Meet Dr. Neil Nathan, MD

About Neil Nathan MD

Dr. Neil Nathan is one of few physicians who enjoys the challenge of learning how to help patients with complex chronic diseases, diseases most other physicians don’t understand, can’t help and dismiss. Dr. Nathan is a renaissance physician. He learns what is needed to help his patients rather than staying within the orthodoxy of western medicine or even of any particular complementary and alternative (CAM) school. He enjoys learning how to work with patients who are sicker and more sensitive than people he saw when he started practice almost 50 years ago.

Now, Dr. Nathan’s focus is on passing on what he has learned to his colleagues. He works only with other health care practitioners and not directly with patients. If you are a health care practitioner, you can learn more about his clinical teaching and seminars at the Dr. Neil Nathan website.

Webinar with Dr. Neil Nathan
We are excited to announce that Dr. Nathan will be a guest presenter with Dr. Eleanor Stein.

The webinar is on February 12th, titled ME/CFS, FM and ES: Causes and Treatments,is a rare opportunity for patients to hear Dr. Nathan talk about what makes patients so sensitive and so ill and most importantly how to reboot your health.

How I Met Dr. Nathan

I first met Dr. Nathan in 2009 at a donor-funded think tank of researchers and clinicians working with patients with autism and ME/CFS. Looking back at the list of attendees I realize how privileged I was to spend 2 days with creative thinkers, some now deceased, like Drs. Joe Burrascano (Lyme disease), Dietrich Klinghardt (Integrative medicine), Jacob Teitelbaum (Fibromyalgia), Jeremy Nicholson (Microbiome), Jonathan Wright (Integrative medicine), Kenny DeMeirleir (ME/CFS), Mark Hyman (Functional medicine), Martha Herbert (Autism), Paul Cheney (ME/CFS), Ritchie Shoemaker (Mold toxins), Bill Rea (Environmental medicine) to name just a few. All of these thinkers have been mentors who have motivated me to keep thinking outside the box.


More about Dr. Nathan’s Work and Mold Protocol
In his 2018 book Toxic: Heal Your Body, Nathan gives examples of patients who are
●    “toxic” – have man made or biological toxins in their cells which are impairing function and
●    “sensitive” – have hyper-reactive nervous systems which are overreacting to smell, light, sound, EMF and other stimuli most people easily tolerate.

Nathan describes the effects of toxins made by mold in water-damaged buildings and the Borrelia bacteria which causes Lyme disease. He describes Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker’s research of how mold and other toxins cause symptoms and how toxic effects can be measured. For those who want to read about Shoemaker’s complex treatment protocol for mold biotoxins, Nathan’s summary is a great starting point.

Is Toxicity at the Root of Your Health Problems?
As I describe in my online course Pathways to Improvement it can be very difficult to distinguish between the increasing list of diseases associated with ME/CFS, FM and ES. Instead of viewing each condition as separate, he looks beneath the symptoms to see common causes which can be treated. For example, Nathan believes Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is triggered by toxin exposure. While it is helpful to use supplements and drugs to control the symptoms of MCAS, he argues the problem will continue unless an underlying cause can be found and treated. Nathan believes toxins may be the smoking gun.

However, it is not so easy to treat patients who have dozens of symptoms and are sensitive to even the mildest interventions. Where does one start? Nathan uses Dr. Robert Naviaux’s work on the cell danger response (CDR) for inspiration. Naviaux’s groundbreaking work on the CDR and the Healing Cycle suggests that it may be possible to reboot the body systems without managing every single symptom and detoxifying every last molecule. The healing cycle (Dr. Stein blog) may be like a switch which turns on when the cell has enough energy and nutrients to function fully.

How to Activate the Healing Cycle?
In his book Toxic, Nathan describes unconventional strategies which he believes reboot the healing cycle. For the nervous system, which is central to hypersensitivity, Nathan recommends strategies like osteopathic manipulation, Frequency Specific Microcurrent, the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS), acupuncture and strategies which augment vagal nerve function to name a few. He also addresses other body systems which need rebooting including the immune system, the gastrointestinal system, the metabolism, the methylation cycle and the body’s ability to detoxify. Dr Nathan’s approach is holistic, all encompassing. In addition to rebooting the body he discusses strategies to better manage stress, awaken emotions and seek spiritual growth.

Nathan’s approach is to work with individuals based on the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model – healing the entire being. It can be complex for people who have been ill for years or decades. Toxic generates hope through real examples from his practice that we can all improve to some degree.

What is needed to improve?
Nathan suggests that motivation, belief and willingness to be active in your own treatment are fundamental. No clinician, no matter how skilled, can make someone else better. Learn more about your condition and about what steps you can take to heal. In Pathways to Improvement and my new book More Light I talk at length about powerful self-management strategies that change biology and lead towards healing.

Join our live webinar on February 12th with renowned integrative physician Dr. Neil Nathan to learn how toxic exposures such as mold and Lyme disease underly ME/CFS, FM and ES and associated conditions. Dr. Nathan will share how to reboot the healing cycle in patients who have become sensitive to almost everything.

Ready for the next step?

Check Out Online Courses for ME/CFS, FM, ES, Long COVID and Chronic Pain