334: Resiliency Radio with Dr. Jill: Childhood Immunity & Lifelong Health with Dr. Somer DelSignore

Hey everybody, welcome to Resiliency Radio, your go-to podcast for the most cutting edge insights in integrative and functional medicine. I'm your host, Dr. Jill, and with each episode, we dive into the heart of healing and personal transformation. Join me as we interview medical experts, thought leaders, innovators of all type, bringing you information to help you on your journey of optimal performance and healing. Today is no different. We have a integrative pediatric doctor from New York who trained under some of the best names who I've had on here before, Ken Bach and Richard Horowitz and more. She has her own protocol called Reset. And you'll want to stay tuned. If you have children in your life, if you're a grandparent or you know of someone has children, I promise this episode will be relevant for you. Before we do, I just want to remind you that you can find products and services at drjillhealth.com. Some of our bests sellers are now back in stock. the tinted moisturizer with SPF um at drjillbeauty.com and you can find products and services for mass activation, Epstein bar reactivation, gut issues, and brain health and many other things at drjillhealth.com. Check it out, browse a bit, and you'll get a discount on your first purchase. Also, I always want to remind you because many people think I am not accepting new patients. We have Flat Iron Functional Medicine in Lewisville, Colorado, and we are accepting new patients. I have an incredible uh PA Fawn Elwood and nurse practitioner Hannah and each of them are well trained. They are brilliant at complex cases and I precept all the cases with them. If you want to know more or schedule a visit or just even schedule a free call just to get to know our practitioners. You can call 3039937910 or you can email info@flatironfunctional medicine.com. One of our staff will get back with you and like I said you can get to know us and see if it's a good fit. Also, um, if you haven't yet seen the movie Dr. PatientMov, I'd like to remind you it's on Amazon Prime. You can also see it at drpatientmov.com. It's inspirational. It's out there for free with commercials. And my goal with that movie documentary is just to inspire and impact your life. If you've seen it, um, leave some feedback below. Okay, let me introduce our guest. Dr. Samore del Signori is a pediatric board certified provider fellow at MAPS and AAOT and member of SSRP. She was inspired to integrate the depth of integrated care with precision of medical science by creating the reset protocol. We'll talk about that today to address the root cause of pediatric and congenital illness. She has many degrees and she's the founder and CEO of Hudson Valley Integrative Health and Wholesome Root Newuticals in Beacon, New York. Let's welcome Dr. Dell Signori. Dr. Del Signor. Did I say that right? [laughter] I >> did. Just perfect. >> Oh, it is such a delight to have you on the podcast. Um, we've just talking, we've crossed paths in many different avenues and conferences and I always love meeting colleagues who are doing such amazing work. We're going to talk about some of the things you've specifically developed. So guys, stay tuned. You're in for a real treat today. But before we dive into all of the work that you're doing and the kinds of patients you're seeing and some of the complex chronic things in kiddos, um I want to hear a little bit about your journey into medicine and into pediatrics specifically. >> Right. So it was an interesting journey. Um as a young child, I knew that I wanted to practice medicine when I was 10. >> Oh wow. >> And um I've I've shared this with one other person, but it my mother was in a horrific car accident when I was 10. And my stepdad at the time woke my brother and I up and said, "We have to go to the hospital to say goodbye to your mom." >> And um so we went in and everyone was losing their minds around her and I was just really calm and I said, "You know, I don't think it's her time." And then I'm sitting there at 10 years old and I'm fascinated with all the doctors and the nurses and the texts who were coming in essentially to put her back together. >> And that just sort of solidified it for me. And from then on it was that was the focus. Um fast forward um the pediatrics kind of came into play during one of my residencies. I fell in love with it from day one and said you know what I don't want to do anything else. This is where I belong. This is what resonates with me and I want to help these kiddos reach a healthy adulthood whatever that means. And that kind of led to training and then integratively um was sort of a next level like another step because you know you're trained traditionally in >> Yeah. Correct. Okay. And then we move on and we keep asking those healthy why questions and um and that led me to integrative to say we really have to connect the dots um connect the systems versus that siloed effect. And that led me to um Dr. um both Kenbach and Horowitz later on. I'm here in the Hudson Valley and trained and worked with both of them and then sort of just took the incredible you knowledge pearls from both of them sort of meshed it into sort of my integrative kind of a more holistic view and here we have Hudson Valley Integrative Health. So that that's sort of a cliffnotes version. [laughter] >> Oh, I love love love that because it always does seem like there's this like healer inside that somehow realizes that this is the work we're meant to do and sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's 20 and but what a story and to be witnessing your mother in that and actually be and even as you said that I wonder if that calm was like this innate gift to be calm and ability to see the complexities that other doctors are missing. Um, and I have such a deep and special respect for pediatrics because I know I was in the Chicago area and you know with ENT and dermatology and all these amazing fields and then here I'm family medicine and pediatrics and med peeds. and we didn't get much respect, right? [laughter] Like what like a smart person like you, why don't you go into, you know, ear nose and throat or whatever. But the truth is, >> we're at the ground level doing this work with the average people, families, kiddos. And