Dr. Kara Fitzgerald | New Frontiers in Functional Medicine, Longevity, Epigenetics

If you’ve followed my show for some time, you’ve probably come across the wealth of conversations I’ve had with the team at Precision Analytical about their DUTCH hormone tests – this is an ever-evolving topic that continues to pique my interest as a clinician looking to level up my toolkit. In today’s show, I’m pleased to dive into some of my favorite topics of fertility, menopause, and HPA function with Dr. Jaclyn Smeaton, ND. She’s the chief medical officer at Precision Analytical, sponsor of this episode, and a naturopathic physician who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and hormones. Today’s conversation is all about the latest research on hormone testing, some of our favorite interventions to address hormone imbalances and much more as you consider the best testing options for your patients. This is an incredibly useful conversation so make sure to tune in!

Today we are taking on a revolutionary and provocative topic that I suspect will be quite liberating for many of us women (and practitioners who work with women) – a deep dive into how to optimize exercise training and performance during pre-, peri-, and post-menopause. This topic is of great importance to me as a cyclist and, I have to say, there’s nuance in the way we women should approach training that is hormone-dependent. My guest Dr. Stacy Sims is a huge talent and a tremendous gift to our community — listen as we discuss why women need to train differently than men, including specifics about protein intake, fasting, hormone replacement therapy, and what types of training are best depending on where you are in your cycle or menopause journey. Grab a pen, you’re going to want to take notes! ~DrKF

Drs Patrick Hanaway, Kara Parker, and Laurie Hofmann discuss building tools for long COVID, data collection, and practitioner training. They dive into the challenges of long COVID, data-driven strategies, and the importance of research and collaboration in functional medicine. The podcast explores the impact of diet, supplements, lifestyle changes, and patient registries in managing long COVID symptoms and improving patient outcomes.

One fascinating and incredibly important molecule to pay attention to in the field of healthy longevity is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). It’s literally in every cell and contributes to over 300 different reactions in the body as a coenzyme substrate. Dr. Nichola Conlon, PhD, is an expert on NAD+ and launched Nuchido Laboratories (who sponsors this episode) to rigorously test and develop a NAD+ booster supplement packed with epinutrients. She joins me in this ridiculously interesting conversation where she explains role of NAD+ as a signaling molecule, its relationship with longevity proteins sirtuins, its impact on multiple hallmarks of aging, its relationship to the salvage pathway, NNMT and CD38. And that just touches the surface of all we discuss in today’s talk! I’m thrilled to have her with me and hope you enjoy listening. ~DrKF

I first met Dr. Heather Zwickey when she was my immunology professor in medical school and made sure to stay in touch with her ever since. Her command of the microbiome literature is frankly unparalleled – and I can always learn more from her and this podcast proves it. Join me in this New Frontiers conversation about the latest perspectives on the microbiome, and a great discussion of all things pre/post and parabiotics. We also get into the rise in autoimmunity conditions post-Covid and ways one can mitigate the risks of these conditions. Smart, timely, and always engaging – I know you’ll think so too. ~DrKF

I always appreciate talking to companies who heavily invest their time and dollars into preclinical and clinical science. And Timeline Nutrition, sponsor of this episode, is doing just that with dramatic results. They have figured out how to make a bioidentical Urolithin A, which compelling research has shown positively influences our mitochondrial health, with wide-ranging knock-on effects. In addition, since it relies on microbial formation from the right polyphenols within the gut, those of us without the right dietary precursors, or dysbiotic microbiomes, may not effectively produce it on our own. Please join me in this episode to learn more about the research and clinical applications of Urolithin A. And if you would be so kind, leave us a review and starred rating wherever you listen to New Frontiers! ~ DrKF

Dr. Wahls’ dramatic recovery from progressive, debilitating multiple sclerosis (she was wheelchair-bound at one point and unable to sit upright) using functional medicine principles continues to astound those who learn about it. She kindly returns to New Frontiers in this episode to give us her latest updates and refinements in her approach to healing. Tune in to learn how she weighs the importance of diet vs. supplements vs. e-stim, e-stim dosing strategies that worked for her, and the surprising effects of e-stim on BDNF and depressive symptoms. Dr. Wahls also shares her recommendations for omega-6:omega-3 ratios, cholesterol targets and more. And, if you suffer with multiple sclerosis there’s a chance to screen for one of Dr. Wahls’ upcoming trials. You’re in for a tremendous treat! -DrKF

If you’re a practitioner looking to level up your toolkit for regenerating the intestinal barrier and healing the gut, then this interview with Dr. Tom Fabian, PhD is exactly what you need. This fundamental piece of our functional medicine toolkit continues to progress, and today we’re zooming way out from just patching up the gut. Dr. Fabian and I dive into the dynamic nature of the barrier, including its circadian cycle, the role of prebiotics, polyphenols, probiotics, and postbiotics in epithelial regeneration and stem cell proliferation, and useful clinical pearls to assess barrier function using the GI-MAP stool test. So glad to have Tom back on New Frontiers, and Im sure you will be too! Let me know what you think! ~DrKF

How much do we really know about the microbiome? What does it take to identify new probiotic strains and their associated health benefits? When should we leverage precise single strains and when is it more effective to use synergistic blends? I am grateful to talk again with the brilliant scientist and incredibly courageous entrepreneur, Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe. Colleen has over 20 years experience managing and leading teams in biotech, pharma, and academia — I just love picking her brilliant brain! She completed her postdoc research at Northwestern’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Johns Hopkins. In this episode of New Frontiers, we explore novel probiotic strains such as Clostridium buytricum, Clostridium beijerinckii & Anaerobutyricum hallii, discuss their synergy in producing short-chain fatty acids and potential to stimulate satiety-inducing GLP-1, and so much more! I commend Colleen and the team at Pendulum for their dedication to bringing new & challenging science and next-generation probiotics to the world. I sure learned a lot, and am sure you will, too. Let me know with a comment, review, and rating wherever you listen to New Frontiers! ~DrKF

Dr. Michael Roizen is an extraordinarily well-read, well-researched, and experienced physician in the field of longevity medicine. He dates his first interest in the field back to 1979 as head of an intensive care unit, when he recognized that patients who were biologically younger dramatically reduced their risk for post-operative disease and death. Since then, he has worked tirelessly in many ways to help individuals get physically and mentally younger, improving the lives of patients and documenting millions of dollars of savings per year in employee healthcare costs at Cleveland Clinic. In our conversation, he shares his lifestyle-forward approach, one that sits well alongside the Younger You program. Tune in to find out the importance of “posse, purpose, play, and locus of control,” how you can be your own genetic engineer, his take on emerging anti-aging interventions, and much more. As Dr. Roizen reminds us, it’s never too late to start – “until you’re six feet under, it ain’t too late to do this.” -DrKF