MINNEAPOLIS HOLISTIC & FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE DOCTOR

Welcome to Our Clinic!

Founded by Dr. Greg Fors, a Board-certified Chiropractic Neurologist (DIBCN), Pain and Brain Healing Center has helped countless patients throughout the world address their chronic and acute health challenges by concentrating on the root cause of their issues, rather than merely treating the symptoms. Dr. Fors uses a comprehensive holistic appro

Dr. Fors came to realize the importance of functional medicine in healing through his own health struggles. Dr. Fors has suffered with fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, pre-diabetes and SIBO. Conventional medicine did not bring about real healing for him. Through his journey of health restoration with functional medicine he has come to appreciate the power of food, supplements, herbs, and acupuncture to bring about real healing! He brings this awareness and love of functional medicine to each case he personally treats.

Get to the Root Cause of Your Health Problems With Functional Medicine

Everyone seems to have a pill for something. You name it, and there is a company with a claim and data to make even the most pessimistic patient a believer that "THIS is IT!” As much as it pains us to tell you, there is no magic cure for good health. Wellness and healing start and end with you. The body is made to cure itself in most cases, given the right conditions. Functional medicine is the bridge to support patients in addressing their health problems versus masking symptoms with prescription medications out the gate.

According to the National Health Council, nearly 50 percent of the US population has at least one chronic disease. Approximately 8 percent of children ages 5-17 years old experience interruptions with activities due to chronic illness. In addition, the Council has reported that more than 157 million Americans will suffer from a chronic disease, of which 81 million will have more than one chronic illness.

Functional Medicine Benefits: Why You Should Care

Physiology, not Symptomology Alone

The human body is made up of parts that work as a functional whole. In conventional Medicine these parts are looked after by physician specialists, e.g., cardiologists, endocrinologists, rheumatologists, etc. However, because various bodily systems or functions depend on others, doesn't it make sense to treat the body as a whole versus separate parts? Functional medicine does just this. As such, we treat you as a whole individual, investigating how each system interacts with the entire body.

For example, the digestive system has a tremendous impact on a wide variety of systems. The health of the digestive system determines how well vital nutrients are brought in to the body. There is an extraordinarily strong gut-brain connection through the vagus nerve, where the actual microbiome of the gut affects the function of the brain, leading to conditions such as depression, anxiety, and brain fog. Furthermore, 70 percent of the immune system lies in the digestive tract and has tremendous influence upon inflammation in the body. Chronic systemic inflammation is the underpinning of chronic illness.

More Time with Your Provider

Far too often, going to the doctor can feel like a drive-thru window. You show up, share what's ailing you while your weight and blood pressure are taken, and after five minutes of visiting with the physician or advanced practice provider, you leave with a prescription in hand. Sound familiar? Because functional medicine takes a holistic approach, we will spend more time with patients. This time is needed to truly visualize all pieces of the puzzle before assembling a game plan that addresses a patient's needs as a complete being and not only the body part that's ailing them.

Functional Medicine Incorporates Nutrition

The adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" may be a simplistic way of expressing the belief "eat well, feel well," but there's credence to it. As such, patients will almost always find diet and nutrition incorporated into their health plan to support healing from the inside out.

Preventive, Not Reactive

Most people take a reactive approach to their health. They go to the doctor when something is wrong. It's the equivalent of running out of gas, and then going to the gas station versus filling up when there's a quarter tank left. Unfortunately a reactive approach is not ideal. We know this based on the stats cited earlier relative to chronic illness. Functional medicine professionals partner with patients to take corrective measures based on their physiology, the potential for disease, and biochemical factors, identified thorough examination and comprehensive laboratory testing.

Personalized Approach

Functional medicine is patient-centered treatment, not physician-focused. In short, our patients' concerns, goals, and lifestyles are considered in addressing their health issues, which set patients up for success! Patients are not only heard; they are understood. The understanding patients should be empowered to tackle their health challenges by partnering with their physician is why so many are seeking this more progressive functional medicine approach over disempowering conventional healthcare model.