again, for you especially, such a deep respect because your patients are the parents and the kids and these, you know, parents who love their children so dearly and are seeing them not ser not um thrive depending on what's going on. And then again, you have to be really abil have an ability to talk to both parties, the parents and the children. And obviously the parents control the ability to give them a treatment protocol. So I just have the deepest respect for that. And one of the ways I want to start is just I feel like u if you're out there and you're a mother or a father or you have grandchildren or you know kids, which is 100% of us all, right? um you're seeing as well as um we are that there is more complexities and there's so many more children that are chronically ill. What do you think it is that we're missing? And I know some of this led to your protocols, but tell us a little about your perspective as a pediatrician and what you've seen over the past several decades. >> Well, it's interesting. Um I think epigenetics plays a huge role in general foundational health. Um, I think that, um, what we're witnessing now is not, you know, faulty genes or bad luck, but it's a collision with human biology and then environmental exposures in our bodies that we weren't designed to navigate or evolve to deal with as quickly as it's it's coming at us. And we're talking about, you know, chemical exposures and processed foods and constant stimulation from EMF and screen time and this disconnectedness, you know, replacing regulation because there's not a lot of face-toface time. And that really plays a huge cognitive, biological, and emotional um effect on all kids and how they grow and develop. And I think that it changes their biomes. I think that it changes the way their immune system responds. And I find that a lot of kids naturally, even if we're not dealing with, you know, a a chronic illness per se from an infection yet, [clears throat] that they're already in kind of a fight orflight situation. And um and that's what I see. And they're just not as resilient um as as you would hope that they would be to sort of weather those storms because we know all kids are going to have infections unless they live in a bubble. They're all going to have Yeah. Right. They're going to share things. They're going to cough and sneeze and laugh and they're going to have infections and that's just part of childhood. But it's the way that immune system I find is responsive to it and I just find it's very uh you know hyper aware I guess you could say and and it doesn't know how to settle back down. So that's what I see. Um and I also find that once we start digging integratively that only about one in 25 kids within my practice specifically carry one single diagnosis. Yes. The majority of them have seven distinct diagnoses simultaneously. >> And of those who may have infections like a Lyme disease, about a quarter to maybe 30% have all three bees really, you know, besium bartinella. It's sort of like the posi that travels together. And that's [laughter] and that's what I see. So, um, it's always very surprising when parents come to me and we dig and they ask, "Why are you testing for this or what why are we doing this? We came in for this problem. Yeah. >> But then you have to explain this is the tip of the iceberg, right? We need to dig and understand why your child is still ill and why they can't seem to overcome whatever this particular symptom may be. >> What a great overview. I remember years ago, this is decades ago where I was like, I don't do mold and I don't do Lyme disease. But it's haha, right? Haha. On me, right? Primary driver, the environmental toxic load. I say toxic load, infectious burden and these two things come together and create immune dysfunction. And then this what we see in children and adults is unprecedented rates of autism and ADHD and um anxiety and allergies and autoimmune disease, the A's, right? All these things. And then like you said, if you're not looking and you trained with two of my heroes and you're among them now, doc Ken Bach and Richard Horowitz. Um I you know trained with Richard as well and have the deepest respect because he was at the early years really starting to investigate how these infections in particularly affected kids and kids brains and adults and all of that and we're seeing more and more of that. So like you said we almost can't go there. Um and I had that same conversation like first of all if you just ask someone is there mold in your home most people will say no right. So you have to ask has there been any water damage or dishwasher leaks and on and on and on. And the same with these tickborn infections, many people will right away, oh, I've never got a tick bite. My child has never had a tick bite. Right. And we know, do you want to just maybe let's start with that framework because we don't have to focus only on lime, but we know that's a big portion of people and like you said, the borellia bartellia is at the root of many of these. Um, what questions do you ask to get to that? What kind of responses are you getting from patients and how do you kind of go deeper to look at these as possible causitive agents? >> Right. So interestingly um having trained with Rich Horwitz um utilizing his MSIDS protocol. So what we did within the practice when I opened this one uh three years ago was I digitized that MSIDS protocol and then we added additional questions to it that were more pediatric specific and more neurosych specific and that was for my pans automopathy kit. So that's kind of over here. We'll tuck that there. Hey you got it. So, so we so we utilize that one for to to maintain a degree of objectivity and also to be able to gauge right moving forward with treatment. Um, so I'll start there and it's a clue because the kids don't always respond exactly and and sometimes asking those questions very objective by parents and sometimes the kids can't answer some of the physical because they've always had it. Yes. >> So you say, "Does your head hurt?" And and they'll say, "Well, no, I'm good." But it would say, well, you know, do you wake up with with pain behind your eyes? Well, sometimes, yeah, but that's always there, you know, and then they'll say, oh, I guess I have. So, there's certain symptoms that they have. So, it's