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Apolipoprotein E (APOE)

APOLIPOPROTEIN E – ApoE Gene


What is the ApoE gene?

The official name of this gene is “apolipoprotein E.” ApoE is the gene’s official symbol.

What is the normal function of the ApoE gene?

The ApoE gene provides instructions for making a protein called apolipoprotein E. This protein combines with fats (lipids) in the body to form molecules called lipoproteins. Apolipoprotein E is a major component of a specific type of lipoprotein called very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs).

What are ApoE gene combinations?

There are at least three slightly different versions (alleles) of the ApoE gene. The major alleles are called e2, e3, and e4. The most common allele is e3, which is found in more than half of the general population.

Alzheimer disease – increased risk from variations of the ApoE gene.

The e4 version of the ApoE gene increases an individual’s risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer disease. People who inherit one copy of the ApoE e4 allele have an increased chance of developing the disease; those who inherit two copies of the allele are at even greater risk. The ApoE e4 allele may also be associated with an earlier onset of memory loss and other symptoms.

What are variants of apolipoprotein E?

The variations of apolipoprotein E have been studied extensively as risk factors for many different conditions. For example, ApoE alleles have been shown to influence the risk of cardiovascular diseases. People who carry at least one copy of the ApoE e4 allele have an increased chance of developing atherosclerosis, which is an accumulation of fatty deposits and scar-like tissue in the lining of the arteries. This progressive narrowing of the arteries increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The ApoE e2 allele has been shown to greatly increase the risk of a rare condition called hyperlipoproteinemia type III. Most people with this disorder have two copies of the ApoE e2 allele, leading researchers to conclude that the e2 allele plays a critical role in the development of the condition.

ApoE gene variants have also been studied as a potential risk factor for age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that is a leading cause of vision loss among older people worldwide. Some studies have suggested that having at least one copy of the ApoE e4 allele may help protect against this disease or delay the onset of vision loss, while having at least one copy of the ApoE e2 allele may increase the risk of this disease or cause symptoms to appear earlier. However, other studies have not found these associations. More research is needed to clarify what role, if any, ApoE gene variants play in the development of age-related macular degeneration.

To schedule an appointment to learn more about genetic testing, call 262.522.8640


IV Nutritional Therapy

IV Nutritional Therapy

IV nutritional therapy provides improved health and a better quality of life

Patients with a variety of chronic health conditions can benefit from IV nutritional therapy at our functional medicine clinic near Milwaukee. IV nutritional therapy provides valuable nutrients, improves metabolism, boosts energy and offers immune support.

How does IV nutritional therapy work?

IV nutritional therapy consists of a series of IV infusions that take place at our functional medicine clinic near Milwaukee. Patients receive nutrients through an IV in the arm. The process takes between 30 minutes and six hours, depending on the patient’s needs.

This type of therapy works so well because it delivers vitamins, amino acids, minerals and other critical supplements directly into the bloodstream. IV nutritional therapy allows these nutrients to bypass the gastrointestinal (GI) system. This is significant for two reasons.

  • When nutrients are delivered to the bloodstream, they are fully absorbed, something that cannot happen if the GI system is damaged or inflamed.
  • Bypassing the GI system allows our practitioners to deliver much higher doses of nutrients to the patient than is possible with oral doses.

Why do gastric bypass patients and people with GI tract damage need therapy?

IV nutritional therapy is particularly useful for patients who have had gastric bypass, a surgical weight loss procedure. It can also benefit patients who have suffered damage to their GI tract due to viruses or bacteria, or who have conditions that affect absorption, including hydrochloric acid, or digestive enzyme, deficiency. Patients who lack the friendly gut bacteria needed to aid in proper digestion also benefit from IV nutritional therapy.

Damage, inflammation or deficiencies in the GI system make it nearly impossible for the patient’s body to absorb therapeutic doses of nutrients or medications. Directing the nutrients to the bloodstream ensures that all the nutrients reach the patient at the cellular level, bringing them the health benefits they so desperately need.

What other conditions benefit from this treatment?

