IFM: We Must Expand Access to Functional Medicine in Vulnerable Communities

In medicine, racial and economic differences determine both the quality and the type of health care an individual receives, and this is unacceptable. The disparities in health outcomes between whites and people of color are exceedingly stark. This is true across the field—from conventional medicine to Functional Medicine and beyond. At The Institute for Functional […]

In Memoriam: Robert Anderson, MD (April 3, 1932 – April 6, 2020)

The field of holistic medicine lost one of its brightest and most enduring lights with the passing of Robert Anderson, MD, on April 6, 2020, just three days after his 88^th birthday, after a prolonged period of declining health.

If Social Distancing is Key, Why Aren’t Our Leaders Role-Modeling It?

Watch a clip or look at a photo of Donald Trump at any of his recent COVID-19 press conferences.

There he is, flanked tightly by a phalanx of dutifully stone-faced cabinet members, advisors, and health experts—all within a sneeze of each other. All apparently unconcerned about catching or transmitting the very pathogen that is tanking the global economy and throwing turmoil into millions of peoples’ lives.

HPC at 20: Affirming Our Inspirations

This year marks Holistic Primary Care’s 20th birthday. As we take stock of our journey so far, I want to thank all of you who’ve been loyal readers of and contributors to this publication over the years. If you’re new to HPC, welcome to our community.

“The Answer to Disease is Vegetables”: Plant-Based Pioneers Have Their Moment

“We know the answer, and it is not that complicated. To be healthy, eat high volumes of vegetables. The answer to disease is vegetables. But people don’t want to hear, ‘Eat vegetables.’ They want pills to overcome the diseases caused by our dysregulated appetites,” said Joel Fuhrman, MD, at the first annual Plant-Based World Expo in New York City earlier this summer.

Zinc Carnosine Prevents Oral Mucositis

Oral administration of polaprezinc (zinc L-carnosine) can prevent oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radiation or high-dose chemotherapy, according to a series of studies from researchers in Japan. The compound may also be useful in preventing or minimizing more common oral lesions like canker sores.

The Fast-Mimicking Diet & the Science of “Juventology”

New research into fasting, and specifically an approach called the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), is shedding light on how to use foods and diet patterns to promote longevity and prevent or reverse degenerative diseases. It’s an approach that is catching on with functional medicine practitioners—and their patients.

Taking Thyme for Health: Herb Raises Insulin Sensitivity, Curbs Cancer Mucositis

A pair of recent studies exploring the health benefits of thyme indicate potential roles for the medicinal herb in treating cancer-related conditions, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and insulin resistance.

Confronting the Hidden Epidemic of Fatty Liver Disease

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) often goes undiagnosed because it may not be accompanied overt symptoms or by liver enzyme elevations. Clinicians who are not specifically looking for it, are not likely to detect it. But over the long term it can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, there are many botanical and nutraceutical interventions that can help.

Migrants at the Border: US Citizens Head South for Cheap Medical Care

There are a lot of anxious, needy people eager to cross the line that separates the US from Mexico. Go to the border towns of Southern California and Arizona, and you’ll see them— US citizens heading south to Mexican clinics and farmacias, seeking lower cost surgeries and cheap meds.

Medical and pharmacy “tourism” to Mexico is a large and growing phenomenon, one that has received little attention amid the bitter political rancor over immigration policy and border control.