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I am just back from the Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM) conference entitled Applying Functional Medicine to Detoxification.
In this podcast, I share with you my excitement about the many things that I learned that complement what I already do in my practice of medicine.
The speakers included Dr. Kristi Hughes, ND, (pictured above with me) who is the Associate Medical Director of the Institute for Functional Medicine. She organized a wonderful conference with three other speakers.
The speakers were Dr. Jeanne Drisko MD, Kenneth Bock, MD, and Rick Mayfield, ND. The four doctors taught us about how environmental toxicity is overwhelming our body's ability to cope with the toxins and contributing to the development of the wealth of diseases that we see in today's society.
Dr. Bock is a famous physician who is treating autistic patients with great success. He pointed out to us that one in 91 children are being diagnosed with autism. One in 11 children are being diagnosed with ADHD, and one out of every four children suffers from respiratory or other allergies.
We learned about the five different mechanisms of toxic insult and how these insults can manifest in disease in adults as well. In adults the manifestations are everything from cancer, diabetes, heart disease to all the autoimmune diseases including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis.
Even the epidemic of obesity in our society is now linked with the toxins which we are now realizing act as what are called "Environmental Obesigens.” These are chemicals that make it difficult to lose weight because they change our biochemistry. This then contributes to the relapsing that people trying to lose weight have.
We discussed "detox" programs that involve a functional food along with a low allergy diet and the many benefits that this can bring.
If you have friends or family who have children with any of the 4-A disorders, autism, ADHD, asthma, or allergies I urge you to read Dr. Bock’s books which you can get here
And here.
Those of you who want to find a practitioner who has had similar training can contact the Institute for Functional Medicine website which is here. They have a list of practitioners and you can find one near you.
I really encourage you if you have a chronic health problem that conventional medicine has not been able to figure out to look for a functional medicine doctor.
Please leave your comments and questions below or e-mail me at questions@askdrsoram.com. I look forward to being in dialogue with you.
About Dr. Soram Khalsa
As an MD, Dr Soram specializes in Integrative Medicine combining diet, nutrition, acupuncture, herbs and nutrition. Visit Dr Soram’s Healthy Living Store where you’ll find high-quality nutritional supplements:
