Evaluating Your Medical Complaint
Our Approach
Dr. Martin’s methodology is multidisciplinary and all-inclusive. Integrative Medicine assimilates many different medical modalities and philosophies from around the world alongside conventional Western medicine. These include botanical medicine & nutrition, Homeopathy, Osteopathy, Chiropractic, massage, and other body work, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Energy Medicine, and Shamanism to name a few. Holistic Medicine is a patient-centered way of thinking that evaluates the patient as a whole, incorporating body, mind & spirit from a natural healing perspective and attempts to capitalize on the least invasive and most effect therapies. These medicines value Functional Medicine which encompasses a science & evidence-based approach to optimize health through the practice of lifestyle modification and innovational testing which analyzes how your organs do their job. There is specific focus to understand antecedents, triggers, mediators, genetics, environment, toxicity and stress. The purpose is to maximize the function of your being by way of diet, exercise, nutraceuticals, detoxification and stress management, among others. Dr. Martin practices Integrative Medicine utilizing this Functional Medicine approach to recreate vitality not just eliminate disease.
21st Century Medicine in the United States
Conventional Medicine as practiced in the United States today, has one way of looking at things. In an acute care setting, it can be an absolute lifesaver which needs to be acknowledged. However, in addressing chronic disease, it falls short. It is disease-centered, parcels the body up into different organ systems requiring many individual specialties to assess. It has become a volume-based business in which health care providers see too many patients in a short timespan to maximize reimbursement and keep costs down. The shorter the appointment time, the less the patient can bring up, and the less money he is going to cost the healthcare system. It rewards the use of physician extenders who see complicated patients with less than half the education and training of a physician and may be inadequately supervised. This system is beneficial to alleviate symptoms, but not to address the underlying cause. It focuses heavily on the use of pharmaceuticals because that is about all a provider has time for in a 10-minute appointment.
Furthermore, it is wrought with huge conflicts of interest, both from the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance companies. This can be both good and bad. For example, when the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, was found to be the culprit behind duodenal ulcers, a finding that gastroenterologists were very resistant to accept, it was the antibiotic manufacturers who pushed the science behind this as they had much to gain from this discovery. An example of the flip side is fecal transplants. These have been used medically in Australia for over 20 years and in England for over 10 years. Stool transplants have been found to successfully treat a life-threatening colitis from the bacterium Clostridium difficile. One stool transplant can be miraculous. However, because of lobbying by the drug industry, stool transplants are very difficult to obtain in the US. A patient has to fail 2 different antibiotic treatment courses before a fecal transplant can be considered. This can cause severe delays which can lead to horrible outcomes. Our current crisis with opioid addiction is mostly due to the drug industry.
| Integrative Medicine | Conventional Medicine |
|---|---|
| Patient-Centered | Disease-centered |
| Searches for Root Causes | Symptom-based |
| Nutraceutical emphasis | Pharmaceutical emphasis |
| Holistic | System-based |
| Modifies Lifestyle | Adds more medication |
| Empowering | Fear-based |
| Preventative/Proactive | Reactive |
| Functional Assessment | Standard Diagnostic Testing |
| Integrates many Medical Modalities | Allopathic |
| Open-minded | Narrow-minded |
| Psychospiritual Connection | Emphasis on the Physical Body |
Our Solution to Your Medical Complaints
Our evaluation is very comprehensive. We look at all aspects and leave no stone unturned. Humans are quite complex with many layers, which often need to be peeled like an onion. Although most patients come to a doctor with a physical complaint, it is vital to assess the emotional, mental, spiritual and energetic pieces as they make us whole. Stress is an easy ailment to see in all these areas. Physical stress may be produced by an infection. Emotional stress may be due to an argument with a friend. Mental stress may be caused by preparing for a presentation. Spiritual stress may be from grieving the death of a parent. Energetic stress may be due to the tension created by a negative environment like electromagnetic fields or geophysical stressors or even the perception of one’s life in comparison to others. It is important to evaluate all factors in conjunction with the physical complaint, because we are more than just our physical body.
For example, in terms of flow, conventional medicine does an excellent job focusing on blood flow within the vasculature, neurotransmitter release and electric impulses in neurons, lymphatic flow within the lymph, and paracellular flow of hormones and cell-to-cell messaging. However, in many Eastern medical philosophies, energetic flow of Qi (or Chi) is paramount. In the Eastern outlook of the body, not addressing Qi is as negligent as conventional Western medicine ignoring blood flow.
First we look at the physical complaint!
Then we address the emotional, mental, spiritual and energetic factors.
Next we evaluate the various instrumental factors that affect our body. The order of which is determined by your issues.
The Gut - many physical problems start in the gut!
