Functional Medicine
Programs
Functional Medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. Functional Medicine is a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers patients and practitioners to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration to address the underlying causes of disease. Functional medicine is guided by 6 core principles
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An understanding of the biochemical individuality of each human being, based on the concepts of genetic and environmental uniqueness;
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Awareness of the evidence that supports a patient-centred rather than a disease-centred approach to treatment;
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Search for a dynamic balance among the internal and external body, mind, and spirit;
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Interconnections of internal physiological factors;
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Identification of health as a positive vitality, not merely the absence of disease, and emphasizing those factors that encourage the enhancement of a vigorous physiology;
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Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance the health span, not just the life span, of each patient.
supplements we use
The supplements we prescribe are natural and we will choose those that are best suited to assist your body in naturally healing itself.
We use a wide range of labrotory produced Medical Grade nutraceuticals and supplements and botanicals
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Metagenics
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Researched Nutritionals
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Naturobest
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Nordic Naturals
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Pure Encapsulations
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Thorne Research
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Enzyme Science
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Metabolic Maintenance
Always ensure that the particular vitamin you choose meets the standards set by testing organizations to ensure strength, purity, dissolution and disintegration.
Treatment resistant symptoms
As many as 60% of patients worldwide suffering from neurologic, psychiatric and behavioral disorders do not respond to treatment. 1 Now, there is growing evidence indicating that, in some of these cases, treatment resistance may be due to an undiagnosed immune dysfunction, triggered by infection(s).
laboratory testing
In order to understand how we can best assist you, we will need to undertake a couple of tests. These are done in the privacy of our own clinic. Please read the types of tests we do below, and contact us if you have any questions.
Gastrointestinal
Stool GI function testing
Gluten sensitivity test
Celiac screening test
Food IgG sensitivity testing
Leaky gut/gut permeability
Hormones
Adrenal/Stress hormones
Female hormones
Testosterone
Melatonin
Detoxification
Organic acid testing
Liver phase 1 & phase 2 testing
Metal toxicity testing
Brain Function
Neural Zoomer Plus
Neurotransmitters- OAT
DNA Testing
Autoimune Testing
Identifying an autoimmune process is imperative, since treatment focuses on eradicating the infection(s) and treating the immune system, rather than simply treating with psychotropic medications. And with proper treatment, symptoms can be completely resolved or substantially reduced.
neurodegenerative disorders
A functional medicine strategy for prevention and treatment of neurodegeneration may include the following elements:
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Therapeutic food plans such as IFM’s Mitochondrial Food Plan, which focuses on mitochondrial biogenesis.
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Nutritional support through dietary patterns and nutraceuticals that enhance specific antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.
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Patient-practitioner collaboration to help sustain lifestyle modifications.
From reducing inflammatory markers and severity of symptoms to improving outcomes and quality of life, nutrition is an essential part of a patient’s personalized clinical intervention for neurodegenerative diseases.
Cutting-edge tests that look beneath the surface.
If medications, therapy or other types of treatment haven’t alleviated your symptoms, there’s still hope. The Autoimmune Brain Panel or the NeuroAutoimune Neural Zoomer Plus are lab tests that helps determine whether neurologic and/or psychiatric symptoms may be due to an underlying autoimmune dysfunction.
4/5 R Protocol
The four R's protocol
Remove gastric infrection inflammitory foods
Replace what is missing for cell metabolism
Re-inoculate the gut with good bacteria
Repair the gut - seal and heal the gut wall
The protocol works to address the underlying causes of imbalance and aids in alleviating symptoms. Working with your healthcare provider, you will first determine the best approach for your particular situation and symptoms, then move through these four steps.
Cognitive Decline
Which are the most common Neurodegenerative Diseases?
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other forms of dementia.
Parkinson's disease (PD) and PD-related disorders.
Prion Diseases.
Motor Neuron Disease (MND)
Huntington Disease (HD)
Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA)
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)
Myasthenia Gravis.
