The short answer is, YES! In our practice, Functional Medicine has helped many children with health issues like unexplained rashes, eczema, diarrhea, constipation, intense abdomen pain, extreme allergies and colic. Functional Medicine for children is safe, affordable and usually takes less time to see results compared to adults.
Functional Medicine for Children
Case Studies
Here are some kids we are currently working with. They are in different stages of treatment.
Three year old girl
This little lady had been suffering with daily loose stools, vaginal discharge, bloating and gas after eating. After testing we found, overgrowth bacteria and dysbiosis (too much bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria). After the first treatment plan, the three-year-old was doing much better and only had loose stools occasionally.
One year old boy
For all of his life this little guy has been suffering with severe abdominal pain, constpation, lots of gas, extremely itchy rashes, eczema and a lot of allergies. After testing, we found high numbers of pathogens, overgrowth bacteria, and leaky gut.
After the first treatment mom reports that her baby boy is much happier. His eczema, abdominal pain, gas and constipation are much better.
Eighteen month old boy
This precious little boy was born with all kinds of problems. He was diagnosed with ZTTK syndrome. For the first year of his like he was on many antibiotics. When we saw him he was having difficulty pooping, was vomiting, had IBS, hemorrhoids, and ear infections.
Testing revealed high levels of C. difficile, H. Pylori, overgrowth bacteria, Citrobacter, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and general dysbiosis. Subsequently, after treatment, the boy’s indigestion, bloating, IBS, and hemorrhoids were getting better. We did retesting and found that the H. Pylori had gone down, and now his body was getting rid of toxins, giardia, and candida.
After the second round of treatment, the patient’s indigestion, gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and IBS were completely gone! The boy was also now a healthy weight – no longer underweight. We did a third round of testing, and found the H. Pylori was classified as a low-grade infection. There was still some dysbiosis and other toxins coming out, so we did another round of treatment that the patient is currently completing. Overall, in every stage of treatment, the patient has improved greatly.
Eighteen month old girl
This little baby girl has struggled with digestion issues and diarrhea containing blood and mucus most of her life. This patient also has a lot of allergies and post-nasal drip. In addition, with testing, we found norovirus, some H. Pylori, very little ‘good bacteria’, over growth bacteria, candida, Citrobacter, Klebsiella pneumoniae and leaky gut.
We just started treatment with this little one. I expect that she will respond very well.
Seven month old boy
This baby boy has had gas discomfort, eczema, and constipation most of his short life. With the comprehensive stool testing, we found bacterial overgrowth, dysbiosis, C. difficile, Blastocystis hominis (a parasite), Leaky gut and a very inflamed intentional tract. Testing also showed that he is extremely sensitive to gluten.
We just started treatment for this little guy. He should do great.
Testing and Treatment for Children
Generally speaking functional medicine testing for children is focused on the intestinal tract. In all the cases above a comprehensive stool analysis was used. If you think about it that makes a lot of sense. The part of the body that will encounter the most pathogens from the beginning of life is the gut. None of our food is sterile. A baby gets all of its microbiome from mom. Often babies with gastrointestinal problems have a mom who has similar struggles.
Believe it or not I have never needed drugs to fix the problems functional medicine testing has found, and often these kids have some very bad pathogens. The children we’ve helped have had pathogens like H Pylori, C. difficile, Candida, Giardia, Norovirus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Blastocystis hominis.
Treatments are gentle and consist of liquids, powders, different herbs and natural supplements. Generally treatment plans are 2 months long and often retesting is needed after treatment to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Often children start feeling better within the first couple of weeks. Depending on the problems sometimes the child will experience some worsening of the symptoms in the beginning of the treatment. That’s because when pathogens die they become toxic to the body and that can make a person feel fatigued, nauseous, headachy and weak. This reaction varies greatly from patient to patient depending on the age of the patient, severity of the problems and the genetics of the patient. The majority of my child patients do not have much in the way of these problems. When we do have a these reactions we adjust the dosage of the treatment to help.
What Now?
Have your little one become a patient by filling out our new patient form HERE. Dr. Kilcup will look over their history and get them started with testing. After testing, you will get a 2-3 month treatment plan, and usually this where we start to see improvement of symptoms. We will follow up with retesting and more treatment as many times as necessary. We can help in person or even long distance.
If you want more information about how Functional Medicine for children will impact them later on in life, look at ‘Probiotics Could Prevent ADHD and Asperger Syndrome‘.
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