FoundationMED

Are you getting - um - larger in the middle? Having some issues with cholesterol? Blood pressure? Blood sugar issues? Tired in the afternoon? Weight just won't go down?

Cardiometabolic disease may be an unfamiliar term for you. In a nutshell, it is a new umbrella term used to define the risk relationship between cardiovascular disease (heart attack, atherosclerosis) and diabetes.

The progression of cardiometabolic disease often goes unnoticed for decades (!) - waiting until a frank disease state can be identified by traditional medicine (like heart attack, sudden cardiac death, stroke).

By focusing on the root causes and targeting identification of known markers of early cardiometabolic disease using advanced testing, we hope to interrupt the progression of disease and bring you back to a healthy foundation.

In 1988, Gerald Reaven, MD coined the term "Metabolic Syndrome" and wrote a book "Syndrome X - Overcoming the Silent Killer That Can Give You A Heart Attack" in 2000. Dr Reaven popularized the notion that a cluster of identifiable physiological changes (with insulin resistance as the primary driver) was behind the growing cardiovascular risk in individuals lacking traditional risk markers.

Since then, much research has been done (and is still being done) investigating the complex relationship between progressive insulin resistance and metabolic dysregulation and cardiovascular disease.

The most widely accepted description of this risk profile has been the term "Metabolic Syndrome".

We now know that there is a complex inter-relationship between central obesity (adiposity), hyperglycemia (fasting sugar), dyslipidemia (cholesterol et al), and hypertension.

Mechanisms involved include

1. Insulin resistance
2. Inflammatory pathways
3. Adipokine signaling (fat cells)
4. Endothelial dysfunction (blood vessel lining)
5. Advanced glycation end products (AGE - essentially internal caramelization of your proteins and lipids) from glucose spikes in your blood
6. Beta cell function (pancreas insulin synthesizing cells) and
7. HPA axis function (hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal).

By better understanding the relationships driving cardiometabolic disease, we become better equipped to identify the root causes, triggers, and mediators in any individual patient.


Using advanced testing for emerging markers within the matrix of cardiometabolic pathophysiology, we can find and positively respond to pre-disease states that are known to be harbingers of trouble yet to come.

In short, we can identify the degree to which you are already heading towards cardiometabolic disease, and we can work to reverse it and enhance your basic health.

By careful selection of therapies that target the disease process (and not just targeting the biomarkers - i.e. Functional Medicine principles), we can provide a greater risk reduction for our patients. It is by working with our patients in a partnership that will best lead to enhanced foundational wellness.