At the Total Health Center Dr. Scott has a truly unique approach to IBS and other digestive disorders. This video will help you understand what makes us different and why we are able to help people who thought they could not be helped. You can also visit www.ibsvirginiabeach.com for our IBS web site.

The future of health care 2

The future of health care, this is a big topic and I am going to go at it one piece at a time.
The wellness revolution is based on the basic understanding of what health is, and what it takes to be healthy. When we are healthy our bodies resist disease. Disease is a state of imbalance in our bodies, the body is in a state of dis-ease, it’s all about balance, not enough water you get dehydrated and that can make you sick, not enough salt and you can get sick, too much salt and you can get sick, not enough fat and you can get sick, to much carbohydrates and you can get sick, not enough zinc and you can get sick, too much zinc and you can get sick. I could go on and on and on, but you get the point.
our current system complicates disease by stating that the etiology is unknown. if you read the Merck Manuel you will see that statement over and over again, it means the cause is unknown. This is very frustrating because our current system values treatment over cause, in other words let’s spend millions of dollars on creating a drug to treat the symptoms instead of finding the imbalance that caused it.
The future of health care lies in keeping people healthy so we have less disease. It reminds me of a cartoon I once saw; it showed a cliff with a hospital at the bottom to take care of the people who fell off the cliff and at the top of the cliff was a person trying to put a fence up so people would not fall off and the in caption read “what are crazy, are trying cause us to lose our job?”

Everyone has a calling, mine is healthcare, when I say health care, I mean true health care. Our healthcare system in America is actually a sick care system treating a diagnosis, in order to get a diagnosis you must have a condition or disease to match the symptoms with the diagnosis. This is the sick care system we live in. sick care and crisis care are great things to have and in America we are lucky to have such a great system when we have an accident or get sick.
But this is not what gets me excited, I love health, vibrant health and fitness so you can be the best you can be, feel great, positive, motivated, energetic and able to do the things you want to do, at your optimal level. This is what I call health, our natural state, this is what god meant for us.
The wellness revolution has be going on for some time and we have made some great progress in understanding what makes us healthy from fitness classes, yoga, palates, cross fit, body building and many other forms of fitness. More and more information comes out every day about the benefits of supplements and a good diet, and yet the healthcare system we have is resistant to embrace the preventative and even curative contribution to the nation’s health.
This is my thing, educating and helping people become healthy I have been studying health since I was a child. I can remember wanting to know what vitamins did what for you and reading labels. I remember getting my 1st weight set at 10 or 12 yrs old and doing sit-ups and push-ups to get stronger.
I have a lot to share and I will get into some very exciting stuff in future blogs. Until then good health and good living.
Dr. Scott

What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine is a medical approach that focuses on identifying the causes of disease rather than treating the symptoms.  It seeks to understand the origins of chronic disease so that meaningful treatment and prevention methods can be developed and implemented.  The functional medicine approach is a partnership between the patient and the doctor.  The goal of this partnership is to bring the patient back to health as well as to teach the patient about the core principles of health maintenance and prevention.

Functional Medicine Philosophy -

The philosophy recognizes that each patient is a unique individual with a unique set of genetics and biochemistry, as well as a unique set of environmental and lifestyle factors.  These genetic/environment interactions are complex not simple.  Thus a person could potentially have the same disease with a completely different set of causes.  To that end, the approach of functional medicine relies less on synthetic drugs and more on the thorough investigation of a patient using the following tools:

• Comprehensive medical history
• Evaluation of the patient’s lifestyle and environmental factors.
• Functional outcomes based laboratory workup vs. static labs based on standard deviation bell curves of an assumed normal range.
• Comprehensive physical evaluation
• Education based approach so that ultimately the patient is less dependent on the doctor to maintain their health.

Mainstream Medicine is Broken -

Mainstream medicine is problem focused.  Drugs are prescribed to mask symptoms without concern for the root cause of the disease.  Drug companies have a huge influence over what is being taught in medical schools.  Additionally, drug companies are allowed to advertise to consumers directly.  Both of these practices are extremely unethical and lead to numerous problems.

The new health care bill created socialized medicine.  What does this mean for you?  - Free care that doesn’t work for chronic health conditions. Medicine is the largest business in the world despite the fact that it has perpetually failed it’s customers.  Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases continue to increase and spiral out of control.  What is mainstream’s solution?  More drugs? Drugs only mask the underlying cause of disease.  If drugs haven’t worked to date, why are they perpetually pushed down our throats as the solution?

My Approach?  Educate Patients on the Differences -

My approach is to treat the patient and identify the cause for their problem vs. medicating symptoms.  The only way success can be achieved is to educate the patient on why the illness exists in the first place.  Mainstream medicine places the patient in the role of a victim.  Functional medicine empowers the patient with education so that health can be restored.  The diagram above illustrates my philosophy.  I developed this functional approach to fill the current medical gap.

• DNA is influenced by the three outer triangles (these outer triangles represent the environment)
• Biochemistry = Nutrition (vitamins, minerals, water, etc)  Additionally, food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities affect biochemistry as do pollution in the air and water.
• Physical = structure.  For example, being 20 pounds overweight causes excessive pressure on your heart, blood vessels, joints, and more.  Exercise greatly influences the physical aspect of the Triangle of Health.
• Mental = your psychological and spiritual state of mind.

If you are tired of a 50 minute wait for the doctor followed by a 5 minute consult and a quick drug prescription fix, you are in the right place.  Many of you that know me know that I am on the cutting edge of medicine.  What I do in my office today to help patients will be common place in medicine in ten years or so.  Do you have 10 years to wait to get healthy?

Whether you are local in Houston or Sugar Land or far away (out of state or country), click on the become a patient tab if you have been chronically ill and don’t know why.

Hope this helps you get your health message into the hands of your patients.

All the best,

Dr. O

I wanted to share this with you from a great doctor,  Dr. Osborne

For information on our Science Based Weight Loss program visit http://sciencebasedweightloss.com/

Know the “TRUE” Blood Sugar/Blood Glucose Ranges!

Lab testing ranges are EXTREMELY BROAD!

From a medical standpoint, normal blood glucose levels have a broad range of 70 to 105, while functional or optimal blood glucose level ranges are 85 to 99.  According to the American Diabetic Association, a blood sugar level reading of 106 to 126 is termed “insulin resistance” or “pre-diabetes,” and anything above a reading of 127 is diabetes.

Granted, those are fasting blood glucose levels and it is important to note that because many times I will see patients who have been tested and I’ll ask them if they’ve fasted before their test and they will tell me, “No.”  You need at least a 12-hour fast, which means absolutely no food, no drinking orange juice or coffee or anything!  All that you should have is just water for 12 hours before your test, so you can get an accurate reading of your blood glucose levels.

Supporting hypothyroidism is futile if your blood sugar level is too high or too low.

A reading below 85 would be termed hypoglycemia and a reading above 99 would be termed hyperglycemia. This is called dysglycemia and this is a stepping-stone to diabetes.  Diabetes is becoming so prevalent in the United States that authorities are predicting that it may bankrupt the healthcare system.

Hypoglycemia is a condition in which the blood sugar level repeatedly drops too low in response to high carbohydrate foods.  Refined sugar is a good example of a high carbohydrate food. Hypoglycemia can also be a result of going too long without eating: and too many Americans are skipping breakfast.

It’s important if your blood sugar is below 85, it’s important that you eat every two to three hours. You should have a breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner and a light snack before bedtime.  The snack can be vegetables, fruit, nuts, and/or seeds but it SHOULD be something healthy.

Insulin resistance is high blood sugar that hasn’t  yet reached the point of diabetes.  It’s called “pre-diabetes” and is a result of the cells becoming resistant to insulin, so that no glucose can enter the cell to make energy.

You need glucose in your cells to make energy.  It’s a vital, important part of life.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:  fuel and activation.  Fuel is oxygen and glucose.  You see glucose travels in the blood stream until it’s turned into triglycerides for fat storage.

This is why it’s important to monitor triglycerides as well as glucose.  The process of turning glucose into triglycerides demands an increased amount of energy causing you to feel tired after eating. So when you are eating a high- carbohydrate diet filled with white bread, pasta, and refined sugar, you cannot keep you blood sugar level stable.

If you feel sleepy or you crave sugar after eating, you know you just ate way too many carbohydrates.  If you feel sleepy after a low- or no-carbohydrate meal, you are most likely insulin resistant.

It is literally impossible to support hypoglycemia or insulin resistance unless you eat a healthy breakfast with ample high-quality protein.  You need to eat protein in the morning, not carbohydrates. You need to eat eggs, you need to eat lean meat such as turkey or chicken sausage.  You need to eat protein in order to support your blood sugar levels.

Even if you feel nauseous first thing in the morning upon waking, eating breakfast is critical and eating a breakfast of high protein will most likely relieve your nausea.  Finally, if you have hypoglycemia you should NEVER fast. It will make matters much worse!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Insulin is not the ultimate “CURE” that everyone thinks it is…READ ON!

Insulin is not the “answer” to type 2 diabetes because insulin causes inflammation which is not good if you are a diabetic.  When you inject insulin, you are basically injecting yourself with inflammation which is a HUGE risk factor for stroke and a heart attack!  By injecting yourself with insulin, you are causing a surge of a cytokine IL-6.  IL-6 is inflammatory!

There are other things that cause inflammation in your body such as high cortisol levels.  Cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands and you need to be checked by a doctor who does thorough testing.

Certain foods can cause inflammation too such as a diet high in refined sugar, salt, and fat, basically, the standard American diet of junk food.  This is why it is vital that if you are taking insulin, you must eat a healthy diet high in vegetables, lean meat, fish, and nut and seeds.  Notice that I didn’t mention fruits.  If you are diabetic, you will want to consume “stone” fruits or fruits that contain a pit because they are lower on the glycemic index.

There are certain markers in the blood that we can check to find out how much inflammation you have in your system.  Those markers are C-reactive protein (C-RP) and homocysteine.

The latest research on homocysteine and cognitive aging, Alzheimer’s and loss of brain function, and dementia reveal that a homocysteine level higher than 7 is linked to ACCELERATED BRAIN AGING.

Homocysteine is a marker for inflammation directly linked to brain atrophy (wasting away). This is why Type 2 Diabetes causes brain problems.

Ferritan is also a marker for inflammation so if your ferritan levels are high, the inflammation in your body is high!

Just remember, inflammation is the ENEMY of the diabetic and you need a doctor that works as a detective to eliminate as much of it from your system as possible!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

The Truth about HgbA1C!

HgbA1C is considered the “best” marker of blood sugar level by many doctors.  Sugar is sticky both outside of the body AND inside of the body.  Red blood cells float around in the body for 3 months before they die off.  We can measure how much sugar the red blood cells have picked up by testing HgbA1C.

THINK FOR A MINUTE!

Imagine how life would be if you no longer needed the drugs…

Imagine how life would be if you no longer had to inject yourself with insulin…

Imagine if you had the energy to exercise and lose the diabetic weight…

Imagine what life would be like without having to get up constantly throughout the night to use the restroom…

Imagine what life would be like without living in constant fear of the devastating effects of this disease…

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

It’s Not Just Your Pancreas!

The pancreas is not the only organ that controls blood sugar.

Many diabetes think that the pancreas is the sole organ involved with their diabetes because of insulin.  Remember that Insulin is inflammatory, it causes inflammation!

The pancreas does make insulin— but…it’s not the only organ in your body that is vital in regards to your diabetes.  Your thyroid, liver, and adrenal glands are the big players in controlling your blood sugar. Your thyroid will be addressed in a future “secret” so let’s address your liver.  Your liver stores glucose in a form called glycogen.  Your liver has the ability to manufacture glycogen so that it’s available for you later when you need it.  Your liver can malfunction due to a poor diet, excess alcohol and medications. Liver malfunction can elevate your blood sugar and cause you to develop Type 2 diabetes.  The liver can be tested via bloodwork and if your doctor isn’t testing you via “functional” or “optimal” levels as we addressed in our first “secret,” you will most likely continue to get worse! Your liver is a key component in diabetes and it needs to be checked.

