Functional medicine tests are definitely not mainstream medicine. Chronic Lyme disease and co-infections can easily go undetected. Dr. Tenesha Wards shares in-depth tests that are essential to helping us dig deep to find the root cause of our symptoms.

EPISODE SUMMARY:

In this episode, Dr. Tenesha Wards discusses various functional medicine tests that can provide valuable insights into identifying the root causes of chronic symptoms. Functional medicine tests are not widely recognized in mainstream medicine but are essential in uncovering conditions such as chronic Lyme disease and co-infections that may go undetected by conventional methods.

01:35 Dr. Wards reveals the results of several tests, starting with blood work that can indicate low or high stomach acid levels. 06:07 She explains that high LDL and low HDL cholesterol levels can signify liver stress, while elevated C-reactive protein levels can indicate inflammation in the heart. 08:10 The presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can explain chronic fatigue.

10:10 Furthermore, Dr. Wards highlights the importance of the adrenal test, which measures circadian rhythms and helps assess stress levels.

11:51 Chronic infections can cause extreme stress, and 13:09 stealth pathogens hide within the body. When good bacteria levels are high, it may indicate an ongoing fight against something harmful. 14:49 Additionally, the episode discusses the presence of microscopic parasites, 16:30 the testing of brain chemicals for medication determination, and 17:18 pharmacogenetic tests for personalized medication selection.

19:06 The episode also covers mold testing to identify mycotoxins and 20:49 the ERMI test to determine if there is mold in one's home. 21:15 An MTHFR genetic mutation is mentioned, which can indicate poor detoxification ability.

21:58 Functional medicine Lyme tests are emphasized for their increased accuracy in detecting Lyme disease, 23:19 as only 30% of tick bites leave a bullseye rash. 23:30 If caught within six months, Lyme disease is treatable with Doxycycline.

23:57 Dr. Wards explains that stealth pathogens can build biofilm protective shells. 24:11 And the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, responsible for Lyme disease, has a corkscrew-like shape that allows it to spiral into the body. 25:07 Lymphatic massages can disturb the hidden pathogens.

25:52 The episode highlights the global impact of Lyme disease, mentioning a 5,300-year-old ice mummy found to have Lyme. 26:55 Lyme disease is named after Lyme, Connecticut, 26:55 while the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is named after the doctor who discovered it.

RESOURCES:

• YourTruthRevealed.com/Infinity – Free eBook and Webinar by Dr Tenesha Wards
• YourTruthRevealed.com – Newsletter and Previous Seasons

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[00:03:06] Tenesha: We found something, we know what we're dealing with. How did you feel coming into the second visit?

t didn't really know what we were going to uncover.

[00:04:36] Tenesha: We run 55 different lab markers, which is probably a third more than your traditional checkup for definitely digging into deeper things, and I'm a data nerd. The more data the better. I even look at it as you've got symptoms, that's your check engine light. Let's lift the hood, do a diagnostic evaluation.

[00:05:13] Tenesha: We found a couple things. Hypochloremia was present. Your fasting glucose was pretty low. You had multiple markers for something called Hypochloremia. Hypo means low chlor is hydrochloric acid, so low stomach acid.

[00:05:57] Tenesha: Mm-hmm. Then the good news is at this point, your liver looked good, iron looked good here. Your cholesterol was a little high, your HDL was pretty good. But when we see LDL a little high in hdl, a little low that held me, the liver could be. The liver breaks down cholesterol, and if it's not breaking it down fast enough, we were seeing a pattern of going towards liver stress. The bigger ones was your C-reactive protein.

[00:09:16] Tenesha: That tells me it's a new infection. You're dealing with it right now. You're probably. And then after you've been sick, if it is something that's chronic, like Lyme disease, the white blood cells start to fall. The Marines have died. The bugs, oh no, the bugs have killed a large population of them and they go down. If at that point, the infection still isn't treated, the body will start to make more white blood cells and you can get a snapshot in your blood where your white blood cells look fine, but yet you've been sick for years. That's again why I think some of these infections get missed. The body's ability to adapt is amazing. Things like Lyme can slip through so many doctors, it gets missed because your white blood cells looked okay. Alright.

[00:10:39] Tenesha: The adrenal glands are two tiny quarter size glands that sit on top of the kidneys. On top of the adrenal glands are your sodium potassium pump. When you're under a lot of stress, sodium potassium is used up by the adrenals, so people crave salt when they're stressed. Oh, your potassium was a little high. That tells me you were in a little bit of fight or flight when this blood draw was done. Your adrenals were really working hard.

[00:12:28] Tenesha: That's totally true. The body's goal is we need to keep you upright. We need to keep you breathing. We need to keep you pooping. We need to keep you moving forward. The body will put its resources towards long heart digestive tract in crises, and this is why we see so many people come in with thinning hair, brittle nails, bad skin. I had all. These are secondary. Third, on the level of importance.

[00:13:35] Tenesha: You had some bad opportunistic bugs, and the acronym that we found for you is si. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. You did have leaky gut, meaning the gut was inflamed, things were leaking through the gut into your bloodstream. The gut microbiome is actually a tube from your mouth to your anus. The tube that is your intestinal tract has these very tiny little openings in them that only nutrients should be absorbed through.

[00:17:59] Tenesha: This was telling me we're in adrenal fatigue, and then glutamate was a little high. The common theme with your brain chemical imbalances were anxiety focused, sleep, depression, attention, memory issues. Everything you had going on could have been explained by almost all these. We now know, and this is newer data, that most of our serotonin and dopamine and other brain chemicals are made in our gut lining. So if I haven't even the slightest inclination that someone's gut is off, I know their brain chemistry is going to be off. Because if the gut lining is inflamed, it can't make brain chemicals properly,

[00:19:17] Tenesha: Yeah. Essentially you're being exposed to mold. That's a mold that can be in a house, it can be on food.

[00:23:01] Tenesha: The ones that aren't getting well, a lot of them have Epstein and bar virus in Lyme. COVID is an intense disease. It's wiping people's immune systems. The goal is, and this is what I think I told you, is to coexist with it. Mm-hmm. But if my daughter got bit by a tick tomorrow and she had a rash, which by the way, only 30% of people have the bullseye rash and was flu-like symptoms, the next day I would put her on doxycycline antibiotics.

[00:23:49] Tenesha: It attacks the central nervous system. It is a very interesting pathogen. We call them stealth pathogens, and it can build something called a biofilm, which is essentially a shell around it for protection. They're smart. I've almost learned to respect them. The biofilm can make them resistant to antibiotics and herbs.

[00:26:41] Tenesha: I got diagnosed 1994, doctor after doctor, my mom was asking about Lyme disease and they said, oh, that's only in the East coast. I guess a tick stop at Borders. This doctor found the Spiro key, and it is named after Dr. Bergdorf Fry, but the disease is named after Lyme, Connecticut. Finally, they figured it out and they started treating these kids and they got, well, that's kind of the origination and the story of where it first was really named 15 years ago.