Could These Critters Be a Key Factor in the Merging of Integrative, Naturopathic, Holistic, Functional, and Mainstream Medicine?!
In a few days, I’ll back in my heated office, cozy and safe from the elements. This will be a bit of an adjustment after being in air conditioning and sunny Miami for my functional medicine training on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Thankfully, the joy of being back at home and implementing all of the information I learned will offset this literal environmental “trigger” which could cause stress on my poor digestive system.
Speaking of my training, I was psyched to see a review of the updates about the explosion of research on the critters that live inside our mucosal lining. Since the Human Microbiome Project, its becoming more evident to me that we may be living in a sci-fi-like reality of us being more “Bug Beings” than “Human Beings!”
Due to my obsession with our belly bugs, I have discussed their many functions ad nauseam in my previous post. Many people think because most of our microbes live in our colon, that their main function is in digestion and assimilation, but that’s not true. These little guys play a huge role in our overall health! For example, these critters support our immune health, modulate inflammation, optimize hormonal balance and vascular health, assist with detoxification, modulate our appetite and weight, affect our mood, and provide feedback to our brain, among many other things!
In fact Sunday evening, I couldn’t help myself and posted a little update on my training on the benefit of polyphenols and how essential oils may be one of the best things on the menu to modulate the balance of your microbiome. After all, everyone has their own unique “bug blueprint.”
Then, just as I was shutting down my computer and booking some of the awesome presentations in digestive sessions to feed off my new learning, I saw an article that made me almost fall out of my chair (and not from sleepiness)!
It was from Medscape Medical News, Conference News of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2014 Annual Meeting, “New Treatments, Guidelines, and the Microbiome at ACR 2014.” I literally skimmed the title 5x before entering my password to sign in!! Here’s an excerpt (bold emphasis mine):
Dr Hood will discuss a P4 approach — predictive, preventive, participatory, and personalized — using systems biology. He is proposing a longitudinal study of 100,000 people that looks at genomics, clinical characteristics, the gut microbiome, and the measurement of specific blood protein markers in the blood, heart, and liver of each of these people. He is currently studying 100 patients and is involved in raising funds for the massive study.
It sounded like an upcoming functional or naturopathic medicine conference! It’s a merger of the gut microbiome, genomics, and personalized medicine at a conventional rheumatology conference.
Could it be that I now have another reason (as if I needed one) to love these gut bugs more!!
Could these critters be the key to a common language uniting all medicine and explaining what some of the oldest naturopathic and “nature cure” docs knew for years?
This would make the 5 “R” approach I trained in this week imperative for almost everyone!
I want to go to this conference!! 😀 (Don’t worry; I won’t spend all my time training. That’s what these seminars and sessions are for.)
Click here to read more.
Sources:
- Dr. Brady’s Paper: http://drdavidbrady.com/media/drbrady/Molecular Mimicry-Stealth Infection-Autoimmunity-Brady D-Open J of Rheum Autoimm 2013.pdf
- Goodman, Alice. New Treatments, Guidelines, and the Microbiome at ACR 2014. Medscape Medical News > Conference News. American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2014 Annual Meeting . Medscape.com. November 7, 2014. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834584?src=wnl_edit_tpal
images courtesy istockphoto.com
