In medical science, we often know something is wrong before we know what that something actually is. With fibromyalgia, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, the notion that inflammation and our immune systems played a role in this debilitating disease has long been present, at least in those suffering from it. Thankfully, over recent years, more…
Working in a functional medicine clinic caring for mold toxic patients will quickly convince you that mold toxins affect our immune systems. On a daily basis we see patients suffering from yeast overgrowth, repeated viral infections, Lyme or other tick born infections who underneath it all have mold toxicity. Seeing this hundreds of times leaves…
The well-known cliché, “You are what you eat” has driven many diets for adults and helped many small children imagine themselves as giant bowls of ice-cream- with legs, of course. A study by a very large group of researchers may add a new but similar cliché: “You become what you exercise.” Even the most biologically…
How the baby’s brain develops inside mom’s belly challenges medical understanding. Wrapping our adult medical brains around the process has been a work in progress for a very long time. Many of our insights have come from correlations discovered in epidemiologic works which link various illnesses to outcomes in children years later. We obviously can’t…
We live in a world of metaphorical weeds, nuisances that grow in our yards and in our bodies, causing problems. Outside, we may chase dandelion seeds that seem impossible to eradicate when you aren’t willing to poison your family with weed killers. Inside our bodies, we turn to antibiotics to rid ourselves of pneumonias, UTI’s,…
While COVID 19 continues to fill the headlines like a past-his-prime football player who refuses to retire, a likely greater challenge in medicine arises from various bacterial infections that are growing stronger and more resistant to antibiotics. Even before 2020’s disastrous debut of COVID, many had been sounding the alarm over the growing number of…
The medical literature is replete with oodles of studies and articles supporting the benefits of exercise for everything under the sun. Some call it one of the strongest medicines available for the treatment of chronic illness. While we know how good it is, we don’t always know why it works for so many conditions. In…
With research reporting that Candida albicans has been found in the brains of some patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders despite any obvious signs of acute illness, researchers have taken more interest in understanding the mechanisms behind this correlation. Alzheimer’s disease has been on the rise for decades, and so have its correlations…
With old and new viruses running amok and disrupting our lives, nearly everyone is searching for an extra immunity boost. While billions are poured into attempts at finding the next wonder drug, others are searching for those simple hacks of daily life that can get the odds to favor us when we next encounter a…
Much of our time in providing functional medicine care is spent in establishing balance in a patient’s body. Too little or too much of just about anything can be bad for the person sitting across from us. Take salt for example. It has gotten such bad press relating to blood pressure and heart disease that…