HouseCall: Father’s Health Issues, HSA, RA & Detox, Thyroid Hormone Replacement, Declining Adult Life, Muscle Gain Program

Thank you for joining us for our 2nd Cabral HouseCall of the weekend!

I’m looking forward to sharing with you some of our community’s questions that have come in over the past few weeks…

Let’s get started!

Sacha: Hello! I wanted to reach out to my father who has been dealing with some serious health issues which haven’t been properly diagnosed. He began having cardiac issues years ago, however in the last few years has had significant weight loss, impaired memory, slow movements, fatigue, foggy brain, digestion issues, visual impairments in which he recently had cataract surgery which we are now finding out went wrong and there are calcium deposits. Along with all these issues he also has resting tremors in his hands and lips. He’s been to numerous Dr’s, specialists and all can’t seem to properly diagnose him. His testosterone and free test. labs are extremely low, and his cortisol was only taken fasted in the am so I am unsure about those results.
I am in desperate need of a functional medicine dr to see him asap and I wanted to know if it would be possible to bring him to the clinic or if you could refer someone in NJ/NYC.
I suspect that he has heavy metal toxicity as well as gut/digestion issues. Please let me know if you could assist us with his case as I do not want to take him to a random functional medicine practitioner. Best, Sacha

Tom: Do you take insurance or can I use an HSA account for payment. I am interested in going to the functional medical provider. Thank you

Laimute: Hello, I would like to ask you about rheumatoid arthritis. My mum has had rheumatoid arthritis for many years. A year ago she gave up on meat, dairy products, white flour, sugar. I’m going to take her to India for 15 days of panchakarma treatment as I’ve heard that it would help her to get rid of toxins that cause arthritis followed by a natural ayurvedic medicines for up to a year. My question is what is the different between panchakarma and Dr. Cabral detox as both of them clean toxins from the body? Also, would you suggest anything else to add to treat rheumatoid arthritis along with panchakarma treatment Many thanks

Elizabeth: Hi, thank you for all the information you are providing me in your podcast. I have a question about life after thyroidectomy. I had Graves’ disease a decade ago followed by thyroidectomy. A biopsy of the thyroid showed that it was cancerous. The surgeon shrugged, and said “no big deal”. I was then put on Thyroxine, because I now have hypothyroidism, which only replaces T4. I am wondering if T3 should also be replaced. I have talked about it with my endocrinologist a couple of times, and she feels like this would be “speed“ for my system, therefore does not think it would be appropriate. I think her reasoning for not putting me on T3 is the arrhythmias I continue to experience status post thyroidectomy. I am using magnesium oil, and have been using it regularly for at least the last six months at bedtime without noticeable change in the arrhythmias. So my questions are these, in your opinion should I talk to my physician again about replacing T3, and is there any specific dietary recommendations you have for someone who has had a thyroidectomy, or should I just follow recommendations for someone with hypothyroidism? 

John: Dear Dr. Cabral and Staff: I would like to work with your firm in whatever capacity we ultimately deem appropriate. That is my question, where do I start? I was contemplating starting with testing but in the end I am ultimately willing to enroll in a full service “Concierge” approach. My known issues are these: I have been clinically diagnosed as suffering from minor depression (one Dr. called it dysthymia), I have been diagnosed as having adult ADD, I suffer from fatigue, and have trouble sleeping. My version or view of it is that I have a hard time focusing, I constantly have fatigue, I suffer from anxiety or depression and I do not sleep well. I must add that I am a 55-Year-Old Male, Married, am a Self-Employed C.P.A that is on the run all the time. So, which tests do I start with? The Big Five? Do I go through a different process? Thanks for your direction. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, John

Andrew: Hello Dr. C, I listened to your interview on the Ben Greenfield podcast and was perusing your site – really cool as I am in your neck of the woods… I am curious if you have studied any of the following training programs/systems: NeuroMass by Jon Bruney, Body by Science – Doug Mcguff, X3 Bar – Dr. John Jaquish If not I will do my best to encapsulate so I can get to my questions. I like all these because they allow for a very good, all-around, strength with conditioning workout in minimal time and with little or no equipment. Though Body by Science is usually done with specific workout machines, there are supposed versions online done with bodyweight. You may know Body by Science promotes a single super-slowly executed multi-set workout of high intensity across several exercises maybe once per week. Key is time under tension. NeuroMass packages similar super-slow sets with a dyanmic/power set and isometric set. Neuromass says to do these 4x/week but can adjust to more like 2x per week. Interestingly 2x Realfit champion Alex Fergus used a version of this just 1x/week with 1 set of each exercise to win Realfit. The X3 bar is a product that promises a great increase in muscle mass with just 10 minutes daily based on the benefits of variable force using high-strength rubber bands. My goals are to build functional strength for longevity in an efficient way without needing lots of equipment. I guess the idea would be to work on type iib muscle fiber.I like the idea of serious training as little as once a week, provided you are getting movement in on other days and other lighter exercise, perhaps an occasional HIIT workout. Intuitively the idea of combining slow, fast, and iso exercise would seem to perhaps most comprehensively train the body, but I am not sure if there is evidence to support. The X3 bar seems to have some studies that show its method greatly increases muscle. I am a little concerned that daily training might be too much (even if body focus changes between workouts) and also the possibility that the workout increases IGF (? not sure if it does) may negatively correlate to overall longevity. Maybe all work in their own way? Thoughts? Cheers – Andrew