immune system becomes imbalanced or chronically activated, the immune system causes damage through inflammation. For example, chronically activated immune cells in the brain (glial cells) play a pivotal role in the development of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Multiple Sclerosis.

Inflammation is a SERIOUS issue. Chronic inflammation has been linked to many of the chronic diseases of aging: Type II Diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cancer. In fact, a new term has been coined to describe inflammation arising from the gut which results in many of the above listed disease states - metabolic endotoxemia.

We’ve established that high estrogen levels are bad for men, shutting down testosterone production and causing chronic inflammation leading to disease.

What causes high estrogen levels in men?

1. High aromatase activity = high estrogen. First, high endogenous estrogen levels in men come from high aromatase activity.  Aromatase is the enzyme that converts androstenedione and testosterone into estrone and estradiol respectively. Aromatase is present in many different tissues. But in men aromatase is highly concentrated in that mid-life bulge.

Unfortunately, aromatase activity in men increases as we age due to stress, weight gain, and inflammation. None of us are going to get away from aging (it’s right there with death and taxes). And who do you know that has NO stress? (Remember, it is estimated that 90% of doctor visits are stress-related.) Typically, as we age we gain weight and have more inflammation.

That “age-related” tire around the mid-section is more than just unsightly. It is a hormone and inflammation-producing organ. Remember metabolic endotoxemia, the disease-producing state I mentioned earlier? Metabolic endotoxemia is inflammation arising from the GI system which causes obesity and then turns right around and produces inflammation. It’s a vicious cycle!  And guess what is concentrated in fat? If you guessed aromatase activity, then you are absolutely correct. Aromatase activity in men accounts for 80% of estrogen production.

Hormones are not just about numbers, but balance and metabolism as well (read my recent post on the topic).

2. Overdosage of testosterone = high estrogen. As mentioned earlier, testosterone levels in men are at an all-time low. And the mass solution for this problem with most physicians is to increase testosterone without evaluating or treating the underlying causes for low testosterone. Unfortunately, this complicates the entire low testosterone problem. Overdosage of testosterone increases estrogen production.

What?  You mean you can dose too high on testosterone? Yes, and most of the patients I see who are being treated with testosterone have been, in fact, overdosed.

In fact, at Seasons Wellness Clinic and Seasons of Farragut, we have seen many men must donate blood due to excess production of hemoglobin and hematocrit, a by-product of testosterone overdosage. A 20-22 year old male normally produces 5-10 mg daily of testosterone. It is during this age range that men are at their physical peak of testosterone production. For me, this was during my college football years.

Does it make sense for 40-and-up men currently taking testosterone, that they did not need to donate blood monthly during their peak years of natural testosterone production, but are currently required to donate blood regularly with their current regimen of testosterone?  Of course not. So, if you didn’t have to donate blood with your peak testosterone production in your 20′s, you shouldn’t have to donate with testosterone therapy in your 40′s and beyond either. Something is wrong here, right?

The starting dosage for one of the most highly-prescribed androgen gels is 1 gram daily. Men, we didn’t need 1 gram of testosterone in our early 20′s, and we don’t need it in our 30′s and beyond.

80% of a man’s testosterone occurs from aromatase activity, and aromatase activity increases as we age. So high doses of testosterone don’t make sense. Doctors are just throwing fuel on the fire with these massive doses. More is not better if it’s too much, even when it is something your body needs.

Then, there is the delivery of testosterone therapy. The body’s natural testosterone secretion follows a normal diurnal rhythm.  Testosterone is known to be greatest in early morning and lowest in the evening.  But with many prescribing testosterone therapy today, it is very common to get weekly testosterone shots or testosterone pellets. This method of delivery does NOT follow the body’s natural rhythm. The shots and pellets delivery method of testosterone produce supra physiologic (abnormal) peaks. If the purpose of hormone therapy is to return the body to normal levels, then that objective can never be reached with this type of testosterone therapy.

The effects of Testosterone to estrogen conversion in men and women are different. That’s certainly no surprise. In men, high aromatase activity and conversion of testosterone to estrogen has been linked to elevated CRP, fibrinogen, and IL-6.

Are these important?  CRP is one of the best indicators of future cardiovascular disease/events (heart attacks and strokes), and is associated with metabolic syndrome. And yes, it is more predictive than even a high cholesterol level. Fibrinogen is another marker of inflammation that has been associated with cardiovascular disease and systemic inflammation. IL-6 is an inflammatory cytokine (immune signal) that has been implicated in increased aromatase activity (conversion of testosterone to estrogen) and at the same time is the result of increased testosterone to estrogen activity.

