Collaborative Medicine

Overview of today's email: Last chance to sign up for the Balanced Review of Leaky Gut course (at this price and with the "extras") Answer to a quiz question from the last email newsletter I am not an "expert" on leaky gut, I'm just a curious clinician who wanted to know more. And I love to over-deliver! Here's why I'm so excited about this first release of the Leaky Gut and Metabolic Endotoxemia course: I developed a 2 week patient "protocol" from my research, that have started to implement...

"I Don't Want to Get Alzheimer's" This thought has gone through my mind ever since I watched my grandmother deteriorate from the disease 25 years ago. And it's become a daily thought now, as I'm now helping to care for a close family member who has early Alzheimer's. The good news? There's some relief that my family member has been stable for two years. Low-dose GLP-1 and daily exercise have made a real difference (even without following every lifestyle change I've recommended!). The bad...

This week's topic: Zonulin Starting with a quiz: How does zonulin increase gut permeability? What are the 2 primary triggers of zonulin? What does an elevated stool zonulin indicate? All but one of the above is answered below! Overview of today's email: Quick review of zonulin Clinical tips 1. Quick review of zonulin Zonulin is an extracellular protein that is released by the liver and intestinal cells, and is the only known physiologic modulator of intestinal permeability. It increases...

This week's topic: Metabolic Endotoxemia In functional medicine, we are often reminded that "all disease begins in the gut" (with "leaky gut" being attributed as a leading cause of many gut and systemic health issues). Over the last 6 months, I wanted to see what the literature (especially the human literature) said about leaky gut and one of its outcomes, metabolic endotoxemia. This email is a sample of what I found! But if you want to learn more of my findings, join me in an upcoming free...

This week's topic: Planning for Success Do you provide easy-to-implement plans for your patients? During a recent work meeting, we discussed a patient who wasn't losing weight. It wasn't due to a lack of knowledge - he knew what to do and why. And he had plenty of eBooks and handouts we'd given him! However, his busy lifestyle kept him from establishing a routine to prioritize a healthy lifestyle. In exacerbation, someone said "we all know that you have to plan out your meals to stay...

This week's topic: Leaky Gut Treatment What is the most scientifically validated treatment for leaky gut? Overview of today's email: Overview of leaky gut Clinical takeaway 1. Overview I wrote a newsletter on "Explaining Leaky Gut" in February of last year (links to all previous newsletters can be found at the bottom of all emails, or click here). As a reminder, some key points about leaky gut: Everyone has a permeable gut lining, and will experience transitory leaky gut in various...

This week's topic: MCAS Treatments Test your knowledge on MCAS treatments! What treatment has potentially 3 actions that can address MCAS (H1 and H2 receptor blocker, and mast cell stabilizer)? Which peptide has the most research behind it, as it applies to the treatment of MCAS? Overview of today's email: Overview of MCAS Treatments 2 Treatments You May Want to Try Overview of MCAS Treatments We tend to think of anti-histamines and mast cell stabilizers as the go-to treatments, but there are...

This week's topic: MCAS vs Histamine Intolerance vs Mastocytosis Test your knowledge on MCAS! What is the difference between mastocytosis and MCAS? What is the difference between histamine intolerance and MCAS? Overview of today's email: MCAS vs Mastocytosis vs Histamine Intolerance An interesting tip... MCAS vs Mastocytosis vs Histamine Intolerance Mastocytosis vs MCAS MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) = inappropriate and hyperactive mast cell degranulation Mastocytosis = a rare abnormal...

This week's topic: MCAS Overview Test your knowledge on MCAS! Which 3 systems are particularly sensitive to mast cell degranulation? When anti-histamines don't help in a patient with persistent flushing, what common over-the-counter treatment can you try before a prescription? You suspect a patient has MCAS, but all diagnostic testing comes back normal. What are 4 plausible reasons for the normal results? Overview of today's email: MCAS Overview Resources for taking a deeper dive into MCAS...

This week's topic: Tips on Building a Knowledge-base Like many in functional medicine, I always feel like I need to know more. I'm even behind on rewatching videos from conference from 2 years ago! Sound familiar? When I was seeing 8-12 patients a day at a previous functional medicine job, I realized I couldn't deliver efficient, high-quality care without organized support. So I created a "Knowledge-base" which I use for quick access, and link my notes from conferences to the knowledge-base...