Patients who have chronic problems, such as hypertension, asthma, HIV, Parkinson’s disease and congestive heart failure, respond well to IV nutritional therapy. Here are two lesser known conditions that also respond to treatment.

  • Metabolism disorders. People with metabolism disorders may not be able to convert the nutrients from the food they eat into the active form or metabolite. With IV therapy, the active metabolites are delivered directly to the cells without the body having to use energy to activate them.
  • Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. People with this syndrome may have problems maintaining adequate hydration, but IV NACL can help.

IV nutritional therapy is a valuable treatment for patients with chronic health conditions. Contact us for an evaluation and let the experienced practitioners at our functional medicine clinic near Milwaukee put you on the path to better health.

Weight Loss

Healthy Weight For Life

HCG Diet Delivers Real Results for Weight Loss

If you are committed to losing weight, our HCG diet plan is ideal for you. Be amazed and start to see real results in just under a month with our HCG for weight loss program.

Average weight loss is 1/2-1 lb. a day.

Our integrative health care approach to weight loss will help you obtain your goals in minimal time. Our method of integrative medicine in Waukesha has facilitated over 5 years of successful weight loss, positively changing lives one patient at a time.

READ MORE about how we can work with you to achieve your weight loss goals >>>

Serenity Health Care Center will help you to achieve your Optimal Weight Goals

Many people suffer from obesity in America.  Over the past twenty-five years, our diets have changed dramatically. We have become a fast food society even though we know we should be eating healthier. There is more to weight loss than calories in, calories out.

When the body has been exposed to a lifetime of dieting, large amounts of sugar and carbohydrates damage the hypothalamus.

It is important to detoxify the body and repair the body from a lifetime of poor habits.

Serenity Health Care has several weight loss programs for any person looking to lose the excess weight. It does not matter if you have ten pounds or one-hundred and ten pounds to lose, we will work with you.

Review the before and after pictures a month on the HCG Diet.

This is without any extra exercise, just the diet itself! Pretty significant impact. We work with you to achieve your goals.


Everyone is unique, and we want you to be successful. For some of our patients merely getting their hormones in balance, or treating adrenal fatigue and thyroid conditions is enough to help for them to lose weight. Others have been challenged with weight issues for many years and require a different type of support. We offer weight management programs that utilize detoxification, genetic testing, and Dr. Simeons’ protocol using HCG. Our bariatric program will assist you with all your weight loss needs.

HCG Weight Loss Program

Dr. Muth was one of the first practitioners in Wisconsin to offer the popular diet program developed from Dr. Simeons known as the HCG diet. Dr. Muth has been using this protocol for over five years successfully helping people reach their goal weight. 

Our structured program can be adapted to help anyone that is committed to losing weight and changing their lives.

Our staff has been professionally trained and many have personally used this program. They are happy to reassure interested patients that they do not feel hungry, and they have energy.

What is most exciting; this program eliminates your abnormal body fat, targeting those difficult areas. This program is not for someone with less than ten pounds to lose.

The program requires commitment to a restricted diet followed by a maintenance program that will teach you how to maintain your new weight.

At Serenity Health Care Center, we offer patient’s the support needed to complete the HCG program. This program is based on a healthy eating approach, detoxification, and a medical evaluation with appropriate follow-up.

For those who struggle with emotional eating, Hypnosis and Auricular Acupuncture is offered to assist with any complications that may arise. Most of all, our staff will be there for you every step of the way.

Dr. Oz reviewed the HCG diet – see what he has to say. Dr. Muth follows the same recommendations as the expert, Dr. Oz!

Individual Weight Loss Plans

Serenity Health Care Center is also able to offer weight loss plans that are customized for you. Our lifestyle coach is happy to work with you. Some plans may include supplemental support; others may just involve behavior modification.

Our bariatric program includes evaluation of cholesterol levels, blood sugar and sleep apnea. 

We look at all the possibilities that not only cause your weight gain, but many of the health problems that are a result of the excess weight.

