Investigating the root cause of disease using objective lab work
For all cases of autoimmunity, I screen for the basic underlying causes such as leaky gut, hormonal imbalances, food sensitivities, nutrient deficiency and GI infections. In addition to a Traditional Chinese Medical diagnosis, I always run objective baseline lab work for new patients and assess them through a tighter and healthier lens called a “functional range”. It’s surprising to encounter so many patients who have not done lab work in years. There are also many patients that come in reporting that they recently did lab work and “everything looked fine” yet they still don’t feel well. Detecting blood work patterns based on functional ranges is the key to quickly assessing and treating patients with chronic disease. Here’s a quick overview of this intelligent model of medicine called Functional Medicine.
Functional Medicine
Based on cutting-edge science yet derived form Traditional Chinese Medicine, functional medicine offers a new way to understand and treat chronic illnesses. The core concept is that chronic illness is an outcome of imbalances in the key underlying physiological systems in your body. When inflammation, blood sugar imbalance, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, hormonal problems, and other systemic upset occur the body spins out of balance. Functional medicine provides a method for rebalancing the body’s underlying physiological systems and addressing lifestyle issues that contribute to illness.
The secret to treating all chronic disease is to screen for and treat the top underlying contributors: Thyroid, Blood Sugar imbalances, Anemia, Food Sensitivities Hormones, GI infections and Autoimmunity. How? We order advanced panels and evaluate with tighter ranges that highlight the problem areas of your health. This makes is easier to detect anemia, blood sugar imbalances, hypothyroid, autoimmune thyroid, food sensitivities and GI infections that may not be “flagged” by the lab and therefore have been dismissed for years by doctors who rely only on flagged test values. Functional Medicine, Chinese Medicine and Paleo Nutrition, in my opinion are the most practical models for treating chronic health challenges today.
To expedite the evaluation of chronic disease, I created comprehensive lab panels for patients and practitioners to start getting better right now. To learn more about how to order lab work and interpret your results, please click here.