So, what’s the big deal? The studies are not 100% conclusive, but it is clear that inflammation increases the testosterone to estrogen conversion through increased aromatase activity. And the increased estrogen conversion is associated with increased inflammation in men. It’s a vicious cycle that will lead to disease states such as insulin resistance, hypertension, prostatitis, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer, to name a few.

You may be thinking, “Is the testosterone I need leading me to disease?”

The answer is, “Yes, it sure can.” If your testosterone therapy includes prescription of supra physiologic levels of testosterone, lack of follow-up on hormone levels, and no effort to balance hormones and metabolism, then yes, it sure can.

Is there a safe and effective way to balance hormones, lower estrogen and increase testosterone for men?

Effectively administering hormone therapy requires the following:

• A physician with extensive training in hormones and body biochemistry.
• The best and most accurate testing possible to determine current hormone levels and to track hormone levels after therapy is administered.
• Hormones that most closely replicate the natural ones produced in your body — bioidentical hormones.
• A therapy plan with the objective of returning your body to normal, not super-charging the body with unnatural levels of testosterone or any other hormone.

At Seasons of Farragut, Nan Sprouse and I are fellowship-trained (or completing fellowship training) specifically in the areas of hormone therapy and wellness-based medicine.

Our patient experience begins with an initial consultation to evaluate symptoms and develop an evaluation plan.

The next step is testing. In the case of hormone imbalance, we evaluate hormones with state-of-the-art hormone testing via saliva, not just blood. As stated in a 2006 article, “plasma levels of estradiol do not necessarily reflect tissue-level activity.”  Saliva has been shown to reveal the active hormone inside the cell at the site of action.

After initial testing and a therapy program, hormone levels are re-evaluated to ensure the progression of treatment and necessary changes are made to the treatment program. Testing and follow-up are key to proper balance of hormones (read my recent post). At Seasons of Farragut, our approach to treatment and therapy is fully supported in the scientific research literature, and we’re happy to share that research with you if you’d like to educate yourself.

The way estrogens are metabolized plays an equally pivotol role in hormone risk and effect. At Seasons of Farragut, our system of testing, evaluating, and monitoring is the only way to ensure that testosterone therapy for men is raising the testosterone and DHT levels instead of all being converted to estrogen. Hormone therapy is safe, but for it to work effectively, it must be properly evaluated, dosed, followed, and re-evaluated.

If you have questions or comments, please post them below and I’ll respond as soon as possible. What is your experience with testosterone therapy? How has your physician tested and re-evaluated your therapy program?

For more information about the Seasons approach to wellness or to schedule an appointment, please contact our office at (865) 675-WELL (9355).

Adrenal Fatigue, Do I Have It?

Adrenal fatigue is a collection of signs and symptoms, which are a result of sub-optimal adrenal function. Basically, your adrenal glands get tired. The adrenal glands are small organs that sit directly on top of the kidneys.

Adrenal fatigue is caused by acute and/or chronic stress. This stress can be physical, emotional, psychological, or infectious. This stress results in adrenal over-stimulation. If your adrenal glands are under severe stress or prolonged stress, you will likely experience adrenal fatigue. This means that your adrenal gland loses the ability to adequately respond to further stress. It continues to function, but not at an adequate level.

When your adrenal glands get tired, you get tired. The predominate symptom is fatigue. This fatigue can be present for the entire day or wax/wane throughout the day. Other commonly expressed symptoms include:

• fatigue in the morning upon awakening
• feeling run down throughout the day
• difficulty in getting going in the morning
• inability to bounce back from stress
• salt/sweet cravings
• fatigue unrelieved by sleep
• increased effort to do every day tasks
• decreased libido
• decreased ability to handle stress
• increased time to recover from illness, injury, or trauma
• light-headed when standing up quickly
• mild depression
• increased PMS symptoms
• poor focus
• poor memory
• decreased tolerance
• decreased productivity

Most Americans will have some adrenal fatigue throughout their lives. Adrenal fatigue can be a mere nuisance and last from a few days to a few weeks. However, some bouts of adrenal fatigue can be severely debilitating and last for years. We test for adrenal fatigue with a four point saliva test throughout the day.