Get Help in Waukesha to reach and maintain your goal weight CALL Serenity Health Care Center to find the right weight loss program for you, 262-522-8640.

Inflammatory Diseases

Inflammatory Disease

Inflammation, the root cause of disease.

It is now believed that most or all chronic diseases may have the same trigger: inflammation. This inflammatory process has been linked to everything from heart attacks and strokes to type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and yes even cancer!

Chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation can be caused by poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and low grade chronic bacterial infections or gum disease might explain why lifestyle-linked diseases have reached epidemic levels in the United States, while remaining rare in the undeveloped areas of the country.

Is Your Body on Flaring?

In most cases inflammation protects your body, if you cut yourself, your body would send the defense troops to fight the battle invading the bacteria to launch the inflammatory cascade. The immune system reaction involves proteins and white blood cells that come to eat the bacteria like Pac-Man.

This immune system response is the familiar scene of redness and warmth around the wound as it starts to heal. During a chronic inflammatory response, the low grade exposure to inflammation, harms rather than heals, because the immune system attack never stops.

The #1 Warning Sign of Chronic Inflammation

Do you want to know if your body is under chronic inflammation? It is easy, to measure your waist! If your waist measurement is above 35 inches for a woman or 40 inches for a man, this means you could be under low grade chronic inflammation and could be at risk for chronic illness or body of dis-ease.

Call Serenity Health Care Center to schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Debra Muth to discuss your risk and treatment for chronic inflammation.
262-522-8640.

ADHD Disorders and ADD

ADHD & ADD

ADHD disorders are brain connected disorders that cause a variety of issues for children and adults. The symptoms range in severity from mild to severe. Conventional medicine treats these disorders with medical management and behavioral therapy. At our functional medicine clinic near Milwaukee, we take a different approach – we treat the whole child with biomedical treatment to help us discover any underlying medical issues.

Our functional approach to ADHD, also known as ADD, includes biomedical treatment, nutritional therapy and other alternative treatment.

There are three types of ADHD disorders

In the past, people referred to ADHD disorders as either ADD, or attention deficit disorder, and ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) now defines three types of ADHD disorders.

  • Inattentive only—formerly referred to as ADD. This is the most common form of ADHD in females.
  • Hyperactive/impulsive—the least common type of the ADHD disorders. When a child has this type, they are able to pay attention, but exhibit hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. This disorder frequently occurs in young children.
  • Combined inattentive/hyperactive/impulsive—the type of disorder formerly called ADHD. With this disorder, a child will exhibit several behaviors.

Children with ADHD disorders exhibit several behaviors, including difficulty paying attention; problems interacting with peers and family members; learning problems; impulsive acts that can be dangerous; and the need for constant motion.

Our biomedical treatment and functional approach

Greg Brown, M.D., is a board-certified internist who began practicing integrative medicine in 2008, combining conventional medicine with a functional medicine approach. Dr. Brown employs biomedical treatment to help children with ADHD disorders. A biomedical treatment approach diagnoses and treats underlying medical issues that can affect children with ADHD disorders.

No one knows exactly what causes autism, but researchers are looking at four areas that they believe impact ADHD disorders.

Gastrointestinal problems – Problems we see include diarrhea, constipation, bloating, reflux and more. These problems can be caused by yeast, “leaky gut,” or other medical issues.

Nutritional imbalances and deficiencies – A child may be underweight or overweight, show signs of malnutrition or specific deficiencies. We address nutritional issues associated with ADHD disorders with special diet recommendations and nutritional supplements known as amino acid therapy, which assists in balancing the chemicals that cause ADHD/ADD symptoms.

Immune dysfunctions – These dysfunctions can be caused by genetics or environmental issues. The child may have rashes or other skin problems, bowel problems, fevers or other health issues due to immune problems. We uncover these issues, often ignored by conventional medicine

Detoxification irregularities – Toxins are almost always ignored by conventional medicine, but toxins can build up and cause neurological problems. We test for the presence of toxins when doing a biomedical workup on children with ADHD disorders.