Many patients on insulin develop a condition called insulin resistance, which means all of the cells of your body are not paying attention to the signal that insulin is attempting to give to them.  That signal is to get sugar out of the bloodstream and into tissues.

Giving you more insulin only makes you more inflamed which can result in a heart attack or stroke.

The next VERY important organs are the adrenal glands.  Not many diabetics know that the adrenal glands are the organs that help regulate your blood sugar.  The adrenal glands produce a hormone called cortisol.  Cortisol frees up glycogen–the storage form of glucose AND cortisol will also do is make you insulin resistant!   When you’re insulin resistant, insulin piles up OUTSIDE                                        the cells in your bloodstream and blood sugar piles up INSIDE your cells.  If that goes on for very long you’re going to have high blood sugar.  Your hemoglobin A1C is going to be high.  Your triglycerides will be high.  You will get labeled with pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome or Type-2 diabetes.

If your doctor hasn’t looked at your adrenal glands, then they’re not digging deep enough.

If you’re making too much cortisol or excessive cortisol, you’re very quickly going to become insulin resistant… and now the next question for the good health detective doctor is..WHY are you making excessive cortisol?

It could be a hidden infection.  It could be stress.  It could be a food sensitivity.  Those can all be tested.

And my point is those are the things that could be causing your type two diabetes or your pre-diabetes.

So the secret today, our secret number one about type two diabetes is the pancreas is by no means the only organ involved in taking care of your blood sugar.

There’s your liver and there’s your adrenal glands and they both have to be examined and tested to get the root of YOUR “Type 2 Diabetes.”

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Know the Side Effects of Metformin (Glucophage) !

Metformin has some serious side effects.  I am NOT telling you to stop taking the medication, I am telling you to be aware of what it is doing to your body.

Side Effects of Metformin (aka.Glucophage) :

MALAISE: 10%- 25% of people who take Glucophage just don’t feel well. They experience a general malaise, fatigue and occasional achiness that lasts for varying lengths of time. Malaise a signal for the physician to closely monitor body systems affected by Metformin, including liver, kidneys, and GI tract. A blood count should be taken from time to time, because metformin can induce B vitamin insufficiencies that can lead to a form of anemia.

GI DISTURBANCE: About one third of people on Metformin experience gastrointestinal disturbances, including nausea, occasional vomiting and loose, more frequent bowel movements, or diarrhea. This problem occurs more often after meals rich in fats or sugars. The symptoms lessen over time, so if you can tolerate the GI upset for a few weeks, it may go away. Some women have found it helps to start with a very low dose and gradually increase it.

VITAMIN B12 MALABSORPTION: 10%-30% of the patients that take this medication, show evidence of reduced vitamin B12 absorption. A substance formed in the stomach called “intrinsic factor” combines with B12 so that it can be transferred into the blood. Metformin interferes with the ability of your cells to absorb this intrinsic factor-vitamin B12 complex.

Over the long term, vitamin B12 insufficiency is a significant health risk. B12 is essential to the proper growth and function of every cell in your body. It’s required for synthesis of DNA and for many crucial biochemical functions. There is also a link between B12 insufficiency and cardiovascular disease.

At least one study raises the concern that even if metformin is withdrawn, the vitamin B12 malabsorption may continue in some people.(13) The apparent cause is continued problems with availability of intrinsic factor, which is required for B12 absorption.

ELEVATED HOMOCYSTEINE LEVELS: People who take Metformin tend to have higher homocysteine levels.  Women with PCOS also tend to have elevated homocysteine.

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood. A normal amount is OK. But an elevated level means that your metabolic processes are not working properly. Elevated homocysteine is associated with coronary artery disease, heart attack, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, cognitive impairment, and cervical cancer.

Vitamin B12, along with vitamin B6 and folic acid (another B vitamin), is responsible for metabolizing homocysteine into less potentially harmful substances (19). Therefore, when metformin reduces absorption of vitamin B12, you lose one of the nutrients needed to reduce homocysteine and thus reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

ELEVATED HOMOCYSTEINE & PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS. re-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterized by increasing blood pressure and edema. If left untreated, pre-ecampsia can lead to eclampsia, a serious condition that puts you and your baby at risk. In a study conducted at the Center for Perinatal Studies at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, a second trimester elevation of homocysteine was associated with a 3.2 fold increased risk of pre-eclampsia.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, reviewed a series of studies on the linkage between elevated homocysteine and early pregnancy loss. They concluded that high homocysteine levels are a risk factor for recurrent early pregnancy loss.

Ovarian follicular fluid contains detectable amounts of homocysteine along with B12, B6, and folic acid. The follicular fluid provides nourishment to the egg by facilitating transport of nutrients from blood plasma. High levels of homocysteine as well as an insufficiency of B vitamins may adversely influence the process of fertilization and early fetal development.

NOTE: We are suggesting that elevated homocysteine, not Metformin itself, could contribute to pregnancy complications in some women. However, metformin does contribute to increased homocysteine levels.

PREGNANCY WARNING: Many women use Metformin in their pursuit of a successful pregnancy. However, Glucophage is a category B drug, meaning its safety for use while pregnant has not been established. It is found in breast milk so it’s not advisable to breast feed while taking Glucophage.

ANEMIA: By preventing optimal absorption of vitamins B12 and folic acid, Metformin could induce or contribute to megaloblastic anemia.  Megaloblastic anemia occurs when your bone marrow doesn’t have enough B vitamins to manufacture red blood cells. Your bone marrow then releases immature and dysfunctional red blood cells into circulation.

Although anemia is not common among people taking metformin, it remains a risk for those whose B12 and folic acid levels were already low when metformin therapy was started.

LIVER OR KIDNEY PROBLEMS: If you have liver or kidney problems of any kind, Metformin could pose a problem, because it alters liver function and is excreted through the kidneys. A healthy liver and kidneys will improve your outcome with Metformin. Liver and kidney function should be assessed before starting Metformin and rechecked at least once a year while taking it. A blood chemistry screen and a complete blood count will tell your physician how well your system is doing with this drug.

MULTIPLE MEDICATIONS:  You may be at risk for health problems or symptoms if you take Metformin in addition to other medications. The more drugs you take, and the higher the dosage, the greater the probability there will be some kind of interaction between the drugs or some unexpected effect from the combined drugs. The effect of combined drugs also depends on the state of your health, your genetic uniqueness, and your diet and lifestyle. Always consult with your doctor if you add or change any medication, or if you develop any symptoms.

HAIR LOSS: Metformin may contribute to male pattern hair loss at the temples and top of head. Although there’s nothing in the medical literature to support this linkage, some women have reported that hair loss was made worse by metformin.

LACTIC ACIDOSIS: About 3 of every 100,000 people who take metformin will develop a medical emergency called “lactic acidosis”. Lactic acid is a metabolic byproduct that can become toxic if it builds up faster than it is neutralized. Lactic acidosis is most likely to occur in people who with diabetes, kidney or liver disease, multiple medications, dehydration, or severe chronic stress.

Lactic acidosis can gradually build up. Symptoms to watch for include a need to breathe deeply and more rapidly, a slow, irregular pulse, a feeling of weakness, muscle pain, sleepiness, and a sense of feeling very sick. Treatment requires intravenous administration of sodium bicarbonate. Contact your doctor or go immediately to a hospital emergency room if you have these symptoms.

BILE ABNORMALITIES: Bile is produced by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and secreted into the intestines in order to absorb fats into the bloodstream. One possible reason for the GI problems is that metformin reduces normal reabsorption of bile from the intestines back into the bloodstream, which causes elevated bile salt concentrations in the colon.(25) Most studies suggest that colonic bile salts cause free radical damage to DNA and may contribute to colon cancer.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

GET YOUR THYROID TESTED…NOW!

I have treated thousands of diabetic patients over the years and I have yet to see a diabetic patient in which there thyroid wasn’t involved at some level!  Think about it, your thyroid controls your body metabolism, it HAS TO BE INVOLVED!

Most likely, your M.D. has only ordered only one thyroid test, which is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone).  If you are lucky, maybe he has have ordered a couple more.  From your M.D.’s perspective, if your TSH level is within that very wide lab range of .35 to 5.0, you’re normal, there’s nothing wrong with you!  BUT—and this is a HUGE “BUT”—the OPTIMAL LEVEL or “functional level” for TSH is 1.8 to 3.0.  So you could still be “normal” in the medical doctor’s eyes but abnormal in the functional or optimal range.

It’s only when that range is above 5.0 that the medical doctor will put you on a thyroid hormone such as Synthroid or the generic, levothyroxine.

BUT, as I mentioned, in a medical doctor’s eyes, if your thyroid TSH is within .35 to 5.0, YOU ARE NORMAL!  There is NOTHING wrong with you.  “It’s ALL in your head!”  “You don’t need medication, because you don’t have a thyroid problem!”  Even though you still may have all the thyroid symptoms: extreme fatigue, hair falling out, etc., you’re NORMAL!  Well…you and I both know that you are not “normal”. If you were, you would not be suffering from symptoms!  You could be within the “normal” TSH range of .35 to 5.0 but still be outside the optimal range of 1.8 to 3.0.  Your TSH level could be at 4.2, and that’s why you’re having the problem; it’s outside the “optimal” or “functional” range.  The same is true for any other of the thyroid blood tests such as Total Thyroxine (TT4), Free Thyroxine Index (FTI), Free Thyroxine (FT4), Free Triodothyroxine (FT3) and the three or four other tests that need to be run on your thyroid to get to the EXACT cause of your migraines.

In Diabetes Treatment Success Secret #6, we discuss the fact that the number-one cause of hypothyroidism is an autoimmune thyroid, and there has to be a reason why your body could be attacking your thyroid. That’s what we’re going to address in this Treatment Success Secret.  There are certain tests that need to be run on the thyroid–not just a TSH or a free T3 or a free T4– there are specific antibodies called TPO and TGB antibodies.  If these antibody tests are positive, you have an autoimmune thyroid. My guess is that your doctor has not run these two tests.

Now there are many other tests that need to be run for the thyroid, but these are the two big ones to determine if you have an autoimmune thyroid.  And if you’re autoimmune, you have to find out why you are autoimmune.  Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2.  They need to work in balance.  If one is dominant or working harder than the other, it’s usually because there’s something called an active antigen.  And what is an active antigen?  It can be a parasite.  It can be a virus, bacteria, mold or fungi.  It can be a food protein, such as gluten (the protein in wheat, barley and rye) or casein (milk protein).

Your immune system could become imbalanced because of disregulation due to hormonal surges and/or extreme stress.  Blood sugar problems and/or chronic inflammation and/or high cortisol levels can all cause your immune system to run amuck.  These problems can all lead to migraines!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

You Could Have An Autoimmune Condition!

Autoimmunity is the hidden cause of diabetes for 25% of Type 2 diabetics!

The “official” term is latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus of adults (LADA).

An autoimmune condition is where your immune system is attacking a part of your body, and in your case, it is most likely attacking your adrenal gland and/or your pancreas.  If you have an autoimmune condition, you don’t have just a “diabetic” problem, you have an “immune” problem!  Unfortunately, insulin injections and diabetic medications do nothing for this autoimmune attacks.  It is a slow, progressive, downward slide.

So the problem isn’t just the fact that you are diabetic: it is your immune system.  You have an immune system problem, and you need to heal your immune system.  Diabetic meds are not going to help you heal your immune system.

There are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2, and they should be in balance, kind of like a teeter-totter effect.  One should not be higher than the other.  If your immune system goes out of balance because of stress (physical, chemical or emotional), one system (TH1 or TH2) will become dominant and this will cause your immune system to attack your body.  There are specific blood tests that can be run to determine if you are autoimmune and if one part of your immune system is dominant.

