The framework of Functional Medicine is the method we have for figuring out what the causes of disease are, and for now we’ll stick with the autoimmune example.

Case in point, one patient was experiencing Hashimoto’s, fatigue, arthritis, migraines and irritable bowel syndrome.  According to their tests, they had very high anti-gliadin antibodies in the blood which is a sign of gluten sensitivity.  They did not have true celiac but close.

The mercury levels were also very high and they had an immune response to mercury.

So what to do? 

Well, the causes must be looked at and they’re pointing to leaky gut, so that must be fixed by eliminating gluten and then getting rid of the mercury.  The patient did this and, over time, has completely normalized!

They have no auto-antibodies, their gluten auto-antibodies went down to completely normal and there was a huge decrease in the mercury levels.  Their symptoms are radically better, no more migraines and irritable bowel and their energy levels are through the roof!

Most conventional doctors do not even think that this is possible; they don’t even bother checking the auto-antibodies because they figure they’re never going to go down.

However, if you get to the actual cause of the problem, they do go away if you do the right things.

So it’s actually a simple process.  I ask a lot of questions like “What could be bugging you that’s triggering the inflammation?”  and then eliminate that.  And “What is it that you need for your immune system to work properly, for your body to work properly?”  I give my patient’s those things that are specific to them.

Essentially, it’s getting rid of the bad stuff and putting in the good.  The bad stuff will be different for everybody.  It’s very individualized. That’s why it’s important to understand what those causes are because you can have 10 people with the same exact same autoimmune disease and each one of them might have a different set of causes which means you cannot treat them all the same.

For instance, one might have an autoimmune disease from eating gluten, another from mercury, another might have a parasite in their gut and so forth.  Each of these causes requires different treatments even though it’s for the same autoimmune disease.  And that is the beauty of Functional Medicine – it allows me to figure that out.

There are other things I think about like “What are the toxins?”  There are so many around us like chemicals, pesticides, plastics, allergens, microbes, bugs like parasites and ticks not to mention other weird viruses.  These can all wreak havoc on our immune systems.

I cannot forget to add stress to the list, both physical and psychological, which will trigger inflammation and autoimmunity.  Poor diet is a culprit as well as it affects the gut flora.

Now the good news – once the cause is found, we can take steps to do something about it!

By being smart about understanding what actually creates a healthy immune system, like food, nutrients, healthy bacteria, light, water, air, movement, rhythm and connection, and giving these things to the body, they really will help the body work better.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this 3 part series on Functional Medicine VS Autoimmune Disease.

Make a promise to yourself starting today:

Stop feeling lousy…rotten…awful…crummy…miserable…terrible…crappy.

Find a good Functional Medicine doctor to help you get to the root cause of your health problems.

Like I always say:

Find the cause.

Fix the cause.

Feel normal again!

Dr. Carri Drzyzga, DC, ND – The Functional Medicine Doc

Find the Cause. Fix the Cause. Feel Normal Again!