If you follow the news, you know that patients with the most severe and long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms are those with underlying chronic medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, lung disease, and neurological disorders. The common denominator of all these conditions is inflammation, the result of immune system dysfunction that can often be traced to an underlying condition called increased intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut or leaky gut syndrome). Taking a step back for a moment, the quotation that, “all disease begins in the gut” is commonly attributed to Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician commonly referred to as the Father of Medicine. And modern medicine mostly dismissed that claim — until recently. Today, most medical experts recognize the integral relationship between the gut and the immune system and the vital role that the gut plays in defending the body against infectious diseases. By several estimates, about […]
Leaky Gut Syndrome
In Part 1 of this two-part series on leaky gut and intestinal permeability, we explained what leaky gut is, described its symptoms, and revealed its most common causes/triggers. We also pointed out that many in the conventional medical community still do not recognize leaky gut as a legitimate medical illness. However, those of us in the medical community who are more familiar with diagnosing and treating the condition believe otherwise. We know that there are several lab tests for diagnosing leaky gut (or ruling it out), and we have witnessed the positive impact treatment has had on the lives of our patients. In this part, we describe the various tests we use for diagnosing or ruling out leaky gut and the treatment protocol we follow to restore gut health, address related conditions caused by leaky gut, and start making our patients feel better overall. Testing for Leaky Gut There are