Now the problem with an autoimmune condition is it just doesn’t attack one area of your body, it can attack other areas of your body as well.  It can attack your gut — your stomach lining, (causing IBS), or it can attack your joints (rheumatoid arthritis).  It can attack your entire body.  You need to be tested to see if you are having an autoimmune condition, and if that is what is causing your diabetes.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

How to know if you are autoimmune!

How do you know if you’re autoimmune?  How do you know if your immune system is attacking your body?  Well…in Success Secret #5, we talked about the fact that we run tests, specifically TPO and TGB antibodies, to see if you have an autoimmune thyroid or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, along with the immune panels. The reality is…most people already know that they’re autoimmune just from the fact that they may already suffer from a current autoimmune disorder, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Sjogren’s syndrome, scleroderma, and/or lupus.

Another way that people will know if they’re autoimmune is that their symptoms may wax and wane. Symptoms that wax and wane are a sure sign that you are most likely suffering from an autoimmune condition.

The third way to know if a patient’s autoimmune is that they will come in with a basket of supplements–I mean a truck-load. I’ve had people bring in so many bottles of supplements it wasn’t funny.  In many cases, the supplements that they are taking were actually making them worse!

Number four…their life fell apart after they got sick. That’s how they know they’re autoimmune.  They’ve been to 12 or 15 or 20 different doctors and they have a stack of medical records sky-high, all because it’s an undiagnosed autoimmune condition.

They may develop an autoimmune condition following a pregnancy. Usually, women are TH2 dominant in the third trimester and TH1 dominant postpartum.

And finally, as I’ve mentioned, there’s positive testing via the immune panels and TPO and TGB antibodies.  You see, your immune system is designed to protect you.  When your immune system runs amuck, it starts attacking different parts of your body. It’s important to know that once you realize you have an autoimmune condition, you need to get checked, and you need to manage that autoimmune condition.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Know the Autoimmune Triggers!

One of the most common questions I get is…”How did I develop this autoimmune condition?” Well…it’s pretty much genetics and the environment.  It’s a matter of what came first, the chicken or the egg?  We all know that genetically, you may be at risk for developing certain problems and/or conditions.  If your mom had a thyroid condition, if your grandmother had a thyroid condition, you probably have a thyroid condition too, so it’s genetic.

Then there are environmental factors, one of them being chemicals such as cigarette smoke.  There are over 519 chemicals in cigarettes.  Here are just a few of them…

TSNAs:  Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs) are known to be some of the most potent carcinogens present in smokeless tobacco, snuff and tobacco smoke.

Benzene: Benzene can be found in pesticides and gasoline. It is present in high levels in cigarette smoke and accounts for half of all human exposure to this hazardous chemical.

Pesticides: Pesticides are used on our lawns and gardens, and inhaled into our lungs via cigarette smoke.

Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a chemical used to preserve dead bodies and is responsible for some of the nose, throat and eye irritation smokers experience when breathing in cigarette smoke.

So chemicals in general can trigger an autoimmune response, like the latest chemical that’s hit the news…BPA.  This is a very nasty chemical called bisphenol A.  It’s used in a lot of plastics, and BPA is extremely bad for thyroid health; it can trigger Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroid.

Rocket fuel is another!  You heard that correctly, I said rocket fuel!  You may ask…”How am I exposed to rocket fuel?” Studies have shown that 30 to 40 percent of women in America have remnants of rocket fuel in their body.  It gets into the ground water.  It stays there for a very long time.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

HORMONES!

The regulation of hormones plays an important role in your health.  For example, Prolactin is a hormone that’s made by your pituitary gland.  High levels of prolactin suppress TSH or Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone.  Prolactin is balanced by progesterone and dopamine, so when people have a dopamine deficiency, or progesterone deficiency, their prolactin will increase, and that will decrease the function of the pituitary’s production of thyroid-stimulating hormone.  Remember when I stated that the thyroid controls your body’s metabolism.

The imbalance will show up on your labs, perhaps, if you’re lucky, as the TSH is low, but not quite out of the reference range.  This is why it’s important to know that there are “optimal” or “functional” levels.  .

Prolactin also suppresses luteinizing hormone (LH) in women.  Excess prolactin can cause infertility.  In men, excess prolactin depresses testosterone so they have low libido.  High prolactin can cause tumors that are called prolactinomas.

Another common female hormone disorder is PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  It affects 5-10 percent of menstruating women, and it is one of the most common causes of infertility.  PCOS symptoms include the inability to lose weight, hair loss, fatigue after meals, hormone imbalances, and sugar cravings.

Using blood chemistry tests, PCOS can be identified by insulin resistance.  Again, insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) is a blood glucose level from 100-126.  This is a fasting blood glucose level.  PCOS is also indicated by elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, especially IF THE TRIGLYCERIDES ARE HIGHER THAN THE CHOLESTROL LEVELS.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body cells become resistant to insulin due to a high-carbohydrate diet, which leads to excess testosterone production, and this leads to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  As testosterone levels rise, the cells become further resistant to insulin, and it’s a slow downward spiral.  Cell resistance to insulin in turn promotes testosterone elevation, which continues that downward spiral.

Insulin resistance also promotes inflammation and immune system problems, which predispose the person to an autoimmune disease. In woman suffering with PN, can you see why it’s important to address Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)?

The bottom line is that excess levels of any hormone can cause peripheral neuropathy in both men and women!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Anemias

What if the patient isn’t autoimmune? Since there are a small percentage of patients that are not autoimmune, what else could be causing the problem?

Anemia is the answer!  Anemia in and of itself is a deal-breaker for nutritional support of any kind, including diabetic support, since anemia literally starves your body of oxygen.

Oxygen is very important in healing your body.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:  fuel and activation.  Fuel comes in the form of oxygen and glucose.  We discussed blood glucose in the first “secret” but when you are deprive your body of oxygen, you deprive your red blood cells (RBCs) of oxygen.  The basic function of the RBCs is to maintains, regenerate and heal the body. With no RBCs, the body simply cannot operate adequately!

It is vital that the clinician address the anemic patient.  Anemia can be due to a variety of reasons and factors, including B12 anemia or pernicious anemia, an autoimmune disease.  Some forms of anemia don’t seem to respond to iron supplements because the red blood cells break down.

So when this happens, supplementing won’t increase iron levels and can, in fact, make the problem much worse.  Too much iron in the body is much more toxic than mercury, lead or other heavy metals.  As I’ve said and will continue to say, if the patient does not have an autoimmune condition you want to look at the four priorities and the four priorities are: number one, anemia; number two, blood sugar or glucose; number three, gut function/liver; and number four, fatty acid metabolism.  ALL of these systems need to be checked.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Brain Function

As I have mentioned in other secrets, brain function is extremely important in treating diabetes.  The brain controls every bodily function.  Your pituitary drives the thyroid gland.  It releases TSH.  The part of your brain called the hypothalamus drives the pituitary.

Our brain needs two things to survive:  fuel and activation.

Fuel is glucose and oxygen, which is why we use Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) in our office.  We have addressed the glucose end of the equation: now let’s address the importance of oxygen.

As you age, your ability to utilize oxygen decreases by one percent per year each year after the age of 25.  If you are 50 years old, you’ve lost 25 percent of your ability to utilize oxygen in your body.  This is called oxidative phosphorylation, which is a big fancy three-dollar term meaning you’re not using oxygen as well as you did when you were younger.  Again, this is why we utilize Exercise With Oxygen Therapy or EWOT in our office.

Secondly, the neurotransmitter serotonin plays a major role in thyroid function.  There’s a place in your brain called the hypothalamus and there’s something called the periventricular nucleus.  I know these are big fancy three-dollar words, but it’s critical that you know this if you’re suffering with thyroid symptoms.  Serotonin acts on the hypothalamic periventricular nucleus in the central nervous system and what it will do is make you have low thyroxine-stimulating hormone or low TSH.

Taking thyroid hormones for these problems is not going to do ANYTHING for you.  It will most likely make your symptoms worse.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying to stop taking your medication (that’s called practicing medicine without a license!) but you need to be aware of what is happening to your body!

I am saying be aware of what’s happening to your body because once you start asking medical doctors WHY you’re taking these medications they’re going to look at you like you’re crazy, like you have a psychosomatic illness, which means to them…”it’s all in your head” and the only thing you need is an antidepressant.

The biggest influence on serotonin is blood sugar. That’s why we addressed glucose in Diabetes Treatment Success #1.  So if you’re hypoglycemic, insulin-resistant, or diabetic, it is vitally important that you maintain your blood sugar levels within an optimal range.

This is why it’s important to eat healthy.  Don’t skip meals.  Quit eating junk food!  Every time you eat junk food you are literally eating away at your thyroid and you’re making your problem worse.

By consuming a poor, junk-food-filled diet, you will increase your diabetic symptoms and you will gain weight easily.

You have all of these symptoms and yet your labs are “normal” in the eyes of your medical doctor.  Remember, those labs need to be within the optimal or functional range.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

The evils of GLUTEN!

Gluten is one of the biggest culprits in causing an autoimmune thyroid that I see in my office.  Therefore, it is EXTREMELY important to be tested properly for gluten sensitivity.  In our office, we run a food sensitivity test from a lab called Enterolab.  It is a lab test for sensitivity to gluten, milk, soy, egg and yeast.

Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley, rye and oats.  The reason that so many people across the country are gluten-sensitive is that we’ve been eating genetically-engineered wheat since the late 1940’s.  Our bodies were not made to eat genetically-engineered wheat.  Our bodies were not made to eat chemicals and that’s exactly what we are consuming!

In order for you to be healthy, one of the best things that you can do is to avoid gluten.  If you are sensitive to gluten, it will cause your immune system to attack your body, whether it’s your thyroid, your joints, your pancreas, whatever.  Remember we talked about an active antigen a while back, and an active antigen can be something that causes your immune system to run amuck or attack.

Your T-cells are attacking your body and the cause for your T-cell attack can be a parasite, fungi, yeast, mold, virus, bacteria, and it can also be gluten.  It could also be dairy, yeast, soy and/or egg. This is not a guessing game, you need to be tested and the tests should include a DNA swab, where you’re taking a swab of your left cheek and a swab of your right cheek.

Usually, gluten testing with a medical office for gluten sensitivity is not done with a DNA component–you really don’t know if you’re gluten-sensitive or not.  There has yet to be an autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroid patient walk in my office that is not gluten-sensitive, and they could very well be sensitive to dairy, egg, soy and yeast too!

Many diabetics are told to lose weight by their M.D., I will tell you that one of the BEST diets is to stop eating gluten!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Vitamin D

You always seem hear in the news that there’s some new vitamin to consider or new deficiency to consider, but when it comes to diabetes – it’s very important that patients are taking Vitamin D to help their immune system.

Modern diets are lacking in Vitamin D rich foods.  What are Vitamin D rich foods?  Liver (To be honest with you, I can’t stand liver), organ meats, lard, many forms of seafood, butter and egg yolks (remember what I said about eating eggs for breakfast and how important it is in your blood glucose level?).

Sunlight is another important factor and source of Vitamin D.  BUT, you should NEVER take Vitamin D without having your Vitamin D levels tested, specifically, 25 OHD and 125 OHD.  Most M.D.s will only test 25 OHD but it is very important to have both levels tested.  This way, you are eliminating the guess work.  You could be low in Vitamin D or on the low side of normal; either finding would constitute a different recommended dosage.

Why is Vitamin D so important?  Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many, many autoimmune conditions including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.  Frankly, autoimmune rates have been skyrocketing in the past 20 years, which correlates with decreased levels of Vitamin D in the general population.

Adequate Vitamin D levels help to keep the immune system in balance so it doesn’t swing out of control into an autoimmune disease.  When it comes to diabetes, the problems with Vitamin D deficiency are made worse by genetics.