There are plenty of benefits to functional medicine. Asking the question as to why the disease process is happening versus masking the symptoms with a bandage– i.e., a pill – should be a part of anyone's wellness journey. Having a physician health-partner with expertise in addressing the root cause of health imbalance is the first step to getting on that path.

The Conditions We Treat

The current system of conventional medical care does not work well in addressing the chronic illnesses that Americans are suffering and dying from. Rather than simply reacting to disease symptoms with prescription medications, our clinic takes an all-inclusive approach – using the principles of functional medicine – to find and treat the root causes of conditions. Below you’ll find a partial list of conditions we treat. 

Digestive Disorders: Digestive conditions such as gastric reflux, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and inflammatory bowel disease, amongst others, can often be addressed through nutrition, diet and gut flora modifications, which are typically not explored in conventional medicine. Furthermore, as earlier stated the digestive system is often at the root of chronic health issues. A very recent 2020 study boldly titled “All disease begins in the (leaky) gut: role of zonulin-mediated gut permeability in the pathogenesis of some chronic inflammatory diseases,” states that the epidemic of chronic inflammatory diseases begins with immune activation via a leaky gut.

Proper digestive lab testing is vital to get to the source of chronic health problem, especially those of the gut. Testing such as a functional Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis with microbiome mapping and biomarkers Calprotectin for inflammation and Zonulin for leaky gut. Also utilized is a Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth Breath Test to diagnose SIBO. SIBO is one of the primary underlying causes of irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, anxiety, and fatigue.

With a functional medicine approach proper laboratory tests are done to identify the underlying issues, and then appropriate dietary changes, nutritional supplementation, herbal medicine, and acupuncture are utilized to heal these digestive issues without drugs and surgery. We have helped so many individuals overcome their chronic digestive issues, just take a look at our testimonials; I am sure we can do it for you.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue: These two conditions usually go hand in hand, along with IBS. Within conventional Medicine the causes of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue are poorly understood. This is because these disorders are syndromes caused by multiple issues in the patient’s history. The underlying mechanism is that of chronic systemic inflammation that leads to myofascial trigger point formation or muscle knots and poor mitochondrial production of energy. One of the primary drivers is that of gut health problems that may even date back for years. As previously stated, leaky gut can lead to increased chronic inflammation, which leads to chronic pain and fatigue.

With a functional medicine approach, we utilize natural anti-inflammatory herbs to reduce your inflammation. We then track down the underlying source of your chronic inflammation, such as a SIBO and a leaky gut. We then work to relieve your pain and stiffness by removing myofascial trigger points through acupuncture and myofascial therapies. We have been phenomenally successful with fibromyalgia syndrome and chronic fatigue for many individuals, please see our testimonials. Why not give us a try.

Anxiety and Depression: In traditional medicine, anxiety is often viewed as a GABA neurotransmitter deficiency, usually treated with the benzodiazepine drug. These drugs are highly addictive and dangerous. They should be utilized only at times of extreme emergency. Generally, depression is treated with a SSRI first to try to support serotonin levels. However, neurons of the brain are not dumb. If someone is shoving in an added neurotransmitter, in a feedback loop the neuron can cut back on its own production of that neurotransmitter. This leads to the need for medication changes or medication additions such as Abilify. So, the drug merry-go-round begins.

However, in functional medicine we ask the question, “if it is caused by a neurotransmitter deficiency, why is the neurotransmitter deficient?” Is there not enough production because of not enough precursor nutrients, is there a problem of the neurotransmitter receptor function because of neuroinflammation or nutritional deficiency such as omega-3 fatty acid DHA. This allows for assessing the root problem and not the output of the issue. Again, gut health and the gut-brain connection are vital in addressing anxiety.

Insomnia: A good night's sleep can often be hard to come by for many, but it is an integral foundation to being healthy and alert throughout the day and living your life to the fullest. Insomnia, at various periods of life, afflicts roughly 70 million people in the United States, according to NIH. Dysregulation of your HPA axis can be a major cause of insomnia, as well as anxiety and irritability.

I went through a period of my life where insomnia dominated my existence. My first-hand experience with this gives extremely good insight into helping our patients diagnose and remedy this issue for them and recover their health and take their life back from insomnia. Contact us today if you're done letting insomnia affect your life.

