Trent W. Nichols - Optimal Digestive Health: A Complete Guide

Optimal Digestive Health

A COMPLETE GUIDE

Edited by

TRENT W. NICHOLS, MD,

and NANCY FAASS, MSW, MPH

Healing Arts Press

Rochester, Vermont

Preface to the Second Edition

More than 90 million Americans suffer from digestive disorders according to the National Institutes of Health.

To develop a resource for people coping with digestive issues, we invited more than twenty experts to contribute their best treatment strategies. This book reflects the original thinking of these contributors, some of the finest complementary and integrative practitioners in the country.

The importance of digestive health is vastly underappreciated. Without good digestion, one cannot be truly healthy. Impaired digestion can trigger problems ranging from mild stomach upsets to life-threatening cancer. Whats more, millions of people struggle with these conditions year in, year out. A number of major problems can result from digestive disorders, including fatigue, weight gain, and food allergies. Poor digestion can also be a factor in attention deficit disorders, arthritis, asthma, chemical sensitivities, eczema, liver problems, and mood disorders.

These conditions can be difficult to overcome, so it is useful to have a range of treatment options available. Our experience suggests that the best strategies for healing include both mainstream and complementary therapiesintegrative medicine. Many people with chronic disorders have improved significantly through the use of good nutrition, enzymes, vitamins, herbs, or natural therapies.

It is important to seek the most skilled medical expertise available. This book is not offered as a prescription for self-treatment, because insight alone will not replace good medical care. However, medication alone does not always restore health either. The greatest opportunity for recovery occurs when the patient actively participates in the healing process, supported by the consistent efforts of capable and compassionate healers.

It has been five years since the first edition of Optimal Digestion was published. Since that time there have been major advances in both conventional gastroenterology and integrative/complementary medicine.

In testing, capsule endoscopy is now used to provide information on digestive function via video and real-time imaging. New medications are available that are based on functional medicine paradigms, including tumor necrosis factor antibodies and antisense therapy. Courses on complementary medicine are now being taught in more than 50 medical schools, and major urban hospitals have complementary medicine programs for patients and for the training of doctors.

Since the first edition the importance of nutrition has gained broader recognition. New types of treatment, particularly stem cell therapy and bioelectromagnetics, have arrived in the medical arena and we believe will come to be considered the therapy of the twenty-first centuryregenerative medicine. Many alternative therapies are now viewed as complementary and are being incorporated into conventional medical treatment. As the field of integrative medicine emerges, these advances have the potential to further expand the options available to patients.

This book can be used in a number of ways. Part I contains questionnaires that can be used as a tool to evaluate your symptoms and help you gain a better sense of your overall health situation. Part II explains various types of medical and lab testing that your physician may request in order to learn more about your condition. Parts III and IV offer an extensive range of options for self-care. Part V provides information on the causes, symptoms, and mainstream and complementary treatments of more than 25 chronic digestive disorders. The chapters are brief and self-contained so that they do not necessarily need to be read in order.

Whether you are a patient or a physician, there is sure to be information provided here that views health and illness from a different perspective than you may have previously considered. Give these ideas serious consideration. This knowledge is hard won: The driving force for the creation of this book has been the suffering of so many people with digestive illness. The hope is that doctors and patients together, using approaches such as these, can reduce needless suffering.

TRENT W. NICHOLS, M.D., AND NANCY FAASS, MSW, MPH

Part I

How Your Body Works

1

Redefining the Problem

JERRY STINE

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

If you have digestive illness, this book was written for you, drawn from the experience of people like you. Your experience holds the clues to solving the mystery of your condition. Ultimately the solution will be based on your health history, symptoms, and responses. The details of your situation are the basis for individualizing treatment to fit your unique circumstances and will enhance your opportunities for healing. The promise of this approach is the freedom to lead a rich life, unencumbered by the pain and distress of illness.

This highly individualized approach is an aspect of integrative medicine, which encompasses both mainstream and complementary therapies. The challenges of chronic illness sometimes require additional options. The benefits of nutrition, acupuncture, functional medicine, and other complementary approaches have been confirmed in research and in treatment. Integrative medicine draws from the best of both worlds.

The information in this book is not just theoryit is the result of years of experience of both doctors and patients. The fruits of this knowledge are presented here as specific techniques and therapies. To those of us suffering from gastrointestinal illness, this information can be precious and critical.

TOOLS FOR HEALING

We want to provide you with key tools and concepts that are the basis of integrative medicine. Lets consider some of the resources that seem to make the greatest difference for patients who are managing chronic health conditions: