The Best Brain Fog and Chronic Fatigue Treatment in Tampa, FL

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine

Here’s How to Overcome Brain Fog and Chronic Fatigue Here at the BioDesign Wellness Center, new patients often come to us reporting that they are always tired and cannot focus — not at home, work, or school. Many have already sought help from one or more conventional medical practitioners. Some have been diagnosed and are receiving treatment but experiencing little to no relief. Many of these patients they’ve been told that they have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or some other condition commonly linked to fatigue. Worse, some are led to believe that nothing physically is wrong — that fatigue and brain fog are normal in the high-stress world in which we live. Read more to learn how to combat Brain Fog and Chronic Fatigue with Functional Medicine in Tampa, FL. Nearly all these patients are frustrated; many are on …

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NAD+: The Fountain of Youth?

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine

In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver visits the land of the Luggnaggs, where he meets the Immortals, who ask him what he would do were he granted immortality. Gulliver fantasizes about gaining great wealth, learning, and knowledge. He imagines communing with other immortals in a group of wise ones, setting a virtuous, grand example for the rest of mankind. Like many people, Gulliver links immortality with perpetual youth, health, wealth, and wisdom. However, he soon discovers that, although the Immortals live forever, they continue to age and are eventually stripped of their health and wealth. Instead of becoming wise and understanding, they become jealous of youth and the ability to die. Unlike the protagonist in Jonathan Swift’s classic novel, not all of us pine for immortality. What we really want is youthful vigor over the entire course of our lives. We want to feel great and look fantastic into our 70s, 80s, …

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The Problem with the 7-Minute Doctor Visit

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine / 7-Minute Doctor Visit, Commonwealth Fund, David Squires, Eric C. Schneider, Healthcare System, Seven-Minute Doctor Visit, Typical Office Visit

One of the key issues undermining health in the United States and especially here in Tampa, Fla., is the simple fact that our modern healthcare system treats patients as consumers instead of as partners in health. The average primary care physician sees three to four patients per hour. That averages out to about 15 to 20 minutes per patient visit, not counting the time the doctor spends between patients and time spent writing prescriptions, ordering and reviewing test results, and so on. Subtract that time, and we estimate the average time a doctor actually spends communicating with a patient is about seven minutes. Seven minutes is certainly enough time for a doctor to hear a patient describe one or two primary symptoms and to write a prescription or make a referral to a specialist. However, it is not nearly enough time for a doctor to establish the sort of partnership with a …

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Glutathione Treatments: Part 2 — Treating Common Health Conditions with GSH

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine / Brain Fog, Depression, Diabetes, Glutathione, GSH, GSSG, Leaky Gut, Lung Disease, Mold Illness, Reduced Glutathione, Thyroid Dysfunction

Welcome to Part 2 of our two-part series about glutathione treatments. In Part 1, “The Mother of All Antioxidants,” we explained the importance of maintaining a healthy ratio of reduced-to-oxidized glutathione, presented common illnesses that arise when imbalances are left untreated, explained the benefits of reduced glutathione (GSH), and revealed the risks of “self-medicating” with over-the-counter GSH supplements. In this part — Treating Common Health Conditions with Glutathione — the focus shifts to specific illnesses and other health conditions that can be improved with the addition of glutathione supplementation, and we also explain the types of glutathione supplementation we use here at BioDesign Wellness Center (because the method of delivery can have a big impact on its effectiveness). Lung Diseases Smoking tobacco causes oxidative damage to lung cells mainly due to the additives in most tobacco products. Research shows glutathione can help to clear the oxidative damage in the lungs …

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Glutathione Treatments 101: Part 1 — The Mother of All Antioxidants

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine / Brain Fog, Diabetes, Glutathione, GSH, GSSG, Leaky Gut, Lung Disease, Mold Illness, Reduced Glutathione

If you are aging prematurely, feeling run down or depressed, or are suffering from lung disease, diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, or any of a number of auto-immune or inflammatory conditions, one of the underlying issues could be that your body is running low on reduced glutathione (GSH). A powerful and normally abundant antioxidant, glutathione protects cells from oxidative stress — a condition that ensues when free radicals overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate them. Abundant amounts of glutathione are required in the liver and brain to reduce inflammation, support healthy detoxification, reduce infection, protect DNA, and support the clearance of medications. As the “mother of all antioxidants,” glutathione has a wide array of positive impacts on the body. It can help to support the liver following alcohol consumption, reduce some of the negative impacts associated with smoking, and speed recovery from viruses, infection, exercise, and injuries. In Part 1 of this …

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The Role of Bloodwork in Functional Medicine

By Dr. Winston Cope / Functional Medicine / Blood, Bloodwork

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 …

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