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Dr. Ricky Brar, DC, CPMP - Functional Medicine Practitioner Carole Berry introduced Ricky Brar, noting that her own ill health is being resolved as a client of Living Proof. She has three autoimmune diseases which were not being treated effectively resulting in much frustration. Since she met Ricky, her health has really turned around and she is "becoming proof". Dr. Brar lives in Brampton and is an avid hockey player. Described as the future of health care, Ricky Brar noted that 38% of diagnoses for poor health are wrong, leading to the wrong treatment. Most often the root cause of ill-health is inflammation, toxicity and infection. Sometimes you may feel healthy, but out of nowhere symptoms such as acid reflux and digestive problems hit. Triggers can be infections, and chronic disease processes which move into a degenerative phase or autoimmune diseases. In children infectious diseases may come from environmental factors, food supply as well as genetics. Currently the Canadian health care system is using testing methods which are 100 years old and mostly ineffective. Dr. Brar is the head of the Living Proof Institute, located at Square One, Mississauga. He has a 14 member team of functional medicine practitioners with diverse skills, including pharmacy, nutrition, lifestyle coach, etc, who operate in a team approach. He is a clinical mentor to physicians and travels across Canada lecturing on functional medicine. This is not funded by OHIP. Client pay a sliding scale fee depending on services needed. He described his own 15 year journey from ill-health starting in his teens. In grade 10 he had digestive problems and was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Experiencing anxiety, he gradually lost weight to 128 lbs, could not attend classes and yet his blood tests always were "normal". When he found a functional medicine practitioner, when he was in university, more detailed testing showed he had a parasitic infection, was not digesting fats (hence the weight loss), his citric acid cycle was not working and he had an overgrowth of H Pilori bacteria. He regenerated his system through aligning his diet, scheduling regular meals, mindfulness exercises, microbio balancers (supplements). He decided to train as a Functional Medicine Practitioner after completing his chiropractic training. Now at a weight of 169 lbs he feels well, has no anxiety and lots of energy, found a life purpose in functional medicine practice, and feels very motivated to share his knowledge with others. A new client of Living Proof Institute will complete a comprehensive history (46 page), and undergo testing. A client must commit to taking personal responsibility for health and a personalized lifestyle plan is developed in consultation with the Living Proof team. Tests not covered by OHIP and are processed in the US, so this is a cost to the client. Dr. Brar noted that the Canadian Medical Association noted that of $30 billion paid on health care each year, 43% of this budget goes to hospitals, 27% to physicians, 15% to drgs and 15% to long-term care. 50% of funding goes to 5% of the consumers. This is unsustainable as the population ages. The answer is to work towards absence of disease, which is the goal of functional medicine. It requires a paradigm shift from treating illness to avoiding disease. Dr. Brar was thanked by Barry Thorvardson for his interesting presentation. |
Thank you Colony Ford - Lincoln for providing your cars and once again participating in a test drive fundraiser. Thank you Carls Catering The Glen for hosting the fundraiser and providing delicious peameal bacon sandwiches. Thank you to the many people who came out to take a test drive. Thank you Harinder Malhi for coming out and supporting such a great cause. Last, but not least, thank you to the many many volunteers who helped make this day happen. You all make #BramptonProud..jpg)
