“The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.” Francis Peabody
When a new patient comes to my practice, it’s not unusual for them to share:
“I’ve been to dozens of practitioners and nothing has changed”
“Why am I taking all these supplements? They’re not working”
“I feel so alone in this healthcare maze. I’ve resorted to ordering my own labs and using AI to help me come up with treatment plans. They’re not helping”
One of the reasons for their unresolved problems is that many provider practices philosophical medicine. They apply theory and protocols, often recommending for all their patients what has worked for them.
They may be burned out, or running a high-volume practice based on generating revenue rather than on embracing empathy.
Well, we’re all entirely different so how can protocols be applied so unilaterally without repercussions? And it’s a known truth that nothing heals like true compassion.
Philosophical vs. Differential Diagnosis and Treatment
Even a broken clock is right twice a day, right? When the same approach is used in every case, it just might work some of the time. It’s the times it doesn’t work that leaves people desperate and feeling helpless…even hopeless.
Philosophy only takes us so far. A differential diagnosis and treatment plan that looks at dozens, maybe HUNDREDS of genetic markers, biomarkers, and lifestyle factors is yields far greater positive outcomes.
Apples are great, right?….not if you’re allergic!
Intermittent fasting? …not if you’re hypoglycemic, that will cause energy crashes and undue strain on the nervous system and adrenals!
Parasite cleanse? …not if you’ve go underlying (possibly undiagnosed) and unmanaged autoimmune!
Vigorous exercise? …not if you have unregulated mitochondrial dysfunction!
Magnesium for your leg cramps? …what about the undiagnosed Peripheral Arterial Disease that your body is showing subtle symptoms of?
Glutathione antioxidant support? …not if you’ve got mold or heavy metal toxicity and your body’s detoxification pathways aren’t optimized to clear out the pathogens!
Empowered healthcare
Intelligent and empowered health and wellness care applies differential diagnosis and treatment. Because what works for one person is not going to work for another, it is absolutely essential to conduct a thorough workup.
Once the root is understood and an accurate diagnosis is in place, then it’s possible to work toward resolution.
The patient’s intuition and medical, social, relationship, spiritual, educational, travel, ancestral and birth history play a MAJOR role in proper diagnosis, treatment and wellness maintenance and prevention.
Another aspect of empowered health care is the order of steps for proper treatment. Significant numbers of patients are underdiagnosed with anemia, dysglycemia and autoimmune disease.
What does that mean? That many conditions won’t improve because their bioenergetic pathways are dependent upon the functioning of certain other mechanisms. Simply put, you can’t put a roof on a house that doesn’t have a foundation.
Ordering the steps toward wellness correctly makes the difference between time and money wasted and great results!
Proper Lab Analysis and AI
One thing many practitioners and AI miss is the fact that bloodwork is a measure of what is going on at ONE POINT IN TIME. It’s not unusual to receive results that are slightly off and hear “nothing to be concerned about!” Or worse, to receive perfect results in the presence of symptoms and be told “nothing’s wrong, it’s in your head!”
Take for instance, the following example incidents where a single moment in time is not adequate to capture the big picture:
* Scenario 1: A patient’s bloodwork reveals high TSH. They are immediately diagnosed with hypothyroid and placed on thyroid replacement medication.
+ Reality check: thyroid hormone fluctuates by the minute. That could’ve been a moment when someone just received a boost from the pituitary gland to signal thyroid hormone production.
o Remedies: re-test. Always re-test the 12 different thyroid biomarkers. By itself, TSH means next to nothing. Furthermore, supporting thyroid function doesn’t start and end with replacement hormone. Assessing the level of damage to the gland, co-comitant factors and lifestyle supports can make all the difference. Neutraceutical and dietary supports are available as effective alternatives as well!
* Scenario 2: A patient’s bloodwork reveals low Red Blood Cell count and low Hemoglobin. They are told there is nothing to worry about.
+ Reality check: anemia is the most under-diagnosed issue in modern healthcare, and it is at the root of most symptoms and disorders. If gone unchecked, no other interventions will work so long as someone is anemic.
o Remedies: finding the root of anemia and fixing it is one of the easiest medical mysteries to solve, and it is one of the most far-reaching. Many times, diet, nutrition and lifestyle can easily and quickly reverse anemia. In other cases, it may be the canary in the mine: a sign that more serious issues such as infection, chronic inflammation or pathogenic toxicity is depleting the body of it’s most essential resource. Cleaning these up is critical!
AI and Empathy
Another major consideration is that AI will not differentiate between emotional trauma that presents as physical symptoms, and physical disease that presents as emotional dysregulation.
AI will not know to feel your pulses or note that skin discoloration at a particular spot on your back that corresponds with early detection of thyroid dysfunction – long before bloodwork or imaging studies show there is a problem.
AI will not know to inquire about your social relationships, the air quality in your home and the dozens of things that contribute to it. AI will not show empathetic presence – which is one of the GREATEST contributing factors to the improvement of ANY condition.
AI will not be truly there with you – and study after study show that nothing is as negatively influential on any physical, emotional, mental and spiritual problems as loneliness.
AI is a TOOL, NOT a source. It scrapes from sources, it does not have access to the psyche or imagination, creativity or ingenuity or touch. You can use the TOOL as a general guide and perhaps sometimes find some helpful hints, but at the end of the day it is remarkably risky.
Sourcing AI for your health needs is like eating McDonald’s for longevity.
Just stop it.
CHAT GPT cannot give information that it hasn’t been given. This is essential to understand.
Who We Are
Humans are CONSTANTLY revealing more of ourselves, becoming and unfolding. We are cosmic and we are earthly and we are here to reveal the unfathomable vastness and divine nature of who we are.
The process of facilitating that illumination requires an emergent space, that AI is simply incapable of providing.
Even if ChatGPT correctly identifies the possibility of emotional or spiritual contributions to physical symptoms, what resources does it bring to sit with someone and hold them with compassion and empathy as they uncover the profundity of their depths?
What about symptoms that have no medical origin? What about childhood trauma, ancestral trauma – conscious or unconscious- that shows up as archetypes attacking the psyche?
I have yet to treat a patient for endometriosis who has not experienced sexual trauma. I have yet to encounter a patient struggling from migraines who does not have a history of repressed murderous rage that has not been brought to consciousness and properly channeled.
In many cases, once the underlying psychological material surfaces and is skillfully guided toward integration, the physical symptoms resolve.
At the very least, the pathway is cleared for medical interventions to actually begin working! And people experience great relief and open a new chapter of their lives marked by newfound freedom and spaciousness.
For any inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Karina Menali
Founder, Kai Wellness
