Believe Big Podcast

21-Dr. Derek Guillory - Recharge Your Health with PEMF Therapy

September 06, 2022 Ivelisse Page with Dr. Derek Guillory
Believe Big Podcast
21-Dr. Derek Guillory - Recharge Your Health with PEMF Therapy
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

We have another fantastic doctor on our podcast today!  Dr. Derek Guillory, MD is joining me to talk about PEMF Therapy.

  • Have you ever heard of PEMF Therapy?  
  • Do you know what it can do for you and your health?  
  • Is it safe for kids?  
  • Is it safe for pets?  
  • How does it work?

Find out the answers to these questions plus much more as I speak with Dr. Guillory.  He will also generously share his personal health struggle that led to his Functional Medicine journey and his position as a doctor founding Root Causes Medical Clinic in San Antonio, Texas. 

Connect with Dr. Derek Guillory at the Root Causes Medical Clinic:
https://rootcauses.com/

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Ivelisse Page:

Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page, and thanks for listening to the Believe Big podcast, the show where we take deep dive into your healing with health experts, integrative practitioners, biblical faith leaders and cancer thrivers from around the globe. Welcome to today's episode on the Believe Big podcast. My name is Ivelisse Page and today's episode is all about a therapy that has been around since the 1970s, but one you might not be familiar with. It's called PEMF Therapy. We live in a toxic world and the natural mechanisms designed to ensure ourselves health have been damaged, high stress lifestyles, processed foods, chemicals, and cleaning products and personal care products bombard our cells and make it difficult for them to perform properly. We are surrounded by negative electronic magnetic fields from sources like wifi, microwaves, cell phones, electronics. Many of the aches and pains and illnesses we consider as a normal part of aging are in fact signs of cell degeneration and distress. One of the biggest barriers to a person's healing is good cellular health. My friend and guest today, Dr. Derek Guillory will be helping us learn more about this incredible therapy. Dr. Guillory is the Founder and Medical Director of Root Causes Medical Clinic in San Antonio, Texas. He has a passion for functional medicine that was born out of his own personal struggle with health concerns that began before the age of 17. He has an insatiable curiosity for the question most often asked by his patients: why am I sick? Dr. Guillory became one of the first certified functional medicine practitioners in Texas in 2015 and has also been board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine since 2005. Jimmy and I got the honor of visiting his medical center a few months ago, and we were so impressed with the wide range of therapies that he offers for his patients. So welcome Dr. Guillory to the show.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Thank you so much. Good to be here.

Ivelisse Page:

Let's start with your favorite health tip. I know you have several, but can you share one with us?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

It is really difficult actually to narrow it down, but if I had a favorite it would be this, people have incredible power over their own health. If they will only understand that there are only two causes for all disease. So it doesn't matter what the name of the disease is advanced metastatic cancer or eczema. When people understand this truth, it really gives them power to make baby steps, little decisions every day. So the two causes of all disease deficiency and toxicity. Deficiency is that word that describes everything your body needs that it doesn't have, and toxicity is everything your body has that it doesn't need. That's all I do all day in the assessment and treatment of causes, which is figure out what I need to replace and figure out what I need to remove. Day to day, minute to minute, hour to hour, people get to make that decision. What am I doing that I need to stop doing? What memory do I need to get over? Who do I need to forgive? How can I forgive myself? Those are toxic emotions, the toxic memory, the toxic relationship. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of it, but fix it. Get the toxicity out of your relationships. What do I need to replace? What's missing in my diet? What's missing in my environment? What's missing in my lifestyle, minute to minute? That's my key tip.

Ivelisse Page:

I think that's the best explanation that I've heard anyone say about the cause of disease. And it makes such sense, what am I missing and what do I need to get rid of? That is exactly what you guys do at your center.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

That's true. All day, every day.

Ivelisse Page:

So before we get into the PEMF would you mind sharing, what was the personal struggle that gave you the curiosity for integrative medicine?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Oh, goodness, how much time do we have?

Ivelisse Page:

The cliff note version!