a little trickier with kids, um especially if it was something from a young age. So, I'll start with the symptoms. I'll start with an MSE, which is a very good validated tool. And then I work backwards >> and then um from there it's, you know, asking the parents, well, what were the exposures? Not immediately, but any time in their life, have they ever had any weird weird illnesses that didn't match with what may have been going around? Um, do they seem to chronically, you know, have colds compared to their peers? And I was compared to their peers. >> Yes. >> Do they seem that they're the stamina? Is the stamina there? Is there a fatigue issue? Is there concentration issue? Are there sleep issues? And we kind of go through all systems. And then I dig in with the parents and they're usually surprised to say, "Well, what were your exposures?" and you know what was what was dad's exposures mom what was your exposure how was your pregnancy how was your childhood and they scratch their head a bit and I have to say you know genes translate uh inflammation translates to the baby and can shape the way the neurological system develops it can shape the way the immune system develops and by the way there are certain you know bacteria and other pathogens like tickborn that can be transmitted congenally and we are watching that and we we are showing that now. And then there's other viruses and other bugs that that you may have had that didn't necessarily transmit, but the inflammatory response that you experienced passed along to that developing child as well. And that can kind of shape the way that that immune system responds in real time once they're born. And so I kind of take that and create that picture. and it gives me a good indication of what we have on board based on the symptoms we we started with the other potentials, what I need to do to test and kind of round that out. Um, because I am a diagnostic person, but I try to balance how much I'm testing at once because it can be very overwhelming. And then I'm looking historically to try to gauge if this was a more of a lifelong something for this child and perhaps they were already on this alternative pathway from an immune and neurodedevelopmental perspective. And that gives me insight on how much I may be able to move that and or how much effort I need to spend on not only treating whatever XYZ is but supporting them for my detox and anti-inflammatory. So it's this sort of process and web that kind of goes on in my brain. So I have this beautiful structured insaids protocol and then everything else is like a spiderweb in my head to kind of connect the dots and you know and then kind of move them forward. >> Gosh, I have so many questions but maybe it's a good time to introduce you developed this recct reset protocol. Is that about the digitized like taking that and creating this program? I I I can't wait to hear more about it because I know people listening are going to want to know. And it's always nice when a clinician sees a pattern like you did, learns from some of the greats like you did and then actually creates a reproducible way to see patients because we all know in our brain how we do it. Tell us about the reset protocol. >> Right. So the reset was born um a you know from utilizing the the MSIs protocol and then having more of a 10-point system within the uh the practice that's focused on all all body systems and the neurologically immune and then infection. So we tried to condense it in a way that was more digestible for parents to understand and patients understand. So, REST's acronym for reduce inflammation, eliminate toxins, support gut health, eradicate infection, and transform health. So, it's it's a an all-encompassing sort of comprehensive approach to say not only we're going to deal with whatever appears to be broken, but we have to look at all of these other domains and ensure that they're optimized as well for you to ultimately achieve, you know, quality health. And and so that was pretty much the the way that that worked out. So >> I love it and and I'm very familiar with MSIDs and even as a clinician it's complicated, right? It's amazing. It's brilliant. And I love the simplicity because you're still covering those points within what you've just created, right? Um and for me sometimes just very toxic load infectious burden that simple. Although we know that immune inflammation and inputs and there's way more than that. But thanks >> really love that. So, let's let's go to like say we have a kiddo, you know, say it's a seven-year-old kid who's had some um trouble in school, trouble with focus and attention, probably diagnosis of ADD. Um maybe the parents are concerned about some symptoms that are worse after an sore throat or infection. So, maybe in the line of where would you start with them with the kinds of questions you mentioned a few of them, but how would you start to dive down? And then after that I want to say where would you start with testing because that's always just a a big huge um amount of things we could do like you mentioned. Where do you focus in on in the first you know one or two visits? >> Right. So the first visit is a data collection uh and really creating a a a story a very comprehensive story history for that kid. And again, that's what I'm asking with, you know, exposures, uh, food allergens, mold toxin exposures, if they're aware. Um, and then I'm also kind of, uh, evaluating the parents, too, and kind of how their responses are to me. How are they cognitively, how are they emotionally, because you pick up on a lot of things. What's the dynamic with the mom, the dad, the child or the parents, and the child, whoever the caregivers are. And um, so that that clues me in quite a bit. And if you know the entire family seems a little inflamed, I'm starting in from the environment >> and I'm going to say let's look at testing for mold, um, heavy metals, VOCC's, plastics, you know, um, and we'll look at all of those things. And there's some really great tests out there that can kind of pick up on many, many of those toxins. Um, and then I'm also asking about exposures, you know, if uh, uh, you know, did your child have um, infections like strep and, you know, common things. um how did they respond with you know within a week or two weeks later when we get the