Therefore many people, especially these people, need higher amounts of Vitamin D to maintain health, even if their blood tests show sufficient Vitamin D.

In many cases, patients will come in to my office and their Vitamin D levels will be on the low side of normal and their MD has told them, “You’re fine, there’s nothing wrong with you,” when actually if you’re on the low side of normal you need to be supplementing with Vitamin D.  I recommend that all my patients with any thyroid condition or any autoimmune condition take extra Vitamin D.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Healthy hormone production including the production depends on Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s).  You’ve probably heard about these nutrients; fish oil, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil.

In our diets, EFA’s can be found in cold water fish and in many raw, unprocessed nuts and seeds.  EFA’s not only contribute nutrients for hormones but also for proper cellular communication, brain function and much more.

The ideal ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats in EFA’s is estimated to be from 3 to 1 up to 5 to 1.  In the average American diet or S.A.D. (Standard American Diet), the ratio is more like 25 to 1, thanks to junk food diets that are loaded with vegetable oil.  You need to take a well-rounded, fish-oil-based, high potency EFA supplement if you intend to be healthy.

If you’re insulin-resistant, it causes a condition in which the body cannot properly metabolize the EFA’s in flax, evening primrose or black currant seed oils.  This is why fish oil is the predominant recommendation.  Essential fatty acid deficiencies are so common in the United States it’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the U.S. population failed to get enough essential fatty acids each day thanks to our Standard American Diet (SAD).

It’s because our diet is so filled with junk: high fat, high salt, high sugar or high refined sugar.  I had a patient come in one time, and she was drinking 12 cans of diet Mountain Dew a day and I told her if she wanted to become my patient she would need to stop drinking the diet Mountain Dew immediately.  She did and went through withdrawal symptoms for a week.

If you’re serious about getting healthy, if you’re serious about correcting your thyroid problem, you need to change your diet You need to eat healthy; you need to eliminate junk food; you need to be taking essential fatty acids, especially fish oil based essential fatty acids, and especially high-quality fish-oil-based essential fatty acids.

How do you know if you have high quality essential fatty acids?  Well, consider more than price: if you cut one of your fish oil capsules and you put it in the freezer and it freezes – that’s not good.  Oil should not freeze.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

PCOS—Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

PCOS is a common female hormone disorder.  It affects 5-10 percent of menstruating women, and it is one of the most common causes of infertility.  PCOS symptoms include the inability to lose weight, hair loss, fatigue after meals, numbness, hormone imbalances, and sugar cravings.  Do these symptoms sound familiar?  They sound like a diabetic patient, don’t they?

Using blood chemistry tests, PCOS can be identified by insulin resistance.  Again, insulin resistance is a blood glucose level from 100-126.  This is a fasting blood glucose level.  PCOS is also indicated by elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, especially IF THE TRIGLYCERIDES ARE HIGHER THAN THE CHOLESTROL LEVELS.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body cells become resistant to insulin due to a high-carbohydrate diet, which leads to excess testosterone production, and this leads to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  As testosterone levels rise, the cells become further resistant to insulin, and it’s a slow downward spiral.  Cell resistance to insulin in turn promotes testosterone elevation, which continues that downward spiral.

Insulin resistance also promotes inflammation and immune system problems, which predispose the person to an autoimmune disease.  You factor in all of this with Hashimoto’s, and, now, can you see why it’s important to address Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) when addressing diabetic conditions?

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

The Adrenal Glands!

Your adrenal glands make a hormone called “cortisol”.  They sit atop your kidneys and they are your “stress glands.”  They make a lot of hormones for your body in addition to cortisol, such as aldosterone and androgens.  Your adrenal glands are vital for optimal health.  When your adrenal glands are not working, it causes high levels of cortisol in your system, and this is why you still have thyroid symptoms, even when your other lab tests may be normal.  Cortisol is one of the main factors that regulate your blood sugar level, not insulin.  Everybody thinks it’s insulin, but it’s actually cortisol.  When cortisol is released by your adrenal glands, it’s accompanied by cytokines.

Cytokines suppress the ability of your pituitary gland, and your hypothalamus, to make TSH, or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone.  So your adrenal glands make cortisol in response to a stress, whether it’s physical, chemical, or emotional stress.  And cortisol also promotes inflammation, which makes your adrenal glands pump out more cortisol.  As cortisol is released, the cytokines come out along with it and suppress your pituitary.  There are common causes of elevated cortisol, some of them being chronic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, or hidden gut infections, such as parasites.  You’d be surprised how many people have parasitic infections.  Other causes of elevated levels of cortisol included blood sugar dysregulation, high or low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

You need to make sure that your blood sugar level is stable.  And you need to understand that, when you have these problems, when your blood sugar level is going up or down so are your cortisol levels, which means your cytokines are going up and down, which means your pituitary isn’t working properly and you’re not making enough TSH, or thyroid hormones.  So you start having thyroid symptoms such as fatigue, hair loss, cold hands and feet, insomnia, inability to lose weight, and depression.

Don’t forget, there are several types of blood sugar problems–not just diabetes, but also hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, and insulin resistance.  Hypoglycemia is  a blood sugar level of 85 or lower.  Insulin resistance is a fasting blood sugar of 100-126.  Diabetes is a fasting blood sugar level of 127 or higher.

So be aware, if your stress levels are high, your adrenal glands are going to pump hard, and cortisol levels are going to increase.  Cytokine levels are going to increase, and it will cause your pituitary not to function properly, which will cause decreased amounts of thyroid-stimulating hormone.  High cortisol will sabotage your attempt to combat your thyroid problem.

If you are suffering with adrenal fatigue, you need to avoid refined sugar, alcohol, and caffeine because these are high stressors to your immune system.  And don’t think you can get away with eating aspartame or MSG because these are the worst things you could do for your adrenal glands!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Cytokines!

Cytokines are the messengers that your immune system uses as part of the inflammatory process.  When a patient has an inflammatory condition like arthritis, IBS, asthma or an autoimmune condition like Lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, there are usually high levels of cytokines.

When cytokines are high, they suppress the circuit in your brain that helps you make thyroid hormones.  It suppresses your pituitary, which suppresses the pituitary’s ability to make TSH.  And remember, I said the functional range for THS is 1.8–3.0.  Anything outside of that is a severe thyroid condition.

Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH-1 and TH-2.  If you have high interleukin-2, or TNF-alpha, then you are probably TH-1 dominant.  If you have high interleukin-4, or interleukin-10, you’re probably TH-2 dominant.  If you’re dominant with those cytokines, you are probably creating more problems for your thyroid condition.  The key is to get tested for that cytokine function to make sure everything is within the optimal or functional range.

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Intestinal Fortitude…LITERALLY!

Gut function is extremely important, and can be affected by something called “Leaky Gut Syndrome” (LGS).  You may or may not have heard of it.  Leaky Gut Syndrome is where the lining of your intestines have become more permeable, so it allows things like food particles and large molecules to permeate your system and create havoc with your immune system.  It’s also important in gut function to be tested for parasites.  Many people suffer from parasites and don’t know it.

A lot of people who suffer with diabetes also suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).  They have problems with constipation or diarrhea, or both.  Repairing your gut begins at the plate.  Chronic inflammation is caused by poor diet.  When you have increased intestinal permeability, another name for LGS, you will also have chronic inflammation, because a healthy GI tract is a tightly woven mesh of tissue that does not allow the absorption of bacteria, harmful foods, or undigested particles in the bloodstream.  When you’re suffering from Leaky Gut Syndrome, this is exactly what’s happening.

Once in the bloodstream, these particles are recognized as foreign invaders or antigens, which the immune system attacks.  And, unfortunately for many people, especially those with insulin resistance, this response happens almost every time they eat, resulting in chronic inflammation or irritable bowel syndrome.  This sets the stage for development of an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s or some other autoimmune problem.

So the first step in repairing the gut is to remove the foods that are creating a chronic immune response: gluten, soy, milk, egg, yeast.  And then it’s important to heal your body.  And you can heal your body with a 4R colon program, which means removing or eliminating problems – gluten, milk, soy, yeast, or parasites – inoculating, and using a probiotic.  On a 4R colon program you replace specific enzymes to repair your gut and utilize specific neurological compounds.  This is why it’s important to have healthy gut function in regards to treating diabetes.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Do Not Allow Your Health Condition to be Labeled and Placed in a Nice, Neat Box!

Do not accept “diabetes” as a label for all of your symptoms.  There’s no simple explanation for why you have blood sugar problems.  That’s why ALL of the testing needs to be done.  When you were first diagnosed with diabetes, you might have been happy to finally have somebody or some doctor call it, or name it, or put it in a box.

It’s scary to have symptoms that nobody can explain—it leads your mind to worry.  But don’t accept the label for all your symptoms.  Remember, ALL of the tests need to be done.  If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, realize that there are things that can be done to help you!  There are answers out there.  The key is–you need to be tested thoroughly.  You need to be tested, correctly treated and retested. THAT is the only way you will achieve health!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Don’t fall into the false belief that… “Everything has been done!”

Believing that all of the labs that have been done are normal is WRONG!  I can’t tell you how many times a patient walks in my office and tells me that their medical doctor told them that all their labs are normal.  Yes, they may be normal in regards to lab values, but not in regards to optimal or functional values.  Remember that I said the lab value for TSH is .35 to 5.0?  And the optimal level or functional level is 1.8-3.0?  This is a huge trap that many patients fall into and they have to avoid.  They believe that all of the correct tests have been done, and that all of those tests are normal, just like their medical doctor said they were.

The truth is that functional testing has not been done.  You need specific lab tests.  You need a complete metabolic panel.  You need a lipid panel.  You need a complete thyroid panel that includes seven or eight thyroid tests.  And you need a CBC with auto-differential.  You need sensitivity testing done.  Sensitivity testing will determine if you’re sensitive to gluten, milk, soy, egg, or yeast.  You need the immune panels done.  Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH-1 and TH-2.  You want to find out which one is working.  So you’re testing those cytokines that we talked about, interleukin-2, TNF-alpha, interleukin-4 and interleukin-10.  You’re testing the CD-4 – CD-8 ratio.  I know that sounds like a big term, but the CD-4 – CD-8 ratio is normally between 1.2-2.4.  If it’s 2.4 – 2.5 or above, you have an active antigen.  There’s something that’s causing your immune system to run amuck.  There’s something that’s causing your T-cells to attack your body.

If it’s below 1.2, you have a problem with dysregulation, an anemic condition, a blood sugar problem, a gut function problem, or a liver function problem.  So it’s important that all the tests are run.  Don’t get into the false belief that everything possible has been done—if you do, then you’ve missed the point and you will stop searching for answers and information that will help you.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Don’t Use Medications as a Crutch!

Are you relying solely on medication to treat your symptoms?  Remember that we covered the risk or insulin and medications.  Are you exercising regularly?  Are you eating a healthy diet which is low in inflammatory foods?

Ask yourself if you really think all of the medication that you’re taking is actually making your body functional or healthy.  Is it really fixing your symptoms?  Think about this: If you gave the medication that you’re taking to a healthy person, would they remain healthy or would they become sick?  They would become sick!  ALL medications have side effects

All you’re doing with medications is covering up symptoms.  You’re also creating unwanted side effects, which may in the long run make you worse.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen in their eighties that started off with one or two medications in their thirties, ended up with four or five medications in their fifties, and now in their eighties, they’re taking thirteen to fifteen medications.

Don’t think that you need a medication to be healthy.  And don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying to stop taking your medications this minute.  But…as we test you and we’re treating you and we’re retesting you, you’re bound to improve, and, eventually, you can go back to your medical doctor, and you can ask him to take you off of these medications or decrease the dosage.

We want to work at getting to the cause of your problem.  We want to reverse your symptoms.  We want to get the root cause and get the problem taken care of at the very beginning.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Control Your Health Destiny!