Your treatment will depend on the degree of adrenal fatigue. We’ll manage mild adrenal fatigue with adrenal rebuilder: an adrenal rich supplement. Adrenal rebuilder provides the building blocks necessary for improved adrenal health and function. Most treatments will last at least 3-6 months, with the more severe episodes of adrenal fatigue taking 6-12 months of treatment.

But don’t worry! With adequate time and treatment, nearly everyone can achieve a full recovery from adrenal fatigue. In fact, with cortisol replacement, most women will experience some improvement within 2 weeks. As your symptoms improve, it is important that you continue the treatment. Rebound adrenal fatigue is a common problem when people stop their treatment too soon.

Patients of Dr. Nathan Goodyear can start an adrenal evaluation by filling out the adrenal fatigue questionnaire. Then, call the Seasons office at 865-675-9355 and set up an appointment to discuss further treatment.

Black, White, and Gray in the World of Medicine

John 8:32 says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” As a Christian, I wholeheartedly believe that scripture. In that case, John was quoting Jesus Christ, and the truth of which he spoke was the truth of Jesus’ purpose for his life, death, and resurrection on this earth.

We hear that phrase thrown around in the everyday vernacular because it rings true for worldly topics, not just the heavenly. A good decision can only be made about a matter when the truth of opposing sides is known. Otherwise, any decision seems tainted in some way. Truth makes things clear and eliminates the gray in the black and white of the decision-making process.

So where is the gray in the world of healthcare? You don’t have to look far. In modern healthcare, physicians depend on the latest prescription drug to solve the problems of a symptomatic patient rather than delving deeper into the underlying physical chemistry. Having my practice dictated by which pharmaceuticals to dispense didn’t seem right in my soul. Where was the preventative care for the body? Was there a way to prevent disease and return the body to optimal health?

Truth in health and wellness is found in physiology and biochemistry. I, often begrudgingly, waded my way through the classes of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology, not knowing that one day I would return to those roots as the fundamentals of my medical practice.

In returning to these fundamentals, I now spend time analyzing the body’s current function and, as naturally as possible, returning the body to optimal health.

Can I prevent disease? Well, not entirely. The overwhelmingly toxicity of our environment and the unique genetics of each person have a factor in disease, too. But the idea behind anti-aging and functional medicine is to provide my patients with the best quality of life possible for as long as they live instead of being debilitated by disease for years. It’s all about HEALTHY LIVING.

As I continue to practice medicine, I realize how important it is to EDUCATE. Health and wellness education is one of our primary missions at Seasons. It is the lack of wellness in north Louisiana which led me to seek further education in functional medicine (I am now board certified and fellowship trained in Functional Medicine) giving me the tools that I need to solve the health problems my patients deal with every day.

You see, I became a physician to help people get better and feel better. And because that wasn’t happening with the protocols currently being used by the American College of Gynecology, I sought a better way of doing things. But in doing so, I have also found that educating my patients, the community, the state of Louisiana, and even my fellow physicians is required. How to do that is the question!

Allow me to introduce you to DIIGO. Notice on the front page of our website in the column on the right there is a box labeled Seasons Diigo Updates. Diigo is a “cloud-based information management service that enables users to collect, highlight, access and share a variety of information, on a variety of devices,” according to their blog. That’s a fancy definition. For you non-tech types, Diigo allows me to bookmark what I’m reading and share it with YOU.

From the Seasons Diigo list, you can see what I’m reading — the latest developments and research in health and wellness — and what I recommend that YOU read in order to educate yourself. I use this tool to organize scientific research available on the world wide web that will help YOU understand the Seasons Five Points of Wellness (nutrition, exercise, hormone balance, reducing inflammation, and detoxification).

The abstracts (brief synopsis of studies) and articles you find on our Diigo list represent the latest discussions by physicians and scientists from around the world whose research contributes to your understanding of health and wellness TRUTHS. This is not information regurgitated and twisted by a news report. This is the real, actual science.

If you have questions about our preventative approach to healthcare, then read, and learn for yourself what the latest research indicates about the Seasons approach to wellness. I update our Diigo list almost daily, so check back often. Or better yet, subscribe to our list so that you receive daily updates of new wellness research.

With the world wide web at your fingertips, information is so readily available. You are not limited by the resources on your street, in your town, in your region, or even in your state. You have a whole world of information available at your fingertips. At Seasons, we’re trying to get the right information into the hands of those who are truly passionate about taking charge of their own wellness. And if you are reading this, then THAT IS YOU!

