By Sarah A LoBisco, ND

WHAMs: “to strike or cause to strike with great force” (Farlex.freedictionary.com, 6.5.12 accessed)

We

Have

Arrived

Holistically in True

Medicine &

Scientific Bio-individuality

Wow, wow, wow!!! I just returned from (sunny and warm) Arizona after attending the Annual International Symposium in Functional Medicine. Definitely a home run hit! I am still in awe and appreciation of our IFM faculty and presenters.

As most of my patients already know, I’m a geek when it comes to biochemical pathways and connecting the dots in their seemingly disconnected symptoms and diagnosis. We are taught to be scientific detectives in functional medicine, in other words, we listen and dig for all the clues and pertinent information in our patient’s health and history. Even seemingly unrelated or insignificant details, such as caffeine keeping someone up late at night, are triggers in my prestigious IFM colleagues and my own mind. (BTW this may mean you have a genetic SNP in your phase I liver detoxification pathway, CYP1A2).

Dr. Jones and Dr. Hughs began our introduction and brought home why we traveled for days by plane, boat, car and foot, to spend our week in close to 40 hours’ worth of classes and learning for 3 and 1/2 days!! FOR YOU!

Over 850 licensed practitioners came together in a soup of collaboration between MDs, DOs, NDs, DCs, MTs, DMD, Nutritionists, Massage Therapists, PTs, and more! It was amazing.
Even President Clinton was beamed in by satellite during Dr. Hyman’s presentation, thanking us for shifting from the disease-care model to a true preventative and wellness model.

We started with standing ovations as we were humbled by Dr. Hyman’s desire to ignite a change in how medicine is practiced. This is by implementing system’s biology, where organs are interconnected and bio-individuality is considered. This is in contrast to chasing symptoms in a reductionist, organ focused, disease-fighting model.

My colleagues and I were awestruck and listened with gapping mouths as Dr. Houston thoroughly reviewed every single molecular, biochemical, and epigenetic pathway related to insulin, lipid, and metabolic function and gave us specific, scientifically validated treatment modalities. Dr. Houston showed us when and where to use various medications, nutraceuticals, and holistic methods in a truly integrative, detailed, and scientifically and clinically valid way. (This ignited me to the point where I was borderline being labeled as the “weirdo.” I grew excited when he was able to systematically explain why statins created side effects in some and not in others. He was also able to explain why high HDL could be a bad thing).

We gained clinical and practical insights from Dr. Saxena as she broke down what our scientific genius teachers were saying and shared how this was brought into clinical practice. We were graced with hearing Dr. Bland’s interpretation of epigenetics and the live version of a recital on DNA transcription/translation of the cell in a musical way. Finally, we laughed and were brought to tears as this year’s Linus Pauling’s award was presented to former “Stent jockey”, Dr. Guareneri. She presented us with evidence of heart coherence, the power of connection, and how biochemistry is affected by relationships and mind-body connection.

I look forward to sharing with my patients and my readers more about this “new” approach to medicine in the future. Right now, I will leave it at….thank you for providing all your practitioners with the real reason why we do what we do—to support you in living a healthier, more complete life, not just to increase a lifespan!

Be sure to check out some of the latest findings in food and medicine on Saratoga.com. 😉
In health and joy,
Dr. Sarah

References:

MARK HOUSTON, MD, MS. Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors, Noninvasive Cardiovascular Testing, and Metabolic Cardiology. June 2, 2012.  IFM  Phoenix, AZ. A New Era in Preventing, Managing, and Reversing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Dysfunction

SHILPA SAXENA, MD. Clinical Solutions: Functional Medicine to the Metabolic Disease Rescue. June 2, 2012.  IFM  Phoenix, AZ. A New Era in Preventing, Managing, and Reversing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Dysfunction.

MARK HOUSTON, MD, MS . Release the Pressure: Effective Interventions for the Treatment of Hypertension. June 2, 2012.  IFM  Phoenix, AZ. A New Era in Preventing, Managing, and Reversing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Dysfunction.

MIMI GUARNERI, MD. The Healing Path: Integrative Mind-Body Cardiology. June 2, 2012.  IFM  Phoenix, AZ. A New Era in Preventing, Managing, and Reversing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Dysfunction.