Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS

Quick answer: Alzheimer’s disease has been reversed in early-stage patients through the ReCODE (Reversal of Cognitive Decline) protocol — a comprehensive functional medicine intervention targeting the metabolic, hormonal, inflammatory, and toxic drivers of neurodegeneration rather than just amyloid plaques. The failure of over 200 anti-amyloid drug trials has forced a fundamental reassessment of Alzheimer’s disease … Read more

Quick answer: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), dry eye disease, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy all have modifiable nutritional and metabolic root causes — omega-3 deficiency, macular carotenoid depletion, mitochondrial dysfunction, and advanced glycation — that functional medicine addresses with evidence from multiple RCTs. The eye is an immunologically privileged metabolically active organ with the highest oxygen … Read more

Quick answer: Acne, psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, hair loss, and premature skin aging share common upstream drivers — gut dysbiosis, insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, and chronic inflammation — that functional medicine can address at root cause, producing skin transformation that topical treatments and antibiotics cannot achieve. The skin is the body’s largest organ and its most … Read more

Quick answer: Allergic disease — food allergies, asthma, eczema, and allergic rhinitis — has increased 300–400% over 50 years, and functional medicine identifies the root causes: gut dysbiosis disrupting oral tolerance, vitamin D deficiency impairing Treg development, environmental toxin exposure, and the hygiene hypothesis failure of immune education in early life. Allergy and hypersensitivity represent … Read more

Quick answer: Most urological conditions — interstitial cystitis, recurrent UTIs, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and overactive bladder — have identifiable root causes involving microbiome disruption, mast cell activation, hormonal imbalances, and pelvic floor dysfunction that respond to functional medicine protocols far better than symptom-suppressing medications alone. Conventional urology focuses predominantly on structural pathology and symptomatic relief. … Read more

Quick answer: Biological aging is driven by 12 documented hallmarks — and targeted interventions (senolytics, NAD+ precursors, mTOR inhibition, and autophagy induction) can measurably slow or partially reverse epigenetic aging clocks by 1–3 years in controlled human trials. Longevity medicine has moved from speculation to clinical science. Morgan Levine’s PhenoAge and Horvath’s DNA methylation clocks … Read more

Quick answer: Fertility challenges affect 1 in 6 couples globally, yet conventional reproductive medicine focuses almost exclusively on assisted reproductive technology (ART) — IVF, IUI, clomiphene — while rarely assessing the biological root causes that undermine natural fertility and reduce ART success rates. Functional fertility medicine evaluates and corrects the six primary biological drivers of … Read more

Quick answer: ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly viewed in functional medicine as complex neurodevelopmental conditions with identifiable biological contributors that conventional psychiatry rarely addresses — including gut-brain axis disruption, nutritional deficiencies (iron, zinc, omega-3, magnesium), environmental toxin exposure (particularly lead and organophosphate pesticides), mitochondrial dysfunction, food sensitivities, and HPA axis dysregulation. A … Read more

Quick answer: Environmental medicine addresses the estimated 800+ synthetic chemicals now found in the average American’s body — from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulated in adipose tissue to heavy metals stored in bone and brain tissue — and their documented contributions to chronic disease. A landmark CDC National Biomonitoring Program found detectable levels of 212 … Read more

Quick answer: Autoimmune diseases — over 100 distinct conditions collectively affecting 50 million Americans — share common upstream root causes that conventional medicine rarely addresses: intestinal permeability and gut dysbiosis (the “leaky gut” hypothesis), molecular mimicry between environmental antigens and self-tissues, deficiencies in immune-tolerogenic nutrients (vitamin D, omega-3, vitamin A), chronic viral triggers (EBV, CMV, … Read more