If you read Part I in our series on Repairing Tampa’s Knees with Stem Cell Therapy, you know that recently, doctors have started using stem cells to restore cartilage and to heal damaged bone, muscle, tendons, and ligaments and that as a result, stem cell therapy may help some people avoid surgery or at least delay it indefinitely. Here at BioDesign Wellness Center, we offer stem cell therapy in a minimally invasive environment that provides relief and restoration of damaged or deteriorated knees. Is Stem Cell Therapy Right for You? If you have chronic knee pain due to orthopedic injuries or degenerative conditions, such as osteoarthritis, you should at least consider stem cell therapy as a replacement for or in addition to surgery. For example, if your knee joint has lost most or all of its cartilage — resulting in a “bone on bone” condition — stem cell therapy may […]
Jerry, a lifelong Tampa resident and ex-athlete in his 40s was told by his orthopedic surgeon that the cartilage in his knee was gone. He had no meniscus. His knee joint was bone-on-bone, according to his surgeon, and surgery would be the only option. Instead, Jerry told his doctor, “I’d like to try stem cell therapy.” His doctor thought he was crazy, but there was nothing he could do to stop the former Division III football player and weekend warrior, so Jerry tried a stem cell injection. Six months later, he felt better, but whenever he bent his knee, he heard clicking and felt a catch, so Jerry got a second injection. The catching continued after the second injection, so Jerry returned to his orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon x-rayed Jerry’s knee and, after examining the x-ray, told Jerry, “Well, I don’t know how, but I think you have a torn
In the first part of this two-part series, “Living with Mold in Tampa: Part 1 — Recognizing the Warning Signs,” we highlighted the symptoms of mold illness and the signs that your home might be contaminated with toxic mold. We also described the four mold toxins that are the biggest concerns: Ochratoxins, Aflatoxins, Trichothecenes, and Gliotoxin. As we mentioned in that post, much of today’s awareness and understanding of mold illness is thanks to the work of Dr. Richie Shoemaker. Until Dr. Shoemaker began publishing on the topic of mold illness, many people suffering as a result of toxic mold remained undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. They were provided with no effective or lasting treatment. Through Dr. Shoemaker’s work, thousands of people have found answers and relief (but many continue to suffer because the majority of doctors are still ill-informed). In Part 2 of this series, we present the three-step diagnostic and
Do you live in Tampa, run across mold in your home or workplace on a regular basis, and have a persistent illness that defies treatment — fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, unexplained allergies, difficulty breathing, recurring or lingering sinus infections? Do you feel as though you’ve been drugged or poisoned? If you feel miserable, and your doctor can’t figure out the cause, it could be something in your home or workplace, your food or water, or perhaps even growing inside you — toxic mold. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “Molds grow best in warm, damp, and humid conditions.” In Florida, whether we’re inside or outside, chances are good that mold is growing all around us. Chances are also good that mold is growing in us. Sadly, for us, mold and mold infection are nothing new. However, thanks to Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, a leading authority on
Here at BioDesign Wellness Center, we place a great deal of importance on bloodwork. In fact — when it comes to our master plan of care — selecting which blood tests will be administered ranks right up there with your initial appointment and interview with our doctors. That’s because nearly everything we do from a diagnostic standpoint begins with analyzing the results of your bloodwork. We sometimes use analogies to describe our practices, so with that in mind, we’d like you to think of blood tests as a sort of blueprint. Picture an outdated kitchen undergoing a complete remodel. What’s going to be the homeowner’s first plan of action? Probably hiring a contractor and having some plans drawn up, right? A thorough blood workup provides us with those blueprints — vital details that we must have in hand in order to: Understand what’s happening within key systems in your body
With this initial post, we here at BioDesign Wellness Center welcome you to our new blog, which we expect will evolve into a valuable source of information about functional medicine and integrative healthcare in the Greater Tampa Bay Area. If you’re already familiar with BioDesign, we think you’ll appreciate the fact that we now have a blog of our own — a place where we can demonstrate our commitment to educating patients and others pursuing answers and solutions to chronic health issues or who simply want to lead healthier lives. And by educate, we mean this: There is so much confusion and conflicting information out there about medicine and healthcare that people are understandably miffed. If you’re anything like the patients who arrive at our practice by way of a conventional medical organization, you don’t know what to believe or who to turn to with your questions and concerns. At