Functional Medicine

Functional medicine at our medical clinic in Portland, OR, is a systems-level approach that offers patient-centered services to manage both health and chronic diseases. This field starts at the cellular level and explores the relationship between bodily systems. The aim is to find ways to enhance longevity, improve organ and system functions, and, when necessary, identify the root cause of a problem and then provide suitable treatment. We look at the whole system, which begins with listening to your goals and concerns and then gathering a detailed medical history, which may include triggers like stress, poor diet, overtraining, toxins, genetics, allergens, or alterations of the microbiome in your body. After this, we customize a treatment and healthy living plan for you. This plan will address various aspects of your life, including your physical needs like nutrition, exercise, and sleep, and mental and emotional stressors.

Our Specialty Options To Facilitate Your Health Journey

Hormone/Pellet

Balanced Hormone Therapy

Peptides

Targeted Cellular Healing

IV's/Nutrient Injections

Rapid Nutrient Replenishment

Redlight

Light Therapy Rejuvenation

FRESH M3EDICINE PROTOCOL

Food Our diet influences our overall health. A poor diet leads to inflammation, insulin resistance, hormone imbalance, and nutrient deficiencies and can alter our gut microbiome, causing issues like IB or autoimmune diseases. At Upgrade PDX, we assess key dietary strategies to improve your health, including identifying potential allergies, sensitivities, or foods that can negatively impact your health.

Rehabilitation Improvement in or a return to normal function is a top goal for patients. Identifying and implementing specific rehabilitation processes can significantly improve multiple conditions. Some types of rehab include Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, Pelvic Floor therapy, Visual-vestibular, and Neuro therapy. ( Rehab videos )

Endocrine Your endocrine system controls and coordinates your body's metabolism, energy level, reproduction, growth, and development, as well as its response to injury, stress, and mood. At Upgrade PDX, we assess the function and status of your thyroid and adrenal glands, as well as your level of insulin resistance and, when necessary, other markers that are predictive or indicators of dysfunction. We advocate for the utilization of "Functional Lab Ranges" to help optimize the system (click below).

Sleep Sleep is free medicine! There are multiple concerns arising from poor sleep. Rates of sleep apnea are higher than most people realize, and it can be a severe detriment to your health, including reducing the average lifespan by 10 years! Beyond apnea, we address quality restorative sleep by promoting sleep hygiene, restoring circadian rhythms, calming the nervous system, regulating blood sugar, and any other barrier standing in the way of quality rest. Without restorative sleep, your body cannot repair and heal.

Hormones Beyond thyroid, at Upgrade PDX, we look at optimal ranges of sex hormones ( Progesterone, Estrogen, Testosterone, and growth hormone ). By balancing these hormones, we can address a variety of issues, from metabolism problems to pain, as well as reduce long-term risks for things like cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and cognitive decline. At Upgrade PDX, we have advanced delivery methods for bioidentical hormone replacement, as well as some of the most advanced peptide therapies available. We advocate for the utilization of "Functional Lab Ranges" to help optimize the system ( click below ).

Medications Medications are sometimes necessary. We advocate for utilizing the safest, lowest dose, and most effective combinations available. We call this "medication optimization". We can reduce and replace multiple medications where applicable with either different medications or nutraceuticals/herbs, so there is less of an overall burden. When necessary, we change or add medications that we believe will be more targeted and, specific and, thus, more effective. In some cases, we get labs to identify problems with specific medications.

Musculoskeletal Pain and dysfunction can cause serious limitations and have broad consequences that impact your quality of life. At Upgrade PDX, we seek to identify your primary source of dysfunction and correct it. We do this through an extensive evaluation and an array of diagnostic tools. Treatments can range from things like trigger point muscle injections to regenerative therapies. When we feel an issue or part of an issue is beyond our scope, we refer you for specialized injections and treatments or surgical evaluation.