Dr. Derek Guillory:

The cliff notes version is I was born with irritable bowel syndrome. And when I was 11, my dentist filled my mouth up with silver amalgam fillings and prophylactically. You can argue about whether that was a good idea or not at the time but shortly thereafter, I developed really bad irritable bowel syndrome. It got much worse. So I had it from a young child, but then it got worse. When I was a teenager I developed seizures. Those things were not really teased out by any of my physicians. I kept asking my doctors, why do I have this problem with my gut. Why do I have this problem with my brain? And they just didn't have answers for me. That's what set me on this journey. And I have been obsessed and compelled to ask the question why in every case. And I have to ask it until I find an answer that makes sense. For people with cancer, why do I have cancer? It's genetic disease, that doesn't make any sense. There is an answer. Often, there's almost never one answer. There's almost always a combination of factors; both genetic deficiency and toxicity, and environmental deficiency and toxicity. Those things add up in a person to contribute to their disease. And so that's been my journey. It's the reason why I'm a doctor, because I was so sick. And now I can be thankful for that whole trip.

Ivelisse Page:

I'm grateful because doctors like you give us such hope to know that just because you have genetics, like myself, there are things that we can do to literally switch on and switch off that tendency so that we never get cancer as long as we're looking to see how our body is doing. So I really love that you shared that and that you do that.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Thank you. That's true. Genetics is never working alone to cause an outcome. Genetics only predisposes to a risk, but we have incredible power over our own expression of our genetics. And those are lifestyle factors: that's food, that's movement, that's detox. And so all day every day working within somebody's genetics, using their environment.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes, people say well, Ivelisse, you had those genetics and you got cancer. Yes. And know now what actually caused it and I have that MTHFR gene, and I have a hard time detoxing things out of my system. A year before I got sick, I had to get nine immunizations within a two month period for a mission trip. I went to Africa.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Wow.

Ivelisse Page:

And I had a colonoscopy three years prior. I've always been clean, not even a polyp. After that my health started to go downhill. It wasn't until years later that I realized that is what triggered it. My body could not handle all the adjuvants that were in there that put this toxic load on me. You are absolutely right, there's so much to our system that tries to weigh us down. There are so many things that you do at your clinic to help with that toxic load. You have hyperbaric oxygen chambers, you do mistletoe therapy, IV-C. There's so many therapies that people will just have to look on your website to check. Today we wanted to really focus in on PEMF. Can you share with those who are listening, what PEMF stands for?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Sure, PEMF is pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, and this has been around for a really long time. There are a surprising number of studies that have been published. There's a good amount of data on pain. Pain and fractures are probably the two biggest things that research has been published on. But what it is using a magnet to deliver a signal to your body. So my best analogy is the little key fobs that you have for your cars.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

When I go and I press that key fob, unlock my door, it sends a message that I can't see through the air, to the computer in my car and it unlocks my door. Now, if I have a Honda, it doesn't unlock every Honda in the parking lot. It only unlocks mine and it doesn't start the engine or drain the tires air, it unlocks the door. So it's a specific signal that's being sent that I can't see, but we know it works. Because we see the result, the car door opens. Same thing with pulsed electromagnetic field. So it's a electromagnetic signal that's being sent to the cells of our body. Every cell in our body is a little magnet. It's a little frequency. It's an electromagnetic energy. Every cell is. So this treatment is using information that our body understands.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

And a bunch of different ways that we can use it. And I have several tools here, but that's a basic understanding of what pulsed electromagnetic field therapy is.

Ivelisse Page:

I've also heard it's like a battery. Sometimes your cells become tired and worn out, whether due to age or stress or overuse. Making it more difficult for them to fight off damaging illness. Then the PEMF therapy, like your batteries, they essentially helps your cells to recharge. I love that, cuz I know I'm very sensitive to wifi. at the end of the day, after being in front of the computer, as much as I try and protect myself, or if I'm around things that overload my body, I go and lay on it and I feel recharged. I have it on different levels that I have at home and it helps me to restore and I feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Is that what you typically find at your center when people use it?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

So it depends on which technology I'm using. Cuz there are several different electromagnetic technologies that I'll use. When people are typically talking about PEMF, for cancer they're talking about a high intensity magnetic field. So I'll use that device for a few reasons. One is for pain, so it's very good at relieving pain. Two is very good at supporting the bone marrow. So for patients this is where most of the research has been is on activity in the bone. So it increases bone activity, whether it's a fracture or it's acute injury or it's bone marrow production. So there is some data showing that it helps with that. Cancer patients already have suppressed bone marrow from the disease, and many of them will have suppressed bone marrow because of the treatment, whether it's chemotherapy or some other treatment. So pain, bone marrow support, and then energy. So all of our cells have a voltage, which is a difference in the level of electricity across a membrane or across some distance. So when you use that magnetic field, you actually add energy to the system. There are some studies showing specific anti-cancer benefit. So the high intensity magnets are providing a little bit of cytotoxic effects for cancer cells. So it, destabilizes the spindle a little bit and sends a signal, that key fob sends a little bit of a signal to the cancer cell. Which I always summarize the signal I want the cancer cell to receive is, it's just time to die. Just go ahead and die already. Because the cancer cell is following a set of instructions, live forever. And I need it to stop following that set of instructions. And PEMF is one of the ways that we send that message. Just go ahead and it's just time to die.

