The 7 keys to UltraWellness...

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The 7 keys to UltraWellness...

Posted on February 8th, 2007

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"I didn't know how bad I felt until I started feeling better."

That's a statement I hear from my patients every day.

With the right approach, they go from feeling ill or just "okay" to a state of what I call UltraWellness.

And over the next 7 weeks, I'm going to give you the tools you need to start experiencing UltraWellness, too.

(Please note: I am also in the middle of developing a more in-depth video tutorial series, but it's not ready yet. However, I am accepting sign-ups now if you are interested. Please go to http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=1 for more details)

But first, you need to understand why you -- and so many others -- may feel sick and not even realize it.

If you've got limited time, you can watch the video version of this blog by clicking on the big play button on the video at the top of this blog. I am very excited to finally be able to add video to my weekly blog, so I hope you enjoy it.

If you do enjoy it, please feel free to share it with your friends.

One favor...since this is the first time I've done a video blog, I'd love to get your thoughts. How does it look? Does it play ok for you or did you have problems viewing (if so, tell me what operating system you are using, type of computer and what internet browser)? Do you like the content? Do you have any suggestions for making it better?

Please let me know your thoughts by clicking the Add a Comment button at the end of this post and posting your thoughts -- I'll be sure to read every single one.

Now, back to UltraWellness...

Most people don't know how poorly they feel until they feel better.

We tend to view annoying symptoms like fatigue, digestive problems, aches and pains, allergies, and headaches as just a part of life.

But these symptoms are often really a sign of bigger problems.

The truth is, they can be early clues to impending disease that can disable and kill us.

In fact, many conditions have their roots in the body long before they are diagnosed.

For example, we now know that most heart disease starts in the womb.

We know that brain changes can be detected in teenagers that can predict the development of Alzheimer's disease years later.

We know that blood tests in children can predict who will develop diabetes later in life.

And we know that most cancers take over 30 years to grow to the size they can be detected.

So, many of us could be living with diseases now and not even know it.

But how can we address problems that we don't even know we have?

==> The key is identifying and treating the root of the problem, not just symptoms.

Unfortunately, that's not the way conventional medicine approaches illness.

Conventional medicine does have its uses -- but mainly at the end of disease.

If you are very sick, break a bone, have a raging infection, or have another emergency, then, yes, conventional acute care medicine is the right solution.

As former emergency room doctor and the husband of an orthopedic surgeon, I am glad we have this care when we need it.

But when I worked in the emergency room, I felt I was saving people just before (or sometimes after) they were washed downstream and over the waterfall to their death!

Soon, I began to ask what led them to this point -- what had happened upstream in the process of disease and illness?

What were the real causes of disease?

If I could answer that question, I thought, I might then be able to help prevent disease in the first place.

The early influences on my thinking -- from Asian philosophy to nutritional biochemistry to the study of ecology and ecosystems -- all helped me form a very new and different view of health and disease.

Today, I am part of a revolution in medicine that is on the leading edge of an entire shift in our scientific model of disease.

It is called systems medicine or functional medicine.

Functional medicine looks at the roots of illness, not just the symptoms, and works with the fundamental underlying biological forces that power our vitality.

It provides a way of understanding all the influences on our biology that are at the root of illness -- and how our lifestyle and environment interact with our genes to create the balances or imbalances that are the real determinants of health or disease.

This medical view does not reduce symptoms and diseases to their component parts, but studies the entire ecology of the body and its environment.

What does all this mean for you?

Well, I have practiced functional medicine for over 12 years -- and have seen miracle after miracle, day after day.

People don't only get relief from symptoms, they get truly well!

That is why I have called this approach to health UltraWellness.

==> I believe that UltraWellness is the answer to the healthcare crisis we find ourselves in.

And make no mistake -- it is a crisis.

We're in the middle of an increasing epidemic of chronic disease and an impending economic collapse as more of our resources are put toward caring for the chronically ill.

Today medicine is in a serious predicament.

The way we understand health and disease no longer reflects biological reality, or the biological laws of nature.

We are good at naming diseases, then blaming the name for the problem, then finding a drug that matches the name. I call this the "naming and blaming" game.

But we need to understand that diseases are not fixed things that you catch or that just show up out of the blue -- and are instead related to the environment, your diet, your genes, and your lifestyle.

We need to understand that the body is an ecosystem and in turn is part of a larger ecosystem.

Understanding how all the parts relate and what disturbs our ecological balance is far more important than naming the disease and thinking that a drug will fix it.

For example, depression doesn't just show up without cause or reason, but is related to a web of forces that we can influence and affect.

Yet that's not how conventional medicine views it.

Our current way of thinking is outdated, wrong, and will not help us address our declining health as individuals or a society.

That's why we are making no progress and even backsliding when it comes to addressing chronic disease.

Let's look at the data.

==> Chronic disease has reached epidemic levels in this country.