Chronic activation and inflammation of the microglia in the brain may cause damage and/or neurodegeneration in the context of persistent stresses.
Intermittent Fasting
By eating a healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate and low- to moderate-protein diet, you enter into what is known as nutritional ketosis: a state in which your body burns fat as its primary fuel rather than glucose (sugar). Mounting research suggests nutritional ketosis is the answer to a long list of health problems, starting with obesity.
M.E.N.D. Protocol
MEND Protocol is designed to address the active underlying pathways for Alzheimer’s disease including metabolic issues, toxicity, inflammation, and mitochondrial damage. The therapeutics recommended by the MEND™ Protocol offer a way to bring these mechanisms into a state of enhancing a participant’s cognitive health – and maintaining that control over time. These factors and their complex interrelationships must be personalized based on an individual’s specific needs.
SIBO
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition that is characterized by too many microorganisms in the small intestine. Unlike the large intestine or colon, which is extraordinarily rich in bacteria, the small intestine usually has much less bacterial organisms.
SIBO damages the intestinal lining and creates a state of mild-severe leaky gut syndrome and resulting food allergies, sensitivities and chronic inflammatory processes. It is imperative to get proper help through good nutrition and lifestyle and the help of a functional nutrition practitioner.
Autoimmunity?
An autoimmune disease occurs autoimmunity is the failure of the body to recognize its own constituent parts as self, which results in an immune response against its own cells and tissues, including the brain. There are roughly 80 autoimmune conditions that affect people worldwide. Women are the most commonly afflicted by these conditions, however, gender ratios differ among specific diseases
25% of Autoimune disorders are caused by cross reactive immune activation from known food protein molecular mimicry.
others are:
Environmental
Genetic
Infectious
Environmental Illness
The root cause of many chronic and mystery illnesses are unrecognized environmental toxins.
Including
mold mycotoxins,
Lyme disease,
heavy metals,
petrochemical exposure
and pesticides.
From simple to advanced, our detoxification strategies are geared to resolve your biotoxin issues.
environmental toxins are assessed using Mosaic Labs Diagnostic report
Immunesystem Overactivation
Chronic exposure to pollutants and toxicants may lead to an overloaded body burden, increased systemic inflammation, and clinical manifestations of immune dysfunction. Ambient pollutants were found to directly activate cellular signaling pathways, triggering inflammatory cytokine release from the epithelium and macrophages. In addition, the pollution particulates enhanced TH lymphocyte 2 and 17 responses.
Ketogenic diet
Nutritional ketosis may be the key to optimal health
By eating a healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate and low- to moderate-protein diet, you enter into what is known as nutritional ketosis: a state in which your body burns fat as its primary fuel rather than glucose (sugar). Mounting research suggests nutritional ketosis is the answer to a long list of health problems, starting with obesity.
Neuroinflammation
WHAT ARE SOME CAUSES OF NEUROINFLAMMATION?
1) Inflammatory diet -standard western diet
2) Gut inflammation — Leaky gut, food allergens and sensitivities. Remember, the gut is the “second brain.”
3) High cortisol - lifestyle stress
4) Nutrient deficiencies
5) Toxins — This includes exposure to heavy metals like lead, mercury, arsenic, as well as exposure to mold.
6) Autoimmunity — heal the autoimmune process, inflammation in the body and the brain goes down.
7) Traumas - like a concussion
8) Slowed detox pathways — homocysteine levels measure your methylation/ detox pathways.
The Gut-Skin connection
Epidemiological evidence shows a clear association between gut problems and skin disorders. A recent report indicated that small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), a condition involving inappropriate growth of bacteria in the small intestine, is 10 times more prevalent in people with acne rosacea than in healthy controls, and that correction of SIBO in these individuals led to marked clinical improvement. 14% of patients with ulcerative colitis and 24% of patients with Crohn’s disease have skin manifestations.