Overview
As a whole, autoimmune disease affects over 80 million Americans and five percent of the population in Western countries. They include type 1 diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and dozens of others. While your body is designed to fight off harmful things like infections, toxins, allergens, or a stress response, with autoimmune issues the body directs a hostile attack on its own joints, brain, skin, and more.
In this episode, Dr. Hyman speaks with Dr. Cynthia Li and Dr. Terry Wahls about their personal stories of working through autoimmunity and how it led them to help others using Functional Medicine. They also dive into the underlying triggers of inflammation such as stress, hidden infections, food allergies or sensitivities, toxic exposure, genetic predisposition, nutrient deficiencies, and leaky gut.
Dr. Cynthia Li received her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She’s practiced as an internist in many settings, including Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital, and St. Anthony Medical Clinic serving the homeless. She currently has a private practice in Berkeley, CA and published the book Brave New Medicine: A Doctor's Unconventional Path to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness.
Dr. Terry Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa. Her secondary progressive multiple sclerosis confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years, but she restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for mitochondrial health and now pedals her bike to work each day. She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine, The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, and the cookbook, The Wahls Protocol Cooking for Life: The Revolutionary Modern Paleo Plan to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions.
Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here:
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