Paul A. Goldberg MPH, DC, DACBN, DCBCN
Founder and Consultant to The Goldberg Tener Clinic
Chronic Disease Reversal

Nearly 60% of adult Americans have at least one chronic disease.[1]

Once afflicting mostly the older population, chronic diseases e.g. cancer, cardiovascular disease, allergies, autoimmune disorders, osteoarthritis, chronic infectious conditions, skin disorders, kidney disease and other issues are increasingly seen in all age groups. “In 2019, more than 54% of young adults aged 18–34 years reported having at least one chronic condition. One out of four reported having more than one chronic health condition.[2]

We are commonly asked by patients over fifty if they can reverse their chronic disorders or does their age prohibit them from doing so. A fair question we will address in this article. “Chronic health issues” are experienced by most patients we work with at the Goldberg Tener Clinic and we have focused on resolving their health issues for almost fifty years.

In my twenties I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis (a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis) and Inflammatory Bowel disease. In my journey to address my health, I became aware of the desperation present in both young and older people with chronic disorders.

It is a terrible proclamation when one is young to be told that not only are one’s health problems permanent but that they will worsen with age. It is not any easier to be told the same when we are older i.e. that ongoing disease and degeneration will be our fate for the rest of our lives. Sadly, and incorrectly, patients over fifty are often told their chronic health issues are simply a part of aging, to accept it and take symptom suppressing toxic pharmaceuticals.

Having restored my health despite the bleak proclamations of physicians, my goal became to assist others with “chronic diseases” also restore their health. My professional education focused on Chronic Disease Control subjects including Toxicology, Clinical Nutrition, Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Nutritional Biochemistry. I completed my thesis on Rheumatoid and other Autoimmune Diseases during my training at the University of Texas Medical Center Graduate School of Public Health. I later undertook studies in Chiropractic while teaching Clinical Nutrition and Public Health at a Chiropractic College.

After five decades of teaching, practicing and having worked with thousands of patients over fifty years of age, I have come to some conclusions regarding aging and chronic disease reversal.

The aging process begins around our mid-twenties. This is when we have reached physiological maturity and a decline in vitality and the speed of recuperation from injury and infection begins. It is normally a slow process determined in part by our genetics but also heavily influenced by environmental factors referred to as “epigenetics.”  Epigenetics are lifestyle factors e.g. diet, sleep patterns, digestive efficiency, exposure to toxins, emotional stress, drugs and surgeries that have a significant influence on our genetic potential and the development of those diseases we are prone to, either fostering or inhibiting their expression. The optimal way to protect ourselves from disease would be to choose our parents but with the right guidance we can conduct our lives in a manner to maximize our genetic potential.

I have worked with patients who showed advanced signs of aging in their late teens and twenties. Others did not show signs of advanced aging till their mid-seventies and older. Epigenetic factors determine how early in life genetic weaknesses will manifest and indeed if they will manifest at all. Just as epigenetic factors can make genetic weaknesses manifest themselves, by altering our nutritional biochemistry/lifestyle habits we can often turn those genetic manifestations off and restore our health.

Most patients coming to us for assistance with chronic disorders were told (as I was) that they will have increasing disability and require drugs for symptom relief. This need not be the case. An individualized Nutritional Biochemical evaluation and implementation of a Comprehensive Bio-Hygienic Program allows individuals to regain their vitality and enjoy vigorous health to their full genetic potential. Examples from our clinic are shown below:

When is it Too Late to Regain Health and Vitality?

There is virtually always the potential for improvements in the status of chronically ill patients regardless of their medical diagnosis. Age is but one of many factors.

Youth does have advantages. Tissues heal more quickly, digestive and endocrine secretions are restored more rapidly, the body’s cells are generally less encumbered with toxic wastes and damage from insults that occurred over the years. Youthful vitality can allow for a more rapid rejuvenative, re-creative response. There are wide variations, however, even with younger people depending on their genetics, environmental factors and their willingness to make needed changes.

