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Getting Tested for Mold Toxicity in Tampa

With the coronavirus and COVID-19 (the disease it causes) commandeering the news cycle right now, I’m thinking that some people are so singularly focused on this illness that they’re missing the big picture — the importance of optimal health and wellness.

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that people with other, comorbid conditions are at the greatest risk for experiencing the worst outcomes. So, it stands to reason that one of the best ways for you to lower your risk of experiencing severe illness from COVID-19 is to optimize your health. And a key step toward optimizing your health is to ensure that you’re not suffering from any conditions that negatively impact immune function, such as mold toxicity.

Getting Tested for Mold Toxicity in Tampa

I focus on mold toxicity because it is so prevalent in the Tampa area where I see and treat so many patients who suffer from this condition and improve dramatically from treatment. Because mold toxicity can have such a dramatic effect on immune function at a time when you need your immune system functioning at its best. Immune system dysfunction increases your risk of experiencing severe illness from COVID-19 in two ways:

  • A weak immune response makes you more susceptible to infection and the spread of the virus through your body.
  • An overreactive immune system can release excessive cytokines and other inflammatory chemicals into your body, which can result in sepsis — a potentially fatal condition involving inflammation in multiple organ systems. Most of the people who die from COVID-19 die as a result of an over-the-top immune response to the virus.

Having your home and you tested and treated (if necessary) for toxic mold and a mold-related illness is an important step toward ensuring optimal immune function and addressing any underlying inflammation.

Recognizing the Symptoms of Mold Toxicity

Exposure to moldy and damp environments can cause a variety of health problems with a wide range of symptoms, including the following: Continue reading…

Preparing for Virtual Functional Medicine Appointments in Tampa

By |2020-07-13T19:56:43-04:00July 13th, 2020|Categories: Telemedicine|Tags: , , , |2 Comments

It took a health pandemic for people to appreciate the value of being healthy rather than just being “not sick” or being able to manage symptoms. In today’s world, underlying chronic diseases place all of us at a significantly higher risk for complications and death from COVID-19.

As a result, the medical community is beginning to see a growing interest among the general population in the detection, prevention, and treatment of chronic diseases. Among these are diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), autoimmunity and other immune system disorders, kidney disease, and metabolic disorders.

At the same time, advances in technology have made prevention, diagnosis, and management of these and other chronic diseases easier than ever, while reducing the risk of exposure to infectious diseases that may be inherent in physical office visits. Increasingly, patients are scheduling virtual doctor visits via Zoom and other video-conferencing apps, and I am loving these telemedicine consultations.

In this post, I highlight the benefits of telemedicine and provide some tips to optimize these virtual doctor consultations.

Telemedicine Benefits for Doctors and Patients

Today, most doctor appointments last 7-15 minutes at the most. Patients typically spend far more time driving to the office and sitting in the waiting room than they do with their doctors. A 15-minute visit (again, max) may be enough time to check in with your doctor, but it is woefully inadequate for dealing with any complex issues — especially chronic conditions. That is, unless you’re looking for a quick-fix prescription, which isn’t a solution at all. It’s usually just a band-aid.

For doctors and patients committed to tracking down the root cause of health conditions, a consultative approach that provides you with ample time to speak — and be heard — is essential. Telemedicine, it turns out, may provide the additional time and focus to optimize the effectiveness of doctor visits.

As my experience with telemedicine has grown, I have become increasingly aware of its benefits, which include the following: Continue reading…