The Nitty-Gritty of the Gut: Discussing a Balanced Microbiome with Dr. Patti Devers and Dr. Michael Chapman
Tricia and Doro welcome Dr. Patricia Devers, Chief Clinical Officer at Genova Diagnostics and Dr. Michael Chapman, naturopathic doctor at Genova Diagnostics. During this conversation, the doctors discuss their journey with Genova and their invaluable contributions to medical research. Dr. Devers, driven towards burn out with conventional medicine, found a new purpose at Genova, while Dr. Chapman's background in naturopathic medicine led him to support Genova’s personalized approaches to treatment. Together, they emphasize Genova's unwavering commitment to uncovering the underlying causes of chronic illnesses through comprehensive, individualized healthcare and cutting-edge testing methodologies.
Throughout the conversation, they shed light on the multifaceted factors influencing gut health, from microbiome testing to the important role of probiotics and even considerations of parasites. They stress the significance of understanding gut health dynamics, highlighting its remarkable adaptability and sensitivity to dietary variations, environmental influences, and social interactions. Moreover, they underscore the importance of evaluating digestive function, inflammation, and immune response to achieve wellness. Dr. Devers and Dr. Chapman reflect on their mission to redefine healthcare through proactive management strategies, empowering both individuals and healthcare professionals alike to take charge of their well-being and embark on a journey towards optimal health.
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Quotes:
“We're looking for the root cause of chronic illness. We're looking for personalized reasons why people are sick. “ – Dr. Patti Devers
“One of the great things about our job is that when we learn something new or find a connection we weren't expecting, it gives us the opportunity to put more hypotheses on the table.” - Dr. Michael Chapman
“What most people don't realize is that most of our serotonin is actually made in your GI tract. So if you have a mood disorder, what better time to check in with your gut? “ - Dr. Patti Devers
Show Notes:
DR. CHAPMAN: That's where the beauty of the personalization comes in. Because because we're looking for so many different types of root causes, and every person walking in the door and taking the test might have a different problem going on. The test is designed to sort of tease apart where one person might need a different type of support than another person, and the main categories we're looking at are one. How well is a person digesting and absorbing their food? And if they're not doing that well, then we can think about adding things like digestive enzymes talking about are they eating in a way that is not involving stress, not on the go. That helps to support digestion, but we're also evaluating things like inflammation and immune response. And that can be more due to either an autoimmune condition or it could be due to some type of infection. So, you know, those would be different areas that we would be supporting. And then the last component is, is there something with the microbiome that needs to be shifted. And that could be, you know, a real life infection like a salmonella, uh, or even something more subtle. You know, there's opportunistic organisms. The most classic example is, is C difficile. Um, and those types of interventions are like one of the ones you mentioned before, probiotics, perhaps antibiotics if necessary, and or other things in our diet that we can do to really kind of shift and support that microbiome.
DR. DEVERS: So the answer Doro is, is the joke on our podcast, whenever someone asks a question, it depends, right? It depends on the person. Yeah it depends. That's the beauty of personalization. Yeah.
DR. DEVERS: Because I want to come back to that too. But can we start at the beginning when you sort of referred to the fact that we all have our own microbiome when we come into this world, so can you kind of start there? And does it come from the mother and how that works? And what if I have a c section and how does that all work just from the beginning in the creation of our microbiome?
DR. CHAPMAN: Sure. Yeah. And to be honest and transparent, there's still a lot left to learn. Um, but we do know that oftentimes the first colonization of our microbiome, um, in our GI tract and elsewhere, another place where we have a microbiome is on the skin. And so that first kind of, uh, cultivation comes from oftentimes vaginal birth. But even in C-section, um, it's not soon thereafter that baby and mom are closely connected. And so, you know, there's a lot of like Patti alluded to earlier, there's a lot of sharing that happens just by being in the physical presence of another person. And so with the first couple years, you know, we get exposed to bacteria and organisms from the foods that we eat, um, from the people that we're in connection with and even just the air that we're breathing. And so we do know there is research that suggests a vaginal birth tends to stimulate that development of the microbiome, probably more rapidly and to a greater extent. But it's not like if there's if there's a C-section birth, then you know that a microbiome doesn't develop.
DR. DEVERS: I also want to say that it may also have to do with whether or not you are breast fed or bottle fed, right? Because there's a lot of interaction that happens between a mother's milk and a baby to help propagate that, as well as to help the immune system of the, of the microbiome in the GI tract. So yeah. And as you advance a diet as a small child, that microbiome advances. You're out in the dirt touching things. Right. Like you're you're exploring your environment and that's how your microbiome begins to develop.
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