heightened you know inflammatory response that happens what was their behavior like what were they physically like for you did anyone else in the house react and that gives me an indication to sometimes genetically if there is something from autoimmune MTHFR mutations and and onward um so I'm kind of looking at the family unit as a whole um and um if there is inflammation and we're seeing that as a as a a key diagnostic component And typically I do see that with ADHD behavioral it's usually inflammation. So then I'm looking at well what could the root cause be of these things. So yes environment and then I go down the path of infection. Let's look for these infections. If there is suspicion of a tickborn infection either based upon the area where they may live or exposures like we're constantly outdoors, we're camping, we have animals, you know, we're you know that type of thing. then then I'm testing for full tickborn but I'm at least getting all viral panels and then a lot of the common um infections like myopplasma and coxaki and you know strep and other things and so I'll put that in a bucket to determine okay is this part of the root as well as the environmental and then now let's look at gut let's see what's going on with gut that's a big component and that gives me and you know this too the the um degree of inflammation that the body may produce how the immune system may be functioning um you from that perspective and then look at shoring those things up. So, I'm pretty much looking at all things, but then the the emphasis will be placed based upon the history that I'm getting and then the responses that I'm seeing in front of me when speaking to that family. >> Hey guys, just a quick interruption to the show to remind you if you haven't yet visited drjillhealth.com, we have all kinds of products and services for adults and kiddos. um things like the Epstein bar bundle, the mass cell activation bundle, tickorn prevention treatment. If you're concerned about tick bites in the summer, and many, many other resources. Some of our very best sellers are in the Dr. Jill beauty line, check it out. If you don't know where to start, I suggest checking out the HA collagen booster or the vitce serum. Okay, let's get back to our show. Makes so much sense and uh toxic load is kind of inevitable. It feels like most all of our patients have some form. Not all of them have mold, but a lot of them do. And then um and the infections and again if you start to ask about exposures, parents will start to click in like, oh yeah, ever since he had this really bad strep throat at three, he's never quite been the same or he gets flared or so those I love that you, you know, um ask those kinds of questions. And I love what you're also doing is you're including the parents and kind of giving them aha moments >> as you ask and they're like, "Oh yeah, I also had that trouble when I was his age." you know the kind of you're seeing that okay genetics lay into this which is so huge I always felt I mean I have family medicine so I'm not primarily peds but of course I would see pediatrics and it was so interesting because for me it would mostly be like the mother or father would come in mostly the mother and then later like would you also see my daughter or would you also see my son or would you and it's so interesting because I loved doing that because already knowing whatever patient I treated their family member I could already predict some of the gut microbiome things and maybe we start there real quickly because tell us a little for listeners, how might the gut, the mother's gut microbiome affect the babies, especially through vaginal birth and that and um and how do you look at that piece? >> Absolutely. So, again, a lot of history there and we know that if it's a C-section baby, they they probably didn't have well-seeded healthy bacteria there and they're going to struggle a bit. And so, I do find that that's a component of it. I also talk about any antibiotic use, certain types of diets um that the mom may have um ascribed to. Um and I know that's challenging sometimes having two kids of my own. It was a very different picture. [laughter] >> But um but that certainly uh plays a huge role as well. And I do find that again that inflammation plays a big role with how how healthy the the microbiome is in that that child um even before they're getting started. And then certainly evaluating um the foods that those kids are eating afterwards. Um how long did they breastfeed? Did they get that colostrum? Did they get those, you know, the imunoglobulin to kind of help line up that that inner wall lining and help, you know, feed that system generally speaking. Um so it it plays a huge role. Um and again, I mean, I'm sure you you experienced this too and then parents kind of scratch their heads like why are you asking me, you know? >> Exactly. Exactly. >> So, you have to connect it with them, you know, and and say that, you know, what you do translates um what you do after they're born also translates from a dietary perspective, from a stress perspective, all the things, all of them. And um we only, you know, seem to view the gut as just the bacteria in it when we have to be concerned too about the nervous system and how it intervates. >> I mean, all these things. So, yeah, it's it's an interesting discussion. complex and and of course you need the parents to be on board. So involving them is so crucial. Um which brings me to one of the things I think is most difficult about probably most of your population and any of the children that I've ever seen. Um they tend to be especially in the spectrum or any of these kiddos a little bit more picky with their taste or their texture issues. So, how would you take a kiddo who maybe has some of those things already and maybe a restricted diet? And then how do you like to prescribe diet? And do you go just gluten-free? Do you try to go more strict if there's food sensitivities? And how do you navigate that with the parents? >> And that's an interesting one. That is probably the most challenging component of treatment, right? It's easy to give them bowls of probiotics, but it's difficult to take away their their chicken nuggets and their mac, which is the ongoing uh joke out there, you know, because that's common, right? >> So, we talk about depending upon