Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

GI disorders have become all too common among Americans. In the United States, more than 70 million people suffer from some form of gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. For these people, the simple pleasures of life are compromised, and dealing with GI symptoms can be both frightening and embarrassing. People often believe that they are alone and that no one has an answer or solution.

Unfortunately, many GI disorders are not easily recognizable. These conditions are referred to as functional gastrointestinal disorders, and cannot be diagnosed through conventional methodologies such as physical examination, scoping, biopsy, blood tests, MRI, CT scan or X-ray.

Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Include:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Celiac Disease
• Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
• Leaky Gut (Intestinal Permeability)
• Heart Burn and Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn’s Disease)
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Bloating
• Flatulence

• Lactose Intolerance
• Abdominal Pain Syndrome
• Fecal Incontinence
• Gastroparesis
• Gastritis
• Dyspepsia
• Colitis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Diverticulosis
• Food Allergies
• and many others

At the DaSilva Institute, we believe that the first step in improving overall health is to optimize gut health. In fact, modern science has validated that poor gastrointestinal health plays a central role in chronic, systemic disease. From intestinal pathogens and allergens to intestinal permeability and imbalances in colonic bacteria, GI dysfunction severely compromises a patient’s health and vitality.

Our goal is to take the appropriate steps to make a proactive diagnosis, find the root cause, and aggressively treat and reverse the disease. This offers not only relief, but also an understanding of how and why you’re sick in the first place, as well as a healthier body from head to toe.

Steps to Gastrointestinal Health

1. Functional Medicine Questionnaire

We start by asking the right questions through a comprehensive questionnaire that can be completed at home at your leisure which helps direct our practitioners to recommend the testing that will uncover the root cause(s) of your symptoms.

2. Testing

Next, we provide you with specialized and specific home testing kits that are designed to reveal any possible issues that may be preventing proper function of your GI tract. These tests and issues may include:

• Gut Zoomer™: Your intestinal tract is home to over 200 trillion “friendly” bacteria that provide you with vitamins, brain chemicals (neurotransmitters), digestion of nutrients, and protection against potentially harmful organisms. When this microbiome is interrupted, the condition is called dysbiosis. This in-depth investigation seeks out harmful organisms such as Helicobacter Pylori, yeasts like Candida, parasites, and many others that might be leading to devastating symptoms in your body. The test performs the most comprehensive analysis available of your intestinal microbiomeecosystem from a simple one-time stool collection. This test examines the complex and intricate relative abundance of each species or genus measured, in relation to the rest of the ecosystem, to provide a unique perspective on the gut microbiome and its connection to disease and inflammation. Multiple inflammatory, digestive, and additional markers are included to provide a full picture of current gut function allowing our practitioner to create a highly personalized plan to help you optimize gut function.
• Poor Digestion and Absorption: Your ability to digest and absorb nutrients to be used as energy.
• Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut): The integrity of the protective barrier in your gut that is necessary to keep bacteria, parasites, fungi, and toxins from entering your blood stream and lymphatics. A non-leaky, strong barrier is pivotal to health, as it is exposed to more toxins in one day than your skin sees in over a year. This test is part of the Wheat Zoomer™ evaluation.
• Weak Immune System: The gut is home to nearly 90% of your entire immune system, which serves as your main protection from the environment. If this system is breached or not functioning, you may become susceptible to a whole host of offenders.
• Food Allergies and Sensitivities: Ignored and untreated, these can be a major cause of poor gut health, leading to leaky gut, systemic inflammation, and perpetuation of chronic disease and autoimmune conditions.
• Wheat Zoomer™ As gluten- and wheat-sensitivity become better recognized in the medical community, the need for accurate and highly sensitive testing to identify affected individuals has grown. 1 in 7 individuals in the United States has a wheat-related disorder. The Wheat Zoomer™ aids in the specific recognition of antibodies to wheat peptides – including gluten and non-gluten components, along with antibodies that indicate the presence of intestinal permeability. It is also a highly sensitive peptide-based array designed to detect autoimmune reactions to gluten. If you have a sensitivity to gluten or wheat products, this test will diagnose it even if you have had previous tests reveal that you do not have a problem with gluten. Additional “zoomer” tests include corn, grains, eggs, dairy, mammalian milk, nuts, soy, and seafood. These “zoomers” zoom into the peptide level of proteins to ensure the sensitivity needed for a proper evaluation.
• Compromised Enteric Nervous System: The nervous system of your GI tract contains more nerve cells than the entire spinal cord. In fact, it has been referred to as the “second brain,” and thus keeping it in good health is vital.
• SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth): IBS is a commonly occurring collection of symptoms diagnosed in the world of gastroenterology. It is the most common GI disorder with worldwide prevalence rates ranging from 10-15%. There are between 2.4 and 3.5 million physician visits annually for IBS in the US. Recent research has shown that up to 84% of those with an IBS diagnosis test positive for a Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth breath test. Breath tests for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth can be very time consuming for patients, as well as inaccurate, due to many factors. IBSSure™ is a simple blood test that detects two antibodies which are indicative of bacterial-pathogen-induced motility dysfunction, which can lead to increased incidence of SIBO. CdtB toxins (cytolethal distending toxin B) are released by gastroenteritis-causing bacteria, against which antibodies are produced by the immune system. These antibodies interact with a protein, vinculin, present in the intestinal cell-lining matrix. This interaction compromises and impairs digestive motility. This pathological breakdown of the gastrointestinal motility complex is foundational to chronic SIBO development and recurrence and has been well-studied and documented.

3. Consultation

Our functional medicine specialist thoroughly reviews your test results and questionnaire prior to your consultation and will have ready a specific plan of attack necessary to uncover the root cause of your problems. It is astonishing to see how so many of your seemingly unconnected symptoms are, in fact, connected, and how we, much like a detective, can piece together the clues to reveal the bigger picture.

4. Treatment

Once issues are identified, we can begin healing your gut, as well as any damage that may have been caused throughout your body. Through natural, safe, and effective methods such as lifestyle and dietary changes, supplementation, IV nutrition, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, we can build up broken barriers, fix imbalances, repair intestinal permeability, reverse disease, and revitalize one of the most important parts of the body: your gut.

 

Ready for a healthier you from the inside out?

Contact us today to receive our comprehensive questionnaire by email. There’s no charge or obligation on your part. Simply fill it out at your own pace, then contact us to set up a functional g.i. consultation.