In this episode of Mold Talks Docs, Michael Rubino sits down with Dr. Kenneth Bock to discuss his wealth of experience helping patients heal from chronic conditions and environmental exposures like mold. He explains a wide range of topics, including how everyone has their own immunity kettle, the role inflammation plays in the body, and the importance of looking at the bigger picture when making a diagnosis and treatment plan.
As a leader in integrative medicine, Dr. Kenneth Bock has accumulated over 35 years of experience diagnosing the root cause of chronic illnesses and restoring balance to his patients’ immune systems. He founded Bock Integrative Medicine in response to the increasing need for board-certified medical providers who take a unique "whole body" approach to diagnose and treat chronic illness.
After graduating Summa Cum Laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1973, Dr. Bock went on to earn his M.D. with Honor from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1979.
He is board-certified in Family Medicine, a Certified Nutrition Specialist, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, the American College of Nutrition, and the American College for Advancement in Medicine, of which he is a former President. Dr. Kenneth Bock is also a faculty member of the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM).
Dr. Bock has lectured nationally and internationally for the past three decades on a broad range of topics. He has written for general interest publications, including Psychology Today and Autism Digest, and has been a contributing author to numerous published articles and studies in medical journals, including The Journal of Neuroimmunology, The Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, and most recently, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. His latest book is Brain Inflamed: Uncovering the Hidden Causes of Anxiety, Depression, and Other Mood Disorders in Teens and Adolescents (HarperCollins). He is also a regular participant in the Autism Research Institute’s annual Think Tank, which brings together 40-50 experts from around the world to address the global epidemic of autism spectrum disorders.
In this episode, they dive into:
01:00: Dr. Kenneth Bock discusses how large of a role he believes environmental factors play in health and touches on his experiences helping clients with this. While there are many factors that influence how symptoms manifest in our bodies, environments play an important role. He also touches on how mold is a factor in this issue. "It’s a whole immune kettle. There are many layers to this kettle, so when you get to the top and it boils and overflows, that's when you see symptoms. But the layers are not only one thing, and that's the one thing I have a problem with a lot of practitioners. You have to have more of a sense of the various layers that contribute, and that can be on top of a genetic predisposition. You can have nutritional deficiencies and insufficiencies. You can have allergies and sensitivities. You can have environmental toxins, you can have infections, you can have immune imbalances, hormonal imbalances, and, of course, stress, which is what throws people over. But it's not stress alone; it's stress on top of all the other layers."
6:00: Dr. Kenneth Bock describes his experience with clients who are in the midst of a perfect storm of problems, and then one final push sends them over the edge. Mold is an example of the final stressor that sends someone into a downward spiral.
7:30: Dr. Kenneth Bock goes through the importance of getting out of moldy environments. It’s similar to not eating as much sugar when you’re hyperglycemic.
9:20: Dr. Kenneth Bock discusses the role genetics plays in environmental exposure-related symptoms and the issues he’s seen from doctors only focusing on this one piece.
12:15: Dr. Kenneth Bock explains what he calls the "immune kettle" and the role it plays in how a person experiences environmental exposures. "Some people do get a stacked deck in terms of genetic predispositions, and they may have to do even more to stay healthy. But the people who think they’re riding free… There’s no such thing as a free lunch."
14:10: Dr. Kenneth Bock discusses the differences between acute and chronic inflammation and the importance of distinguishing the two. He also details the various health problems inflammation can trigger, both physical and mental. People think all inflammation is bad, and it’s really not that way. Acute inflammation has a purpose. However, if it’s overwhelming inflammation or chronic persistent inflammation, those are the problems.
19:50: Dr. Kenneth Bock goes through the importance of looking at the entire picture because, "If you don’t look, you won’t see. If you don’t listen, you won’t hear." Doctors have to start looking at this in order to better treat their patients. Otherwise, far too many people will be misdiagnosed and continue to suffer.
23:30: Dr. Kenneth Bock details the importance of both science and intuition while treating a patient. As he said, the medical world has lost the art of making diagnoses and treatment plans.
26:00: Dr. Kenneth Bock discusses why he continues to do his job and why he’s so passionate about what he does. He also details the books he’s written over the years and why he wrote them in the first place.
32: Dr. Kenneth Bock explains the importance of both taking nutrients and making sure you’re taking the correct dosage. For those dealing with environmental exposures, this is even more important.
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Learn More about Dr. Kenneth Bock at:
https://www.bockintegrative.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kennethbockmd/
https://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Bock/e/B001IGNYJ4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