Mitochondria The mitochondria are organelles found in your cells that produce cellular energy and store it like a battery. They help break down nutrients like sugars and fats into energy the cells can use to perform their functions. Mitochondrial dysfunction is the primary driver of age-related disease. It has been linked to virtually all degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and cancer. There are several key co-factors required to maintain proper function, and they are easily damaged by poor diet, inflammation, infections, and toxins. Mitochondria are dependent on sirtuins. These are protein enzymes that regulate numerous cellular functions, including aging, inflammation, detoxification, stress resistance, fat and glucose metabolism, circadian rhythms, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Sirtuins, in turn, are dependent on NAD+. At Upgrade PDX, we can replace the necessary co-factors for proper mitochondrial function while also supporting Sirtuins with NAD+ and special peptides.

Exercise Motion is lotion! Some of the best evidence for health, reduced pain, mood improvement, and longevity is around exercise. At Upgrade PDX, we help you develop a program that works for you and your goals. We also emphasize pacing and practicality when talking about your needs. Plans can range from stretching to high-intensity training and everything in between.

Detoxification

This is a generic term that encompasses removing "toxins" from the body but also avoiding unnecessary exposures. We typically start by eliminating sources from food, known as the "Dirty dozen", and replacing them with the "Clean 15".

We also work on your natural processes of elimination, including liver and gallbladder function, digestion, and elimination. Beyond the basics, we can add depurative therapies such as sauna and redlight.

More advanced options could include IV therapy.

Inflammation Another key hallmark of disease, inflammation, must be addressed. It is linked to almost all chronic health conditions. There are multiple forms depending on the "root cause". This can be diet, infection, or immune dysfunction. At Upgrade PDX, we seek to identify and correct the underlying cause to restore health.

Cognitive-Behavioral CBT is a psychological approach that emphasizes changing thought patterns to change emotional responses that result in behaviors and physical outcomes. It can range from simple education in group therapy models to intensive one-on-one counseling. Other appreciable methods can be performed at home, such as mindfulness, meditation, or Heart Rate Variability. Overall, stress reduction and reduced nervous system tone can improve many parameters of health. Currently, we offer group therapy as part of our Multi-Disciplinary Pain Program and work with a selection of trusted therapists in the area.

Immune/Infections Chronic infections have been linked to several serious issues, such as Global Pain, Autoimmunity, and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes. Typically, we screen for the most common chronic infections we see clinically, such as Epstein-Barr, herpes simplex, and dysbiosis in the gut. We can also look at the "big picture" to determine when and if a "deep dive" for harder-to-diagnose chronic infections like Lyme is needed. Upgrade PDX has a host of cutting-edge treatment options ranging from standard medications to things like Low Dose Naltrexone, herbs, peptides, and bee venom.
Peptides for Immune Modulation and Autoimmune Diseases: Immune dysregulation is the universal characteristic of autoimmune diseases and can be targeted using specific peptides via anti-inflammation, T cell modulation, cell predominant shifts, OGF axis, and other mechanisms of action.
Useful peptides include Thymosin/Thymulin, VIP, BPC157, and KPV.

Nutrients Vitamins, minerals, and enzymes are the fuel for all cellular processes in the body and ultimately are responsible for ensuring proper function and health. At Upgrade PDX, we screen for both common deficiencies, such as iron and B12, and D, as well as less important markers for specific functions, such as magnesium, copper, and iodine. We have multiple options to address deficiencies: oral supplementation, injections, and IV therapy. Many nutrients are required to be in what is considered "Functional Lab Ranges" ( click below ).

Environmental Stressors In today's world, we are exposed to a variety of stressors, from pesticides in food to EFM from computers and cell phones. Many people don't consider the cumulative burden of everyday life from fluoridated water to bromide in baked goods or air pollution from traffic. Research has also shown a strong correlation between endocrine-disrupting chemicals and hormonal and autoimmune issues. There is also evidence to support toxins alter our microbiome and make us more susceptible to asthma and allergies. Often, there are simple methods to eliminate these exposures.

The term 'LDN' refers to the use of Naltrexone at doses below 10mg per day. Naltrexone exhibits novel and paradoxical effects when administered at these low doses. Naltrexone blocks the euphoric sensations associated with narcotic and alcohol use.