how restrictive they are. >> Um I will in the beginning kind of let it slide if there are many many other things that we need to address. And the hope is that if I can get neuroinflammation down, if I can nourish the cells in a different way and get a little less resistant from them, then I can start tackling the diet and perhaps also allow the parents to find a nice rhythm and cadence with the treatment because many times they're chronic, they're they're multi-systemm issues going on and it can be very overwhelming. And I'd rather save the biggest fear for last, which is diet changing, you know, changes in a kid. Um, so that I get them kind of get the buy in up front to say we're going to work towards that. The diet can stay as it is now. However, we need to work through these things and we're going to tackle that later. So, it may be the third visit in before we start to really tackle it. And I and and visits are about every six weeks. So, I give them several months of onboarding other things. And then we start with well what is what is their absolute comfort? What do they have to have? What soothes them the most? And then we talk about um potentially alternatives to that, you know, with veagal nerve stimulation, other things to help stimulate that reward center a little bit more. If it's, you know, playtime with mom, a special a special trip somewhere, um something that's going to kind of reward that center in the brain. and then maybe start to slowly take away that food source that they rely upon almost like the the the binkies or the the blankets whatever the comfort is. Um so we'll start with that very small and then I'll I'll ask the parents to start with more of a whole food diet unless there are uh signs of really needing to be severely restrictive because of an allergy or or something to that effect. But I'll say stick with protein sources, fresh fruits and veggies and try to eliminate grains. no processed anything, no dyes, no extra sugar. Just stick with whole foods. It's very simple. Shop the perimeter of your market. Don't go in the middle, you know, and just stick with those whole foods. Um, gluten-wise, I do try to cut out gluten with most people. We do talk about how gluten is very different in the United States versus Europe and the tolerance and all of these things. Uh, but we talk about the inflammatory response there. Um, and then also trying to remove cow's dairy unless it is an organic A2 or in some areas highly tested raw milk, which that's there's that's a little tricky, but it exists. Um, and um, so we talk about those things and then it's sort of a gradual gradual change. Uh, so make exchanges every week. Make one exchange in that diet and usually by that second week we have something that looks >> acceptable. So, it's just it's just encouraging those parents that going cold turkey with anyone won't work, >> child, adult, or otherwise, right? We all will kind of fall off the wagon. So, gradually just make an exchange every week and put something healthy in there and try to clean up as much as you can >> and distract. >> So, it's a process. Um, >> that was one of the most beautiful balance. I love it. Every bit of it. I wor I worked years for with a pediatric um registered dietitian and I really loved working with her because unlike especially back I've been doing this over 20 years and in the early days like I'm elimination diet take out every you know and adults or children it was so hard and I loved what you said about those exchanges because even with adults it's like get your pantry set with things that you know you can eat and you love otherwise you open the pantry and it's you know cheese puffs and uh bars and things that you can't have and you're like well what do I eat and then you feel deprived and again adults or children and then the parents feeling the burden because so often parents unbeknownst to them are giving rewards like ice cream or you know chicken nuggets as a reward because a child feels soothed by that. So you just really address some really important things. And then of course you have to get the the parents buy in too because if they love some of those foods [laughter] it's going to be extra hard because you know they probably have to change otherwise if they're eating that in front of their child it's not going to go very well. So that was really really well balanced and like I said I always love that dietitian because she would never be like so strict. I think that strictness because then it feels like a punishment and you don't want to do that. Yeah. >> Again their nervous systems already they're already in fight mode. [laughter] >> Exactly. >> Let's not add to it. Yeah. Right. So that's such a beautiful so many good tips there and especially I loved what you emphasize that food can be comfort and many times it's the number one comfort and so if you're taking away something that's soothing you have to think about what's the alternatives and what could we do to soo your system um I really like that and we know maybe you talked just a little bit about glutomorphine and caseomorphine because these foods can actually actually act like a drug on the child's brain right >> they do and ours too right and you've got to rewire that that system >> um for those healthier rewards. Absolutely. >> Amazing. So, one thing I think that it's getting better, but um the more I'm in um functional integrative medicine and um depression, anxiety, even severe disorders like bipolar and schizophrenia, the more I'm convinced that there's almost always an organic cause, whether it be infection, toxin, gut issues, etc. Um, parents I think nowadays are seeing in the school systems, you know, they're putting together these plans for behavioral disorders and mood disorders and I think children as young as three and five are getting diagnosed with bipolar, which is really sad, but you and I look at it differently, right? The brain and the body are the same. How do you start to have that conversation with a parent about a behavioral disorder that may actually be organic and not blaming the child and also giving them resources and then looking deeper? I feel like that's a really big thing that we you and I do differently than the classical maybe psychiatrist. Um, and so it's it's great for the parents to hear that, but how do you start