What is Endobiogenic Medicine?
Incorporating sacred traditions and modern physiology to explore the human system as organized, fashioned and managed by the endocrine system.
Philosophy:
Endobiogeny seeks to restore balance to the body. This is a systematic approach for understanding how the body works, why a person becomes ill, and how they can return to a state of balance. Imbalances are not viewed as an enemy which must be controlled or suppressed but as an originally helpful and wise reaction of the body that becomes dys-regulated over time.
“Endo-” means inside, “-bio-” means life, and “-geny” is the generation and maintenance of that life. Endobiogeny is a powerful and subtle system that evaluates the internal terrain, or physiological state and balance, and reactivity of each individual patient. Knowing this terrain and evaluating how each individual responds to the stresses inherent in their life allows both the patient and physician to not only evaluate current disease, its cause and its treatment; but also to look for the predilection toward developing disease later in life.
The endocrine system and autonomic nervous system are the global manager of the whole body. They are self-regulating and have an effect on how the body digests experience and reacts to its internal and external world. When imbalances within this system occur and become deeply entrenched, dis-ease develops.
The endobiogenic method evaluates the person rather than a single blood test or symptom. It evaluates the whole person through considering past and present events in life and the impact these have had on the body as a whole.
History:
Endobiogenic medicine was founded, practiced and taught in France by Dr Christian Duraffourd and Dr Jean-Claude LaPraz for the past 40 years. There are still very few physicians in the United states practicing endobiogenic medicine, but this is a growing field thanks to the work of Dr LaPraz, Dr Kamyar Hedayat and others. Two year fellowships in Endobiogenic medicine are now offered in the United States to medical and health professionals from a variety of educational backgrounds. This cultivates a richness in the knowledge and profession as each student brings their background, knowledge and wisdom to the practice of endobiogeny.
What an endobiogenic evaluation entails:
An endiobiogenic evaluation includes a thorough medical and life history giving insight into how you have adapted over time, what events have affected growth, development and adaptation and how your endocrine system is managing your physiology in your current state. An extensive physical exam gives insight into dominant patterns within the endocrine system and how these patterns affect growth, development, details such as eyelash length, amount of curl, digestive function and strain, autonomic nervous system tension and more. The third element of an endobiogenic evaluation is the Biology of Functions, an intricate, computerized analysis of labwork that measures how your body functions. It identifies imbalances in the nervous and endocrine (hormonal) system that affect how you, as an individual, manage your day to day life, your nutrition and how disease may manifest in your system. It evaluates how efficiently your body works and how hard it has to work to maintain wellness. The Biology of Functions is a window to the inner workings of the body. It does not measure disease. It evaluates function. It facilitates the evaluation of how your body is functioning to manage itself and to operate within your environment, allowing your doctor to look at your current disease patterns and future risk for disease or imbalance.
The bloodmarkers typically drawn for a Biology of functions include white blood cell count, red blood cell count, electrolytes, proteins, and enzymes. It does not directly test hormones other than thyroid stimulating hormone and T3 and T4. Looking at what is circulating in the blood at any given moment is a reflection of how the body is managing itself. Looking at hormones individually cannot take into account the myriad of ways in which they are responding to the needs of the body both for the maintenance of structure and the adaptation of function.
An endobiogenic treatment is based on your story, your terrain and the imbalances seen in the physical exam and biology of functions. Your treatment will be specific to you. This treatment will often consist of nutritional and lifestyle modifications, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, specific nutrients, flower essences and homeopathy. Understanding individual physiology and patterns of adaptation allow for the treatment to be subtle, powerful and as simple as possible to invite the nervous and endocrine system to return to a state of balance and health.
Health is not just freedom from disease.
Health is living with balance, vibrancy and resilience in mind, body and spirit.
Dr Chadwick has found endobiogenic medicine to be the perfect compliment to her work as a naturopathic doctor. The philosophy of treating each person as an individual with a specific story, finding and treating the cause of imbalance and disease, and giving patients the information and tools to live vibrantly, with purpose and truly well are inherent in both schools of medicine. The subtlety and complexity of the physiology associated with understanding the endocrine system to be the manager of our growth, development and adaptation allows Dr Chadwick to practice with greater precision.
Dr Chadwick is one of only a handful of certified fellows of endobiogenic medicine in the United States, having completed the two year fellowship. She continues to work closely with Dr Kamyar Hedayat as the learning journey is lifelong. Dr Chadwick is also active in the American Society of Endobiogenic Medicine and Integrative Physiology and is in training to teach endobiogenic medicine to health practitioners worldwide.
To learn more about this system of medicine, please visit: www.endobiogeny.com.