Silicon Valley Health Institute | How Autoimmunity Changed My Practice of Medicine - Cynthia Li, M.D. (Dec 2016) @SiliconValleyHealthInstitute | Uploaded January 2017 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
"How Autoimmunity Changed My Practice of Medicine" is a presentation by Cynthia Li, M.D. that took place at Silicon Valley Health Institute on December 15, 2016.
Up until my early 30s, I was living life at the fullest: traveling abroad for 6 months with my husband, working full-time in a primary HIV/AIDS clinic, exercising regularly, and eating a diet of mostly organic low-fat foods. Living life forward, I thought I was quite healthy. Now, with hindsight being 20/20, I realize I had underlying imbalances for many years already– starting out as subtle symptoms I either disregarded or pushed beyond– that were signs of mounting inflammation and physiological stress.
These underlying imbalances and what I know now to be a genetic predisposition, led to postpartum thyroiditis after my first child was born. I followed the usual course of seeing an endocrinologist and taking medication, but even after my numbers normalized, persistent vertigo and fatigue remained.
Nonetheless, I was still functional, so in my doctors’ and my own opinions, I was doing well enough. Soon thereafter, a 2nd pregnancy, along with other inciting factors, threw me into a chronic state of debilitating symptoms no one could decipher– not my primary care doctor, various specialists, my acupuncturist, or myself. I found myself in the group of patients that either (a) was not recognized or validated by the health community, and/or (b) was not help- able. I was spiraling in a vortex of diagnoses that included autonomic dysfunction, multiple food sensitivities, and chronic fatigue syndrome. I wasn’t even sure if some of these conditions truly existed, but the experience of my symptoms was undeniable.
In the years that followed, I explored the fundamental connection between nourishment and health. I also explored our inextricable spiritual and physical connectedness to our environments as well as our inner environments of the microbiome (gut, skin, and respiratory microorganisms with which we co-evolved). I delved deeper into evolutionary biology and the effects of epigenetics (how gene expression is affected by environmental factors). I experimented with integrative medicine, acupuncture and herbs, mind/body medicine with a focus on neuroplasticity (rehabilitation exercises to rewire the communication between our brain and hormonal pathways), and whole foods-based ancestral diets like WAPF, GAPS and the Paleo Diet. I learned how to cook delicious, nutrient-dense foods. I also learned to tap into the support offered by the strong, loving community around me, and how to practice pleasure again. After a 2 year medical leave, I returned to clinical practice, but with a very different set of eyes. I saw more clearly the beautiful complexity of the human mind, body, and spirit; as well as what it looks like when that delicate balance is disturbed.
The Czech writer and political leader Vaclav Havel articulated a distinction between optimism and hope, which is paraphrased here: Optimism is the belief that everything will go right. Hope is a deep orientation of the human soul that can be held in the darkest of times. It is from this hope that I have emerged back into a renewed experience of Life’s richness and its mysteries.
cynthialimd.com
Follow-up questions at
youtu.be/0jRPC7xFsnY
Visit the Silicon Valley Health Institute (aka Smart Life Forum) at
svhi.com
Silicon Valley Health Institute Smart Life Forum Palo Alto
"How Autoimmunity Changed My Practice of Medicine" is a presentation by Cynthia Li, M.D. that took place at Silicon Valley Health Institute on December 15, 2016.
Up until my early 30s, I was living life at the fullest: traveling abroad for 6 months with my husband, working full-time in a primary HIV/AIDS clinic, exercising regularly, and eating a diet of mostly organic low-fat foods. Living life forward, I thought I was quite healthy. Now, with hindsight being 20/20, I realize I had underlying imbalances for many years already– starting out as subtle symptoms I either disregarded or pushed beyond– that were signs of mounting inflammation and physiological stress.
These underlying imbalances and what I know now to be a genetic predisposition, led to postpartum thyroiditis after my first child was born. I followed the usual course of seeing an endocrinologist and taking medication, but even after my numbers normalized, persistent vertigo and fatigue remained.
Nonetheless, I was still functional, so in my doctors’ and my own opinions, I was doing well enough. Soon thereafter, a 2nd pregnancy, along with other inciting factors, threw me into a chronic state of debilitating symptoms no one could decipher– not my primary care doctor, various specialists, my acupuncturist, or myself. I found myself in the group of patients that either (a) was not recognized or validated by the health community, and/or (b) was not help- able. I was spiraling in a vortex of diagnoses that included autonomic dysfunction, multiple food sensitivities, and chronic fatigue syndrome. I wasn’t even sure if some of these conditions truly existed, but the experience of my symptoms was undeniable.
In the years that followed, I explored the fundamental connection between nourishment and health. I also explored our inextricable spiritual and physical connectedness to our environments as well as our inner environments of the microbiome (gut, skin, and respiratory microorganisms with which we co-evolved). I delved deeper into evolutionary biology and the effects of epigenetics (how gene expression is affected by environmental factors). I experimented with integrative medicine, acupuncture and herbs, mind/body medicine with a focus on neuroplasticity (rehabilitation exercises to rewire the communication between our brain and hormonal pathways), and whole foods-based ancestral diets like WAPF, GAPS and the Paleo Diet. I learned how to cook delicious, nutrient-dense foods. I also learned to tap into the support offered by the strong, loving community around me, and how to practice pleasure again. After a 2 year medical leave, I returned to clinical practice, but with a very different set of eyes. I saw more clearly the beautiful complexity of the human mind, body, and spirit; as well as what it looks like when that delicate balance is disturbed.
The Czech writer and political leader Vaclav Havel articulated a distinction between optimism and hope, which is paraphrased here: Optimism is the belief that everything will go right. Hope is a deep orientation of the human soul that can be held in the darkest of times. It is from this hope that I have emerged back into a renewed experience of Life’s richness and its mysteries.
cynthialimd.com
Follow-up questions at
youtu.be/0jRPC7xFsnY
Visit the Silicon Valley Health Institute (aka Smart Life Forum) at
svhi.com
Silicon Valley Health Institute Smart Life Forum Palo Alto
