A NOT SO UNUSUAL CASE
March 2, 2004
I was recently reading a case study in one
of my professional journals, which discussed
a scenario that is all too common. The review
described a set of complaints that is not unusual
and often mismanaged. This case study involved
a 35 year old women with the following complaints;
burping and flatulence, abdominal bloating,
fatigue, generalized muscle pain, allergies,
memory and concentration difficulties.
As is appropriate, she consulted her family
doctor, who performed some diagnostic testing
and sent her to a gastroenterologist as well.
After some lab work, a barium swallow, barium
enema, and endoscopy which all were within
normal limits, she was told to take some antacids.
This did not provide any relief and there were
no other diagnostic tests or treatments that
were suggested which she felt confident in
following.
Out of frustration she decided to make an
appointment with a chiropractor with postgraduate
training in nutrition, dietary counseling and
functional medicine approaches. Further testing
with more functional types of testing procedures
led to the following treatment plan: eliminating
foods that may have been causing possible allergic
or sensitivity reactions, eating only fresh
non-processed foods, a multiple vitamin-mineral,
digestive enzymes, HCL and pepsin, acidophilus
and other nutrients that assist in repair and
increase absorption of foods such as L-glutamine.
After a 4 and 8-week follow-up the patient
was doing much better overall. Although this
is an overview of one case, it represents a
common scenario that required additional diagnostics
and care not part of conventional medicine.
It must also be acknowledged that the initial
presentation and appropriate standard medical
evaluations were of utmost importance to rule
out more serious conditions that needed to
be investigated before these above options
were explored. Working within this framework
ensures patient safety and provides the confidence
the family doctor needs in order to support
patients as they explore additional avenues
of treatment. As our lifestyles become more
stressful and our diets do not support us with
the nutrition needed to stay healthy, more
of these chronic types of functional illnesses
are developing and becoming more common.
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