If the conventional medicine approach to ADHD isn’t offering what you want for your child, contact us at our Functional Medicine Clinic near Milwaukee or call to schedule a consultation at 262-522-8640.

Airborne Allergies

Airborne Allergies

Approximately 60 million Americans suffer from airborne allergies

About 20% of the United States population suffers from airborne allergies; however, fewer than 3% of those individuals are being treated with immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is the only treatment that changes your underlying allergic disease instead of temporarily treating symptoms. The immunotherapy we use to treat airborne allergies at our natural medicine clinic near Milwaukee involves allergy drops.

What are airborne allergies?

When your body’s immune system exhibits certain symptoms in reaction to a normally harmless substance, we call that an allergic reaction. Normally, your immune system works to fight off viruses and bacteria, but sometimes the body reacts to a normally harmless substance, called an allergen, and causes the immune system to generate antibodies called immunoglobulin E, or IgE. This signals the body to release chemicals called histamines that cause inflammation.

Airborne allergies are caused by allergens that travel through the air and enter the body through the respiratory system. There are many common household and outdoor substances that cause airborne allergies, including pollen, mold, dust mites, animal, and chemical sensitivity.

Symptoms of airborne allergies

Some airborne allergies cause seasonal symptoms, while others cause symptoms year-round.

  • Sneezing, coughing
  • Runny, congested nose
  • Postnasal drip
  • Itchy watery eyes
  • Itchy nose and throat
  • Conjunctivitis
  • Dark circles under the eyes

Some individuals with allergies also suffer complications, including sinus infections, asthma and bronchitis.

Diagnosis and treatment

We use the La Crosse Method™ when we diagnose and treat airborne allergies at our natural medicine clinic near Milwaukee. This widely used protocol involves a thorough investigation of your symptoms and your history.

On your first visit, we take a very detailed history. We will discuss your family medical history, and ask about the environment in which you live, work and spend time. From there, we perform allergy testing if we believe that you have an allergic disorder.

We primarily treat all airborne allergies with immunotherapy in the form of allergy drops. Allergy drops, or sublingual immunotherapy, is a safe, affordable, convenient method of treating airborne allergy symptoms.

If you suffer from airborne allergies caused by toxic mold, we use a multi-step approach to treatment at our natural medicine clinic near Milwaukee. Your treatment may include: immunotherapy, antifungal medications, nutritional supplements, dietary changes and other treatments that we feel may benefit your individual allergies and symptoms.

Serenity Health Care Center, our natural medicine clinic near Milwaukee, treats a patient by looking at individual symptoms and the changes they are causing in life. We treat the whole person, not just the airborne allergies. If you are looking for an effective allergy diagnosis and treatment, contact us for an appointment.

Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal Fatigue

Patients with adrenal fatigue experience a group of symptoms that conventional medicine doesn’t recognize or treat. Adrenal fatigue is not a disease, but a collection of symptoms that are classified as a syndrome. This syndrome occurs when the adrenal glands are not functioning at their normal level. In contrast, when the adrenal glands do not function at all, it causes Addison’s disease or Cushing’s disease. At our alternative medicine clinic near Milwaukee, we treat adrenal fatigue syndrome with natural hormonal treatments and other remedies.

Stress can cause adrenal fatigue

Adrenal fatigue is related to cortisol, the stress hormone. Several situations can put the human body under stress.

  • Emotional or psychological distress
  • Physical injury or illness
  • Physical exhaustion
  • Environmental toxins

When the body is stressed, the adrenal glands produce cortisol, which regulates many bodily functions and the way they respond to stress. These functions include immune responses, metabolism and central nervous system functions. A person with adrenal fatigue doesn’t produce enough cortisol, and this has a negative effect on the body and quality of life.

Our experienced practitioners recognize the symptoms of this syndrome

Many conventional medical doctors do not acknowledge adrenal fatigue. They also don’t diagnose or treat the syndrome. At our alternative medicine clinic near Milwaukee, our practitioners have the knowledge and expertise to diagnose and treat this syndrome, helping our patients improve their lives and feel better.

