Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS 
Quick answer: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 15% of American adults — approximately 37 million people — with 90% unaware they have it (CDC 2023). Progression from CKD Stage 1–2 to kidney failure is far from inevitable: a comprehensive 2013 study in BMJ (Coresh) demonstrated that with optimal blood pressure, diabetes, and protein management, the … Read more
Quick answer: An estimated 20 million Americans have thyroid disease, with 60% undiagnosed — and of those diagnosed, the majority are treated with levothyroxine alone (T4 only), despite evidence that 20% of patients on levothyroxine have persistent hypothyroid symptoms because they cannot efficiently convert T4 to the active T3 hormone (Gullo 2011, Journal of Clinical … Read more
Quick answer: Average male testosterone levels have declined approximately 1% per year since the 1980s — a 2007 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (Travison 2007) found that a 65-year-old man in 2004 had testosterone levels 15–20% lower than a 65-year-old man measured in 1987, independent of age and health status changes. … Read more
Quick answer: Irritable bowel syndrome affects 10–15% of the global population, making it the most common gastrointestinal diagnosis worldwide — yet the standard treatment (fiber, antispasmodics, low-FODMAP diet) addresses symptoms without identifying root causes. A landmark 2000 study by Pimentel (American Journal of Gastroenterology) found that 78% of IBS patients tested positive for small intestinal … Read more
Quick answer: An estimated 25% of the population carries HLA-DR immune response gene variants (HLA-DR 4-3-53, 11-3-52B, and others) that impair the ability to generate antibodies against biotoxins — meaning that when these individuals are exposed to mold, cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, or Lyme disease, the biotoxins remain in circulation indefinitely, triggering a multi-system inflammatory cascade called … Read more
Quick answer: Lyme disease is the fastest-growing vector-borne illness in the United States — with the CDC estimating 476,000 new cases per year (2022 revision), 10× the previous reported number — and 10–20% of patients treated with standard antibiotic courses develop persistent symptoms lasting months to years (Aucott 2013, International Journal of Infectious Diseases). Functional … Read more
Quick answer: Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and fibromyalgia share a common upstream driver that conventional rheumatology underaddresses — the triad of increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut), dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, and environmental/dietary triggers that initiate and perpetuate autoimmune activation. The PEMF study (JAMA 1993) demonstrated electromagnetic field therapy reduced RA pain 36% beyond placebo; more … Read more
Quick answer: The human brain is 2% of body weight but consumes 20% of total energy — and a review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2015) found that neuroinflammation, driven by gut LPS permeation, systemic inflammation, and microglial activation, is present in the brains of patients with depression, cognitive decline, and brain fog at rates that … Read more
Quick answer: Chronic psychological stress produces the same cortisol hypersecretion pattern as a 3-centimeter adrenal tumor — and the Whitehall II study (Steptoe 2003, Biological Psychiatry) found that workers with the highest cortisol awakening response had 3× greater risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease. “Adrenal fatigue” is a lay term for what functional medicine precisely calls … Read more
Quick answer: A single week of sleeping 6 hours per night reduces insulin sensitivity by 25% — equivalent to gaining 20–30 pounds of body fat (Van Cauter 1999, Sleep) — and adults sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night face a 4.2× increased risk of developing a common cold when exposed to rhinovirus (Cohen 2009, … Read more