Anatomy of A Chronic Illness:
The Truth About Why You Continue To Suffer!
The Secret To The Success of The Boydston Institute's Big Picture Approach
What do patients who suffer with chronic illness have in common? When I say chronic illness I am referring to things like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, autistic spectrum disorders, restless leg syndrome, etc. No matter what the label we put on it, there will be a combination of these factors involved in the illness:
- Brain and Neurological Dysfunction
- Gastrointestinal Infections
- Neurotransmitter Deficiencies
- Leaky Gut
- Food Sensitivities
- Dysglycemia (insulin resistance and hypoglycemia)
- Fatty Acid Imbalances
- Autoimmune Reactions
- Thyroid Dysfunction
- Hormone Imbalances
- Nutritional Deficiencies
- Adrenal Dysfunction
- Anemia's
- Chronic Viral Infections
- Intestinal Dysbiosis
- Yeast Overgrowth
Every patient I treat at the Boydston Institute, has been to series of doctors. Each doctor had their own set of "blinders" on. They look at the body as if it was compartmentalized. Physiology text books are arranged into chapters, where each chapter talks about a specific organ or body system, but that is not the way the body actually works.
The big picture is that everything is connected to everything else. The reason that chronic patients fail in the medical system is because everyone gets so focused on one particular aspect of care. They may have been to a doctor that specializes in adrenal dysfunction, or hormone replacement, or [insert symptom here]. You can't treat chronic illness like this. That approach guarantees failure.
The only way to deal with a chronic condition is to look at Everything At Once.
Our treatment philosophy is:
Treat The Patient Not Their Diagnosis
A diagnosis is just a label. It is a starting place. When they label you with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, or restless leg syndrome, they are naming your symptoms, but not telling us what to do about it. There could be hundreds of causes for your symptoms. There is no "protocols" here. Instead we are going to ask the questions:
What is the Mechanism?
Why is this Happening?
In order to answer those questions we use:
- Functional Neurology
- Functional Endocrinology
- Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis
- Functional Immunology
These are cutting-edge sciences that allow us to look at your Hormones, the Brain and Nervous System, Gastrointestinal System, Immune System, and your Metabolism from a different perspective. In the traditional medical model they are looking for DISEASE. They are not looking at what is happening right before you get the "disease" label.
We take a step back and look at EVERYTHING, all at once. We look at Brain Function with non-invasive Brain Function Assessment. We look at your chemistry (hormones, blood sugar, immune system, gastrointestinal system) with specialized lab testing. We do this to make sure we are getting a Complete picture of what is happening with you.
To get results we have to be detectives. We are focused on uncovering mechanisms and restoring function. This means we have to run the necessary tests whether any out-of-touch insurance company thinks they're "medically necessary" or not.
Chronic conditions are complex. The viscous cycle will only continue, until someone treats YOU, and not your "diagnosis". I always tell people that if you have a condition that is not going to "kill" you, and takes more than a fifteen minute doctors appointment to diagnose, then you have no chance in the mainstream medical model. That is why we have patients from all over the country come see us. They want someone who is going to do what it takes to uncover the mechanism and restore function, naturally.