that conversation? >> Well, I start with hope. >> We're going to approach this biomedically. And biomedically gives us something to hold on to. It gives us a nice strategic plan to move forward. And I don't make false promises. You know, I I do say sometimes genetics can align in a way that yes, there may be something psychiatric going on, but we could still mitigate that as well. But the majority of the time, I find that it is a biomedical issue either related to an infection, which we see quite a bit. um not just tickborn but viruses like EBV, HHV6, those types of things that can make their way over and we see a lot of inflammation and autoimmune is a big component of it. Um things like autoimmune and sephylopathy which is very different from a sephilitis and I have this argument all the time. So it's just more of like a basil ganglia um sephylopathy and and that can be triggered from an infection. So we just talk about biometically we're going to work through this. We're going to shore up any deficiencies we may have. We're going to look at D levels. We're going to look at folate. We're going to look at thyroid function. We're going to see what we can do to support any other genetic snips. We'll look at infections and we'll start treating them. And then we're going to start with some natural anti-inflammatories, things that are going to hit that that cycle and are nourishing to the brain. And then we're going to kind of step back and see how things go. But it's just a very, you know, gentle but directed step-wise approach. and find that the majority of the time it is biomedical and we do lift those bipolar or >> psychiatric conditions that they really don't have. It's just sort of a byproduct behaviorally of something else that needs to be managed and we talk about it. I you know I usually see patients half the patients that I see come in from other states. Um, and it's interesting. We we were looking at numbers within the practice just to kind of get state of the state of what's going on. And most of these parents are managing their kids because they're not getting anywhere. It's and and I get those those heartbreaking stories that my child has been on four or five different SSRIs and their affect is so flat that that their personality has disappeared but they're still not better and they still have OCD and they still have ruminations and they still have intrusivity and all of these things and it just breaks your heart and these are very young kids. So, um, and then we talk about, you know, just to kind of put in perspective for parents, if there's sort of a flip of a switch with their child, that if it truly were organic psychiatric, it wouldn't just happen overnight. It wouldn't just, you know, out of the blue, you wouldn't just develop this. So um and you know we talk about trauma as well but generally speaking there are certain patterns of behavior that would lead you to believe that it's not organically psychiatric that there was a trigger along the way that led to this and we have to find it and that seems to um you know uh translate well with the parents and they seem to be on board with um certainly exploring it and again I don't make the promises that 100% because again these are growing children >> personality wise guys, they may be a little more type A. I know that I was but [laughter] it but they may be a little more higher strong than you know other family members and perceived as anxious but it's you know normal to them but at least you know lifting things in a way that they are functional and they're not on these heavy medications for the rest of their lives and they understand their bodies more and how to mitigate it and saying that perhaps I just need to have a little extra corsetin or maybe an ibuprofen or maybe I'm I'm coming down with something versus you know I need that zoloft or I need you know though. So that's kind of how we approach it. >> Oh, that's so beautiful. Um, you mentioned OCD, obsessivecompulsive disorder, which of course our listeners are familiar with, but I find this is particularly interesting because it can be a hallmark of certain infections or brain inflammation and sephylopathy as you mentioned. What would parents uh notice? What would be some of the common things that are maybe a little different from adults that might be considered in this bucket of OCD that if a parent's listening and they just think, "Oh, my child's a little strange." and then you would say wait that could be actually infection. What behaviors or things have you heard from your parents about children with this kind of um presentation, >> right? So it it is a little uh perplexing to a lot of parents uh to say well they you know they'll only play with this friend. So they seem to be social but with just this friend or they seem to be able to go to dance class but they can't go to gymnastics any longer. So it's sort of the rules in their head. the parents, well, you're just being stubborn, you know, just being obstinate. What's your what's the problem? And so, it's really interesting with that. Or they'll repeat themselves over and over and over um as if to remind themselves or that or or you know, tap the door handles before they walk through a threshold and it's just these quirky things. But to say those are rules, those are ruminating rules in their heads or um you know, like the movie Rainman, right? they have to have this many fish stickicks on the plate or foods have to be this color or you know things like that. So we see some of those behaviors and the parents will say yeah they're a little quirky. They're just a little a little challenging a little but OCD doesn't necessarily resonate with them. >> Right. Right. >> You know it was interesting. Yeah. >> And then if you had that presentation obviously you could be dealing with brain inflammation. Um but what are some of the infections that you see most likely present with those kinds of symptoms? Um I do see strep quite a bit. Um I also see cooxaki is a big one. While bit uh I think that's a rather common. >> Um and then um certainly tickbornne illnesses um all three bees I find do contribute um honestly from a neurological perspective and again when most of them are riding together it's sometimes it's hard to differentiate which in particular. Um I find that uh the BC Odicoli in particular