IV Therapy
The West Clinic also specializes in the area of advanced bio-nutritional medicine. This area of expertise includes both oral and injectable nutritional medicine.
Many of our patients are so depleted of essential nutrients, that they cannot place their bodies into a favorable position to heal, regardless of whether the patient is fighting a low-grade chronic infection, chronic fatigue, or cancer.
The reason why patients usually feel so much better fairly quickly is because of how IV therapy works. Once you are hooked up to the IV, depending on which treatment you are to receive, the treatments will generally range from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Further, once you are hooked up, all you have to do is sit back and relax. Any change in the intravenous (IV) nutritional medicine that you are receiving is done by switching the bag, never the needle.
Taking nutritional medicine by IV allows for greater absorption by the cells. Absorption is a process that depends on what biochemists call the concentration gradient, which means that the nutrients must be in a higher concentration outside the cell as compared to inside the cell.
If your cells are sick, however, they may not be able to transport the nutrients in sufficient quantities to restore their health. Thus, nutrients must be given in a concentration high enough to force the nutrients (nutritional medicines) that you need into your cells. As the concentration level increases outside of your cell, your cell wall allows nutrients in.
If, for example, your cells are sick and can only absorb 10% of what they need under normal concentration conditions, we can increase the concentration of those available nutrients (using an IV) by 1000%, which automatically allows your cells to increase their absorption ability to 100 percent of normal.
Many patients have asked me on occasion, “If all I need to do to make my cells healthy again is to give them the right nutrients in the right concentration, why can’t I simply take those dosages by mouth? Why do I need IV therapy?” There are several reasons. Usually, oral therapy only is reserved for those mild, marginal health problems that don’t require a “bigger gun.” Further, it is very effective as a general rule, and as a preventative measure. Unfortunately, in several cases of serious illnesses, there is no way to administer the doses that are needed, orally. That is when it is appropriate to consider IV therapy.
IV therapy is used in cases of serious illness, not as a preventative measure. Cells in your stomach and intestine can transport and absorb only so fast, and, unfortunately, their highest speed isn’t high enough to create a high-concentration gradient throughout the body. Your stomach simply can’t absorb these types of high dosages. In addition, when many nutritional medicines are taken orally in the large doses that are required, the body simply cannot handle digesting and routing the nutrients. A patient could experience a skin rash or diarrhea because the stomach is not able to facilitate that level of concentration – unpleasant side effects for an already sick patient!
And, as many of you know, there comes a time when you can only swallow so many pills. IV therapy is the perfect solution in these cases because intravenously, the nutrients are able to bypass your stomach and produce an instant and significant increase in concentration, which is presented to every cell in the body.
Further, in many cases, by the time symptoms of a disease have become apparent, it is too late for oral nutritional medicines alone, to make much difference at all. Your body’s ability to absorb nutrients can be inhibited by many factors, including previous medications, antibiotic use, yeast or bacterial overgrowth, and existing, nutritional deficiencies.
Another added benefit over oral supplementation, in my opinion, is that when a patient receives IV treatment at our clinic, I see them profit from being around the other patients who can share their progress and support. The types of serious illnesses and diseases that require IV therapy can often leave patients feeling hopeless or powerless. Being able to talk to others and seeing the strides that fellow patients are making helps you to keep a positive outlook about your own treatment and progress.