Patients should talk with our medical staff if they have any of the following symptoms.

  • Chronic fatigue
  • Weight gain
  • Dizziness
  • Headaches
  • Anxiety or panic attacks
  • Depression
  • Low libido
  • Fertility problems
  • Low blood pressure or blood sugar readings

Patients who present these symptoms may be evaluated for adrenal fatigue.

Diagnosing and treating adrenal fatigue

Our medical practitioners perform blood and saliva testing to help diagnose adrenal fatigue syndrome. A saliva test indicates whether cortisol levels are normal, and bloodwork determines whether the body is producing sufficient amounts of DHEA, testosterone, aldosterone and progesterone.

If a patient has adrenal fatigue, the practitioners at our alternative medicine clinic near Milwaukee will devise an individualized treatment program. Treatment includes hormone supplements such as bio-identical cortisol, DHEA, pregnenolone and dietary supplements. Our practitioners also recommend lifestyle changes that can help the patient return to better health.

Patients who are suffering from fatigue or other symptoms that affect daily life should contact us. The staff at our alternative medicine clinic prides themselves on providing help for problems like adrenal fatigue that conventional medicine fails to acknowledge.

Food Allergies

Food Allergies

Do you suffer from intestinal problems? Do you have headaches, mood swings, weight gain, and fatigue or muscle pain? Do you suffer from attention issues? These can all be signs of food allergies. There are different types of allergies, immediate and delayed.  Immediate allergies are commonly known like peanut or seafood allergies. What about delayed allergies? These are allergies where the symptoms are not acute but subtle and can take up to 14 days to appear. We often see behavioral changes in children with allergies to food dyes and colors. These can all be easily treated and managed

Common symptoms of food allergies

  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Gastrointestinal problems
  • Skin rashes
  • Behavioral problems

Serenity Health Care Center in Waukesha uses several approaches to identify and manage food allergies, including:

  • IGG testing
  • Oral challenge testing
  • Rotation/elimination diet to see if symptoms will result after eating suspected allergenic food.

In all, we test for 50 of the most common food allergens, including wheat, corn, eggs, milk, yeast, and soybeans.

Most food allergies can be easily treated using the rotation/elimination diet or sublingual immunotherapy, also known as “drop therapy”. Fixed food allergies, such as shellfish or peanuts, are enduring allergies. These food allergies are determined by history. The only current treatment for fixed food allergies is the complete elimination of the offending foods.

The IGG blood test is a comprehensive blood test that helps identify foods that are causing delayed reactions. The IGG food panel will test 50 or more different foods, and you will receive a report with these foods divided into three reaction categories ranging from mild, moderate and severe reactions.

By making healthy changes in your eating program, you can minimize many of the symptoms caused by food allergies. Our treatment for food allergies using the rotation/elimination diet is 100% natural, convenient, safe and effective. For those foods that you cannot totally eliminate, you can use sublingual immunotherapy, which relieves symptoms and assists in healing the immune system.

Visit Serenity’s Kitchen for our food allergy recipes, tried and true.

Call 262-522-8640 for help to manage food allergies.

Nutrition

Nutritional programs individualized to meet your needs

Nutrition, nourishment, or aliment, is the supply of materials – food – required by organisms and cells to stay alive. In science and human medicine, nutrition is the science or practice of consuming and utilizing foods.

Nutrition is a molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics advance, nutrition has become more focused on the steps of biochemical sequences through which substances inside us and other living organisms are transformed from one form to another – metabolism and metabolic pathways.

Nutrition also focuses on how diseases, conditions and problems can be prevented or lessened with a healthy diet.

In addition, nutrition involves identifying how certain diseases, conditions or problems may be caused by dietary factors, such as poor diet (malnutrition), food allergies, metabolic diseases, etc.

A common place for nutritional medicine is in restoring proper cholesterol levels or blood sugar levels.

It is important to understand the genetic modification that has taken place in our food sources today along with the processed foods that make up a large part of our daily diet and how they affect our bodies and the diseases that we face today.

More About Nutrition

Explore our growing collection of articles and services related to Nutrition.

