What if the answers to chronic illness are often missed because medicine focuses on symptoms instead of root causes?
In this deeply personal and powerful episode of Modern Thyroid and Wellness, McCall McPherson welcomes Dr. Aaron Hartman, functional medicine physician, clinical researcher, and author of UnCurable: From Hopeless Diagnosis to Defying All Odds. Dr. Hartman shares how his daughter’s complex medical challenges transformed his understanding of healthcare, pushing him beyond conventional medicine and into a root-cause, patient-centered approach.
The conversation explores medical blind spots, medical gaslighting, and the limitations of symptom-focused care. Dr. Hartman explains why chronic illness often requires patients to become active participants in their health journey and how functional medicine can help uncover overlooked root causes. He also discusses environmental toxins, tick-borne illness, mold exposure, hypermobility syndromes, and the importance of personalized care strategies.
This episode offers hope, validation, and practical insight for anyone who has felt dismissed, misunderstood, or stuck searching for answers.
Episode Highlights
- Dr. Hartman’s journey from conventional medicine to functional medicine through his daughter’s health challenges
- The concept of medical blind spots and how healthcare recommendations evolve over time
- Why chronic illness often requires individualized and investigative care
- Understanding medical gaslighting and why patients, especially women, are frequently dismissed
- How the healthcare system prioritizes acute care over chronic disease prevention and management
- Why patients must become the “CEO” of their own health
- The importance of building a collaborative healthcare team
- Environmental and chronic illness drivers including mold exposure, Lyme disease, and bio-toxin illness
- The connection between hypermobility, autoimmune conditions, neurodivergence, and chronic health symptoms
- The role of lifestyle fundamentals including nutrition, sleep, environment, and relationships in healing
- How faith, resilience, and patient-provider trust influence recovery and health outcomes
- Why listening to patients is often the most powerful diagnostic tool in medicine
- How education empowers patients to make informed healthcare decisions
- Why modern medicine requires balancing conventional and functional approaches
In This Episode, You Will Learn
- Why chronic illness often exists in gaps between medical specialties
- How conventional medicine can miss environmental, infectious, and systemic contributors to illness
