Because most chronic inflammatory diseases are perpetuated by imbalances in the GI tract, recovery for your pet will depend upon restoring normal function in the GI tract. The treatment protocol designed to accomplish this has four components, which are called the four R's.
The first R is for remove. Removal focuses on eliminating anything that is causing GI disturbance. This includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or toxins, but usually foods are the are the major problem. A food allergy blood panel is run to identify proteins the animal is hypersensitive to. These proteins are removed from the diet in order for the food to be non-sensitizing.
The second R stands for replace. Deficiencies in digestive enzymes, stomach acid, vitamins and minerals are important which create and perpetuate the hypersensitivities which are causing the animal's symptoms. If these deficiencies are not corrected, changing diet will provide only partial or temporary improvement. the "leaky gut", which is the cause of the problem must be corrected in order to restore normal function.
The third R is reinoculate. When the GI tract is unbalanced by food hypersensitivities, disturbances in the bacterial flora occur. Sometimes this is infection by a pathogen, but more often it is a state of dybiosis- i.e. bacterial overgrowth of normally occurring bacteria. These imbalances must be identified and corrected in order to restore normal function.
The fourth R is repair. It refers to providing nutritional support for regeneration and healing of the mucosal layer of the GI tract. Nutritional support for the rest of the body may also be necesary to correct relative deficiencies that have occurred while the GI tract has been dysfunctional. Deficiencies can be identified by functional diagnostic tests such as the Organix Profile.
John B. Smith, DVM ♦ "The Dog Doctor" ♦ DrJohn@DogDoctor.us ♦ 734-434-9055 ♦ 2894 Washtenaw Ave, Ypsilanti, MI 48197