
Want to Make ‘Diseases Disappear’? Then, Watch This TED Talk with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
Check out this great TED Talk about functional medicine by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee.
Check out this great TED Talk about functional medicine by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee.
Polycystic ovary syndrome affects millions of women and is a leading cause of infertility, hair loss, acne, and stubborn chin hair. Here’s what you need to know.
Here are 12 daily small changes you can make to detoxify your life.
If you’re one of the 50 million Americans who suffer from an autoimmune disease, I want to tell you, as a functional medicine physician who specializes in treating autoimmune patients and as someone who has battled an autoimmune disease myself, that the most important thing to know about autoimmune diseases is that they can be reversed.
Ten years ago, Jared was an overworked anesthesiologist who lived on fast food and little sleep. After seeing multiple conventional physicians for the acute asthma he’d suffered with for five years, the 32-year-old was desperate for relief. So he visited Thomas Sult, MD, a functional-medicine practitioner in New London, Minn. As a doctor himself, Jared was inclined to be suspicious of anything that didn’t follow familiar protocols, so this was a reluctant — and last-ditch — effort to get better.
For more than a decade, Experience Life has covered the cutting edge of health and nutrition. We’ve tracked emerging trends and reported on promising research. Our central focus has been on lifestyle medicine, and recent advances in this field have been nothing short of astonishing. We’ve never had such a clear understanding of how powerfully factors like food, activity, sleep, stress, and environment affect our health. Here are what we see as some of the most important concepts we’ve covered over the past few years — and why we think they’ll continue to matter.
Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease can be overwhelming. While you may have many questions about treatment and how to manage you condition, a few myths can complicate the full picture. Let’s dispel a few myths about managing your autoimmune disorder.
Q: When were you diagnosed with MS and what were your symptoms? A: I was diagnosed in 2000, but in retrospect I was having symptoms as early as 1982, with episodes of severe face pain and problems with my vision. In 2000, I began stumbling and had a foot drop, which is what lead to the diagnosis. It only got worse from there, for a long while. Q: What sort of care did you received between your diagnosis and 2007 when you took matters into your own hands? What was your state of health then in 2007? A: I had taken Copaxone, one of the so-called “ABC drugs” most frequently prescribed for MS. When my MS transitioned to secondary progressive MS (this is a common occurrence, meaning I would no longer have periods of recovery, but instead, a steady decline), I took several cycles of mitoxantrone, which is also used to treat some cancers. Next, I took Tysabri when it became available, but stopped it after two cycles because Tysabri was pulled from the market. Then I took Cellcept, which is typically used to suppress the rejection of transplanted organs. I’ve certainly had my share of MS medication!
Dr. L: What does the title of your book—The Disease Delusion—mean? Are you trying to say diseases do not exist? Dr. Bland: Not exactly. What we call a “disease” is a result of imbalance in one or more of seven core physiological processes. Let’s go back and look at our healthcare system, which is really tremendously successful in treating disease as we know it. In fact, the advances made in pharmaceuticals, and in surgery, and in immunity are major breakthroughs that have allowed for the treatment of many infectious diseases.
I recently gave a TEDx talk here in New York, on Breaking the Shackles of Apartheid in Medicine, where I describe my journey as a medical doctor, from the "bush" in South Africa to the streets of New York.
You’re not sleeping well. Your belly seems perpetually upset. Your nose is stuffed up and you’re feeling down. You head to your GP for (if you’re lucky) a 10-minute chat about what’s ailing you. The GP then hands you a few prescriptions, shakes your hand and shows you the door. Case closed. Is this any way to heal the unwell? Does this approach actually make anyone better? In a word, no – and more likely, this here’s-a-prescription-‘later-dude’ approach may even make patients sicker, which is one of the reasons I’ve dedicated my life to helping my patients to create and sustain long-term health using the principles of Functional Medicine. So, just what is “Functional Medicine?” I believe it’s the most profound and effective way to treat patients – particularly those with chronic health issues – and here’s why:
The Father of Functional Medicine and my Mentor, Dr Jeff Bland, On Lifestyle Medicine