We have all stood in front of a locked door working through a set of keys to see which one unlocks it. It takes time to try key after key to find one that works. What if we had a few hundred key, and a hundred or so locks to match? I would just give…
Like a modern-day action movie, the ticking time bomb of autism advances forward, taking a higher and higher percentage of the next generation as scientists frantically search for clues to the mystery. With the estimated rates of autism rising to 1 in 50-something, we all hope for answers which lead to successful therapies. Like the…
Most are aware of vitamin D and vitamin C as well as minerals like zinc, but do you know about the role that iron plays in our immune defenses and microbial invasions like Lyme? As functional medicine strives to optimize the terrain for potential or actual microbial attacks, we must consider the battle over iron…
Snotty noses may protect from COVID infections. Scientists in the Imperial College of London report on the benefits of T-cells primed by prior coronaviruses in lowering the risk of COVID 19 infections. Building on prior knowledge of cross-reactivity in the immune system and the genomic functioning of other coronaviruses, this team searched for more answers. …
Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients may grow a little irritated when allergists tell them that a particular food cannot be causing their GI symptoms. The allergist looks at either a skin allergy test of a blood IgE antibody test and says “all normal”. The IBS patient, however, knows that the food in question undoubtedly causes them…
So many struggling people enter our doors searching for answers to chronic mental health problems after having been told it was just all in their heads. Many other providers had advised them to accept the fact of lifelong medications and lifelong symptoms. Some of them had heard from therapists and counselors that they just had…
Let’s step back from individual therapies that a functional medicine provider might recommend for our patients and consider the bigger picture of natural therapies versus pharmaceuticals. For many, this separation is truly a one “versus” the other, an “either – or” choice. The purists of either camp can demonize the opposing camp, painting the picture…
Even prior to the stress of 2020 and 2021’s new normal, we have seen a growing number of suicides. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) the rate per 100,000 individuals has risen from about 12 in 2010 to 14 in 2018 with a slight dip in 2019 and 2020. So many…
As our understanding of immunity deepens, our repertoire of immune modulators expands so that we can influence our immune defenses in a beneficial direction. The vaccine company Novavax, in working on a COVID-19 vaccine, has incorporated saponins from Chilean soapbark trees into their vaccine with the goal of boosting both antibody and cell-based immunity. Whereas…
The tool of “Metabolomics” looks to revolutionize how we view children’s chronic diseases. The basic lab markers of yesterday revealed shadows of underlying dysfunction. Metabolomics works to shine clearer light deeper into the actual mechanisms of our next generation’s growing chronic illness epidemic. Today’s article of interest shares insights into how this developing tool has…