Quick Anatomy lesson. Think of the heart as a pump and the vessels (arteries and veins) as the connector to and from the heart. The heart pumps oxygen rich blood through the connectors to organs and tissues all over the body. Then the connectors bring that oxygen depleted blood back to the heart to do it all over again. Many things must remain optimal for this system to work efficiently. #1 The connectors must be elastic enough to accommodate the high pressure of the blood coming from the heart (this is why we get concerned of high blood pressure). #2 We need the inside of those connectors to be nice and wide-open, we do not want any blockages, that’s when we get congestive heart failure, strokes and heart attacks. #3 We need oxygen rich blood.

There have been thousands of studies linking increase inflammation in the vessels to cardiovascular disease and stroke, so we know they are intimately connected, but what causes the inflammation to get there in the first place?

Functional medicine practitioners will go through and intensive history with each patient. We dig deep. Then we order the appropriate lab testing to connect the dots and figure out where the inflammation is, what’s producing it and how bad it is. Then we work with your body to bring that inflammation down by going to the source of it. Inflammation is your body speaking to you, a cry for help. A medicine to take the pain away and bring the inflammation down will only work for short time, the ROOT CAUSE of the inflammation is required to truly resolve it.