Ivelisse Page:

How long does it typically take to see results from PEMF therapy?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

So for cancer patients, they need to do a lot of it.

Ivelisse Page:

What's considered a lot?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Depends on the device you're using. We'll do treatments for 10 to 20 minutes per day. Every day when patients are in the office. For some patients, they notice more benefit with more so you can do 30, 40 minutes. Some of the studies are hours. Most of those are cell line studies, so we can't really apply those. But for pain, 10 minutes is very effective.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

For bone marrow support, 10 minutes a day is very effective. If you're trying to get specific, anti-cancer benefit is probably a little bit longer and it just would depend on the patient. On average, it's about 10 to 15 minutes that we're having patients do per day.

Ivelisse Page:

I know you have the professional grade one at your office when we went and saw it, it looked like this huge futuristic, halo thing that the patient sits under. Share the story of the Parkinson's patient that you shared with Jimmy and I.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

That's a different device, which is a low intensity electromagnetic field. Those treatments are between 30 minutes and 90 minutes.

Ivelisse Page:

Okay.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

That is a very specific tuned frequency magnetic field that really helps calm the sympathetic nervous system down and elevate the function of the parasympathetic system. A common feature of chronic disease is sympathetic overdrive or what people call stress. So stress is a common feature. We want to calm that down and the magnasphere is very effective at just getting people to relax. Many people will fall asleep. They'll take a nap for an hour and wake up really refreshed. It's also really good for a few other conditions like Parkinson's. It can help minimize the tremor or some patients take it away. People will walk in there with a tremor and walk out without one that last anywhere from two or three days up to maybe a week. And that's a specific frequency that just helps calm down some of those neurons in the brain that are causing the tremor.

Ivelisse Page:

And what kind of technology is that? What therapy did you call that?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

It's called magnasphere.

Ivelisse Page:

Magnasphere. Okay. And so PEMF is different than that.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

No, it is PEMF.

Ivelisse Page:

It's a form of it.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

There are different categories of PEMF.

Ivelisse Page:

Gotcha.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

So the pulse electromagnetic field is the thing that's similar, but we're talking about is the frequency of the field and the amplitude of the field. This is the physics of it. So how much energy and then how often is the energy being given.

Ivelisse Page:

Okay.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

And those things are, it's much like that key fob. That's the reason I use that example because how many cars are there in the parking lot at the Spurs game or whatever sports team? 75,000 cars, there's all these different signals we need to be able to send. And so the PEMF devices are able to do that, some of them.

Ivelisse Page:

Are there any contraindications or individuals that should not use them?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Yes, the high intensity devices. If you have an implant in your body with electronics in it. So like a pacemaker, a defibrillator, a spinal stimulator, a gastric stimulator even a, some of people have implanted pumps. So if it's got an electronic brain in it, you can't get on the high intensity PEMF devices. If you have a heart condition, Some of those patients can be extraordinarily sensitive. Some neurologic conditions actually are a little sensitive, but it's very helpful for many neurologic conditions. So those have to be based on an individual. And then pregnant patients. We don't have much data on anything for pregnancy, so we have to be careful and just think about it.

Ivelisse Page:

And what about kids? Have you ever used them for kids? Is it safe for kids?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

I have used it on school age kids. I have not read any specific data I've never needed to for the younger kids, but it's absolutely safe for school age kids and older. For athletic injuries, it's amazing sometimes.

Ivelisse Page:

And what about pets?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Oh, goodness, yes. The PEMF devices, there's a whole industry built around that for mainly for horses. So they have these huge mats they use for race horses.

Ivelisse Page:

Because it reduces the inflammation and helps them recover.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Athletic recovery, metabolic and physiologic optimization. Those horses are, big time, they'll do anything for those horses.

Ivelisse Page:

Yes. We'll do anything for our pets. We love them and our huge family.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Yeah, for pets, for sure.