Happy reading. And cheers to the pursuit of wellness.

How do I keep up with the Seasons Diigo List?

1. Visit our website regularly. You can click on any of the links in the Seasons Diigo Updates box and go directly to the article.
2. Visit Diigo regularly. Visit http://groups.diigo.com/group/seasonswc and see the list there.
3. Have summary emails sent to you daily/weekly. To do this, you’ll need to create a diigo account at http://diigo.com. Once you’ve created an account, you can join the Seasons Wellness group. Depending on the notification setting you choose when you create your account, you’ll receive a summary email with all the articles I’ve bookmarked that day or that week.

Related articles

• Wellness: Do Doctors Know What To Look For? (time.com)
• Healthy Medicine: A New Model for Cancer Care (truthonmedecine.wordpress.com)
• Seasons Diigo Updates
• Integrative, Functional Medicine Comes to Hawaii (prweb.com)
• Wellness: Do Doctors Know What To Look For? (time.com)
• Wellness: Do Doctors Know What To Look For? (time.com)
• Talking with your doctor about COPD: NetWellness (cleveland.com)
• Why Become a Naturopathic Doctor? (brighthub.com)

 

What is Functional Medicine?

The following guest post was written by Dr. Ron Grisanti, a board certified chiropractic orthopedist with a master’s degree in nutritional science from the University of Bridgeport. You can read more of Dr. Grisanti’s posts at www.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.com and www.Clinical-Rounds.com.

It’s a science-based, natural way to become healthy again

Functional Medicine is patient-centered medical healing at its best. Instead of looking at and treating health problems as isolated diseases, it treats individuals who may have bodily symptoms, imbalances and dysfunctions.

As the following graphic of an iceberg shows, a named disease such as diabetes, cancer, or fibromyalgia might be visible above the surface, but according to Functional Medicine, the cause lies in the altered physiology below the surface. Almost always, the cause of the disease and its symptoms is an underlying dysfunction and/or an imbalance of bodily systems.

If health care treats just the tip of the iceberg, it rarely leads to long-term relief and vibrancy. Identifying and treating the underlying root cause or causes, as Functional Medicine does, has a much better chance to successfully resolve a patient’s health challenge.

Using scientific principles, advanced diagnostic testing and treatments other than drugs or surgery, Functional Medicine restores balance in the body’s primary physiological processes. The goal: the patient’s lifelong optimal health.

How Functional Medicine Heals a Key Health Care Gap

Today’s health care system is in trouble because it applies a medical management model that works well for acute health problems to chronic health problems, where it is much less successful.

If you have a heart attack, accident, or sudden lung infection such as pneumonia, you certainly want a quick-thinking doctor to use all the quick-acting resources of modern medicine, such as life-saving technology, surgery and antibiotics. We are all grateful about such interventions.

However, jumping in with drugs, surgery and other acute care treatments too often does not succeed in helping those with chronic, debilitating ailments, such as diabetes, heart disease or arthritis. Another approach is needed.

The Two-Pronged Healing Approach to Functional Medicine

To battle chronic health conditions, Functional Medicine uses two scientifically grounded principles:

1. Add what’s lacking in the body to nudge its physiology back to a state of optimal functioning.
2. Remove anything that impedes the body from moving toward this optimal state of physiology.

Plainly put, your body naturally wants to be healthy. But things needed by the body to function at its best might be missing, or something might be standing in the way of its best functioning. Functional Medicine first identifies the factors responsible for the malfunctioning. Then it deals with those factors in a way appropriate to the patient’s particular situation.

Very often Functional Medicine practitioners use advanced laboratory testing to identify the root cause or causes of the patient’s health problem. Old-fashioned medical diagnosis helps too, in the form of listening carefully to the patient’s history of symptoms and asking questions about his or her activities and lifestyle.

For treatment, Functional Medicine practitioners use a combination of natural agents (supplements, herbs, nutraceuticals and homeopathics), nutritional and lifestyle changes, spiritual/emotional counseling, and pharmaceuticals, if necessary to prod a patient’s physiology back to an optimal state. In addition, educating the patient about their condition empowers them to take charge of their own health, ultimately leading to greater success in treatment.

