Leading-edge integrative Treatment for MTHFR genetic mutation
The MTHFR mutation has multiple presentations, significant variances in the specific symptoms and degree of symptoms experienced by different patients. The two most common variants that are collectively called MTHFR are the C677T and A1298C but there are actually 6 known variants that have significant impact on the methylation process. The others are FOLR1, FOLR2, DHFR, and MTHFD1. The methylation process takes folic acid in as the raw material and adds a methyl group to it in order to produce 5-MTHF (5-methyltetrahydrofolate) or “Methylated Folate”. Think of 5-MTHF as the “gasoline” for our cells and without it, patients will lack energy and will not produce enough of various byproducts to be healthy and feel our best. At Proactive, we help patients quantify the impact on the methylation process by looking at all of the variants an using our algorithm to estimate the impact. If you have a single heterozygous mutation, the impact may not be medically significant. On the other hand, if you have a homozygous C677T, you may have significant unanswered medical issues and symptoms. This is why we have to take a complete look at all of the genes in the methylation process and assess each patient individually.
Immediately below, we present the conditions and symptoms caused or worsened by the MTHFR mutation. Below this initial table, we present a high-level overview our approach and treatment protocol. Again, we caution patients from attempting to use this protocol without physician supervision.
The foundation of our approach to treating this mutation is our Comprehensive Initial Assessment with genetics. This assessment, which includes 2 hours with one of our physicians provides the basis for establishing the appropriate treatment protocol, taking into consideration the number and degree of your symptoms as well as other health conditions that you have that may or may not be related.
Conditions and symptoms caused or made worse by MTHFR mutation
| Autism | Addictions: smoking, drugs, alcohol |
| Miscarriages | Pulmonary embolisms |
| Depression in Post-Menopausal Women | Schizophrenia |
| Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Chemical Sensitivity |
| Parkinson’s | Irritable Bowel Syndrome |
| Pre-eclampsia | Stroke |
| Colorectal Adenoma | Idiopathic male infertility |
| Blood clots | Rectal cancer |
| Deficits in childhood cognitive development | Gastric Cancer |
| Migraines with aura | Low HDL |
| High homocysteine | Post-menopausal breast cancer |
| Atherosclerosis | Oral Clefts |
| Type 1 Diabetes | Epilepsy |
| Alzheimer’s | Potential drug toxicities: methotrexate, anti-epileptics |
| Increased bone fracture risk in post-menopausal women | Multiple Sclerosis |
| Essential Hypertension | Prostate Cancer |
| Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) | Methotrexate Toxicity |
| Nitrous Oxide Toxicity | Heart Murmurs |
| Asthma | Shortness of Breath |
| Bladder Cancer |
PATIENT RESPONSE
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Treatment Protocol
Our treatment protocol uses a functional medicine approach. This is why it begins with our comprehensive initial assessment. We seek to find root causes to your health issues since many issues you present with are not likely directly caused by the MTHFR mutation. By using a functional medicine approach, we understand that imbalances in one part of the body may manifest in other systems. So we avoid the specialist approach that focuses on the disease from a single system view and view the body as a single system of systems. Using functional medicine as our guide, our treatment protocol is described below.
- Testing. Advanced testing is the key to our customized treatment programs. Following are the tests that we used in treating the MTHFR mutation.
a. Comprehensive lab panel
b. Advanced genetics panel from Gx Sciences
c. Food sensitivity test (if indicated)
d. CIMT (due to increased cardiovascular risk) - Dietary Guidelines. Following are the general dietary guidelines. The specific guidelines are customized for each patient based on the results of food sensitivity testing.
a. Eliminate/reduce dairy
b. Eliminate/reduce gluten
c. Drink a green smoothie daily
d. Limit intake of folic acid
e. Limit intake of processed foods
f. Avoid antacids - Lifestyle Guidance. Depending on age , lab results and degree of symptoms, lifestyle adjustments may be required for symptomatic improvement in some patients. Below are the areas of focus for lifestyle guidance.
a. Balance hormones with Biodentical Hormone Replacement Therapy where indicated
b. Eliminate carpeting from the home
c. Filter chlorine from all water in the household
d. Cook with electric stove; avoid using gas stoves - Nutritional Supplementation. This is a cornerstone for many of our programs but is especially important for patients with the MTHFR mutation. IV Vitamin Therapy provides immediate relief to many patients and oral supplementation helps to sustain these benefits. Below are the critical areas of nutritional supplementation for most patients. Keep in mind that to be successful, we have to add the right ingredients at the right time for each patient. For example, if a patient presents with significant inflammation, it is critical that we first reduce the inflammation profile before adding methylated folate. Adding methylated folate for highly inflamed patients makes them worse.
a. Broad spectrum IV Vitamin Therapy possibly including amino acids where indicated
b. Comprehensive multivitamin (without folic acid)
c. Metholated folate. Reduce inflammation first if patient has evidence of high levels of inflammation
d. Glutathione
e. Fish oil
f. Nattokinase
g. Vitamin C
h. Vitamin D3
i. Probiotics