has a lot of OCD um and in Bartinella as well. Uh so a lot of common things and then not so common um contribute to it. >> Absolutely. >> So um there's all kinds of wonderful labs for tickborn infections. I'd love to know your top two or three. And then also viral titers can be complicated. Do you test te- cell function? Do you test blood um IGGM titers and look at numbers? What is kind of your gestalt for looking at the infection in a kiddo? >> Right. So I utilize uh Tab and Galaxy as well as XX >> and then sometimes Vibrant >> um and just depending upon the situation, depending upon the size of the child, compliance, that sort of thing. They all use a little bit different platforms. So that's why I get the, you know, so so some some tests will pick up on certain bugs and others won't so much, but that's the best way to try to capture it. Um, and so I will look at uh fish tests. I will look at IGG, IGMs. If it's a congenital, I'm not uh focused as much on IGG and IGM because that immune system developed alongside those bugs, right? So, you're not necessarily going to get a strong response, but we'll at least do some fish testing to see if something's active there. And then once you sort of start test you know treating and you retest and sometimes after you've corrected then the IGG IGM will pop up positive and then that gets very confusing right [laughter] >> but so those are sort of my specialty tests that I'll utilize and then um viral tests um Quest Labcore I many times I can get reasonable studies from them um and I am looking at full um EBV panels um and IGGIGM for most of that and then looking at imunogloabbulins and te- cell responses and things like that. So putting it all together. >> Brilliant. Couldn't agree more. I I think it's so important and it's complicated. So people need someone like you who's really going to that deep level and understanding because there's T- cells, there's B cells, there's, you know, the IL6s and IL2s and TNF alphas and all kinds of immune signals. So I love that you're so comprehensive. Um you touched on toxic exposure and one of my favorite topics is mold related illness. How often do you find some toxic exposure, especially mold in the home, is related to some of the kiddos's presentations? >> I would say nearly all. >> Yes, near [laughter] some level um of mold exposure. Um and and you know the there is surprise from the parents to say, well, our house is new and and the same discovery that you had mentioned earlier, was there water damage anywhere? Are you close to a water reservoir? What's the humidity level generally in your house and and surrounding? And then I'm asking, well, what kind of foods are you eating? It's in nut butters. It's in coffees and teas. It's in chocolates. All the things we have a reason to live for. All [laughter] good things, right? Grains. It's in all the grains. And um I joke to say, well, do you want, you know, molds organically or do you want glyphosates? Which one do you want? >> Yeah, I know, right? [laughter] >> Which one do we want to deal with here? But um because it is in my my families who are really organic, they're like, "Oh, but we're doing SP. How many PB&Js are they eating a week?" You know, what are you giving them? Um and uh so so it is a a great deal I find is really in food source. Once we really nail it down and um have the parents testing the house and there's nothing, we find it in food. We find that that's usually if we change the diet up, it does help us clear it quicker. Um, and I also had that discussion with the mold that new houses have sheetrock and sheetrock has paper and mold grows on the back of the paper really nicely. Yes. Um, so almost sometimes those older homes with like horsehair plaster walls >> are safer and and more mold resistant. And so it's not about the the newness of the house. It's about that moisture lever and that that exposure beyond. I love that you say that because that's even today in clinic. You know, when I'm seeing patients frequently, I hear, "Oh, but I have a new home or we even built the home ourselves or um it's a multi-million know the very expensive home." It doesn't matter, does it? It just doesn't matter as far as the if there's drywall, if there was a moisture shoe. what I see, like I'm driving all the time on these areas where they're building up multi-f family homes or even just beautiful new custom homes and the sheetrock or the wood is sitting out in snow and rain and not drying. I'm like, "Oh my goodness, that's going to have mold, you know, so people don't realize." And again, we're using materials that are much more porous than we used to, like stone. It's like the three little pigs, right? The stone and the brick. And that would have been much better even straw and concrete than the uh plastic and or not the plastic but the a sheetrock that you mentioned. Um so super common and I'm in Colorado which is a very dry kind of not humid state and we have just as much issues and like crawl spaces are an issue. So you have to be pretty good detective to ask the questions and many parents I'm sure just like my patients are kind of like in denial that um there's not an issue. So I'm glad that you said that because I would agree. I years ago when I had my mold illness and then learned how to recover and started asking questions, I was very careful not to project any of my experience onto patients and assume but I kept finding mold and I'm like, "Wow, this is like I kept being surprised because I was so careful not to project that everybody has mold, right?" But the truth is so many of our patients have mold related illness. >> Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. Um, so as we kind of wrap up, I love that you've, you know, have this clear reset protocol. We'll make sure and let people find know where they can find you and everything, but for the PA, for the patient or the parent out there that's listening and they have a child with maybe some behavioral issues or some complex uh issues that they're not sure what the root is, how would you speak to them if you were speaking to them as far as finding hope, finding answers, finding a practitioner like you or coming to see you, what would you say to that person out there? Um, you know, I I would certainly say that, you know, root cause medicine is is a category. It's