Right now, 125 million Americans have a chronic disease. That means in the average family of three, at least one person has a chronic disease.

The fact is, nearly every modern disease is on the rise.

We are seeing an epidemic of autoimmune (24 million Americans), allergic (50 million Americans), and asthmatic (30 million Americans) diseases in this country.

Plus, 20 percent of Americans (or about 60 million people) have irritable bowel syndrome.

One in three children born today will have type 2 diabetes. One in two people over age 85 will develop dementia.

These conditions are increasing in the population at a dramatic rate. And they affect everyone, either personally or through the suffering of someone close to them.

This is the problem.

==> And I believe that functional medicine -- UltraWellness -- is the answer.

Every day in my office, I see patients who come to me expecting to suffer their whole lives from chronic problems like bad digestion, headaches, fatigue, arthritis, allergies, hormonal problems, obesity, heart disease, depression, and more.

What happens when they begin treatment?

Within just a few months -- or even weeks -- they begin to feel healthy and alive again!

This week alone, I spoke with a 27-year-old woman could not lose weight and was constantly tired.

She finally -- and effortlessly -- lost 20 pounds by treating her mercury toxicity.

Then there was the 78-year-old woman who was coping with fatigue, memory loss, joint pains, and bad digestion and was ready to give up.

She now works out every day and is full of energy, simply because we treated her nutritional deficiencies and helped her get back in balance.

There was the 30-year-old woman with PMS, migraines, stomachaches, acne, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

She is now completely better after getting her system back in balance.

And there was the 47-year-old woman with chronic sinus infections and fatigue.

She hasn't had a problem all winter.

And these were patients from just part of one day!

I'll say it again: Most of us just don't realize how bad we feel until we start feeling better. We accept chronic symptoms as a necessary part of life.

It doesn't have to be that way! All of us have the capacity within us to achieve UltraWellness, we just need to be shown the keys.

(For a much more detailed and in-depth look at the 7 keys to UltraWellness, please go to http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=1)

Now get ready to discover these 7 keys to UltraWellness over the next 7 weeks.

I'm going to share with you what I have learned in the last 20 years of seeing patients, studying the scientific literature, combining my knowledge and observations with other doctors who are also practicing functional medicine, and applying it in my practice.

I'm committed to sharing it with you because it works.

This approach isn't a miracle cure.

It isn't perfect and it can't help 100 percent of health problems, 100 percent of the time -- but it IS a better mousetrap!

==> This is the promise of UltraWellness.

It's the opportunity to cure or dramatically improve chronic problems that are poorly addressed by conventional medicine and to discover vital, vibrant, good health at any age.

Over the next 7 weeks, I will teach you each of the 7 fundamental concepts that help me discover the underlying causes of disease -- and that will help you achieve UltraWellness.

These concepts are my roadmap in the landscape of health and disease.

This is the future of medicine.

But I'm going to share it with you so you can take advantage of its benefits today.

Here's how it works.

* During Week One (next week), I will explain how everything in your environment interacts with your genes to create health or disease -- your diet, nutritional status, air, water, microorganisms, exercise, trauma, psychosocial factors, environmental toxins, and radiation.

* During Week Two, I'll explain how most people suffer from smoldering hidden inflammation that can kill you unless you learn how to control it.

* In Week Three, I will show you how your hormones and brain chemistry influence nearly every aspect of your health, why they get out of whack, and how to get them back in balance.

* In Week Four, I'll review how your digestive system is the core of your health, why it breaks down, and how to repair it.

* In Week Five, I will explain how toxins and problems with your detoxification or waste management systems lead to chronic health problems and how to optimize your detoxification system.

* During Week Six, you will learn the importance of energy -- how we make it, why we lose it, and how to create more of it.

* And finally, in the seventh week, we'll focus on how the mind interacts with the body and the body interacts with the mind to influence and affect every other system in the body.

Remember, these are really not all separate systems. They are all part of a web of function and physiology that is at the root of both health and disease.

This way of thinking about health and disease is nothing less than revolutionary.

And it will guide you toward something many of you have given up on experiencing OR never even knew existed -- UltraWellness.

Once you achieve UltraWellness, you'll never want to go back!

Get ready to get started next week.

I'd love to hear from you on this topic.

What do you think about the concept of UltraWellness?

Are you settling for how good you can feel, not knowing you could feel much better?

Do you have any experiences you can share addressing one of these core underlying problems and feeling better as a result?

Do you disagree that UltraWellness is achievable by anybody?

Please let me know your thoughts by clicking on the Add a Comment button below and posting your thoughts.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

PS - I am in the middle of developing an exciting video program that's no cost to you whatsoever that will go into much more detail than I can with these blogs. Although the full course won't be ready until Tuesday, February 27th, you can reserve your slot right now by going to:

==> http://www.ultrawellness.com/p?i=1

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