General Dietary Recommendations

Serenity Health Care Center has put together a dietary program that will help you; feel more alert and focused, have more stable moods, enjoy a better memory. have more energy, enjoy the kind of restful sleep that will help you wake up more refreshed and able to face your day, improve your digestion, decrease chronic sinus problems, experience pain-free joints, and eliminate headaches.

  • Eat Real Food

    Eat whole, real, fresh, organic, local and unprocessed food. If it has a label or a barcode, you probably should avoid it. If your great-grandmother would not recognize it, then don’t eat it. Do you think she would know what a Lunchable, Go-gurt, or Snackster is?
  • Boost Phytonutrients

    The Brain Protectors

    Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables full of colorful phytonutrients. All the dark, deep reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and blues in food are a sign of powerful anti-inflammatory, detoxifying and antioxidant, energy-boosting, brain-powering molecules. So enjoy those blueberries and dark leafy greens like kale.
  • Brain Food

    The Right Carbs

    Eat foods with plenty of fiber, like beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. This keeps the toxins moving out of your body and keeps your gut bacteria healthy. And a healthy gut is a healthy brain!
  • Become a Fat Head

    Sixty percent of your brain is made of the omega-3 fat DHA, which comes from algae and fish. Eat omega-3-rich foods like sardines, walnuts, wild salmon, and flax seeds.
  • Protein for Brain Power

    Eat protein for breakfast every day, such as omega-3 eggs, soy or rice protein shakes, or nut butter.
  • Eat Early and Eat Often

    Eat something every 3 to 4 hours and finish your last meal or snack 2 to 3 hours before bed
  • Stop Poisoning Your Brain

    Eliminate sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, coffee, alcohol, trans fats, and food additives and preservatives, all of which poison your brain and disrupt your biochemistry.

If you want to change your life with nutrition, get in touch or call today (262) 522-8640 to schedule an appointment.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Managing complex health conditions with Functional Medicine

Are you tired all the time? Are your daily living activities impacted by persistent fatigue?

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME*/CFS) is more than being tired all the time. People with ME/CFS are so fatigued that it interferes with daily lives and can make prevent them from functioning or caring for their families and maintaining a job, while others are severely disabled and even bedridden. Some people dealing with extreme fatigue also suffer from flu-like symptoms and chronic pain.

*CFS is also known as ME, which stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis. Myalgia means muscle pain, and encephalomyelitis means inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a “real” condition?

The healthcare practitioners at Serenity Health Center are often asked, is  chronic fatigue syndrome real?  The answer is a definite Yes! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that the first credible evidence of a biological basis for ME/CFS came in 2006, when 20 researchers from different specialties linked the illness with genes involving the sympathetic nervous system and the HPA axis. These genes control how your body responds to things like injuries and stress.

Many other researchers believe that some cases of ME/CFS are caused by an abnormal reaction to common infectious agents. The condition is tentatively linked the Epstein-Barr virus, enteroviruses, human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and Lyme disease.

Multiple studies suggest that the immune system may be chronically active in people with ME/CFS, which could make your body think it’s fighting an infection, whether it is or not, and that causes a chronic inflammatory response eventually depleting the body from its ability to fight, depleting hormone production and causing severe fatigue.

Who is at risk for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

While many questions remain and researchers continue to explore possible causes and risk factors for CFS, there are some agreed upon characteristics that suggest who most are at risk for CFS:

  • CFC affects women four times more frequently than men. But men can develop CFS.
  • CFC primarily occurs in people in their 40s and 50s.
  • CFS occurs in all ethnic and racial groups and in countries around the world.
  • CFS may have a genetic link.

How is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome treated?

At Serenity Health Center, we employ various treatment options for treating CFS. These therapies include:

  • Evaluating infectious processes
  • Using biofeedback to determine if there are organ deficiencies, genetic mutations, and metabolic conditions.

If you would like to be evaluated for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, please call and schedule a consultation with Dr. Debra Muth or Amy Hoffman, NP at 262.522.8640