Empowered Patient Blog
Viome vs. Biohm: Which Is Best for Microbiome Testing?
Microbiome research is changing the way we practice medicine. After decades of refining the optimization of probiotics, we must now consider the nuances of prebiotics and postbiotics. Think of...
Artificial Intelligence Is Good for Your Health
Imagine an AI that can make a detailed analysis of how exposure to this endocrine-disrupting environmental toxicant is interacting with that microbiome-disrupting herbicide, in the context of someone with a certain genetic single-nucleotide polymorphism who is also taking multiple medications.
Constipation Cures: Effective Remedies from Nature’s Pharmacy
Constipation can be a frustrating condition. There are many reasons for getting backed up, and it can take some detective work to discover the underlying cause.
It is worth the time and effort to investigate the root of constipation and not become reliant on harsh purgatives. Laxatives have side effects, including a loss of bowel tone with long-term use.
Is 5G a Weapon?
It’s called the Active Denial System (ADS). The Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office of the U.S. Department of Defense Non-Lethal Weapons Program investigated the ADS for deployment for crowd control by aiming a “man-sized (1.5 m) beam of millimeter waves (not microwaves) at a range up to 1,000 meters. It will have the same compelling non-lethal effect on all human targets, regardless of size, age and gender.”
Sweat the Small Cancer Stuff
Yet with any disease diagnosis, even the most devastating ones, it is possible to “work the problem” by sweating the small stuff. With cancer, that may be all we have control over.
Fixing Digestion for Good
Digestion is way too important of a process to entrust to a gastroenterologist. Being your own advocate begins with eating a whole food, nutrient-dense diet and using simple approaches to improve digestion rather than blunting digestive fire with acid-suppressing drugs like proton pump inhibitors. We have to appreciate that the combined contributions of gastric acid, bile acid, and enzymes are a fiery cauldron of transmutation.
Preventive Medicine Doesn’t Exist
Conventional allopathic medicine operates on a split paradigm. The primary medical initiative is to heroically swoop down when disaster strikes. A car accident or heart attack will bring about a quick and decisive intervention. In managed care, it gets a little more gray. Symptom management may take precedence over addressing the root causes of disease, often because they stem from environmental and lifestyle factors that are unacknowledged or lack solutions within the biomedical model.
Reflections on ‘Kiss the Ground’
All life stems from air, earth, and water. We are all literal and metaphorical extensions of the Earth, as manifested as living soil. No matter what ends up on our plate, the components of that meal derive from elemental forces that amalgamate to form the biodiversity of life.
The Contagious Biofield
As any experienced gardener knows, the health of the soil determines the fate of the planted seed. With COVID-19, it is possible that the activity of the virus is not the root cause of illness and death but a proximate cause. A breakdown in the relationship between our health and our relationship with nature is the true reason so many have fallen ill.
Trouble Falling Asleep? Remedying Sleep-Onset Insomnia
The other common deterrent to peaceful slumber is the inability to fall asleep, otherwise known as sleep-onset insomnia. This is a multifactorial problem, chock full of nuance, so realize there may be one or more causes that need to be addressed if you suffer from this type of insomnia.
Cancer: Treating Illness by Generating Health
Cancer formation is the planting of a seed caused by unmitigated exposure to carcinogens. Seldom discussed are all the contributing factors—known as proximate causes—that inhibit healing of that initial wound. These proximate causes may not be potent enough to transform a precancerous cell into a malignant one, but they are the soil in which that cancer seed roots itself and grows unchecked.
Rethinking Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential nutrient that you may be lacking. It is a cofactor in hundreds of enzymatic processes in the body, yet many people are completely unaware of the health challenges that can ensue from an insidious deficiency. Let’s explore the need for magnesium, a blood test to evaluate magnesium status, and the best forms of supplementation.
Are You Eating Fake Food?
Traveling late at night when a craving hits? No problem as the nearest gas station has your belly and brain covered with an assortment of colorful and wildly flavorful snack options. How could any reasonable human being find fault in such an agricultural marvel?
My Experience with the Clear Passage Approach to Treating Abdominal Adhesions
It had been a long six years. Following remission of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis that filled my abdominal cavity with tumors, I still suffered from periodic episodes of small bowel obstruction secondary to deep scar tissue known as adhesions. Although infrequent, these episodes were severe, traumatic, and occasionally resulted in hospitalization.
The Future of Cancer Therapy: Adaptive Therapy
The diagnosis of prostate cancer was a bad dream that Jack couldn’t wake up from. At age 53, he was working overtime to prepare for his eldest daughter’s transition to college, and fitful nights of sleep had been plagued by a recurring dream of an angry, burning fire in his pelvis