It is not simply “getting older” that limits recovery from chronic disease. As with an automobile… it is not just how many miles the car has, it is how the car was constructed (its genetics) and how it was driven (taken care of). A quality vehicle driven with care and serviced regularly can have a long life. The car has the advantage of being able to replace parts, but the human body has the advantage of being able to create new tissues and re-create itself if the proper steps are taken. In getting older, that re-creation process slows but can be optimized with the right evaluation and guidance.

The history, physical examination and laboratory analysis we perform helps tell us what has occurred over the years from birth to the time we see the patient. We must take the time in performing the initial evaluation (with most patients one and a half to two hours’ time with two doctors) asking the right questions and giving attention to the patient’s answers. This is part of what we refer to as Clinical Epidemiology. As an Epidemiologist, I had to figure out what caused disease in communities. Today I apply that same training to focus on what has caused illness to arise in an individual person.

We perform a thorough hands-on physical examination and then proceed with appropriate laboratory studies that we are experienced in interpreting and applying to each patient’s case. These steps are used to identify the optimal steps to restore the patient to good health i.e. to Re-Create the patient’s body. This is very different from the conventional approach of both Medical and Functional Medical Physicians consisting of a short interview, labs to name symptoms and treating the symptoms with pharmaceuticals and/or an array of supplements.

For the older patient the interview can take considerably longer as we have more ground to cover…more years of living to explore. The patient sitting before us represents the accumulation of years of breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping, marital and work stressors, surgeries, drugs employed and a host of other factors. This all must be taken into consideration in the development of a program aimed at renewing and re-creating healthier tissues.

The older patient is more likely to have accumulated higher levels of metabolic wastes from normal living as well as toxins from environmental exposures from where they have worked and lived over the years. Toxicology Testing can reveal significant amounts of heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, volatile chemicals and other toxic residues that are playing a role in patient’s disease issues. To overlook such issues is to risk overlooking the keys to reversing the patient’s disease problems. The same is true for the younger patient as well, but the older patient has simply had more years to accumulate foreign materials in their tissues. 

Is there a point where age becomes a major handicap in reversing chronic disease?

The patient in their mid-sixties and older must be willing to work harder. They often need to give up habits that are well ingrained in their lifestyles. They are often on a myriad of pharmaceuticals and these must be accounted for and usually (with the guidance of the Physician who prescribed them) be carefully reduced. The older patient must be more patient in that their cellular turnover is slower and even with the right steps taken their improvements will likewise be slower in arriving.

With all that understood, the older person also has advantages. They are often more willing to do what is needed to get well and less distracted by the many unhealthy diversions that younger people are subject to engaging in. The older individual has been through life experiences including negative encounters with conventional and alternative medical practitioners that have led them down the path to a myriad of drugs, surgeries, supplements and therapies that did not restore their health. They are done with symptomatic drug and alternative medical care.

Being in my seventies I can relate to those of a more advanced age. I know that most older people have an inner drive to enjoy their lives, to finish their long-term life goals or to fulfill new ones. There is commonly a wisdom and discipline present often lacking in the younger patient along with a sincere will to get well.

Shown below are video interviews with several of our 50 and older patients illustrating the successful outcomes that are possible. 

Related Articles by the Goldberg Tener Clinic
1) Reversing Autoimmune Disorders
2) Reversing Chronic Skin Conditions
3) An Effective, Causal Based Approach to Digestive Problems
4) Reversing Rheumatoid Arthritis and other Rheumatoid Conditions
5) Reversing Thyroid Conditions
6) Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO): A Symptom of Impaired Health
7) Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meaningless Diagnosis
8) The Facade of Functional and Alternative Medicine
9) An Effective, Comprehensive Approach to Reversing Allergies
10) You have been misled… the way to lose weight is NOT trying to lose weight.
11) Click here to see our full library of articles.

[1] https://nationalhealthcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AboutChronicDisease.pdf

[2]https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7130a3.htm#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20more%20than%20one,more%20than%20one%20chronic%20condition.