Treating Symptoms Versus Treating the Person

In the dominant health care model today, medication is used to get rid of people’s symptoms. If the patient stops taking the medication, symptoms generally return.

Functional Medicine approaches health problems differently. Instead of masking the problem, it aims at restoring the body’s natural functioning. Although Functional Medicine practitioners may prescribe pharmaceuticals, they are used to gently nudge the patient’s physiology in a positive direction so the patient will no longer need them.

For example, conventional doctors would normally prescribe pharmaceuticals like Prilosec, Prevacid or Aciphex to treat acid reflux or heartburn. When the patient stops taking such drugs, the heartburn symptoms come back. In contrast, a Functional Medicine practitioner might find that a patient’s acid reflux is caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Eradicating the Helicobacter pylori might very well lead to the end of heartburn symptoms, permanently.

It’s also important to note that in Functional Medicine, treatment for similar symptoms might vary tremendously for different patients, according to their medical history and results of laboratory tests. Factors that can come into play in producing the same symptoms include toxic chemicals, pathogenic bacteria, parasites, chronic viral pathogens, emotional poisons like anger, greed or envy, and structural factors such as tumors or cysts.

The Roots of Functional Medicine

You may be surprised to learn that Functional Medicine isn’t new. It actually represents a return to the roots of modern scientific medicine, captured in this statement by Sir William Osler, one of the first professors at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and later its Physician-in-Chief: “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”

Another important saying by Osler is “If you listen carefully to the patient, they will tell you the diagnosis.” This encapsulates the importance placed in Functional Medicine on taking a thorough history from the patient.

Your Experience of Functional Medicine

We have titled this web site, “Your Medical Detective,” because patients often feel their Functional Medicine practitioner is leaving no stone unturned in their relentless research to pinpoint the causes of a particular patient’s symptoms.

When you consult a Functional Medicine practitioner, the first step is always your history. Practitioners are trained on how to unravel and make sense of a complicated story. Often clues in the story lead to the identification of key imbalances.

The next set of clues comes from a comprehensive physical examination, which includes many nearly forgotten examination procedures used by famous diagnosticians (both living and long gone), such as chapman reflex points, ankle brachial reflex and nail inspection.

The final set of clues comes from advanced laboratory testing. Innovative, cutting-edge lab tests help the practitioner look deeply into a patient’s physiology to identify how it has been compromised and how physiological balance can be restored.

After diagnosis and treatment, a Functional Medicine patient can expect his or her symptoms to diminish in severity, with a renewed sense of well-being and significant increase in health and vitality.

While there is no substitute for face-to-face treatment from a trained Functional Medicine practitioner, this site educates you on the Functional Medicine perspective and on the kinds of clues and treatments that may be key to restoring you to optimal health.

 

 

Winter Blues or Something Else?

“Maybe I just have the winter blues,” she said. This statement leads the list of commonly heard complaints from patients who come to me seeking answers for their symptoms.

“Sarah” came to our office frustrated that all of her lab work showed normal levels of everything. “My thyroid levels weren’t even low,” she exclaimed hoping that low thyroid would explain her symptom list including fatigue, sleep disturbance, mild anxiety and depression, as well as brain fog. She even had a prescription for an antidepressant but was reluctant to fill it. “I hate the person I have become! Even my family has noticed a change in me. Can you help me?”

Fortunately for Sarah, we are in the business of wellness. Instead of accepting a diagnosis of depression, we sought to identify specific markers showing mitochondrial insufficiency, my suspected cause for her symptoms. Don’t be scared by the term mitochondrial insufficiency. It’s just a fancy name for inefficient cellular energy production!

Without cellular energy, symptoms such as fatigue, exercise intolerance, mood disorders, insomnia, and brain fog can wreak havoc in our bodies. Other symptoms such as generalized muscle aches, skin disorders, and blood sugar imbalance can be affected by specific deficiencies.

Using advanced metabolic testing, we were able to measure “Sarah’s” organic acids, fatty acids, amino acids, as well as vitamin levels and toxins. Her results confirmed that her body wasn’t making the energy she needed.

Sarah is now equipped with her own custom-designed wellness plan to give her body optimal health. Along with specific vitamins, amino acids, and other supplements, she is detoxing her body by using an Infrared Sauna twice a week. Not only has her quality of life been enhanced, but her overall health has improved as well.

And by the way…she never had to fill the antidepressant prescription. And that’s a check in the win column of Sarah’s life! Cheers to wellness!