not alternative. It's a category and it's a mindset. And many of us have trained inside that the traditional medical model and experience that it it's great for so many things, but in certain conditions maybe not so much. And we have to just show you what is actually happening inside your kids' bodies and understand that it's not one thing and it's never just one thing. and we just have to be really comprehensive about our approach. >> A fantastic. I know this is full of hope. Before we um end, I have a few kind of more rapid questions I want to ask you. Um Okay. What is one lab test that you wish other pediatricians would either order more or or understand better? >> I think that uh MTHFR mutations are a good one and we can get those very easily without specialty tests, right? Um, and I think that that if if pediatricians could manage that and they should be in that 15 minutes of seeing, you could absolutely manage it and that would help so much from a neurological perspective, from an inflammatory perspective, from a neuro health perspective, from autoimmune, all of it. If they sort of understand the that that genetic enzyme process that's not working so well and help to correct it, that that certainly could help that child. >> Brilliant. That was such a wise answer. Um, gut and mitochondria are frequently issues. Where do you start? >> Uh, typically I will start with the gut. I think that the mitochondria is fatigued up for a reason and we can throw all that we want at that mitochondria to support it, but we're just going to wire that kid a little bit more and not get them anywhere. So, I find that we definitely need that gut to work. Um, it seems like a a a a boring uh you know, organ system, right? It's like, oh, the GI, right? But it's meant for so many other things other than digestion and elimination and and that's sort of like our our source our source of health is right there. >> Oh, I couldn't agree more. Um, if you could give in the first visit just one nutrition habit that would change a family's life, what would that one bit of wisdom be on your first visit? >> Nutrition. I stick with whole foods. >> Good. [laughter] >> With whole foods, very simply. Yes. >> Oh, very good. There's so many great supplements and herbal remedies and things. If you had just one vitamin or nutrient or herbal um thing to give to a a patient in the first visit, what what would that look like? >> Uh given our the environmental exposures these day, I think it would be glutathione if they tolerate. It's my it's like my Windex Creek wedding. It's like the Windex. It's give it to everybody. It works for everything. >> I love it. Every one of these I'm like, "Yes, go [laughter] out." Yes. >> My goodness. Now, this one's going to hit home and then we'll let people know where they can find you. The healthiest children of the future will be those whose parents what what what would the parents do right now are people who are wanting to have children. Um >> the parents who let them play experience. >> Yeah. >> You know and and keep life simple. >> Absolutely. >> Oh, I love that. There's a >> a man I know whose children I I've watched him father them before. And one thing I always loved is that he really he gives them these safety um containers. So he gives them instruction. He gives them things like that. But he lets them do crazy things, but he's there. He's safe. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's watching them. And I always admire that. That may be a little different what you're saying, but I always when I see that, I'm like, how cool is that that it's not like this helicopter parent saying, "Don't do this. Don't touch the water. Don't jump off that rock." He's there. He's got safety measures. They know what to do. They know how to do it. And I'm I love watching that in action because he's creating that container of safety, but he's letting them really explore the world and do boy things that could be kind of dangerous. And I I think that's, you know, really really powerful to experience that. And then the bravery they experience like, oh my gosh, I did I jumped off a big rock or whatever thing they did. Um and I really admire that. So yeah, great. >> It's very empowering. It's, you know, very good for their neurological system and to learn and their autonomic nervous system to help them self soothe when when things don't go the way they want it to let them get a little dirty. It's it's important. It's >> it's good for the immune system. Right. [laughter] >> Good for the immune system. Yes. That microbiome, that immune system, they need that exposure. Absolutely. >> So good. This was just full of practical stuff and just really appreciate what you're doing in the world to change the lives of adults and their kids. Um, where can people find you if they want to know more about you, your practice or the reset pro protocol? >> So, they can follow me on Instagram at dr summer delinor and uh my website is www. um Hudson Valleytegrativehealth.com. >> Awesome. And if you're watching, driving wherever you're at, this will be in the show notes. Um, thanks again for coming on the show. It was so fun to have you. >> Thank you, Jill. It was a pleasure. >> Hey guys, wasn't that interview with Dr. Del Signori. Absolutely fascinating. I don't know if you're a parent or you have kids or grandkids, but hopefully you found some really practical tips and tricks in that interview that are helpful because so many of our kiddos now are suffering with mood disorders or behavioral disorders. And I do not believe that prescriptions are always the answer. There's so many other root causes. And I hope that this was helpful. Great information. If you know a parent or a grandparent who has a child who's suffering, would you please share this interview just for helpful information that they know that there's more hope and ability to find a doctor like her out there to help? Um, you can find all the show notes below. You can find her website and all the links there as well. And as you know, we come back every week with a new episode of Resiliency Radio. If you haven't yet liked or subscribed on YouTube, join our over 1 million viewers and subscribers there. You can click the bell to be notified of future episodes and I will see you again next week for another episode of Resiliency Radio.