Gastrointestinal Health

 

 

Gastrointestinal complaints are one of the most common reasons people visit a healthcare professional. Symptoms including abdominal discomfort or pain, bloating, constipation, loose stools, and heartburn (reflux), and diagnoses such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), coeliac disease, dysbiosis, leaky gut (intestinal permeability), ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, food intolerances, intestinal parasites, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) are amongst the most common GI complaints we regularly treat.

 

Functional testing for the complete picture

 

The functional approach we take to assessing digestive function provides us with information on how your body is actually digesting food and absorbing nutrients. We can assess the level of inflammation in, and the integrity of, your gastrointestinal tract and utilising recent advances in medical microbiology, we can now accurately identify the balance of both good and bad bacteria, yeast/fungi and parasites in the gastrointestinal tract (the microbiota) and create a treatment approach accordingly. Additionally, we use food allergy testing to give us valuable insights as to what may be causing your symptoms. In this way, we can get to the specific causes of your gastrointestinal complaints.  

We also consider conventional gastrointestinal tests when analysing your case, such as endoscopy and colonoscopy and simple blood and stool tests.

 

GI dysfunction and other conditions

 

Due to the importance of the gastrointestinal tract and the microbiota in proper immune response, many conditions of immune dysfunction are treated by restoring optimal gastrointestinal function. Autoimmune conditions, allergies, asthma, skin disorders and some mental health issues can be addressed (at least in part) by assessing GI function and restoring GI health.

 

If you suffer from a gastrointestinal condition or symptoms, or struggle with a condition caused by immune dysfunction or autoimmunity, book into Goulds Natural Medicine Clinic to begin the process of finding and treating the true cause of your health issues.