Two Newbies

After last Friday, which was our first week of four new patients in four hours, we are beginning to get the hang of things. Dr. D’Adamo is continually and masterfully tinkering with the patient flow so that everyone is working at her most effective; the pace does not let up, though, as we go from lab to clinic room for measurements to consultation. D’Adamo has been using military metaphors to describe how we will all work in concert with one another so that everything gets done, and done well, and it seems applicable. So, when the clock hits ten, we are set in motion, a regular, well-oiled battalion, as it were.

Our first patient, Hillary, is an 63 year-old administrator at University of Bridgeport—a soft-spoken and agreeable middle-aged woman, simply dressed and seemingly mellow about her health concerns. Her chief complaints are hypertension that she’s had for five years (today it’s 130/90), borderline high cholesterol (210-220) with an elevated HDL, and chronic sinusitis. Lab results return that she is a type A non-secretor and her hydrogen breath test indicates moderate small intestine bacterial overgrowth, which is a more rare result, as most of our patients have come in with overgrowth at a much higher level. SWAMI tells us that she is a Warrior. One of the markers of Warrior is endothelial dysfunction, which speaks to her high cholesterol. D’Adamo says he wants to decrease her soluble endothelial factors by emphasizing plant-based proteins in her diet, especially glycitine and genistein—both of which are isoflavones found in soy products, which have protective effects on vascular inflammation and act as potent antioxidants. He also puts her on 100 mcg/day of selenium, Histona that contains magnolia for overall metabolic support, CoQ10 because she’s on a statin, and Genoma Cardia that contains hawthorn, which is known to improve cardiac health.

Dwight is our second patient, a charming 60-year old African-American man who has been brought to the Clinic by his daughter, a naturopathic medical student. Dwight is a pastor and former software programmer, which immediately captures Dr. D’Adamo’s attention. The two men have a brief chat about computer languages and then Dr. D’Adamo turns his attention to Dwight’s skin condition, which appears to be vitiligo, as his skin is mottled and dry in places. His other chief concerns are massive edema throughout both legs, powerfully debilitating allergies, and hypothyroidism. Of main concern is his incredibly allergic immune response: past IgE labs have been over 34,000. In the past he’s been on immunosuppressants such asCyclosporin, but he stopped because it increased his blood pressure. He is currently not taking anything. When we take his hydrogen breath tests, he blows the highest number D’Adamo has ever seen: 150. The doctor quickly determines that if we address his small intestine overgrowth, his immune response will quickly normalize. Dwigh is given his GenoType diet (he’s an A-positive secretor Teacher). Dr. D’Adamo also recommends a list of supplements for him: Polyflora, Intrinsa, Gastro D, apocyanum for edema, quercetin and arabinogalactan for mast cell stabilization, bromelain as an anti-inflammatory, and the homeopathic cistus Canadensis 30C for his skin condition. As part of our future plan for Dwight, we will propose a detox, as well as hydrotherapy.