Let’s Talk Mold
Takeaways from the ISEAI 2019 Inaugural Conference May 2019.
Day 2 with Bob Miller CTN – Part 1 of 3
Genomic Impact on Detox Ability
Having walked through day 1 of the recent ISEAI conference on mold toxicity, Day 2 began with a bang. Bob Miller CTN (Certified Traditional Naturopath), founder of Nutrigenetic Research Institute, opened up a can of genomic worms on our breakfast plates. As an understanding of how our genetics impacts our body’s functional systems, we become more and more enthralled with the intricacies and interwovenness of these systems. Bob Miller focused an hour or so on the connections between inflammation, mast cells, and the NAD/NADPH balance in our bodies.
At first glance, the connections between these topics would be lost on those who are new to the field. Most know mast cells as simple liberators of histamine, thus contributing to allergic symptoms. Fewer would know that mast cells are more like front line generals in the immune system, spread throughout our body as scouts, yet when invaders come, they become generals who direct and call upon the remaining divisions of the defense systems to defend and counterattack. Some may recognize NAD as one of the newer kids on the block in terms of energy production. Fewer would know that balancing the NAD/NADPH system may be critical for balance the oxidation/redox system. Now the connections with inflammation jump out naturally. A final connection between inflammation and detoxification works itself out through the NAD/NADPH system. When more of the NADPH is directed down the inflammation pathway, less remains available for detoxification. Now we see how all these are interlaced like a spider web.
Bob Miller CTN developed one of the two genetic software programs which Sanctuary uses for decoding genetic data for clinical application. Patients bring various sets of raw genetic data they have obtained through saliva sampling or purchase a kit through our office. Mr. Miller’s software provides an extensive data set which we then apply to the particulars of a patient’s symptoms and story. While the raw genetics provides the blueprints for the machinery of our bodies and systems, the outworking of these genetics depends greatly on the environment exposures and story of that patient. While the genetics provide the raw DNA code, “genomics” represents the product of genetics x environment. Spending the majority of his time delving into these genomics means Mr. Miller offers us “functional doctors” hours of digested insight that then benefit our patients.
Mr. Miller’s talk on mast cells, inflammation, and the NAD/NADPH cycle shared the results of his efforts, but given then depth of the subject, left many rabbit trails to explore. Multiple lectures could be produced leading up to this one and many could be side trailed off as well. Layers of interwoven metabolic process stretch our minds, but this is where medicine is headed. The old days of one size fits all protocols applied haphazardly will soon find their way into history books alongside other rudimentary medicine of olden days. The new medicine will incorporate genomes, exposomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, and more into any health disruption more complicated than the most simple self-limited issues. For anyone suffering from chronic disease, it will become critical to understand the interplay between energy cycle and detox genetics and their life exposures to toxins, infections, nutrients, and any other stressors biological, emotional, and spiritual.
The coming two blogs contain Mr. Miller’s talk divided between mast cells and the NAD/NADPH cycle. Don’t be discouraged if the first, second, or third read still leaves many questions. Even those who are up to their eyeballs in the research continue to scratch their heads to understand where all the connections lead and how each affects the other. Much of what we do know is relatively new on the scene, usually creating more questions for the researchers to investigate for years to come.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.