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is being used as a regulator of the immune system, providing relief to patients with autoimmune diseases and central nervous system disorders. The apparently diverse conditions in which LDN appears to have a therapeutic effect are united by their ability to benefit from increased levels of endorphins (naturally occurring opioids – specifically OGF). It is non-addictive and produces no narcotic-like effects.

Researchers believe that Naltrexone modulates the release of inflammatory chemicals in the central nervous system. The drug temporarily binds to and blocks the Mu opioid receptors (MORs), which are central to pain control. When these receptors are blocked, the body responds by producing more pain-relieving endorphins. When used for the management of addiction, the typical daily dosage of Naltrexone is 50–100 mg per day. For chronic pain relief, the dosage is typically less than 8 mg per day. Patients may start off with a dose as low as 0.01 mg. A more typical starting dose is 1.5 – 2.25 mg. According to a 2020 review, "Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has shown promise to reduce symptoms related to chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel conditions, and multiple sclerosis."

When it comes to treating some patients with complex chronic pain, low-dose Naltrexone appears to be more effective and well-tolerated than the big-name opioids that dominated pain management for decades. In this article, Dr. Bruce Vroorman, associate professor at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and the author of the above-mentioned 2018 review, is interviewed. Learn more

Some people who have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection, known as post-COVID conditions (PCC) or long COVID. People call post-COVID conditions by many names, including long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), long-term effects of COVID, and chronic COVID. People with post-COVID conditions can have a wide range of symptoms that can last more than four weeks or even months after infection. People with post-COVID conditions may develop or continue to have symptoms that are hard to explain and manage. At Upgrade PDX, our team can assess and determine the best options for you to recover. Our strategy is to reduce neural and systemic inflammation, enhance mitochondrial production, and modulate the vagal nerve. We have specialized therapies from immune peptides to energy IVs, GammaCore, and SphenoCath, which can deliver regenerative tissue matrix directly to the central nervous system.

The loss of brain cells from brain injuries is a well-documented phenomenon. In moderate to severe cases of brain injuries, the generalized loss could amount to 5% of brain cells per year. These are cells that include those in the areas of the brain that affect cognition and memory functions. In a recent study, a professional hockey player with multiple concussions and generalized loss or atrophy of the brain cells was observed. These deficiencies were the results of injuries received during his hockey career. Professor Linda Chao of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) was the lead investigator in the study. The subject was treated with two Vielight transcranial-intranasal devices — the Neuro Gamma, followed by the Neuro Alpha, over a period of eight weeks. The results of this study showed improvements in learning, memory, executive functions, attention, and mental processing speed. This is a very significant finding because, for the first time ever, a study was able to show measurable growth of gray matter due to transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) in some important areas of the brain in a human. The growth was present in the hippocampus and thalamic areas.
The study provides significant evidence that PBM helps the brain to repair itself! Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure the growth of neurons. In addition to the growth and repair of damage in the brain cells, the brain was observed to perform more efficiently. The study was published in the September issue of Frontiers in Neurology. Learn More

GammaCoreTM is a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator, otherwise known as nVNS, that activates the vagus nerve with gentle electrical stimulation through the skin of the neck. The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body, with branching nerves that go to the heart, lungs, stomach, and many other organs. It is for reporting information to the brain and transmitting instructions back to the body.
Think of the vagus nerve as the nervous system's "super-highway," sending important communication back and forth between your brain and parts of the body. The vagus nerve modulates systemic inflammation, having an effect on the autonomic, enteric (Gut-Brain Axis), and peripheral nervous systems. Because of this broad influence, it is useful to treat many conditions, including central pain, headache disorders, inflammatory conditions, gastrointestinal disorders, and less defined conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long-Covid

To find out more about the healthcare services we offer at Upgrade PDX, Portland, Oregon, call (971) 299-8530 or schedule an online consultation. You can also visit us at 1210 NW Johnson St., Portland, OR 97209
Please note that the information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.