Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to a podcast from Memorial Hospital. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Today we're joined by Dr. Yoon Hang Kim, the Chief Wellness Officer at Memorial Hospital. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Kim has been a pioneer in integrative medicine; developing sustainable and impactful programs across various settings, including healthcare systems and private practice.

So, let's discuss whether it's possible to reverse autoimmune conditions. Welcome. Good to see you, Dr. Kim.

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: Happy New Year and good to see you.

Host: Thank you. You as well. So, what is the role of autoimmune conditions at Memorial Institute for Health and Healing?

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: So, at Memorial Institute of Health and Healing, we see a lot of patients who have conditions that are not effectively treated by conventional means. And what complicates autoimmune conditions is that autoimmune conditions have been growing almost explosive and epidemic proportion. So if you have an autoimmune condition, most, if it involves joints, usually you go to a rheumatologist, it involved the gut, then you go to a GI doctor, if it involves the brain, you go to a neurologist.

And so, in some ways, I would say that the difficulty and the challenge is that there's not one specialty that takes care of autoimmune, so it becomes a big part of our practice here at Memorial Institute of Health and Healing.

Host: Do you think that would ever change? That there's just one person who zeros in on it, or is it just too wide a spectrum?

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: In some ways, I think that our role at Memorial Institute of Health and Healing, because we have so many patients with autoimmune conditions, we are getting very adept at working with the rheumatologist, to explore options that may help with patients to cope or in some cases reverse the autoimmune conditions.

Host: What results have you seen that can be reversed?

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: So we've seen excellent results. We've had a patient, that had a complete reversal of multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and we've been seeing excellent results overall, but I have to caution it by saying that there are also a few patients that whatever we have done has not been helpful.

Host: Well, it sounds overall encouraging. What are some of the tools you're using to reverse autoimmune condition?

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: The most important tools include if the patient is agreeable for them to do an anti inflammatory diet, and a state known as ketosis, which is a fat burning state, they seem to work very well. Another innovative tool that we utilize is low dose naltrexone, which has been used for treating autoimmune conditions in integrative and functional medicine for about two decades now.

Host: And in closing, is there anything else you'd like to add that you think people should know about?

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: Yes, I think the conventional medicine outlook of autoimmune conditions, remission is not seen often. In my experience, working with integrative and functional medicine gives a possibility to explore remission as a goal for autoimmune conditions. So I encourage people to look for options and explore their options to the fullest.

Host: Thank you so much, Dr. Kim, for sharing your expertise, as always, it's been a pleasure.

Yoon Hang Kim, MD: Thank you.

Host: To find out more, please visit mhtlc.org. That's mhtlc. org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. And if you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into our health and wellness initiatives, please google Memorial Hospital's Institute of Health and Healing.

Remember, saying yes to good health is the first step toward a healthier future. I'm Maggie McKay, thanks for listening, and until next time, take care.