Ivan Harnden, MD is a board-certified gastroenterologist. He serves as the System Chief of Gastroenterology at Inova. Dr. Harnden focuses on a collaborative approach and strategic vision aimed at enhancing patient outcomes and delivering outstanding GI care to the community served by Inova.
We’ve all dealt with gut issues at one time or another: from an upset stomach after eating spicy food, to trouble having a bowel movement, to butterflies in the stomach from nerves before a big event. Our overall gastrointestinal (GI) health is linked to the rest of our health in many ways. We take in nutrition through our gut which is essential to our daily lives, and our intestines and liver are vital in our metabolism.
GI health can affect our overall long-term health and it has a big impact on how we feel daily. In addition to primary GI diseases, poor GI health has been linked to many health issues, including cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurologic conditions, and even our psychological health. Most of us know what it feels like to have an unhappy gut with bloating or discomfort and other digestive problems. We can have a positive impact on our health and how we feel through what we eat and by maintaining good gut health.
Over the last two decades the medical field has been exploring the gut microbiome – a set of genes from organisms living in the intestines – which is practically another organ in and of itself. There’s still much to learn from this evolving field and it is not the only microbiome in our bodies. We interact with bacteria, fungi and viruses in different parts of our body. Many of those live in our gut, and act as a vital part of our digestion and nutrition, even producing important vitamins.
The gut microbiome can help us as it works with the rest of our body and makes us healthier. It is an essential part of our body that interfaces with the outside world, impacting our nutrition, immune system, and overall health. If the microbiome falls out of balance, the result can mean GI and overall health problems. Despite extensive study of the gut microbiome, one problem in medicine at this point in our history is that not enough is known yet to understand how best to affect and manipulate the microbiome to achieve positive results.
Learn more about Inova’s gastroenterology care: https://www.inova.org/our-services/inova-gastroenterology
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Dr. Harnden, encapsulated in a few paragraphs methods to heal and maintain optimal gut health! He should be commended for this simplistic approach. There are Internet doctors raking in huge profits for their purposefully complex programs and books that the general public cannot comprehend nor afford the inflated priced supplements that they offer to complete their programs. He is the embodiment of a true doctor who takes the Hippocratic Oath seriously.