Family Medicine

As many as 95% of Americans suffer from the symptoms of food sensitivity or intolerance and don’t know it. Food sensitivities slowly produce a variety of mild, annoying symptoms that may be difficult to notice at first but over time these symptoms can develop into big problems. There have been over 75 symptoms linked to food sensitivities including sinus congestion, postnasal drip, headaches, chronic fatigue, skin rashes, asthma, and constipation. Mental and emotional symptoms can also occur because the nervous system is susceptible to the immune system’s reactions to foods. Depression, anxiety, irritability, and hyperactivity in adults or children are often caused by chronic food sensitivities.
Food sensitivity and intolerance reactions are not diagnosed by traditional allergy testing (skin prick or skin scratch tests) and are often missed in this type of testing. The comprehensive Food Sensitivity Panel done with a finger prick blood sample easily tests for reactions to 96-144 common foods and identifies your immune’s systems tolerance of these foods.

The adrenals glands perform many functions in the body and are easily influenced by stress. The adrenal glands help control blood sugar, immune function, energy, reproductive hormone balance and sleep. In times of chronic stress these functions have become compromised due to prolonged hormone, immune and metabolic breakdown that can lead to chronic degenerative conditions like Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, autoimmune disorders, allergies, and depression. This test uses saliva samples taken throughout the day to determine the status of your adrenals glands (including Cortisol, Insulin and DHEA levels) and determine what therapies may be needed to regain health.

Many women experience difficulties with their menstrual cycle, fertility or in peri-menopause and menopause. Saliva and urine tests are more accurate than blood tests and can be helpful to measure reproductive hormone levels throughout the month (every 2-3 days) to create a clear view of hormone imbalances and how they can be addressed in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Different metabolites of estrogen can either lessen or increase your risk for breast cancer and other cancers of the reproductive system. Rebalancing estrogen metabolites helps to improve menstrual cycle symptoms and menopausal symptoms as well.

The digestive system is not only in control of the breakdown and absorption of food, it is also the largest organ of your immune system. A breakdown in the digestive process can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, fatigue, anxiety, depression, constipation, hair loss and hormone imbalances. Your digestive system is also possibly home to unwanted bacteria, yeast and parasites. The presence of unwanted bacteria, yeast and parasites can contribute to a wide variety of digestive conditions ranging from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Our doctors use multiple variations of digestive health panels that may use stool, saliva or blood to fully understand the causes of your specific symptoms.

We are exposed to environmental toxins daily and for the majority of people this does not cause a significant problem. However, some of us have higher exposures to these toxins at work or in our hobbies (hair salons, nail salons, car repair shops, gardening, painting etc.). Others have problems metabolizing even the small amounts of toxic exposures they encounter daily and gradually have a build-up of these toxins or have a family history of hormone-related disease made worse by chemical exposures. These chemicals can contribute to obesity, cancers, diabetes, thyroid problems, cancer, neurological disorders, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases. The amounts of pesticides, plastic residues and chemicals in your system can easily be measured with a urine test. Heavy metal analysis uses a combination of urine and blood samples to get a complete picture of your exposure.