No one else is responsible for your health!  YOU are responsible for your health!  Take your health care into your own hands!   We’re trained to believe that medical doctors know best, and what the doctor says is the best thing for me.  It’s true, medical doctors are doctors; they treat people, they want to help people, but the reality is just writing a script and throwing a medication at a person isn’t actually treating the patient and it isn’t in the best interest of the patient.  Proper testing must be done.

With something as complex as hypothyroid or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Grave’s disease, you have to literally grab the bull by the horns and take charge.  It’s your life.  It’s your body.  What are you going to do for the next 30-40 years?  Are you going to accept the status quo and continue to push from M.D. to M.D. only to find out that they have no answer for you?  It’s up to you.  Nobody is going to care about you more than you.  You need to take action.  You need to get the testing done.  You need a thorough work-up.  Nothing else is going to help you with your thyroid condition more than the proper testing and treatment.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Take action!   Do not think it’s going to get better on its own.  See, many people think that once they’re taking medication, their problem isn’t going to get any worse or there’s nothing to worry about.  And this isn’t true. The reality is you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse – you’re not saying the same.

So if you sit and wait around for it to just go away on its own or you sit and think that you can’t do anything and that’ll you be just fine, you’re falling into a deep, dark well.  Avoid this type of thinking at all costs.  Remember to get tested, treated, and retested functionally or optimally.  Remember that M.D.s use lab values that are extremely broad and wide.  And you want lab values that are much narrower, those optimal or functional levels.  Once you get properly tested and treated, then, and only then, will your symptoms go away.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Treat the WHOLE person!

Find a doctor who treats you as a whole person and utilizes complete functional neurological and metabolic protocols.  You see, a functional problem can’t be treated like an acute situation.  Medical doctors are great at treating acute health conditions: a broken bone, a heart attack, a stroke.  But when it comes to chronic conditions, functional conditions, they are lost in a lost world.

You need a doctor who takes a step back, and looks at the big picture and does thorough testing and treats you based on that testing.  You need to take control of your own health.  Now that I’ve given you all of this knowledge, and explained to you that we are the office that can provide you with the functional testing and treatment, neurologically and metabolically, we invite you to call our office.  We are known worldwide for our work with thyroid conditions. Our care is designed to avoid all those treatment traps and help patients reverse their diabetes.

Because we are so thorough, we must ensure that each patient gets the proper attention that they require: therefore, we accept only a limited number of patients into our program each month.

I hope that you have enjoyed these diabetes treatment success secrets, and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

“KEEP Reading This FREE Report To Discover What Many Doctors Don’t Know About Diabetes. Find Out The Truth About Your Problem And How To Get Rid Of It Once And For All… Without Drugs or Insulin!”

Inside This FREE Insider’s Report, You’ll Learn…

– What Many Doctors Don’t Know About Diabetes!

–The Hidden Tests Most Doctors Fail To Check As The Cause Of Your Problem!

-- Why Simply Taking Pills Probably Isn’t A Good Idea If You Want To IMPROVE Your Blood Sugar Levels Once And For All!

– Why Only Going To Your Family Or HMO Doctor Could Lead To Years Of Misery And Frustration!

– How To Naturally And Safely IMPROVE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS NOW! And Much Morel

Dear Diabetes Sufferer,

First of all, congratulations on reading this FREE report! You’re going to discover how to avoid years of misery and frustration – the same misery and frustration millions of Americans suffer every day because they don’t have this seldom discussed diabetes information right in front of them like you do right now!

Diabetes is a sneaky, potentially disabling epidemic that is sweeping America as we speak.  Many of your family, friends, and co-workers will experience the same experience that you do because of a number of factors including misinformation and inappropriate care.

That’s why this  report  was written…so  keep  reading to   find  out  what  many  doctors   don’t   know  about   diabetes.  The truth WILL shock you!

My name is Dr. Mark A. Scott, D.C., and I have been in private practice in Virginia Beach, Virginia since 1996.  I consult with over 1200 chiropractors world-wide.

I am about to reveal to you what I believe is the ULTIMATE SOLUTION to your diabetes.

I help diabetics every day in my practice, day in and day out.  You see a large part of my practice is devoted to helping patients just like you.

Before we begin, please understand that uncontrolled diabetes can affect…

• Your vision!  (it can cause BLINDNESS!)
• Loss of limbs!
• Kidneys!
• Heart and cholesterol levels!
• Risk factors for stroke and CANCER!

Reading this FREE Diabetes report may be one of the most important things you’ve read this year.  Why? Because finally, an authority on diabetes is breaking his silence and revealing the shocking truth about this problem that most doctors don’t know!  The information in this report is vital if you want to avoid years of increasing misery, and frustration.  So please read this report from beginning to end.  It may end up saving your life as you know it right now!

You see, what’s so dangerous about diabetes is that it’s not an injury like a broken bone or a cut or scrape.  Diabetes usually comes on slowly.  You don’t notice it at first, or maybe you just brush off the initial symptoms such as frequent thrist or urination… thinking it’s nothing, and then it slowly builds and builds.  You may start feeling numbness and tingling in your extremities and you may become more irritable.

And then one day, you realize you just aren’t the same person you used to be.  And that’s when you go to your family doctor to get checked out.

Most doctors do great with general medicine.  If you have an ear infection or a severe cold, medical science can do wonders! But when it comes to a condition like Diabetes, many doctors simply run a fasting blood test, find out that your blood sugar is high and give you a medication (or put you on insulin if your blood sugar level is really high) BUT they never perform a full battery of tests to get to the very cause of your diabetes!

THAT’S RIGHT! MOST DOCTORS DON’T RUN ENOUGH TESTS TO GET DOWN TO THE NITTY-GRITTY OF WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR BLOOD SUGAR TO INCREASE EVEN ON MEDICATIONS!

Diabetes is a tricky condition.  You see, your diabetes can have a number of causes, and some of those causes aren’t even in the area of where you might expect them to be located!!  Your adrenal glands sit right above your kidneys and they are your “stress” glands..they play a HUGE role in your diabetes!  Your thyroid controls your body metabolism and it plays a HUGE role in your diabetes!  Many doctors DO NOT take the function of these organs into consideration when addressing your diabetes!!!

DON’T GET ME WRONG, I AM NOT SAYING TO NOT SEE YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR, CONTINUE WITH HIS OR HER CARE AND FOLLOW THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS…I AM SAYING THAT MORE TESTING NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!

PLEASE DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME…I AM ALSO NOT TELLING YOU TO STOP TAKING ANY MEDICATIONS!  DO NOT STOP ANY CURRENT MEDICATIONS THAT YOU ARE TAKING!  PERIOD!!!

With that being said…Here Are The Dark Secrets…

The main problem with the treatments some doctors prescribe for diabetes is that they never go to the root of the problem, they only focus on the symptoms.  That is all well and good but there is more…much more…

If you are taking pills so you can get through a day of work, then you are probably making your problem worse because you’ve sabotaged your body’s only means of keeping you healthy. Obviously, this form of treatment is not a permanent fix – no matter how many pills you take, you’ll never get completely better!

OK, so you’ve done the pills and they don’t seem to be working.  What’s next?   

Typically, insulin injections.

The problem is…insulin at high levels can cause a host of side effects like..

Weight gain

Increased Blood Pressure

Cardiovascular disease

Increased risk of cancer

Increased risk of stroke

All diabetic medications are simply treating the symptom of high blood sugar, while your disease continues to progress to the possible reality of insulin therapy.

It’s not that your body is lacking the hormone insulin…The problem for the majority of diabetics is that insulin resistance has set in…this basically means that your body has lost the ability to utilize insulin appropriately.

What sense then does it make to continue to bombard the body with something it no longer recognizes and can no longer process?  Especially when that substance (insulin) may be harmful to your health and more than likely will cause your disease to progress.

The definition of diabetes according to the American Diabetes Association is two fasting blood tests with a blood glucose level of 127 or higher.  100 to 126 is termed “pre-diabetes” or insulin resistance and anything below 85 is hypo-glycemia.  So your IDEAL blood sugar or blood glucose level should be 85 to 99.

THINK FOR A MINUTE!

Imagine how life would be if you no longer needed the drugs…

Imagine how life would be if you no longer had to inject yourself with insulin…

Imagine if you had the energy to exercise and lose the diabetic weight…

Imagine what life would be like without having to get up constantly throughout the night to use the restroom…

Imagine what life would be like without living in constant fear of the devastation effects of this disease…

Let’s start with what makes my office completely DIFFERENT from any doctor that you have seen up to now…

#1: COMPLETE NEUROLOGIC TESTING WITH EWOT (Exercise with Oxygen Therapy):

Your body needs two things to survive…fuel and activation.  Fuel comes in the form of glucose (blood sugar levels) and oxygen.  By having our patients exercise with Oxygen, we can lower their blood sugar levels naturally!

Your brain and nervous system controls every bodily function so in order to effectively treat and control your blood sugar levels, we must thoroughly test and treat you neurologically.  We have decreased blood sugar levels with many of our patients simply by putting them on EWOT!

#2: COMPLETE AND THOROUGH METABOLIC TESTING:

1.  Has your doctor specifically checked you for an autoimmune disorder?  There are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2.  IF one of these parts is dominant, you could have an autoimmune disorder.  An autoimmune disorder is where your immune system is attacking your body causing your diabetes.  For example, you could have an autoimmune disorder in which your immune system is attacking your pancreas and this is why you have increased blood sugar levels.

(PLEASE NOTE: AUTOIMMUNE CONDITIONS TRUMP EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE LISTED BELOW…IT MUST BE HANDLED FIRST AND FOREMOST OR YOU WILL NEVER GET COMPLETELY BETTER!)

2.  Has your doctor specifically checked you for any food sensitivities that could increase your blood sugar levels?  Each time that you eat a food that you are sensitive such as gluten (wheat, barely, rye, and oats), dairy, eggs, soy or yeast, it can INCREASE your blood sugar levels.   This could be why even though you are taking medications and exercising, you blood sugar levels keep incaresing!

3.  Has your doctor run a COMPLETE thyroid panel?  Your thyroid CONTROLS your body metabolism so if you suffer from diabetes…IT MUST BE THOROUGHLY CHECKED!  I not talking about an simple test for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), I am talking about the COMPLETE BATTERY OF THYROID TESTS!

4.  Has your doctor checked your adrenal glands? Your adrenal glands are your “stress” glands and they are JUST AS IMPORTANT as your pancreas in treating your diabetes!!! An ASI needs to be run on you which will check your cortisol levels at 8 am, noon, 4 pm and 10 pm.

5.  Has your doctor checked you for blood disorders such as anemias??? YOU NEED THESE BLOOD LEVELS CHECKED IF YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM DIABETES!!

6.   If you are male have you ever been evaluated for Andropause?

7.    If you are female had your doctor ever ordered an expanded female hormone panel?

8.  If you are female and post-menopausal has your doctor ever assessed your risk factors for developing uterine or breast cancer?

HORMONE LEVELS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN CONTROLLING DIABETES!!!!!

If you answered “NO” to any or all of these questions then there is a good chance that your diabetes is not being managed properly!!!

THESE TESTS NEED TO BE RUN ON YOU TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR DIABETIC CONDITION!!!  Anything less means that you are in for years of misery!

Can you see that by treating you neurologically and metabolically, we can HELP YOU?!?!?

Please understand that I’ve spent years helping patients who suffer from diabetes discover the truth about their condition and I would like to help you too!

That’s why I put together this valuable, FREE report.  Frankly, I got sick and tired of seeing people just like you suffering through a lifetime of misery because no one ever bothered to reveal to them the truth about diabetes!

There is really nothing more pleasing than helping people just like you finally become symptom-free and living life on their own terms once again!

