Genetics, lifestyle, infections, and other factors can all contribute to developing a chronic illness, they may not tell the whole story.
One thing that's changed dramatically since the rise in chronic illness is our environment. We're now exposed to potentially harmful substances through our food, air, homes, workplaces, and personal-care products that were either absent or encountered much less in the past.
A growing area of research is asking whether some of these modern environmental exposures could be affecting one of the body's most important lines of defense: the epithelial barrier. This idea is known as the epithelial barrier theory.
Read moreWhen you think of vitamin D, there's a good chance that you think of the effects it has on bone strength. Maybe you also think of the effects it has on energy levels. But did you know that vitamin D supplementation plays an important role in the treatment of chronic pain?
Many of my patients have chronic pain and vitamin D deficiency, and I've seen firsthand how much treating their low vitamin D levels has helped with pain. So this blog is going to go over the ins and outs of vitamin D and how it helps with the treatment of chronic, painful conditions.
Read moreI have recently accepted medical students back into my practice to observe and learn with me. One student asked me if I ever made a mistake in diagnosis and prescribed a mast cell stabilizer medication to someone who did not have mast cell activation syndrome.
This really made me think, and I realized how much my world has changed since studying the impact that mast cells have on human health. I realized that I have jumped way beyond just mast cell activation syndrome. I like to think about how mast cells relate to all aspects of chronic illness where inflammation is involved, not just with patients who have mast cell activation syndrome.
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