The microbiome - the 100 trillion bacterial flora that reside in our gut
Potential pathogens - in the form of bacteria (SIBO), viruses - like Norovirus that can disable a whole cruise ship, fungal infections causing a yeast overgrowth, and parasites like Giardia which is not uncommon in Rocky Mountain streams. These infections can lead to:
Leaky Gut or Hyperpermeability Syndrome leading to IBS with diarrhea and/or constipation, pain
Food allergies, sensitivities and intolerances
Digestion - stomach acid, enzymes, fiber, metabolism, satiety, reflux
The Gut Immune System - GALT & MALT
Inflammation - Acute, Chronic & Autoimmune (Crohn’s & Ulcerative Colitis)
Vasculature - Malformations, Varicosities like Hemorrhoids & Varices
Gallbladder, Liver, Pancreas, Esophagus, Stomach, Small & Large Intestines, Rectum, Mouth
Treatment focuses on restoring Digestion, Absorption, Detoxification, Elimination and Immune function.
Remove whatever is in excess like allergens, infection, toxins.
Replace nutrients & factors necessary to optimize digestion.
Reinoculate with probiotics and prebiotics.
Repair gut lining and detoxification system.
Rebalance lifestyle such as diet, stress, sleep, breathing and exercise.
Hormones & Neurotransmitters - imbalances due to disease, autoimmunity, stress, age, toxic and metabolic influences are especially rampant. The list below is not complete.
Pituitary & Hypothalamus - ACTH, LH, FSH, TSH, Prolactin, Oxytocin, ADH, IGF-1, MSH, GH
Adrenal & Renal - Cortisol, DHEA, Pregnenolone, Aldosterone, Renin, Adrenaline, Vitamin D
Thyroid & Parathyroid - T4, T3, rT3, T2, T1, Antibodies, Calcitonin, PTH
Sex Hormones - Estradiol, Estrone, Estriol, Progesterone, Testosterone, DHT
GI - Insulin, Glucagon, Histamine, CCK, Somatostatin
Brain - Dopamine, Serotonin, GABA, Melatonin, Acetylcholine, Noradrenaline, PEA
Treatment centers around assessing excesses and deficiencies and balancing, repairing, augmenting or replacing with bio-identical hormones as needed.
Immune System - too much and too little.
Overactive system can lead to autoimmune disease.
Underactive immune system as seen in Immunodeficiency like Common Variable Immune Deficiency or HIV can lead to recurrent or chronic infections
Allergies and Sensitivities
Histamine Intolerance
WBCs, T & B cells, NK cells, Cell-mediation, Lymph nodes & tissue, Lymph, Spleen
Treatment focuses on addressing the underlying cause and optimization.
Inflammation - this is a common repair process in our body that helps to heal in acute injury but left unregulated becomes a hallmark in chronic disease.
Treatment focuses on identifying the source of the inflammation. Oftentimes it is not where the pain or discomfort are at.
Toxins - these come in all shapes and sizes, physical, energetic, and psycho-spiritual.
Endogenous toxins - produced internally by our body, which may be accumulating due to liver or kidney disease or other metabolic dysfunction
Exogenous toxins from our environment - Medications, Drugs, Tobacco, Alcohol, Dietary, Poisons, Venoms, Molds, Heavy Metals, Electromagnetic Fields, Infectious Toxins, Chemicals - there are 90,000+ chemicals in our environment that we can be clandestinely exposed to in various degrees
Toxic Relationships
Mutations in our Detoxification pathways can make processing toxins a challenge for our body and can make some toxins exponentially more dangerous
Treatment focuses on identifying toxins and the appropriate detoxification protocol to remove them from one’s environment and the body.
Stress - on all levels!
Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, Energetic
Oxidative
Trauma - Fight, Flight, Freeze Response
Perceived
Abuse
Personal Belief System
Treatment is addressing the underlying stressors and then working on how to alleviate or remove them. This may also include working with a therapist.
Genetics - our genetic polymorphisms may create strengths and weaknesses. There are numerous genetic tests available that can test your own genome, your microbiome’s genome, the infections within our body.
Polymorphisms (MTHFR, GSH, HLA, etc)
Microbiome
Assault evaluation
Ancestry
Treatment may involve changing medication to avoid overloading detox pathways, adding nutrients, optimizing enzyme systems and lifestyle.
Nutrients, Nutrition, Metabolism, Oxidation, Energy Production - in order for our body to heal, we need some basic ingredients. These include oxygen, water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber and micronutrients such as minerals, vitamins, etc. These building blocks often need to be assessed biochemically.
Treatment is to rebalance nutrients, make dietary modifications and remove toxins.
Organ Systems and Disease - these include all the organ systems that make our body function - the heart, lungs, kidneys, neurologic, endocrine, renal, immune, blood, reproductive, skin, digestive, musculoskeletal, psychology, oncology and infectious disease.
Treatment focuses on addressing all the above issues and allowing the body to heal first along with optimizing the function of each organ system.