Aug 27, 2026 · 59 min
Functional medicine searches for chronic illness’s hidden drivers
194: Dr. Mark Hyman: Why You're Still Sick—Finding the Root Cause With Functional Medicine
The conversation examines whether persistent symptoms require broader investigation of infections, toxins, immune dysfunction, and environmental exposures rather than isolated symptom treatment.
- 1Functional medicine uses biomarkers and clinical investigation to connect chronic symptoms with underlying biological and environmental drivers.
- 2The discussion links mold, tick-borne infections, microbiome disruption, toxins, and MCAS to complex patterns of illness requiring careful evaluation.
- 3Next Health and UltraWellness Center aim to combine intensive testing with personalized interventions, preventive care, and coordinated treatment.
Don't miss
Mark Hyman recounts health problems he experienced after living in mold-contaminated homes, underscoring the stakes of environmental investigation.
The brief
Mark Hyman and Darshan Shah frame chronic illness as an investigative problem: fragmented care can treat symptoms while missing the interacting causes beneath them.
Biomarker testing, clinical judgment, and the Function platform become tools in that investigation, covering inflammation, hormones, toxins, gut health, and other systems.
The conversation moves through MCAS, mold exposure, Lyme and related infections, autoimmune disease, and long COVID—conditions whose symptoms can span multiple body systems.
A standout thread is Hyman’s account of mold-contaminated homes and the health problems he experienced, making environmental exposure a personal as well as clinical question.
The partnership between UltraWellness Center and Next Health represents the episode’s larger argument: deeper evaluation and coordinated care should begin before chronic dysfunction becomes harder to reverse.
Featuring
Mark Hyman
Ending Chronic IllnessBooks & mentions
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