Even conventional medical science agrees that diet and lifestyle factors give rise to most chronic disease. In alternative medicine, the opinion is even stronger: the great majority of chronic illness begins with inflammation and impaired immune function, and most of those problems arise in the gut. The cost of these illnesses, both in terms of suffering and expense, is both terrible and enormous. 

For decades alternative practitioners preached about the role of bacteria to digestive and overall health, but were mocked by conventional doctors. In recent years the consensus has shifted. Every week seems to bring fresh evidence of the pivotal role of intestinal flora in autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, mental health and function – the list is endless. Today no well-informed doctor doubts that digestive health is the foundation of wellness. 

This begs the question, if the science is clear, why don’t conventional doctors address digestive health in their treatment? To be frank, the answer is habit and ignorance. Orthodox medicine doesn’t generally have the diagnostic tools or therapeutic methods to heal dysbiosis; in the insurance model, orthodox doctors don’t really have time to treat such problems; and the methods don’t fit into their paradigm of drugs and surgery. This is a tragedy, because when the patient is only told to improve his diet, it takes many, many years for the gut to heal. At Paracelsus we know how to accelerate this healing, though it often takes months. 

For nearly all intestinal and digestive disorders – celiac and Crohn’s disease, leaky gut syndrome, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, IBD and IBS, food allergies and sensitivities, and many more – orthodox medicine has not established any underlying cause and treats them only suppressively. Why is the cause of the above diseases unknown, despite all the progress in science? Because there is no single cause (or treatment). Instead there is a combination of individual factors and most certainly a disturbance of the cellular milieu and generally a disturbance within the highly complex digestive system. 

Conventional medicine is also blind to the role of the autonomic nervous system in digestive health. The digestive system is closely related to the autonomic nervous system, which is also called “abdominal brain”. It consists of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic parts, which control all body functions without our deliberate involvement and should be rhythmically poised. 

Why is the Paracelsus Biological Medicine so incredibly successful in the treatment of these diseases? Because we recognize the whole organism and try to understand the interplay of many factors, and devise a treatment plan highly specific to the patient’s individual situation. More than two-thirds of our patients with digestive issues enjoy a full recovery, and practically all patients we treat experience great improvement. We achieve this without the use of harmful medicines and their side-effects.