Can Functional Medicine Help With ALS, MND?

This week on the podcast we feature Dr. Kirstie Lawton, Founder of Food for the Brain Foundation and a virtual brain health clinic in the UK focused on ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) which in the UK is called "Motor Neurone Disease" (MND) This is a hot topic in the UK as there has been a flurry of cases and concern about MND in the professional rugby players community. In this podcast you will learn: Is there hope for MND / ALS and what role for nutrition? Lessons from delivering a completely virtual brain clinic How science and survival of MND / ALS is evolving Listen wherever you listen to your podcast or watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

This week on Season 2, Episode 7 of the Evolution of Medicine, we take a deeper and more personal dive into immune resilience and the COVID vaccines, a topic that, five years later, continues to shape our work, our patients, and our health system. In the News: A UK Decision That Should Concern Everyone A recent report from the UK announced that public health authorities will not be releasing records that could clarify whether the COVID vaccines were associated with the rise in excess deaths. Their stated reason: It might create privacy issues and emotional distress for grieving families. As someone who lost my mother three months after her COVID vaccination in the UK in June 2021, I want to be extremely clear: There is nothing more important to bereaved families than the truth. Understanding what happened is not traumatic, it is healing, clarifying, and necessary for public trust. I share a brief personal reflection in the episode, not to stoke controversy, but to highlight the human cost of opacity and why functional medicine practitioners must continue to be leaders in evidence-based immune resilience. Clinical Deep Dive: The Most Important COVID Talk You've Never Seen In the clinical corner, we pivot to what I believe was a critical education session made early in the pandemic: Dr. Ari Vodjii's April 16, 2020 lecture on immune resilience. It outlined, early and brilliantly, the patterns of immune dysregulation that would go on to shape the entire COVID era. And yet… we didn't listen. In the episode, we break down one pivotal slide that every practitioner needs to know cold—a framework that explains: how host resilience determines patient outcomes how metabolic fragility and chronic inflammation amplify viral severity This alone is worth the listen.

This week on the Evolution of Medicine podcast, we dive into a topic that weaves together many of the threads we've been exploring over the last few weeks. We've talked about AI and its rapid rise. We've talked about cognitive decline and the extraordinary possibility of reversing it. And we've talked about what it will take to get there on an individual practice level. But this week's episode brings those themes together in a way I didn't expect. A friend recently sent me what looked like a legitimate video commercial, featuring credible, household-name figures like Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper. At first glance, it looked polished, believable, even authoritative. But as you'll see in the episode, not everything is as it appears. In fact, almost nothing is. And that's the point. We are moving into a world where AI blurs the boundaries between truth, reality, and persuasion. Where advertising looks like journalism. Where journalism looks like entertainment. And where the only thing we can count on is that we need better tools, better communities, and better critical thinking to navigate what comes next. This episode unpacks what that means for medicine, for cognitive decline, for health creation – and for the evolution of our entire ecosystem. I think you'll find it interesting… hopefully funny… and definitely insightful.  

This week on the Evolution of Medicine podcast, we dive into one of the most exciting developments in healthcare – the Primary Care Renaissance. Starting January 1st, new legislation makes it easier than ever for both patients and employers to participate in Direct Primary Care (DPC). This shift could finally deliver on many of the promises we've been talking about for years – cutting out the middleman, reducing costs, lowering friction, and restoring the sacred doctor-patient relationship. We explore what this means for the future of medicine, and share insights from a powerful article written by a physician on the pride of ownership – and how reclaiming that sense of purpose and autonomy could be the spark that transforms primary care for good. In our Worst Pharma Ad of the Week segment, we break down another unforgettable SkyRizi commercial – and what it reveals about the state of modern healthcare marketing. Finally, we revisit a timeless conversation from our archives – a segment of James's 2017 interview with Prof. Raphael Mechoulam, the "Godfather of Medical Cannabis," whose pioneering work laid the foundation for today's cannabinoid revolution. It's a jam-packed episode that connects the dots between economics, empowerment, and evolution in medicine. Tune in, share it with your DPC colleagues, and let's continue building the future together.

Last week, I shared the differences in entries between Wikipedia and Grokipedia and why that shift represents a turning point for functional medicine. This week on The Evolution of Medicine Podcast, we take a deeper dive into Grokipedia: what it is, how it's changing the landscape for practitioners, and why it might finally put to rest the old "pseudoscience" critiques. We also lighten things up with my favorite pharmaceutical commercial of all time – a hilarious rip-off that prescribes nature instead of pills. And in the Clinical Corner, we explore a fascinating new tool I found online: the Functional Medicine Capability Maturity Matrix. It's a quick self-assessment that helps you see exactly where your practice is on the journey from early adoption to full system mastery.  

This week on the Evolution of Medicine Podcast, we dive into primary prevention – and why it's the future of health. Dr. Eric Topol recently published an article lamenting medicine's lack of progress in the big three killers: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration. He's right about the problem, but I'd argue he's been going to the wrong conferences. If he had joined us at the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI) conference, he would have seen what real prevention looks like: clinicians reversing chronic disease through root-cause, systems-based care. And if he comes next year, he'll see why I'm calling 2026 "The Year of the Brain." In this episode, we explore: What Topol gets right (and what he's missing) How practitioners like you are proving primary prevention works Why improving everyone's neurobiology, as Dr. Austin Perlmutter says, is our highest work