That’s why I mailed you this FREE report. I want you to know the truth about diabetes that almost everyone out there doesn’t seem to want you to know.  I know that chances are great that I can eliminate – or at least, greatly reduce – your weakness,  

My FREE  EVALUATION

If you are currently suffering from diabetes, don’t procrastinate, just call the office, come on in, and we will give you a FREE EVALUATION.

• A consultation with me, Dr. Mark A. Scott, to discuss your condition and answer ALL your questions.
• Please bring all your medical records.  We will enter any bloodwork that you have had into our computer database to determine how we can best help you!  There are “lab” values which are very broad and there are “optimal” levels which are much narrower.  We went to get you to OPTIMAL LEVELS!

What’s important is that you take a moment now to schedule your diabetes evaluation.  As I said before, the sooner the better.

If time is a problem, we can schedule you at a time convenient for you.  (When was the last time a doctor told you this?)  How can we do this?  Again, the test itself is quick (and painless), so we can most likely fit you in our schedule soon.

I hope you’ve benefited from discovering the truth about diabetes that, believe it or not, most doctors aren’t even aware of.  So get this free second opinion before it’s too late!

Remember, you have until the date stamped on the sheet to schedule your free EMG and Numbness Evaluation.  After that, we probably won’t be able to see you.

Congratulations on taking responsibility for your own welfare!  I look forward to helping you, just as I have helped many other diabetic sufferers!

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark A Scott 

P.S. -  Of  course, if  you have  any  questions, give us  a  call.  We’ll  answer  any questions  you have  about  your  condition  or  concerns.

(Disclaimer:  This Free Report is for informational purposes only.  It is not designed to substitute for professional and individualized health advice.  Please do not stop or start taking prescription medication without the advice of your prescribing doctor, as this can be very dangerous to your health.  You should always consult your prescribing doctor regarding prescription drugs.)

READ ON!!!

TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA AND WHAT YOUR DOCTOR IS DOING WRONG

1. Auto Immunity is overlooked or mistreated

Everyone who walks through the door of my clinic has the same priorities. Here they are:

1-     Auto Immunity

2-     Blood Sugar

3-     Anemia

4-     Gut and Liver function

5-     Fatty acid metabolism

Auto Immunity is the top of the list because it trumps everything else. When your own immune system goes out of control, it launches attacks on your own body’s tissue.

Fibromyalgia is often left out of the list of auto immune diagnosis (remember, diagnoses are labels. Labels are for cans, not for people). Frankly, I’m glad it is left off the list. The medical world’s answer for auto immune conditions is steroids. If fibromyalgia were on that list, they would do an even poorer job of managing it.

A majority of the patients that I see with Fibro have an underlying auto immune condition. The immune system most commonly attacks the thyroid (causing your blood sugar imbalance), your adrenal glands (chronic fatigue, anyone?), and brain (fibro fog). Until we run the right tests to know that this is the problem, we cannot have all of the information to get you better the fastest.

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #2

2. It’s in your head. How many doctors have you seen that have told you it is in your head? This directly translates into: “I don’t know how to help you. Get out of my office.” All of your lab tests are normal, all of the imaging you have had are normal (a few of you may have even seen “white spots” on your brain MRI. If this is the case, I refer you to #1 on our countdown).

You condition is ACTUALY in your head. The problem is, is that it is every where else too, and your doctor is only as good as the drugs he or she prescribes. Fibromyalgia is a metabolic condition. You CANNOT DRUG YOUR WAY OUT OF A METABOLIC CONDITION.

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #3

3. Wrong tests ordered

I see this every day in my office. Some unfortunate individual will drag themselves in my office with stacks of blood work that they WASTED thousands on. The tests are usually a Complete Blood Count, A Chemistry panel, and TSH. They may also have ordered a group of tests ruling out auto immune diseases called HLA-B27. Why? Because these are what your insurance would pay for. This is not enough information to get you better. What about Immune panels, complete thyroid panels, Adrenal Stress Index, and food sensitivity panels? All of these are making your condition worse. We need all of these to make sound clinical judgment

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #4

4. Right test ordered, wrong results.

Medical doctors use lab reference ranges as a guide to determine whether or not you have a particular disease.

The easiest to use as an example is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). TSH is used to determine whether or not you have a thyroid condition. Traditional medicine uses the lab ranges of 0.5 to 5.5. In other words, if your TSH level is below 0.5, you have hyperthyroidism. If it is above 5.6, you have hypothyroidism. However, in order to have maximum thyroid function, your levels must be between 1.8 – 3.0. You can see this is a much narrower range.  You can be completely hypothyroid with a lab value of 3.5, yet your doctor says it is a normal test.

We use functional ranges, not lab ranges.

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #5

5. Medicate, medicate, medicate!!

Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition CAUSED by a break down in you metabolism. It is a metabolic condition. You cannot drug your way out of a metabolic condition. Drugs will help with your symptoms temporarily, but they will eventually make you worse because of the damage they do to your kidneys and liver. Do you really want to continue to gamble with them?

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8671for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #6

6.  No diet changes

Most doctors don’t know squat about nutrition. If you go to your doctor and ask him or her about gluten, they will run a celiac test on you (that is a VERY inaccurate test) and say you don’t have celiac, so eat whatever you want.

Fact is, your condition is being caused by what you put in your mouth. The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is causing so much stress on your body that it is causing you to be sick.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #7

7.  Taking too many supplements

Yep. I said it. Taking too many supplements can make your condition worse. If you your fibromyalgia is caused by an auto-immune condition (your own bodies immune system, which is supposed to keep you from getting sick, actually attacks your own tissue and makes you sick), then taking supplements can actually trigger an auto immune reaction and make your condition worse.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8671for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #8

8- What about the thyroid?

Thyroid disease is often overlooked in fibromyalgia. If it is assessed, 99% of the time it is mismanaged. Every cell in your body has a thyroid receptor. When the thyroid slows down because of an auto immune attack, EVERY system in your body slows down. You may have fibromyalgia symptoms because of an auto immune attack on your thyroid.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8671for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #9

9- It is reversible!

All too often in the medical world, a doctor will diagnose a patient with fibromyalgia (if they even believe in it) and say, “Well Mrs. Jones. There is nothing we can do. You are going to have to live with it.” And then they write a prescription for Lyrica and an anti-depressant.

This is not the answer. I have spent the last 5 years in Idaho helping people overcome the icy grips of fibromyalgia. If you treat it correctly and make the correct life style changes, it is reversible.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8671for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

REASON WHY YOU CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FIBROMYALGIA #10

10- The condition is real.

I really don’t care what other health care professionals have told you. Fibromyalgia is real. It is not in your head (well, it is. It is a neurodegenerative disorder, so yeah, its in your brain). It is a very real disease that is destroying millions of lives across the country. It is real. I have seen the devastating effects it has. But, it is reversible.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8671for a free consultation,  Call now, space is limited!

Lab Testing Ranges are EXTREMELY Broad!

Why do you still have symptoms when your lab tests are normal?  Why do you continue to suffer with extreme fatigue and unrelenting pain when the M.D. has told you that all of your lab tests are “normal.”  The answer is because the M.D.s lab tests are extremely broad.  The ranges very WIDELY!

Let me give you one example.  Because your thyroid controls your body’s metabolism, hopefully, your M.D. has only ordered at least one thyroid test, which usually is the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone).  If you are lucky, maybe he has have ordered a couple more.  From your M.D.’s perspective, if your TSH level is within that very wide lab range of .35 to 5.0, you’re normal, there’s nothing wrong with you!  BUT—and this is a HUGE “BUT”—the OPTIMAL LEVEL or “functional level” for TSH is 1.8 to 3.0.  So you could still be “normal” in the medical doctor’s eyes but abnormal in the functional or optimal range.

The same holds true for all of your other lab tests, every single one of them.  There are “lab” ranges, which are very broad and “optimal” or “functional” which are much narrower.

Your lab tests are “normal” so YOU ARE NORMAL!  There is NOTHING wrong with you.  “It’s ALL in your head!”  “You don’t need medication, because you don’t have a problem!”  Even though you still may have the horrible symptoms of extreme fatigue and unrelenting pain, you have a “psychosomatic illness”.

Your  M.D. tells you that all that you need to do is exercise and take some antidepressants….R-I-G-H-T…

The problem is that you need a doctor that is going to examine your lab tests from a “functional” range perspective and NOT a “lab” range perspective.

If you are sick and tired of BEING sick and tired…call our office  at 757 363-8571 for a Free Consultation.  Just ask for our “Internet Special!”

Fibromyalgia can be caused by an Auto Immune Condition.

An autoimmune condition is where your immune system is attacking a part of your body, and in your case, it is most likely attacking multiple systems in your body including your thyroid gland, adrenal gland, nerves, joints and muscles.  This is why you suffer with constant pain and chronic fatigue.

Let’s start with your thyroid because it controls your body’s metabolism.  ALL OF IT and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (aka. autoimmune thyroid) is the #1 cause of low thyroid in the U.S. Your immune system is attacking your thyroid, and it is killing it. You don’t have just a “thyroid” problem, you have an “immune” problem!  Unfortunately, thyroid hormones do nothing for this autoimmune attack.  You will continue to lose more and more of your thyroid by taking the medications.  It is a slow, progressive, downward slide.

So the problem isn’t just your thyroid if you are fatigued, your adrenal glands if you are not sleeping, your joints, nerves and muscles if you are in pain: it is your immune system.  You have an immune system problem, and you need to heal your immune system.  The problem is medicine has no clue on how to heal your immune system.

There are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2, and they should be in balance, kind of like a teeter-totter effect.  One should not be higher than the other.  If your immune system goes out of balance because of stress (physical, chemical or emotional), one system (TH1 or TH2) will become dominant and this will cause your immune system to attack your body.  There are specific blood tests that can be run to determine if you are autoimmune and if one part of your immune system is dominant.

Now the problem with an autoimmune condition is it just doesn’t attack one area of your body, it can attack multiple areas of your body.  It can attack your thyroid, causing extreme fatigue, your pancreas, causing diabetes, or it can attack your gut — your stomach lining, (causing IBS), or it can attack your joints (rheumatoid arthritis).  It can attack your entire body! You need to be tested to see if you are having an autoimmune condition, and if that is what is causing your chronic pain and fatigue.  You need to get to the root cause of what is causing your fibromyalgia!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

GET YOUR THYROID TESTED…NOW!

I have treated thousands of fibromyalgia patients over the years and I have yet to see a fibromyalgia patient in which there thyroid wasn’t involved!  Think about it, your thyroid controls your body metabolism, it HAS TO BE INVOLVED!  The primary reason that I see patients suffering from fibromyalgia is a condition in which their thyroid is being attacked by their immune system.  This condition is known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Most likely, your M.D. has only ordered only one thyroid test, which is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone).  If you are lucky, maybe he has have ordered a couple more.  From your M.D.’s perspective, if your TSH level is within that very wide lab range of .35 to 5.0, you’re normal, there’s nothing wrong with you!  BUT—and this is a HUGE “BUT”—the OPTIMAL LEVEL or “functional level” for TSH is 1.8 to 3.0.  So you could still be “normal” in the medical doctor’s eyes but abnormal in the functional or optimal range.

It’s only when that range is above 5.0 that the medical doctor will put you on a thyroid hormone such as Synthroid or the generic, levothyroxine.

BUT, as I mentioned, in a medical doctor’s eyes, if your thyroid TSH is within .35 to 5.0, YOU ARE NORMAL!  There is NOTHING wrong with you.  “It’s ALL in your head!”  “You don’t need medication, because you don’t have a thyroid problem!”  Even though you still may have all the thyroid symptoms: extreme fatigue, hair falling out, etc., you’re NORMAL!  Well…you and I both know that you are not “normal”. If you were, you would not be suffering from symptoms!  You could be within the “normal” TSH range of .35 to 5.0 but still be outside the optimal range of 1.8 to 3.0.  Your TSH level could be at 4.2, and that’s why you’re having the problem; it’s outside the “optimal” or “functional” range.  The same is true for any other of the thyroid blood tests such as Total Thyroxine (TT4), Free Thyroxine Index (FTI), Free Thyroxine (FT4), Free Triodothyroxine (FT3) and the three or four other tests that need to be run on your thyroid to get to the EXACT cause of your problem.

