Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS

Quick answer: Integrative oncology uses evidence-based natural therapies alongside conventional cancer treatment — not as replacements — to reduce treatment side effects, improve quality of life, enhance chemotherapy efficacy, and reduce cancer recurrence risk. A 2023 JAMA Oncology meta-analysis of 2,794 cancer patients demonstrated that integrative oncology programs reduced side effects, improved treatment completion rates, … Read more

Quick answer: Chronic pain affects 100 million Americans — more than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined — yet conventional pain management addresses primarily the final nociceptive signal while ignoring the seven upstream root causes driving pain sensitization: neuroinflammation, central sensitization (wind-up), gut dysbiosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and psychosocial stress amplification. Functional … Read more

Quick answer: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet conventional cardiology treats only the final common pathways — cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar — while largely ignoring the seven upstream root causes that drive atherosclerosis: endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, gut dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies (particularly CoQ10, magnesium, K2, omega-3, … Read more

Quick answer: Histamine intolerance and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) are distinct but related conditions affecting an estimated 1-3% of the population, with significant under-diagnosis due to their multi-system presentation and the absence of standard diagnostic biomarkers in routine workups. Histamine intolerance results from an imbalance between histamine ingestion/production and degradation capacity (primarily by DAO … Read more

Quick answer: Osteoporosis is not a calcium deficiency disease — it is a complex metabolic disorder driven by chronic inflammation, hormone dysregulation, gut microbiome disruption, oxidative stress, and nutritional deficiencies in vitamin D, K2, magnesium, and silicon that conventional medicine largely ignores. The standard approach (calcium + vitamin D + bisphosphonate) addresses only one pathway … Read more

Quick answer: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects 25% of the global population — approximately 1.9 billion people — making it the most prevalent liver disease worldwide. Its advanced form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), can progress silently to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma without symptoms until liver failure is imminent. Functional medicine identifies and corrects the four … Read more

Quick answer: ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) affects 17-24 million Americans and is characterized by profound fatigue not relieved by rest, post-exertional malaise (PEM), cognitive impairment, orthostatic intolerance, and unrefreshing sleep. A 2024 multi-site study published in PNAS identified three objective biomarkers — impaired stress response in T-cell subsets, reduced natural killer cell function, and … Read more

Quick answer: Functional psychiatry identifies and corrects the biological root causes of depression, anxiety, and mood disorders — finding that 75% of treatment-resistant depression cases have at least one correctable nutritional, hormonal, inflammatory, or metabolic deficiency driving symptoms, according to research by Rucklidge and Kaplan 2013 (British Journal of Psychiatry). Rather than simply managing neurotransmitter … Read more

Quick answer: Long COVID (PASC — Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2) affects an estimated 65 million people worldwide, with a 2023 Nature Reviews meta-analysis identifying at least 200 distinct symptoms across organ systems. Functional medicine addresses PASC through four validated mechanistic pathways: viral persistence/reactivation, mitochondrial dysfunction, microbiome disruption, and mast cell activation — achieving meaningful symptom … Read more

Quick answer: Metabolic syndrome — defined by the presence of three or more of five criteria (abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL, elevated blood pressure, and impaired fasting glucose) — affects approximately 35% of American adults and is responsible for the vast majority of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and a … Read more