Biochemical Imbalances in Disease

Biochemical imbalances caused by nutritional deficiencies are a contributory factor in chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune conditions and cancer. This handbook for practitioners explains how to identify and treat such biochemical imbalances in order to better understand and manage a patient's ill-health. The book examines a range of biochemical imbalances, including compromised adrenal or thyroid function, gastro-intestinal imbalances, immune system problems and sex hormone imbalances, and explains how and why such states occur. It pulls together a wide range of evidence to show how such imbalances are involved in the most common chronic diseases. It helps practitioners to understand how to identify the imbalances through appropriate case history taking and laboratory testing, and how to design and implement effective nutritional interventions. Developed by leading academics and practitioners in the fields of nutritional therapy and functional medicine, this evidence-informed approach can be used with all patients who present in clinic, regardless of whether or not they have a 'named medical condition'. In the final chapter, a case example illustrates how to use the theoretical information in the practice of treating patients with chronically compromised health. Biochemical Imbalances in Disease is an essential text for nutritional therapy practitioners, as well as for students, and will be welcomed by complementary and conventional healthcare practitioners alike.