Ben Recommends
How To Find A Good Physician To Help You Fix Your Lab Values
Should you be concerned after your lab testing and want to visit a medical practitioner who is able to intelligently interpret and help you to fix your lab values, I cannot more highly recommend that you work with a functional or integrative medicine practitioner. These type of doctors act like detectives, using comprehensive medical histories, lab work, and a broad understanding of your body to collect clues and diagnoses. Finding the root cause of your symptoms is the foundation of integrative and functional medicine, and the treatment performed by a well-trained physician involves addressing underlying issues, including infection, toxins, genes, nutrition, metabolism, lifestyle, relationships and emotions.
There are several different types of practitioners that specialize in integrative and functional medicine, including:
–Medical Doctor (M.D.) – This is a doctor who went through traditional medical school and then added training and education in integrative and functional medicine.
–Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) – This is a doctor who can, like an M.D., prescribe medication or practice surgery. A D.O. generally focuses on the body as a whole because osteopathy is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes manual readjustments, myofascial release and other physical manipulations of muscle tissue and bones.
–Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) – While chiropractors are usually thought of as simply “back-crackers” who treat orthopedic dysfunction, many are also able to practice functional medicine and can be quite good at it. However, they cannot prescribe medications and usually have a medical doctor they work with or recommend if you need these type of services.
–Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (N.D.) – Most of these doctors use a system of treatment of disease that avoids drugs and surgery and instead emphasizes the use of natural agents, prescribing and licensing privileges vary by state. Often an M.D. functional or integrative medical practitioner is also trained as an N.D., and this can be a very good combination.
My recommended resources for finding the perfect physician for you are as follows:
- The Wild Health network: www.wildhealth.com
- The Institute for Functional Medicine at www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/
- American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine at www.a4m.com.
- Paleo Physicians Network at www.paleophysiciansnetwork.com.
- Re-Find Health at www.re-findhealth.com.
- Naturopathic Physicians at www.naturopathic.org.
- American College for Advancement in Medicine at www.acam.org.
Many of these physicians, even if not in your region, will be willing to offer telemedicine and work with you from a distance via online lab review dashboards, phone and Skype. In addition, I can certainly give you a list of physicians who I’ve personally known for years or studied intensively who I will vouch for as some of the best-of-the-best in functional medicine and beyond. Many of them are so good at what they do that they have an extensive patient waitlist or cost a pretty penny, but if you want the best, these are a few of the folks I recommend, along with just a few of their particular specialities:
-Dr. Zach Bush, ZachBushMD.com – microbiome
-Dr. Halland Chen, New York, NY, DrHalland.com – anti-aging, stem cells, regenerative medicine, interventional pain management and cosmetics
-Dr. Matthew Cook, San Jose, CA, BioresetMedical.com – regenerative medicine, Chinese traditional medicine, mold/mycotoxins, Lyme, stem cells, gut, aesthetics, sexual health
-Dr. William Davis, WheatBellyBlog.com – cardiology
-Dr. Mansoor Mohammed, Ontario, Canada: TheDNACompany.com – genes and genetic interpretation
-Dr. John Douillard, Boulder, CO, LifeSpa.com – Ayurvedic medicine, sports performance, detoxification, gut
-Dr. Craig Koniver, Mt Pleasant, SC, KoniverWellness.com – anti-aging, IV’s, NAD, hormones
-Dr. Chris Kresser, Kensington, CA, ChrisKresser.com – thyroid, gut
-Dr. John Lieurance, Sarasota, FL: FunctionalCranialRelease.com – lyme, stem cells
-Dr. Ben Lynch, Seattle, WA: DrBenLynch.com – genes and genetic interpretation
-Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola.com – biohacking, mitochondria, stem cells
-Dr. David Minkoff, Clearwater, FL: DrMinkoff.com – dentistry, detoxification, energy medicine, anti-aging, hormones
-Dr. Dan Pompa, Park City, UT: DrPompa.com – detoxification, chiropractic care
-Dr. Francis Murphy, Dallas, TX: chiropractic care
-Dr. Neil Nathan, NeilNathanMD.com – mold/mycotoxins, lyme, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia
-Dr. Stuart M. Nunnally, Marble Falls, TX, HealthySmilesForLife.com – holistic dentistry
-Dr. David Perlmutter, DrPerlmutter.com – brain, gut
-Dr. Michael Ruscio, Las Vegas, NV, DrRuscio.com – gut
-Dr. Darshan Shah, Malibu, CA, DrShah.com – anti-aging, hormones, IVs, aesthetics
-Dr. Michael Smith, Nelson, BC, AllThingsAutoimmunity.com – autoimmune disease, ancestral diets, Chinese traditional medicine
-Dr. Leland Stillman, Virginia, StillmanMD.com – Environmental medicine, EMF/Light/Sound/Energy/Air, etc. along with immunology/toxicology
-Dr. Bryan Walsh, DrWalsh.com – detoxification, gut, bloodwork interpretation
-Dr. Daniel Kalish, KalishWellness.com – brain health, neurotransmitters
-Dr. Eric Braverman, PathMed.com – brain health
-Dr. Harry Adelson, Docereclinics.com – stem cells