Functional Medicine

Sublingual Immunotherapy: Allergy Relief Under Your Tongue

By Scott Rollins, MD / Contributing Writer - Vol. 11, No. 4. , 2010

 

Sublingual immunotherapy is a safe, highly effective alternative to injection-based treatments for managing allergies. Moreover, it enables primary care physicians to treat patients that they are currently referring out to specialists.

 

Who’s in Bed with the IOM? Vitamin D Report Prompts Conflict of Interest Suspicion

By Erik Goldman

The Institute of Medicine’s Nov. 30 consensus statement claiming most Americans do not need supplemental vitamin D—a position that runs counter to the views of many clinicians and researchers⎯has some folks wondering if committee members had preexisting biases or vested interests against supplementation.

It turns out that at least two members of the committee hold patents on synthetic vitamin D analogs in development or already on the market as prescription drugs, and significant relationships with companies involved in vitamin D drug development.

 

Telomeres, Aging, & Disease Prevention: Do Telomere-Targeted Treatments Have a Role in Clinical Practice?

By Stephen Holt, MD, PhD | Contributing Writer - Vol. 11, No. 3. , 2010

Telomeres—segments of chromosomes that prevent aberration or loss of genetic information during cell division—are among the hottest research topics these days, and they’ve become the focus of “anti-aging” and chronic disease prevention strategies. Like many areas of genetic research, the work on telomeres raises as many questions as it answers. Anti-aging specialist Dr. Stephen Holt explores the many nuances of telomere and telomerase research, offering his own clinically tested recommendations.

Restoring Digestive Health is Key to Optimizing Weight Loss

By August West | Contributing Writer - Vol. 10, No. 4. , 2009

The problem with most medical weight loss programs is that they focus too much on weight loss and not nearly enough on overall health. Somae Health is a new 12-week, medically guided weight management program that begins with restoration of healthy gastrointestinal function.

H1N1 is No Match for a Well-Primed Immune System

By Roby Mitchell, MD | Contributing Writer - Vol. 10, No. 4. , 2009

Maintaining the functional integrity of the innate immune complex through a vegetable-rich diet, and immune enhancing vitamins & minerals obviates the need to fret over which strain of flu virus will predominate. A competent immune system will defend against them all.

A Role for Probiotics in Preventing, Treating Bacterial Vaginosis

By Brad J. Douglass, PhD | Contributing Writer - Vol. 10, No. 2. , 2009

Say the word “probiotic” and people think, “gastrointestinal health.” That’s natural, since probiotics are invaluable in the management of digestive system problems. But they are also helpful for other health challenges, including infections of the female urogenital tract, like bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis and related problems.