Neuropathy: Neuropathy is quite common. It is estimated that up to 30 percent of Americans will be affected by neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy refers to the many conditions that involve damage to the peripheral nervous system. The network that sends signals between the brain and all other parts of the body. Nerve signaling in neuropathy is disrupted in three ways: loss of signals normally sent, inappropriate signaling when there should not be any, errors that distort the messages being sent.

About 70 percent of all peripheral neuropathy cases are caused by diabetes. Therefore, the vast majority cases one must get control of their blood sugar levels, ideally through diet and nutritional support. Please see my condition page on pre-diabetes and diabetes to understand what needs to be done. Specific nutritional supplements can be very helpful in diabetic neuropathy.

The second most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is that of nutritional deficiencies. There are numerous nutrients that are necessary for healthy nerves, such as DHA, alpha lipoic acid, and vitamin D. This is especially true with methyl folate. This has been shown to help with nerve regeneration. In peripheral neuropathy it is important to have someone test your folate and B12 levels.

Third common cause of peripheral neuropathy is autoimmune neuropathy. This is where your immune system attacks your peripheral nerves and slowly destroys them. This often goes undiagnosed. Furthermore, there are no really good medications for this. However, functional Medicine holds real promise in treating this disorder. First and foremost, as in all autoimmune disorders one must look for and correct any leaky gut. This is a primary driver of autoimmunity.

Hyperthyroidism: Every cell in your body has a thyroid hormone receptor. Therefore, hypothyroidism or a decrease in thyroid hormone production can lead to multiple systemic symptoms. Primary symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and constipation. Therefore, every patient who comes to the clinic is assessed fully for thyroid dysfunction.

This cannot be done with just a TSH test, as is done in a conventional medicine. To understand as thyroid function, one must test the full thyroid axis. So we thoroughly test TSH, free T4, free T3, and reverse T-3. Over 70 percent of all hypothyroidism today is caused by Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis. Therefore, all patients with thyroid symptoms are tested for anti-TPO and antithyroglobulin thyroid antibodies for Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis.

In functional Medicine once hypothyroidism has been identified and its underlying cause identified appropriate dietary, nutritional and herbal support is utilized. In conventional Medicine Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis is treated with T4 levothyroxine or Synthroid. In other words, as your thyroid is dying from the autoimmune attack, they are replacing the under produced thyroxine. This is helpful with the symptoms but does not get to the underlying issues.

With functional medicine, you look to the underlying causes of the autoimmune condition such as leaky gut and fix that. You also work towards reducing the autoimmune onslaught on the thyroid gland. This can be achieved through nutritional support, especially antioxidants. In other words, in Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism you need to treat the whole individual to achieve real healing.

Reversing Pre-diabetes or Diabetes

The truth is that if properly addressed this devastating disorder can be reversed, especially the earlier it is caught so do not delay! To properly treat prediabetes and diabetes you must go beyond drugs and just treating symptoms, you must go after the real underlying metabolic and dietary causes of your personal disease process. The outdated view of using carbohydrate exchanges does not work; your diet and nutritional support must be personalized for your particular situation, by a doctor who understands personalized lifestyle medicine.

Mayo found that the use of drugs to control your blood glucose levels showed no significant benefit in reducing the risk of dialysis, kidney transplant, renal death, blindness, or neuropathy. (Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2016). The ACCORD Study has shown that medication and insulin increase your risk of getting a heart attack or dying.

A personalized program for your pre-diabetes or type II diabetes can normalize your blood sugar levels or reduce your needs for medications that have side effects. This personalized program is based on laboratory testing that helps to determine your specific nutritional needs. Numerous research studies have shown specific supplements and herbs can be immensely helpful in normalizing blood sugar levels. Also, there are numerous studies on the benefit of acupuncture in diabetes.

There is always a reason the body becomes sick, and our functional medicine approach is the best ally for addressing these concerns before going the route of a prescription medication.

Take Charge of Your Health

If you are interested in learning more about what our functional medicine solutions can do for you, contact us online, by phone 763-862-7100 or in person to schedule your appointment! We look forward to helping from you.