In FibromyalgiaTreatment Success Secret #2, we talked about the fact that the number-one cause of hypothyroidism is an autoimmune thyroid, and there has to be a reason why your body is attacking your thyroid. That’s what we’re going to address in this Treatment Success Secret.  There are certain tests that need to be run on the thyroid–not just a TSH or a free T3 or a free T4– there are specific antibodies called TPO and TGB antibodies.  If these antibody tests are positive, you have an autoimmune thyroid. My guess is that your doctor has not run these two tests.

Now there are many other tests that need to be run for the thyroid, but these are the two big ones to determine if you have an autoimmune thyroid.  And if you’re autoimmune, you have to find out why you are autoimmune.  Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH1 and TH2.  They need to work in balance.  If one is dominant or working harder than the other, it’s usually because there’s something called an active antigen.  And what is an active antigen?  It can be a parasite.  It can be a virus, bacteria, mold or fungi.  It can be a food protein, such as gluten (the protein in wheat, barley and rye) or casein (milk protein).

Your immune system could become imbalanced because of disregulation due to hormonal surges and/or extreme stress.  Blood sugar problems and/or chronic inflammation and/or high cortisol levels can all cause your immune system to run amuck.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

How to know if you are autoimmune!

How do you know if you’re autoimmune?  How do you know if your immune system is attacking your body?  Well…we just talked about the fact that we can run tests on your thyroid, specifically TPO and TGB antibodies, to see if your immune system is attacking it along with running the immune panels. The reality is…most people already know that they’re autoimmune just from the fact that they may already suffer from a current autoimmune disorder, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Sjogren’s syndrome, scleroderma, and/or lupus.

Another way that people will know if they’re autoimmune is that their symptoms may wax and wane. Symptoms that wax and wane are a sure sign that you are most likely suffering from an autoimmune condition.

The third way to know if a patient’s autoimmune is that they will come in with a basket of supplements–I mean a truck-load. I’ve had people bring in so many bottles of supplements it wasn’t funny.  In many cases, the supplements that they are taking were actually making them worse!

Number four…their life fell apart after they got sick. That’s how they know they’re autoimmune.  They’ve been to 12 or 15 or 20 different doctors and they have a stack of medical records sky-high, all because it’s an undiagnosed autoimmune condition.

They may develop an autoimmune condition following a pregnancy. Usually, women are TH2 dominant in the third trimester and TH1 dominant postpartum.

And finally, there’s positive testing via specific immune panels.  You see, your immune system is designed to protect you.  When your immune system runs amuck, it starts attacking different parts of your body. It’s important to know that once you realize you have an autoimmune condition, you need to get checked, and you need to manage that autoimmune condition.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Know the Autoimmune Triggers!

One of the most common questions I get is…”How did I develop this autoimmune condition?” Well…it’s pretty much genetics and the environment.  It’s a matter of what came first, the chicken or the egg?  We all know that genetically, you may be at risk for developing certain problems and/or conditions.

Then there are environmental factors, one of them being chemicals such as cigarette smoke.  There are over 519 chemicals in cigarettes.  Here are just a few of them…

TSNAs:  Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs) are known to be some of the most potent carcinogens present in smokeless tobacco, snuff and tobacco smoke.

Benzene: Benzene can be found in pesticides and gasoline. It is present in high levels in cigarette smoke and accounts for half of all human exposure to this hazardous chemical.

Pesticides: Pesticides are used on our lawns and gardens, and inhaled into our lungs via cigarette smoke.

Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a chemical used to preserve dead bodies and is responsible for some of the nose, throat and eye irritation smokers experience when breathing in cigarette smoke.

So chemicals in general can trigger an autoimmune response, like the latest chemical that’s hit the news…BPA.  This is a very nasty chemical called bisphenol A.  It’s used in a lot of plastics, and BPA is extremely bad for thyroid health; it can trigger Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroid.

Rocket fuel is another!  You heard that correctly, I said rocket fuel!  You may ask…”How am I exposed to rocket fuel?” Studies have shown that 30 to 40 percent of women in America have remnants of rocket fuel in their body.  It gets into the ground water.  It stays there for a very long time.

One of the biggest triggers for an autoimmune thyroid is iodine.  When it comes to Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid, iodine is probably THE BIGGEST trigger!

Chemicals such as pesticides can trigger and autoimmune response as can toxins in household products like DEET in insect sprays or heavy metals in vaccines.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

PROLACTIN

Prolactin is a hormone that’s made by your pituitary gland.  High levels of prolactin suppress TSH or Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone.  Prolactin is balanced by progesterone and dopamine, so when people have a dopamine deficiency, or progesterone deficiency, their prolactin will increase, and that will decrease the function of the pituitary’s production of thyroid-stimulating hormone.

The imbalance will show up on your labs, perhaps, if you’re lucky, as the TSH is low, but not quite out of the reference range.  This is why it’s important to know that there are “optimal” or “functional” levels.  .

Prolactin also suppresses luteinizing hormone (LH) in women.  Excess prolactin can cause infertility.  In men, excess prolactin depresses testosterone so they have low libido.  High prolactin can cause tumors that are called prolactinomas.

The bottom line is that excess levels of prolactin, whether caused either by a tumor or some other problem, can suppress your thyroid function and suppressed thyroid function can cause chronic fatigue and pain!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

PCOS—Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

There have been studies that show that PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, can trigger Hashimoto’s Disease (autoimmune thyroid).  PCOS is a common female hormone disorder.  It affects 5-10 percent of menstruating women, and it is one of the most common causes of infertility.  PCOS symptoms include the inability to lose weight, hair loss, fatigue after meals, hormone imbalances, and sugar cravings.  Do these symptoms sound familiar?  They sound like a fibromyalgia patient, don’t they?

Using blood chemistry tests, PCOS can be identified by insulin resistance.  Again, insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) is a blood glucose level from 100-126.  This is a fasting blood glucose level.  PCOS is also indicated by elevated triglycerides and cholesterol, especially IF THE TRIGLYCERIDES ARE HIGHER THAN THE CHOLESTROL LEVELS.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body cells become resistant to insulin due to a high-carbohydrate diet, which leads to excess testosterone production, and this leads to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  As testosterone levels rise, the cells become further resistant to insulin, and it’s a slow downward spiral.  Cell resistance to insulin in turn promotes testosterone elevation, which continues that downward spiral.

Insulin resistance also promotes inflammation and immune system problems, which predispose the person to an autoimmune disease. You factor in all of this with Hashimoto’s, and, now, can you see why it’s important to address Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) when addressing fibromyalgia?

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Anemias

I’ve mentioned that fibromyalgia can be caused by an autoimmune condition in which the body is attacked by the immune system.  What if the patient isn’t autoimmune?  Since there are a small percentage of patients that are not autoimmune, what else could be causing the problem?

Anemia is the answer!  Anemia in and of itself is a deal-breaker for nutritional support of any kind, including fibromyalgia support, since anemia literally starves your body of oxygen.

Oxygen is very important in healing your body.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:  fuel and activation.  Fuel comes in the form of oxygen and glucose.  We’ll talk about glucose in a future “secret, “ but when you are deprive your body of oxygen, you deprive your red blood cells (RBCs) of oxygen.  The basic function of the RBCs is to maintains,  regenerate,  and heal the body. With no RBCs, the body simply cannot operate adequately!

It is vital that the clinician address the anemic patient.  Anemia can be due to a variety of reasons and factors, including B12 anemia or pernicious anemia, an autoimmune disease.  Some forms of anemia don’t seem to respond to iron supplements because the red blood cells break down.

So when this happens, supplementing won’t increase iron levels and can, in fact, make the problem much worse.  Too much iron in the body is much more toxic than mercury, lead or other heavy metals.  As I’ve said and will continue to say, if the patient does not have an autoimmune condition you want to look at the four priorities and the four priorities are: number one, anemia; number two, blood sugar or glucose; number three, gut function/liver; and number four, fatty acid metabolism.  ALL of these systems need to be checked.

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Blood Sugar/Blood Glucose

From a medical standpoint, normal blood glucose levels have a broad range of 70 to 105, while functional or optimal blood glucose level ranges are 85 to 99.  According to the American Diabetic Association, a blood sugar level reading of 106 to 126 is termed “insulin resistance” or “pre-diabetes,” and anything above a reading of 127 is diabetes.

Granted, those are fasting blood glucose levels and it is important to note that because many times I will see patients who have been tested and I’ll ask them if they’ve fasted before their test and they will tell me, “No.” You need at least a 12-hour fast, which means absolutely no food, no drinking orange juice or coffee or anything!  All that you should have is water for 12 hours before your test, so you can get an accurate reading of your blood glucose levels.

Supporting fibromyalgia nutritionally is futile if your blood sugar level is too high or too low.

A reading below 85 would be termed hypoglycemia and a reading above 99 would be termed hyperglycemia. This is called dysglycemia and this is a stepping-stone to diabetes.  Diabetes is becoming so prevalent in the United States that authorities are predicting that it may bankrupt the healthcare system.

Hypoglycemia is a condition in which the blood sugar level repeatedly drops too low in response to high carbohydrate foods.  Refined sugar is a good example of a high carbohydrate food. Hypoglycemia can also be a result of going too long without eating: and too many Americans are skipping breakfast.

It’s important if your blood sugar is below 85, it’s important that you eat every two to three hours. You should have a breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner and a light snack before bedtime.  The snack can be vegetables, fruit, nuts, and/or seeds but it SHOULD be something healthy.

Insulin resistance is high blood sugar that hasn’t yet reached the point of diabetes.  It’s called “pre-diabetes” and is a result of the cells becoming resistant to insulin, so that no glucose can enter the cell to make energy.

You need glucose in your cells to make energy.  It’s a vital, important part of life.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:  fuel and activation.  Fuel is oxygen and glucose.  You see glucose travels in the blood stream until it’s turned into triglycerides for fat storage.

This is why it’s important to monitor triglycerides as well as glucose.  The process of turning glucose into triglycerides demands an increased amount of energy causing you to feel tired after eating. So when you are eating a high- carbohydrate diet filled with white bread, pasta, and refined sugar, you cannot keep you blood sugar level stable.

If you feel sleepy or you crave sugar after eating, you know you just ate way too many carbohydrates.  If you feel sleepy after a low- or no-carbohydrate meal, you are most likely insulin resistant.

It is literally impossible to support hypoglycemia or insulin resistance unless you eat a healthy breakfast with ample high-quality protein.  You need to eat protein in the morning, not carbohydrates. You need to eat eggs, you need to eat lean meat such as turkey or chicken sausage.  You need to eat protein in order to support your blood sugar levels.

Even if you feel nauseous first thing in the morning upon waking, eating breakfast is critical and eating a breakfast of high protein will most likely relieve your nausea.  Finally, if you have hypoglycemia you should NEVER fast. It will make matters much worse!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Brain Function

As I have mentioned in previous secrets, brain function is extremely important in treating fibromyalgia!

Our brain needs two things to survive:  fuel and activation.

Fuel is glucose and oxygen, which is why we use Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) in our office.  We have addressed the glucose end of the equation: now let’s address the importance of oxygen.

As you age, your ability to utilize oxygen decreases by one percent per year each year after the age of 25.  If you are 50 years old, you’ve lost 25 percent of your ability to utilize oxygen in your body.  This is called oxidative phosphorylation, which is a big fancy three-dollar term meaning you’re not using oxygen as well as you did when you were younger.  Again, this is why we utilize Exercise With Oxygen Therapy or EWOT in our office.

