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THE PATH "LES" TRAVELED

By Les Adler, M.D., M.D.(H)

As an M.D. who also embraces holistic medicine, I have often found myself approaching medical problems from a different perspective than many of my more traditional colleagues. The following are some of the most common differences I encounter on a daily basis:

1) Joint pain, headaches, depression, stomach aches, sporadic flu like symptoms, plus a wide range of other possible symptoms could be due to food allergies. Not all reactions are immediate and life threatening, as traditional medicine believes.

2) Heart disease is more than blood pressure and cholesterol control with “statin” drugs. There are tests that can check for additional important risk factors. Effective treatments should include diet, exercise and nutraceutical approaches.

3) Everyone watches their cholesterol levels, but what about triglycerides? The combination of high triglycerides and low HDL (good cholesterol) is a sign of elevated insulin levels, usually from excessive carbohydrates. This is now an epidemic in our obese culture. A low carb as opposed to a fat restricted diet is what’s needed.

4) Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are caused by toxicity and/or infections. Thyroid, adrenal, and immune problems tend to develop. Traditional medicine will never find the answer looking for drug treatments.

5) Vioxx is now off the market. NSAID’s like Naprosyn and Motrin can cause GI bleeding. However, arthritic complaints can often be helped by high enough doses of fish oils, ginger, boswella, and fatty acids—none toxic or irritating.

6. Irritable Bowel Syndrome in medical jargon is a “wastebasket” diagnosis. It means nothing. The question is… what is causing the irritability? Not infrequently, there may be abnormal bacteria and yeast present that must be treated. When this is done, the symptoms improve.

7. Thyroid problems are very common…. As I see it, in order to proper evaluate function, one needs to measure the levels of the actual thyroid hormone in its free form. This is the active component. Measuring the TSH or pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone is inadequate way to assess.

8. Candida and other yeast overgrowth in the GI tract is also a common occurrence, and needs to be treated with the appropriate diet, supplements and/or medications. Tradition medicine has no appreciation of this entity.

9. Gluten, the main major protein in wheat and other grains, is often not tolerated. Traditional medicine recognizes celiac disease, a rather sever intestinal intolerance, as the only manifestation however, gluten sensitivity can manifest as neurological disease or autoimmune thyroid disease.

10. Many people with fatigue has some optimal functioning of their adrenal gland. This doesn’t not necessarily manifest as “Addison’” disease, a total deficiency recognized by traditional medicine. Small doses of adrenal hormone and/or herbs can be quite helpful.

This list only begins to cover some of the ways I treat chronic problems. If you have a chronic symptom, diagnosed or not, it could benefit you to consider alternative approaches that may just solve the problem at its source.

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