What is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine refers to the use of functional testing rather than just normal pathology testing. If disease has already established in a body, then pathological changes have started to happen. A functional test, however, is a test investigating the workings or functional of the body. A stool test, for example, investigates what is in it, pH, inflammation markers, etc.
Heavy Metal Testing
A hair mineral test is a safe and super easy way to assess toxicity levels and mineral levels in the body. It is a great way to test kids or adults who are squeamish about needles and blood testing. It is also a great way to monitor levels over several years and keep check of changes.
Mould Toxicity and Immunity
No matter what health issue you are struggling with, your immune system should be strong. When we get depleted, our system is more prone to pathogenic invasion. Toxic Mould Syndrome causes Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Mycotoxins can cause autoimmunity, chronic fatigue and a broad spectrum of illness.
Acid and Alkalinity
So you have read about acidity in the body being the root of all illness? You are wondering about alkaline water and have heard that drinking alkalinity might be a simple cure for you. Well it is not that simple unfortunately. Drinking it will dilute your stomach acid and actually reduce your digestive power to absorb key nutrition from your diet.
Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metal testing can help identify low to medium levels of toxicity which could be contributing to illness. Some conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autism and other complex cases include a level of increased heavy metal toxicity. Here I talk about the 3 different testing methods.
Reflux and GORD
When suffering from reflux it is easy to think immediately of antacids or even a doctor’s prescription for proton-pump inhibitors. It seems logical that acid reflux would mean reducing the acid is important. Actually the opposite is usually the solution due to bacteria overgrowth fermentation which causes bubbling up of fermented food and acid.
Why Herbal Medicine?
Naturopaths use evidence-based herbal medicine now in therapeutic dosages. It is all based on traditional prescribing which once lacked the science to “prove” it was in fact working. Now we are coming full circle back to nature.
Insomnia
Do you often lie awake at night wondering how you are going to get to sleep? It is important to understand that insomnia is a multi-causal condition and each person may have a different contributing cause. Here are the basics.
Gout Basics
Naturopathic medicine can be used to help patients with recurrent Gout. Diet has been long-known to be a contributing factor which adds stress to the kidney function. Thankfully there are many herbal medicine too that can help gout.
Underactive Thyroid
When a patient suffers from an underactive thyroid, commonly they will gain weight, feel sluggish and find their skin is always dry. Sometimes their bowel will have a tendency for constipation, although these symptoms are not always true. If the stress continues, it often evolves into autoimmune hashimotos.
Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is a term that is often thrown around a lot to explain chronic tiredness. There have been studies to show that technically it does not exist, but we know that stress hormonal changes do occur and can be tested with hormone testing. In particular cortisol levels change between healthy individuals and those that display chronic fatigue symptoms.
Anxiety and Pyrroles Disorder
The Mauve factor (also known as pyroluria, kryptopyroluria or kryptopyrole) can be tested positive in may patients with anxiety disorders. It explains that genetically some individuals are more prone to suffer from changes in neurotransmitters and minerals changes. For these patients support with nutritional medicine and herbal medicine is very helpful.
Allergy Testing
So you are experiencing bloating, irritating skin reaction and wonder if allergy testing will help you work out what to remove. Does this sound like you? Allergy testing is helpful, but there is definitely more to it than just testing. Firstly there are lots of different tests to do and secondly it doesn’t address the reason why you are reacting to certain foods or environmental substances.
Haemorrhoids Natural Treatment
Haemorrhoids are often poorly managed and involve the small vessels inside the large bowel. It is important to have a proper diagnosis as blood in the stool can be caused from other more sinister conditions or autoimmune bowel diseases. Haemorrhoids can be painful and an unpleasant condition. Natural treatment can involve a lot of dietary modifications, herbal medicine and some nutritional support to reduce inflammation, repair vessel damage and reduce bleeding.
Erectile Dysfunction
Men struggle with it and are not often willing to reach out for help. Natural remedies can include herbal medicine, organ support and nervous system support to reduce stress.