Two of the most useful — and often overlooked — components of the nutrition physical exam are the tongue and fingernails. Together, abnormal findings can often be sourced to gut. In this blog, I’m presenting a case where tongue and nails were extremely useful in providing clear treatment direction. Next month, I’ll give some additional…
DetailsClinicians, if you read anything today, read this: A case of total body contact dermatitis of unknown etiology, hives and dermatographism. Ellen found my practice after listening to a podcast I did on allergic disease with Dr. Amy Meyers for her Autoimmune Summit. It’s at times like these that I’m glad I do outreach of…
DetailsDid you know that LESS THAN 8% of the US population actually achieve adequate potassium intake? So outrageous. And on average, ALL ADULTS ingest a full 200% of our daily sodium requirement. We SHOULD be ingesting way more potassium than sodium, about three times as much. And we don’t. Not even close. We are the…
DetailsAre you enriching their lives with good, healthy food choices and lifestyle habits or are you angering your trillions of guests, pushing them towards causing disease? I wrote my thesis in medical school on stealth infections, where I concluded that health had much to do with how well we tended our microbial garden… I was…
DetailsA patient was in my office the other day explaining that she’s gotten rid of all her plastic cookware, purchased new pots and pans and wooden cooking utensils. “I am going crazy thinking about all the toxins and what to do!” she said, “It keeps me up at night!” After expressing my admiration for her…
DetailsHey functional medicine clinicians, what do you think about e-cigs? A few thoughts plus a couple of case briefs.
DetailsWe in functional medicine have long been aware that children can start out with a clearly identified food allergy. As the child ages, the primary allergic symptoms fade and some other clinically relevant presentation appears in its place. For example: we’ll see a classic milk allergy in infancy — often as milk colitis.
DetailsIt’s winter. Chances are that if you live anywhere cold and dry, your lips have been chapped at least once this season. For most of us, we slather on the lip balm and all is well. But for some folks, the chapped lip experience is an entirely different animal: A relentless cycle of peeling and healing, peeling and healing that no amount of lip balm resolves. Lips are fissured and inflamed, making…
DetailsThe flu is here. Very early in the season, it’s already at epidemic proportions, hitting those most vulnerable to its ravages — kids and the elderly — as it does each year. The virus mutated early, greatly limiting the efficacy potential of the flu vaccine. That said, the vaccine has had limited efficacy for years now. And we’ve known this. Influenza-like activity has been on a steady incline for the…
DetailsSo here I am, comfortably into my 40s. In many ways, this is a grand time of life: satisfying career, happy home, a greater sense of well-being and contentment. But over the last couple of years, spectacles sit on the bridge of my nose more often than not, for any close-up activity. It started in my 30s: +1 “readers” when I was using the computer a lot. Not a big deal.
DetailsA patient named Barbara bounded into my office. She threw herself into a chair, and looked at me with eyes of terror, guilt and shame. I knew from her countenance that it was confession time. She launched into her story, retelling an all-too-familiar tale: She hadn’t stuck with her anti-inflammatory diet. Her food cravings, she explained, were out-of-control, and she was miserable….
DetailsSometimes I rather humorously, and embarrassingly, ask my patients if they remember what was happening while they were in utero. Generally, they don’t recall. The reason I ask, after rephrasing the question (“Has your mom shared with you any difficulties she had when she was carrying you?”)…
DetailsNails. They’re a handy surface to decorate; they help us pick up objects, scratch an itch and protect our fingers and toes. But did you also know that nails can tell us a lot about your health and your well-being? For most of us, fingernails are completely renewed in about six months. That means that our nails are a six-month medical record incomparable to any physical exam component.
DetailsI admit it. I’ve harvested a scientific nugget or two from the Daily Mail. Not long ago, sandwiched between a story on toast and the five-second rule, and a selfie of Zac Efron eating a worm, was this…
DetailsDr. Richard S. Lord, nutritional biochemist extraordinaire and Chief Science Officer at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory (now Genova) recently retired after 25 years. Richard was the director of the Medical Education team when I was in Atlanta at the lab. Richard was and continues to be, my teacher.
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