Collaborative Medicine

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to leave 2024 behind and welcome the promises of a new year! Many of you have asked me to touch on clinical pearls for autoimmunity, so I will start the year off with this topic. Overview of today’s email: What is the “autoimmune triad”? A resource to expand your education EMR template 1. The Autoimmune Triad In mainstream medicine we don't dig deeper into the suspected root causes of autoimmunity; we just diagnose and (maybe) give a treatment. But...

Over the last few weeks, I’ve covered progesterone, estrogen, DHEA, and pregnenolone (access all past emails via link at bottom of this email). Today I will outline some key considerations on evaluation of and treatment with testosterone. An outline of today's email: Testosterone FYI Testosterone “Nevers” Prescribing Tips 1: Testosterone FYI Blood testing of testosterone may not adequately reflect a need for TRT or determine dosing adjustments (saliva preferred) (study) OCPs always reduce...

Over the last few weeks, I’ve covered progesterone, estrogen, and DHEA. Today I will outline some key considerations on evaluation of and treatment with pregnenolone. An outline of today's email: Pregnenolone FYI Pregnenolone “Nevers” Prescribing Tips 1: Pregnenolone FYI Pregnenolone is made from cholesterol, and if total cholesterol is under 140, the body cannot adequately make pregnenolone. It is the precursor ("mother hormone") to DHEA, cortisol, progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen....

Welcome to the last month of 2024! Over the last few weeks, I’ve covered progesterone and estrogen, today I will outline some key points on DHEA Supplementation. An outline of today's email: DHEA FYI DHEA “Nevers” Prescribing Tips 1: DHEA FYI Some potential causes of low serum DHEA include aging, stress, smoking nicotine, and statin use Low levels of DHEA may correlate with presence of depressive symptoms High levels may be seen in those with PCOS and PTSD (and tumors in rare cases) 2: DHEA...

Happy Thanksgiving week! Today, I'm grateful for my health, my family, sunshine, ....and the ability to serve and connect with my colleagues who also love functional medicine! I covered progesterone last week, sharing some learning tid-bits from a conference I recently attended (the 4th organization from which I have received education on hormone replacement therapy). This week, the topic is estrogen therapy. An outline of today’s email: Estrogen FYI “Nevers” Prescribing tips My takeaways...

I recently attended a 3-day long (intense) conference on integrative endocrinology, hosted by University of South Florida (Personalized Medicine Certification). This is the 4th organization from which I have received training on hormone therapy replacement and I always learn something new (the others were IFM, A4M, and AAMP). When it comes to hormone replacement therapy, which is a hot topic right now, I consider 4 things: Will HRT help symptoms and improve quality/duration of life? Will it...

Today's email is a little different. I was recently interviewed for a podcast (which is always a big deal for me, when I step out of my introvert comfort zone), and the episode is now available! In the podcast episode, which was an extension of this article I wrote a few years ago (on what is the best functional medicine training program), Dr. Salyer and I chatted informally about some of my journey and clinical application of functional medicine. Key topics covered in the podcast: How a talk...

Happy Halloween! Today's email will touch on additional supplements that can help with anxiety. I will touch on dosing, side effects, and other ways these may help patients. Magnesium L-Threonate Ashwagandha (with bonus recipe!) Niacinamide 1: Magnesium L-Threonate Magnesium L-Threonate was discovered in 2010 by a team at MIT who were trying to identify substances that could enhance cognitive function. A bit more about it: This form of magnesium readily crosses the BBB L-threonic acid, the...

Do you have a daily tea habit? If it's green, then you're already getting some beneficial L-theanine! L-theanine is an amino acid found almost exclusively in tea (green, oolong, and Pu-erh have the highest concentration). Discovered in 1949, it's responsible for the caramel-like taste and aroma that green tea has in comparison to black tea. In today’s email, we'll take a deep-dive into it and cover the following: An overview of L-theanine Conditions or symptoms that may benefit from...

Anxiety is often cited as a mental health symptom. Several different models exist for the cause and treatments of anxiety. One is the "Chemical Imbalance Theory" where it involves a disruption in neurotransmitters. Another is the "Immune Cytokine Model" which acknowledges the physical/inflammatory contributions to mental health conditions. Today’s email will touch on the following: Useful tests when evaluating anxiety Some research for your perusal An EMR template you can incorporate into...