Kara Fitzgerald, ND, received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The first publication from the study focuses on reversal of biological aging and was published 04-12-2021 in the journal Aging. She has published a consumer book titled Younger You as well as a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics and has an application-based Younger You Program, based on the study. Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website, www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Additional publications

Close up on vaccine and medical syringe

Teach-In: Vaccines – Dr. Heather Zwickey Joins Us to Discuss the Latest in Vaccine Development, Efficacy, Preparation and Detox

Dr. Heather Zwickey joined us in July for a Teach-In webinar on Vaccine development, efficacy, preparation and detox. During her session, she lays out the history of vaccine development, details the mechanism of action of different vaccines, and discusses COVID-19 vaccines in development. She goes on to discuss how to maximize vaccine safety and effectiveness…

Early Cytokine Signatures Predict COVID Severity and May Guide Interventions

According to this new Nature paper, those with severe COVID are spiking higher cytokine signatures early on. This would suggest value in testing, including possibly IFN-gamma (see below), and addressing it early through anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle, as well as targeted anti-inflammatory nutraceutical interventions. This is, of course, a ‘standard’ approach used in Functional Medicine,…

New Data on Effects of Ketogenic Diet in Breast Cancer

This is an important new trial providing for the use of ketogenic diets in certain cancers, coauthored by our valued colleagues Dr. Thomas Seyfried and Miriam Kalamian. This randomized, controlled trial of 60 patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer and planned chemotherapy found that those receiving the 12-week ketogenic diet intervention experienced a…

Podcast Cover Image

Understanding Genetics of Aging with Harvard Professor Dr. David Sinclair

Harvard scientist and NYT best-selling author David Sinclair, PhD and I take a tour around the science of aging. If aging is THE root cause of all of the chronic diseases of aging, then arguably, if we focus on the aging journey itself, we might be able to stop playing “whack-a-mole medicine.” A lot of complex environmental, genetic, epigenetic and biochemical processes go into the aging journey, however, as Dr. Sinclair discusses, it looks like a very heavy lifter in aging is epigenetic changes – specifically, DNA methylation and demethylation (plus histone acetylation). In this episode of New Frontiers, learn about the amazing research going on at Dr. Sinclair’s lab, hear what’s getting translated to humans, and what you can do NOW to stop the epigenetic clock from ticking…. Listen and learn, leave us a 5 star review if you’d be so kind, and be sure to share with your colleagues! ~DrKF

children-covid-19

Are Children Major COVID-19 Spreaders? Evidence is Mixed But Leans Against School Closures

It’s an understandable concern based on past experiences with other viral infections, such as influenza and measles, where children are known to be significant transmitters. However, according to several recent publications, infected children are less significant spreaders of COVID-19 and their own source of infection may more likey be symptomatic or pre-symptomatic adults. Adults who…