Dr. Elissa Epel

So as we're peeling the layers of the onion, she had some digestive symptoms, a lot of bloating, a lot of discomfort, and she had, we had done a full sleep study, she had restless legs and periodic limb movements. She turned out to have a very abnormal breath test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

So as we're peeling the layers of the onion, she had some digestive symptoms, a lot of bloating, a lot of discomfort, and she had, we had done a full sleep study, she had restless legs and periodic limb movements. She turned out to have a very abnormal breath test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

Where they don't belong, right, right.

Where they don't belong, right, right.

Where they don't belong, right, right.

Absolutely. And low iron. Her iron wasn't terribly low, but one of the sidebars here, I think the other thing we do in functional and integrative medicine is understand the difference between a normal blood test. I should put, quote, normal blood test and an optimal blood test. Ferritin is a classic example of that. Ferritin looks at your total tissue iron.

Absolutely. And low iron. Her iron wasn't terribly low, but one of the sidebars here, I think the other thing we do in functional and integrative medicine is understand the difference between a normal blood test. I should put, quote, normal blood test and an optimal blood test. Ferritin is a classic example of that. Ferritin looks at your total tissue iron.

Absolutely. And low iron. Her iron wasn't terribly low, but one of the sidebars here, I think the other thing we do in functional and integrative medicine is understand the difference between a normal blood test. I should put, quote, normal blood test and an optimal blood test. Ferritin is a classic example of that. Ferritin looks at your total tissue iron.

In your iron bank, your iron stores, right. And normal can be anywhere from 15 to 250. Yeah. So it's a big range. And what we know the threshold is for somebody who's got restless leg symptoms is you actually don't want to be normal.

In your iron bank, your iron stores, right. And normal can be anywhere from 15 to 250. Yeah. So it's a big range. And what we know the threshold is for somebody who's got restless leg symptoms is you actually don't want to be normal.

In your iron bank, your iron stores, right. And normal can be anywhere from 15 to 250. Yeah. So it's a big range. And what we know the threshold is for somebody who's got restless leg symptoms is you actually don't want to be normal.

You want to be over a hundred because there's some evidence, even comparing it head to head with those dopamine drugs we mentioned earlier, getting somebody's ferritin over a hundred was as effective as the dopamine medications.

You want to be over a hundred because there's some evidence, even comparing it head to head with those dopamine drugs we mentioned earlier, getting somebody's ferritin over a hundred was as effective as the dopamine medications.

You want to be over a hundred because there's some evidence, even comparing it head to head with those dopamine drugs we mentioned earlier, getting somebody's ferritin over a hundred was as effective as the dopamine medications.

That's amazing, right? As simple as correcting a nutrient deficiency, not to the normal range, but the optimal range for that condition.

That's amazing, right? As simple as correcting a nutrient deficiency, not to the normal range, but the optimal range for that condition.

That's amazing, right? As simple as correcting a nutrient deficiency, not to the normal range, but the optimal range for that condition.

And Mark, I think from the internal medicine standpoint too, it's equally important to say, don't just correct the iron, figure out the why. You don't want to miss blood loss somewhere. Yeah, she got a colon cancer. Absolutely.

And Mark, I think from the internal medicine standpoint too, it's equally important to say, don't just correct the iron, figure out the why. You don't want to miss blood loss somewhere. Yeah, she got a colon cancer. Absolutely.

And Mark, I think from the internal medicine standpoint too, it's equally important to say, don't just correct the iron, figure out the why. You don't want to miss blood loss somewhere. Yeah, she got a colon cancer. Absolutely.