Studying Excess Inflammation with Dr. Tom O’Bryan

In this episode, Sachin interviews Dr. Tom O’Bryan on excess inflammation and the effects it has on your body. They address the causes of inflammation, the purpose of inflammation in your body, and how it can accumulate by continued exposure to toxins in your body. Dr. Tom O’Bryan talks about his docuseries The Inflammation Equation, the experts he interviewed over a year for the docuseries, and how you can access this docuseries and learn more about inflammation in your body. Dr. Tom also recommends the Neural Zoomer Plus test to learn about excess inflammation you may have in your brain.

Listen to learn more about excess inflammation and its treatment and prevention.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:02] Sachin introduces today’s guest, Dr. Tom O’Bryan. Today we’re going to talk about one of the most important topics that impacts virtually every cell, every system, and every organ in your body, something that Time magazine has called the silent killer, inflammation.

 

[1:24] Dr. Tom is not only a brilliant clinician but also very detail - and scientifically - oriented. He is working on a new project Sachin says will blow your mind.

 

[1:54] Sachin welcomes Dr. Tom to Perfect Practice. Dr. Tom wishes he and Sachin lived in the same place to get together weekly or so for coffee. Dr. Tom lives in Costa Rica but he imports his coffee from Reno, Nevada, from Brain Bean.

 

[2:44] Dr. Tom tells about Brain Bean, its founder, Dr. Michael Nelson, and their coffees, including Zen Blend. Sachin says “I’m going to buy it right now. … I’m sold. Thank you.”

 

[3:55] Dr. Tom explains his work with inflammation. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have an active immune system protecting us every day. When it gets called up, the question is, what’s it trying to protect you from?

 

[4:55] A related thought is that, according to the CDC, 14 of the 15 top causes of death are chronic inflammatory diseases. It’s always excessive inflammation that causes disease.

 

[5:28] Dr. Tom shares a slide from Dr. David Furman at Stanford. The slide has three gears that are linked in a line. The first gear has teeth labeled with things that attack our systems: viruses, bacteria, inactivity, obesity, lack of regenerative sleep, excess stress hormones, and more.

 

[7:11] When the first gear gets out of balance, it turns to the middle gear, labeled Systemic Chronic Inflammation. Your immune system is responding to a perceived threat.

 

[7:44] Dr. Jeff Bland, the Founder of Functional Medicine, told Dr. Tom in an interview, “A negative thought is just as powerful at activating your immune system, creating inflammation, as exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

 

[8:21] Dr. Patrick Hanaway, who co-founded the Functional Medicine Center at Cleveland Clinic, told Dr. Tom in an interview, after a diagnosis of Stage 4 throat cancer, “I thought I was bigger than the stress in my life.”

 

[9:50] Then Dr. Hanaway talked about how he has learned to handle the stress of life so much better, which reduces activating the immune system. 

 

[10:24] Dr. Tom returns to the image of the three gears. The gear in the middle is your immune system trying to protect you. That turns the gear on the right, which is your genetics and antecedents, such as mercury toxicity. Genetics and antecedents point to your weakest link.

 

[11:02] The pull on the chain attacks your weakest part. The pull on the chain is inflammation. Excessive inflammation