This book is not intended to replace the advice of a trained health professional. It is not a substitute for meeting with your doctor or to replace or substitute any treatment that your doctor has prescribed. If you have a health problem, you should consult a health professional. The author and publisher disclaim any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
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Copyright 2019 by Michael Chang, M.D., CFMP
MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION: A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE APPROACH TO DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT.
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First edition: August 2019
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When I began my medical career as a pathologist in the late 1980s, my understanding of mitochondria was limited to what I had learned in college. It is an organelle within every cell and it produces energy for the cell to use for all its activities. I had seen electron microscopy pictures and assumed they were always working in the cell. By 2012, when I was certified as a functional medicine practitioner, this picture hadnt changed.
It wasnt until I did a mentorship with Dr. Dan Kalish that my understanding of the importance of the mitochondria started to change. Since functional medicine is about finding the root cause of a patients symptoms, I began to understand that it is often the root cause at the cellular level for most age-related chronic diseases. It can underlie the top five symptoms that most functional medicine practitioners see in their practice: fatigue, overweight and cant lose weight, stressed and depressed, gut problems, and hormone imbalance.
The Kalish method emphasizes the importance of functional lab testing. Test results determine the treatment plan, which means there is no guesswork. A lab test called the organic acids test can show mitochondrial dysfunction or a hypometabolic state. What this means is that the mitochondria in the cells are not metabolizing food into cellular energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the currency that fuels all cellular functions (all cells use ATP for energy).
There are now many effective treatments using diet, supplements, and lifestyle to reboot the lagging mitochondria or to shut them down and make new ones. When cellular energy is renewed or revitalized, the top five symptoms will improve and eventually be eliminated. Not only will you feel better but you can prevent or delay the onset of many chronic degenerative diseases from occurring in the first place. This is where functional medicine can shine: using predictive lab markers early enough to prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease and extend the productive lifespan of the patient.
When I refer to patients who have seen improvements in their lives, I include myself, as I healed myself using the same therapies that youre about to learn from this book. More people need to know that there are solutions to your set of symptoms that conventional medicine is ill-equipped to deal with. For example, doctors may prescribe pills for relief from symptoms while leave root causes unaddressed.
By the time you have finished reading this book, you will have hope again. You can reach your goals and dreams in life again that the medical system has robbed you of. You can have the energy to dance at your sons or daughters wedding. Or play with your grandkids and go on that dream vacation. Its all possible because we can recharge that rundown cellular battery called the mitochondria.
MY HEALTH JOURNEY
In the fall of 2016 I began to feel pain and weakness in the right leg particularly when I climbed stairs. I had to hang onto the railing and pull myself up. It led to pain and difficulty walking for any length of time, especially in cold weather. By November, during a trip to Ireland, my legs went into spasms of stiffness and pain. I had to use anti-inflammatories many times a day, something I dont like to do. Luckily it was only episodic and I was able to continue my routine of working out at a gym three times a week. However, I wasnt able to use the treadmill without pain. I thought I was just over-exercising, so I backed offbut there was no improvement. At that time, I could barely bend over to pick something up, and tying my shoes was a major chore. I avoided stairs if at all possible.
By summer of 2017, I began to have some back pain in the mornings. Then it dawned on me that the two symptoms were related. An MRI scan showed severe degeneration of lumbar spine with thinning of the discs. The logical conclusion was the leg pain was from compression of the sciatic nerve. The symptoms, however, did not fit, as I never had pain or tingling at rest or loss of vibration even in the toes. A few sessions of physical therapy didnt help much.