Ivelisse Page:

For those individuals who wanted to look into this for home use, are there any that you recommend? I have the higher dose one. It's not anything like at your facility, but are there some that you would recommend if people wanted to check out to have for home use if they're not close to you?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

It depends on what they're trying to do. There's one guy who's probably spoken more about PEMF than anybody else, his name's Dr. Pawluk, P A W L U K. Google Dr. Pawluk and there are a whole bunch of devices, maybe hundreds of devices.

Ivelisse Page:

Okay. I've seen them and some of them are more specific for athletes, others may be more specific for horses. The one I use is more for relaxation and help with sleep and inflammation. Could it be for someone who has Parkinson's or has a issue with that?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

There's not one I can recommend for neurodegenerative disease specifically. I would have to see that patient to make a decision about that. Probably the most widely used devices, the BEMER mat, B E M E R, which is very safe, very effective for micro circulation and it's good for sleep. So that's probably the one that's most widely used at home. The BioMAT is another commonly used one at home. And I think it's a good product for a lot of the people that are using it.

Ivelisse Page:

That helps people have a good stepping stone to start looking into what is out there. What is available for use. So when people come into your center, what do they most experience, walk us through that. What I love is you can just go right in your clothing and get in. So walk someone through what they would experience.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

For PEMF therapy, high intensity, you lay on a mat or a sandwich between a mat for 10 to 15 minutes. Same thing with the BEMER mat. For the magnasphere, you sit in this comfortable recliner and you just come right in. We set the program and people will be there for between 30 minutes up to 90 minutes, but that's a long treatment. And we rotate people around cause we have people doing all sorts of things in our office. They'll do an IV. They'll do cryotherapy. All these things work together, especially when you use them in tandem, because I'm trying to get that signal sent to the cancer cell to follow the right set of instructions. Cancer cells, they put blinders on the immune system cells and they hide underneath this invisibility cloak. So we'll use PEMF with red light therapy and cryotherapy and an IV, so that we're getting three or four messages. Immune system, wake up! Cancer cell, just go ahead and decide to die. So the big thing in our office is using those treatments in tandem.

Ivelisse Page:

It makes complete sense we trying to confuse the cancer cell and cause it to die. I know mistletoe therapy is one of the huge things that is used in order to combat that in a natural way.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Mistletoe works so nicely with all of these other therapies because the natural things working together are so important because they're working within our own system to make our bodies work the way they were supposed to work. So mistletoe works really nicely with magnetic therapies as well.

Ivelisse Page:

I love hearing that. We're about to close the episode. I can't believe how quickly time goes by. Is there anything that I haven't asked you about PEMF that you think would be important for someone to know that you'd like to share?

Dr. Derek Guillory:

I think if they're not using PEMF in their current plan, they should investigate. It's not a one stop finish in one day. It's an ongoing therapy. And then also just to be thinking about that electromagnetic toxicity. People ask me the question all the time. We're always talking about reducing electromagnetic fields and now you're giving me an extra one. Why this doesn't make any sense. So that is a really simple explanation. We are surrounded by non physiologic, electromagnetic fields, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So our bodies are very accustomed to being exposed to certain electromagnetic fields for isolated time periods. And they're good in short doses, but we want to minimize wifi, cell phone towers, high voltage power lines, all of these things, those are bad, particularly the microwaves and the smart meters from electric companies and all these things. Those are bad, non-physiologic scattered magnetic fields. You wanna avoid that? You want to have an organized physiologic or biologic field. And short doses of high intensity magnetic field are okay, but it needs to happen to get some of the results. Unless it's just for injury, then a few days is really good for pain.

Ivelisse Page:

That makes sense. And again, our body's constantly needing to be rebuilt depending on the stresses and the things that we're surrounded by as you're saying. It's one of the great things that individuals can do Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm gonna have you back on, if you agree. I would love for you to share about your oxygen chambers and what you do in regards to cancer with O2 therapy, if you'd be willing.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

I'd love it. Sure, anytime.

Ivelisse Page:

Thank you so much for joining us today and we'll talk to you soon.

Dr. Derek Guillory:

Thank you, Ivelisse. Appreciate you.

Ivelisse Page:

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What is your favorite health tip?
Can you share your personal health struggle that led to your integrative medicine path?
What does PEMF stand for?
Do people typically feel immediately relaxed and rejuvenated after PEMF Therapy?
How long does it take to see/feel results of PEMF Therapy?
The Parkinson's patient and PEMF Therapy
Is there anyone who should NOT use PEMF Therapy?
Is PEMF Therapy safe for kids?
Is it safe for pets?
Is there anything else you'd like to share about PEMF Therapy?