The Evolution of Medicine podcast returns with a deep dive into the seismic shifts reshaping healthcare – from the explosion of direct-to-consumer lab testing to the most disingenuous pharmaceutical commercial ever made. Host James Maskell unpacks how companies like Function Health, Superpower, Whoop, and Aura are democratizing health data, while practitioners must evolve or risk becoming obsolete in an increasingly consumer-driven landscape. This episode exposes the uncomfortable truth: patients can now access comprehensive lab panels for under $200 annually, complete with longitudinal tracking and AI interpretation. Meanwhile, wearable giants are integrating lab testing to create powerful health ecosystems that compete directly with traditional practice models. The message is clear – practitioners who rely on static PDFs and sporadic appointments are heading toward irrelevance. The episode also features the most-watched video in Functional Forum history: Dr. Izabella Wentz's groundbreaking presentation on how thyroid dysfunction masquerades as mental illness, affecting up to 27% of the population. Her personal journey from misdiagnosis to recovery illustrates the power of root-cause medicine and why functional practitioners remain essential in an automated world. 🎙️ Tune in to learn: The direct-to-consumer lab revolution: How Function Health's 200,000+ customers and Superpower's $17/month pricing are reshaping patient expectations—and what this means for your practice model. Why wearable companies are your new competition: Whoop and Aura's integration of lab testing with biometric data creates comprehensive health platforms that threaten traditional practitioner relationships. The data integration imperative: Why practices relying on static lab reports and infrequent check-ins will become uncompetitive against real-time, longitudinal health monitoring systems. If you're ready to future-proof your practice against the consumerization of healthcare while maintaining the irreplaceable human element of functional medicine, this episode provides both the wake-up call and the roadmap you need. 👉 Listen now or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Evolution of Medicine podcast is back – weekly, longer-form, and laser-focused on giving practitioners the news, tools, and frameworks to reverse chronic disease at scale. In this premiere of "season two," host James Maskell introduces the big idea shaping the next chapter: solving "network insufficiency" at three levels – inside the body, across communities, and through a nationwide network of high-functioning practices. Borrowing from Dr. Dale Bredesen's framing of Alzheimer's as a "network insufficiency," James maps the concept onto the functional medicine matrix (clinical networks), the social fabric that shapes health (community networks), and the operational capacity of clinics themselves (practice networks). It's a unifying lens—and a rallying cry for the next five years to build the capacity required to bend the chronic disease curve. Along the way, you'll meet this season's mission partners – Fullscript, TruNeura, Freedom Practice Coaching, and Big Boost Marketing – each spotlighted for the role they play in turning "network insufficiency" into "network sufficiency," from streamlined labs and cognitive-care platforms to scalable operations and patient pre-education. 🎙️ Tune in to learn: What "network insufficiency" means clinically (via the functional medicine matrix), socially (community and group visits), and operationally (clinic capacity)—and why solving it is the master key to reversing chronic disease. Why this really is "the moment": the podcast shifts to a weekly, studio-based format to track pivotal ideas, tools, and policy conversations shaping the movement. A practical playbook for capacity building: Fullscript's evolution toward turnkey lab logistics so any clinic can offer "Function-Health-style" testing. TruNeura's clinical implementation platform and why precision medicine for cognitive decline is poised to scale. Freedom Practice Coaching's Scalability Assessment and how to use it to grow from one provider to ten. Big Boost Marketing's education-first marketing to generate qualified discovery calls at the lowest possible cost. How broader public-health debates – and a widely discussed HHS-hosted conversation—signal a cultural inflection point for our field. If you're committed to systems-level change in integrative and functional medicine, this kickoff episode sets the agenda for the year – and equips you to start building true network sufficiency in your clinic and community.

When experienced integrative physician Dr. Robin Rose discovered she had a kidney tumor and early signs of kidney disease, she was shocked—but determined. What followed was a deep dive into an often-overlooked aspect of chronic disease care: kidney health. In this powerful episode, Dr. Rose shares how her personal health journey ignited a mission to bring kidney care into the spotlight within functional and integrative medicine. She highlights how kidney dysfunction is frequently underdiagnosed or misunderstood, even in root-cause-focused care models. Through her own research and collaboration with a naturopathic kidney specialist, Dr. Rose developed a holistic framework for supporting kidney health—incorporating nutrition, lifestyle, toxin reduction, and innovative therapies like bio-regulator peptides. Her new book, Ology Peptides: Kidney Success with Bio-Regulator Peptides, explores this approach in detail. Tune in to learn: Why kidney function is the "silent factor" in many chronic disease cases The key lifestyle and environmental factors impacting kidney health How peptides—especially bio-regulator peptides—are being used to support kidney repair and resilience Why a proactive, systems-based approach is critical to reversing kidney decline How practitioners can better support patients before dialysis becomes the only option If you're interested in whole-body health and emerging tools in functional medicine, this episode will shift the way you think about kidney care.

What if health plans could cover in-home chef services to improve patient outcomes? In this episode, James Maskell sits down with Renata Jenik, founder of Foodom.com, to explore how her company is pioneering a powerful new model of food as medicine—one that's already being covered by insurance. Renata shares her personal journey from overwhelmed working mom struggling with PCOS and insulin resistance to entrepreneur with a mission to redefine healthcare through culinary empowerment. What started as a personal solution—hiring a chef to prepare healthy meals for her family—evolved into a scalable program now contracted by health plans like Anthem to serve Medicaid patients in Sacramento County. Unlike traditional meal delivery, Foodom sends trained chefs into patients' homes every two weeks to cook nourishing meals and teach basic culinary skills. It's a powerful model rooted in sustainability and empowerment. Tune in to learn about: How a personal health crisis sparked a revolutionary business idea Why health plans like Anthem are paying for in-home chef services The key differences between meal delivery and chef-led culinary education The challenges and solutions of scaling food-as-medicine at the community level Why El Dorado County is emerging as a hub for healthspan innovation And so much more! If you're interested in the intersection of culinary care, health equity, and scalable functional medicine delivery, this is a must-listen.