Secondly, the neurotransmitter serotonin plays a major role in brain function.  There’s a place in your brain called the hypothalamus and there’s something called the periventricular nucleus.  I know these are big fancy three-dollar words, but it’s critical that you know this if you’re suffering with thyroid symptoms.  Serotonin acts on the hypothalamic periventricular nucleus in the central nervous system.  If your central nervous system is not functioning at optimal levels, you will suffer with pain and fatigue.

Please be aware of what’s happening to your body because once you start asking medical doctors WHY you’re taking all of the medications that they have prescribed for you, they’re going to look at you like you’re crazy!  They will tell  you that you have a psychosomatic illness, which means to them…”it’s all in your head” and the only thing you need is an antidepressant.

The biggest influence on serotonin is blood sugar. That’s why we addressed glucose in Fibromyalgia Treatment Success #9.  If you’re hypoglycemic, insulin-resistant, or diabetic, it is vitally important that you maintain your blood sugar levels within an optimal range.

This is why it’s important to eat healthy.  Don’t skip meals.  Quit eating junk food!  Every time you eat junk food you are literally eating away at your body and you’re making your fibromyalgia worse.

By consuming a poor, junk-food-filled diet, you will increase your symptoms: feeling tired or sluggish; inability to lose weight; cold hands and feet or insomnia.  You will gain weight easily.  You’ll have difficult, infrequent bowel movements, you’re depressed, you have lack of motivation and morning headaches that wear off later on in the day.  You suffer from brain fog, your skin or scalp are dry, you have mental sluggishness, you’re nervous; you’re emotional and you have night sweats.

You have all of these symptoms and yet your labs are “normal” in the eyes of your medical doctor.  Remember, those labs need to be within the optimal or functional range.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

The evils of GLUTEN!

Gluten is one of the biggest culprits in causing an autoimmune condition that I see in my office.  Remember in Fibromyalgia Treatment Success #2 that I said fibromyalgia can be caused by an autoimmune condition?  That’s why it is EXTREMELY important to be tested properly for gluten sensitivity.  In our office, we run a food sensitivity test from a lab called Enterolab.  It is a lab test for sensitivity to gluten, milk, soy, egg and yeast.

Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley, rye and oats.  The reason that so many people across the country are gluten-sensitive is that we’ve been eating genetically-engineered wheat since the late 1940’s.  Our bodies were not made to eat genetically-engineered wheat.  Our bodies were not made to eat chemicals and that’s exactly what we are consuming!

In order for you to be healthy, one of the best things that you can do is to avoid gluten.  If you are sensitive to gluten, it will cause your immune system to attack your body, whether it’s your thyroid, your joints, your pancreas, whatever.  Remember we talked about an active antigen a while back, and an active antigen can be something that causes your immune system to run amuck or attack.

Your T-cells are attacking your body and the cause for your T-cell attack can be a parasite, fungi, yeast, mold, virus, bacteria, and it can also be gluten.  It could also be dairy, yeast, soy and/or egg. This is not a guessing game, you need to be tested and the tests should include a DNA swab, where you’re taking a swab of your left cheek and a swab of your right cheek.

Usually, gluten testing with a medical office for gluten sensitivity is not done with a DNA component–you really don’t know if you’re gluten-sensitive or not.  There has yet to be an autoimmune patient walk in my office that is not gluten-sensitive, and they could very well be sensitive to dairy, egg, soy and yeast too!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Vitamin D

You always seem hear in the news that there’s some new vitamin to consider or new deficiency to consider, but when it comes to fibromyalgia or any autoimmune condition – it’s very important that patients are taking Vitamin D to help their immune system.

Modern diets are lacking in Vitamin D rich foods.  What are Vitamin D rich foods?  Liver (To be honest with you, I can’t stand liver), organ meats, lard, many forms of seafood, butter and egg yolks (remember what I said about eating eggs for breakfast and how important it is in your blood glucose level?).

Sunlight is another important factor and source of Vitamin D.  BUT, you should NEVER take Vitamin D without having your Vitamin D levels tested, specifically, 25 OHD and 125 OHD.  Most M.D.s will only test 25 OHD but it is very important to have both levels tested.  This way, you are eliminating the guess work.  You could be low in Vitamin D or on the low side of normal; either finding would constitute a different recommended dosage.

Why is Vitamin D so important?  Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many, many autoimmune conditions.  Frankly, autoimmune rates have been skyrocketing in the past 20 years, which correlates with decreased levels of Vitamin D in the general population.

Adequate Vitamin D levels help to keep the immune system in balance so it doesn’t swing out of control into an autoimmune disease.  When it comes to fibromyalgia, the problems with Vitamin D deficiency are made worse by genetics.

Many people, especially people suffering from fibromyalgia, need higher amounts of Vitamin D to maintain health, even if their blood tests show sufficient Vitamin D.

Do not take Vitamin D without having your blood levels tests.  You need both 25-HD and 125-OHD tested. 25 is the storage form and 125 D is the active form.  You need both levels checked!  In many cases, patients will come in to my office with only one level checked and their Vitamin D levels will be on the low side of normal.  Their MD has told them, “You’re fine, there’s nothing wrong with you,” when actually if you’re on the low side of normal you need to be supplementing with Vitamin D.  I recommend that all my patients with fibromyalgia or any autoimmune condition take extra Vitamin D.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Healthy hormone production depends on Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s).  You’ve probably heard about these nutrients; fish oil, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil.

In our diets, EFA’s can be found in cold water fish and in many raw, unprocessed nuts and seeds.  EFA’s not only contribute nutrients for hormones but also for proper cellular communication, brain function and much more.

The ideal ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats in EFA’s is estimated to be from 3 to 1 up to 5 to 1.  In the average American diet or S.A.D. (Standard American Diet), the ratio is more like 25 to 1, thanks to junk food diets that are loaded with vegetable oil.  You need to take a well-rounded, fish-oil-based, high potency EFA supplement if you intend to be healthy.

If you’re insulin-resistant, it causes a condition in which the body cannot properly metabolize the EFA’s in flax, evening primrose or black currant seed oils.  This is why fish oil is the predominant recommendation.  Essential fatty acid deficiencies are so common in the United States it’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the U.S. population failed to get enough essential fatty acids each day thanks to our Standard American Diet (SAD).

It’s because our diet is so filled with junk: high fat, high salt, high sugar or high refined sugar.  I had a patient come in one time, and she was drinking 12 cans of diet Mountain Dew a day and I told her if she wanted to become my patient she would need to stop drinking the diet Mountain Dew immediately.  She did and went through withdrawal symptoms for a week.

If you’re serious about getting healthy, if you’re serious about correcting your fibromyalgia, you need to change your diet You need to eat healthy; you need to eliminate junk food; you need to be taking essential fatty acids, especially fish oil based essential fatty acids, and especially high-quality fish-oil-based essential fatty acids.

How do you know if you have high quality essential fatty acids?  Well, consider more than price: if you cut one of your fish oil capsules and you put it in the freezer and it freezes – that’s not good.  Oil should not freeze.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

The Adrenal Glands!

Your adrenal glands make a hormone called “cortisol”.  They sit atop your kidneys and they are your stress glands.  They make a lot of hormones for your body in addition to cortisol, such as aldosterone and androgens.  Your adrenal glands are vital for optimal health.  When your adrenal glands are not working, it causes high levels of cortisol in your system, and this is why you still have symptoms especially insomnia, even when your other lab tests may be normal.  Cortisol is one of the main factors that regulate your blood sugar level, not insulin.  Everybody thinks it’s insulin, but it’s actually cortisol.  When cortisol is released by your adrenal glands, it’s accompanied by cytokines.

Cytokines suppress the ability of your pituitary gland, and your hypothalamus, to make TSH, or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone.  So your adrenal glands make cortisol in response to a stress, whether it’s physical, chemical, or emotional stress.  And cortisol also promotes inflammation, which makes your adrenal glands pump out more cortisol.  As cortisol is released, the cytokines come out along with it and suppress your pituitary.  There are common causes of elevated cortisol, some of them being chronic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, or hidden gut infections, such as parasites.  You’d be surprised how many people have parasitic infections.  Other causes of elevated levels of cortisol included blood sugar dysregulation, high or low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

You need to make sure that your blood sugar level is stable.  And you need to understand that, when you have these problems, when your blood sugar level is going up or down so are your cortisol levels, which means your cytokines are going up and down, which means your pituitary isn’t working properly and you’re not making enough TSH, or thyroid hormones.  So you start having thyroid symptoms such as fatigue, pain, cold hands and feet, insomnia, inability to lose weight, and depression.

Don’t forget, there are several types of blood sugar problems–not just diabetes, but also hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, and insulin resistance.  Hypoglycemia is  a blood sugar level of 85 or lower.  Insulin resistance is a fasting blood sugar of 100-126.  Diabetes is a fasting blood sugar level of 127 or higher.

So be aware, if your stress levels are high, your adrenal glands are going to pump hard, and cortisol levels are going to increase.  Cytokine levels are going to increase, and it will cause your pituitary not to function properly, which will cause decreased amounts of thyroid-stimulating hormone.  High cortisol will sabotage your attempt to combat your thyroid problem.

If you are suffering with adrenal fatigue, you need to avoid refined sugar, alcohol, and caffeine because these are high stressors to your immune system.  And don’t think you can get away with eating aspartame or MSG because these are the worst things you could do for your adrenal glands!

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Cytokines!

Cytokines are the messengers that your immune system uses as part of the inflammatory process and inflammation = PAIN!!! When a patient has an inflammatory condition like arthritis, IBS, asthma or an autoimmune condition like Lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, there are usually high levels of cytokines.

Remember, I said there are two parts to your immune system, TH-1 and TH-2.  If you have high interleukin-2, or TNF-alpha, then you are probably TH-1 dominant.  If you have high interleukin-4, or interleukin-10, you’re probably TH-2 dominant.  If you’re dominant with those cytokines, you are probably creating more problems for your thyroid condition.  The key is to get tested for that cytokine function to make sure everything is within the optimal or functional range.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!

Intestinal Fortitude…LITERALLY!

Gut function is extremely important, and can be affected by something called “Leaky Gut Syndrome” (LGS).  You may or may not have heard of it.  Leaky Gut Syndrome is where the lining of your intestines have become more permeable, so it allows things like food particles and large molecules to permeate your system and create havoc with your immune system.  It’s also important in gut function to be tested for parasites.  Many people suffer from parasites and don’t know it.

A lot of people who suffer with fibromyalgia also suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).  They have problems with constipation or diarrhea, or both.  Repairing your gut begins at the plate.  Chronic inflammation is caused by poor diet.  When you have increased intestinal permeability, another name for LGS, you will also have chronic inflammation, because a healthy GI tract is a tightly woven mesh of tissue that does not allow the absorption of bacteria, harmful foods, or undigested particles in the bloodstream.  When you’re suffering from Leaky Gut Syndrome, this is exactly what’s happening.

Once in the bloodstream, these particles are recognized as foreign invaders or antigens, which the immune system attacks.  And, unfortunately for many people, especially those with insulin resistance, this response happens almost every time they eat, resulting in chronic inflammation or irritable bowel syndrome.  This sets the stage for development of an autoimmune disease.

So the first step in repairing the gut is to remove the foods that are creating a chronic immune response: gluten, soy, milk, egg, yeast.  And then it’s important to heal your body.  And you can heal your body with a 4R colon program, which means removing or eliminating problems – gluten, milk, soy, yeast, or parasites – inoculating, and using a probiotic.  On a 4R colon program you replace specific enzymes to repair your gut and utilize specific neurological compounds.  This is why it’s important to have healthy gut function in regards to treating your fibromyalgia.

Don’t suffer another minute!  Call our office at 757 363-8571 and schedule a Free consultation with Dr. Scott.  Call now, space is limited!