We allow enough time for an intake interview. We also perform a physical examination that includes body composition analysis, a head-up tilt table test, X-ray examinations, and blood tests before treatment begins. These tests help us identify underlying medical conditions (e.g. orthostatic hypotension, hypoglycemia, and Hashimoto’s disease) that cause symptoms. Symptoms are always the indicator of disease, but patients are suffering from different diseases. Thus, we will tailor a treatment plan to match individual conditions and practice comprehensive medicine.
Most pain patients (82%) have hypotension or orthostatic hypotension that are often unrecognized.
Hypotension is associated with a variety of medical conditions, including atopic dermatitis, allergy (e.g. allergic rhinitis), irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome, cold sensitivity (e.g. frostbite, limb pain, and numbness), hypothermia, infertility, connective tissue disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis), the end stage of intractable diseases, cerebral infarction, and more.
Also, the number of patients with hypoglycemia (either reactive or functional) is increasing, and quite a few patients have thyroid problems like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
These problems are rarely identified by common tests. They are unrecognized diseases, which means neither a doctor nor a patient understand them very well. Most of them are categorized as functional somatic syndromes (FSS). We have developed various diagnostic methods in an attempt to make unrecognized diseases recognizable.
We will make every effort to help you understand your condition correctly and learn to take care of yourself.
Disease can be classified into the following groups: functional symptoms, organic disease, and terminal illness. Modern medicine excels at finding and treating organic disease. Just as cancers, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction and injuries, organic disease must have the location of the disease and cellular changes that can be identified. There are as many specialists as the kinds of organic diseases.
On the contrary, functional complaints result from homeostatic imbalance of autonomic nervous system, immune system and so on. Modern medicine is ineffective in curing functional complaints. Why? Because functional symptoms are not taught at medical schools. In addition, the majority of doctors working at university hospitals are specialists in organic disease while very few are specialized in functional symptoms. So, specialists in organic disease can, at the most, prescribe tranquilizers, anti-epileptic and anti-depressants to ease symptoms.
When unable to find the evidence of organic disease by common diagnostic tests, doctors tell their patients to wait and see how it goes, or to not take their symptoms too seriously.
By taking a wait-and-see attitude, a doctor concludes that an organic disease may later develop from functional symptoms, which will allow an accurate diagnosis. But it is too late to cure a disease that displays cellular changes.
By telling a patient to not take symptoms too seriously, a doctor suggests that the patient’s symptoms have psychological origins. But it requires great care to determine the cause of symptoms because the treatment of psychiatric illness is completely different from that of somatic disease.
According to Salutogenesis, health, disease and death are on the same continuum. Health is on one end of the continuum while death on the other. Along the continuum lie functional symptoms, organic disease and terminal illness.
Functional symptoms are often unrecognized and mistaken for psychiatric disorders by doctors. Dr. Viktor Frankl bitterly named it pseudo-neurosis and called attention. Pseudo-neurosis is no more than a misdiagnosis.
Countless number of patients are suffering from such misdiagnoses today.
Fibromyalgia (FMS) is one of functional complaints and a typical example of pseudo-neurosis. In many cases, FMS is accompanied by hypotension, hypoglycemia and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis that often go unrecognized. Proper treatment of these underlying disorders helps a patient to be fully restored to health. So, you should never rely on psychoactive medications (antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs) and narcotics for the relief of symptoms.
Many FMS patients have psychological problems, or trauma due to the experience of, for example, child abuse, bullying, and war. The memories of traumatic experience are interwoven with pain and torment the patients. Therefore, FMS patients need such an authentic psychotherapy as logotherapy and existential analysis. Balneologotherapy may also be done.
By working to identify underling functional complaints with us, you can develop psychologically, overcome your illness and live a meaningful life. It has been realized by a number of our patients. We are here to help you.
General Internal Medicine
Blood test, urine test, chest x-ray, abdominal x-ray, and diagnostic tests for osteoporosis, ultrasonic testing, electrocardiogram, body composition analysis, antioxidant defense system test, head-up tilt table test, dark field microscopy, Ages test, stress hormone test, psychological tests (CHCP and SOC questionnaires), an intake interview with a registered international logotherapist.
Diagnostic imaging, such as MRI and CT, and gastroscopy are done at our referral partners. Chiyoda International clinic is in partnership with many clinics and hospitals.
We have doctors, nurses, a medical technologist, acupuncturists, psychotherapists, and medical assistants.
We also have bilingual staff (English /Japanese).
Appointments by phone
+81 (0)3 5577 2070
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Japan time
Monday through Friday