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Gordon Medical Forum

Gordon Medical Forum

Written by: Gordon Medical Associates
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Drs Gordon and Parpia have a unique and proven approach to healing chronic conditions with over 50 years of clinical experience combined; they created the Gordon Medical Forum Podcast to introduce some of the most overlooked and important factors for overcoming chronic illness.


Eric Gordon, MD, is the Medical Director of Gordon Medical Associates, and Nafysa Parpia, ND, is the Director of Naturopathic Medicine. Gordon Medical Associates is the premier tick-borne illness, Lyme disease, and environmentally acquired illness clinic on the West Coast. To learn more about the team at Gordon Medical Associates, go to gordonmedical.com.

© 2026 2026 Gordon Medical Forum Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Physical Illness & Disease
Episodes
  • Cell Danger Response and the Future of Chronic Illness Care

    Cell Danger Response and the Future of Chronic Illness Care
    Oct 7 2026

    Most chronic illness treatment is aimed at stopping what the body is doing, blocking inflammation, suppressing symptoms, quieting signals that won't turn off.

    But what if that approach is missing the point entirely? Dr. Eric Gordon sits down with Dr. Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD, professor of genetics at UC San Diego and one of the most original thinkers in medicine today, to explore the Cell Danger Response, a framework that reframes chronic illness not as damage to be fixed, but as a healing cycle that got stuck.


    Dr. Naviaux explains how mitochondria act as the body's primary sensory and communication system, constantly assessing threat and orchestrating the three stages of cellular healing. When that cycle can't complete because of infection, toxins, trauma, or chronic stress, cells become hypersensitive, the alarm stays on, and illness becomes self-perpetuating. The conversation closes with a finding that offers real hope: in ME/CFS patients, the mitochondria are not broken. They are simply responding to the wrong signals in the blood, and that means the system can be changed.


    Episode Highlights:


    • The three stages of the Cell Danger Response and why getting stuck in any one of them drives chronic illness
    • How extracellular ATP acts as the body's most ancient danger signal and what happens when it never turns off
    • Why blocking inflammation without completing the healing cycle is like painting over mold
    • New research showing that ME/CFS plasma can induce mitochondrial dysfunction in healthy cells and what that means for treatment
    • Why the mitochondria are not broken in chronic illness and why that is a message of genuine hope


    Listen in to learn more:

    • 0:01:31 — How the Cell Danger Response Was Discovered
    • 0:03:18 — The Three Stages of Healing
    • 0:06:58 — Mitochondria Are More Than Energy Producers
    • 0:10:00 — ATP Acts as the Body’s Danger Signal
    • 0:13:07 — When Protective Responses Become Chronic
    • 0:15:52 — Why Chronic Illness Requires a Different Approach
    • 0:19:40 — Salugenesis and the Biology of Healing
    • 0:23:02 — When the Fire Is Out but the Alarm Continues
    • 0:28:31 — What ME/CFS Plasma Reveals
    • 0:29:05 — The Mitochondria May Not Be Broken
    • 0:32:04 — Treating the Body as an Integrated System



    About Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD


    Dr. Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Genetics in the Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Pathology at UC San Diego, where he directs a core laboratory for metabolomics. He is an internationally recognized expert in mitochondrial medicine, metabolomics, and inborn errors of metabolism, and he co-founded the Mitochondrial Medicine Society. He co-authored the landmark 2016 study "Metabolic Features of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which helped define the metabolic signature of ME/CFS and advance the science of chronic illness.



    Gordon Medical Associates

    Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gordonmedical.com/

    Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gordonmedical/

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GordonMedicalAssociates


    Gordon Medical Forum

    Website: https://gordonmedicalforum.com/

    Plasmapheresis at Gordon Medical

    Website: https://plasmapheresiswest.com/

    💬 Text us your feedback and future show ideas! (Please note we can't respond to texts - email questions to info@gordonmedical.com)


    Interested in Becoming A Patient?

    Find out if working with Gordon Medical is right for you. Set up a complimentary discovery call with our new patient coordinator at www.gordonmedical.com.


    ** This information is not to be taken as medical advice. Always consult your practitioner before making any changes to your treatment.
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    30 mins
  • Tristan Harris on Protecting Human Health in the Age of AI

    Tristan Harris on Protecting Human Health in the Age of AI
    Sep 23 2026
    Dr. Eric Gordon and Dr. Nafysa Parpia talk with Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and creator of "The Social Dilemma" and "The AI Dilemma," about a subject that might feel far from this podcast's usual territory, but what's unfolding with AI right now felt too timely and too relevant to sit outTristan uses the same tool he used in 2013 to predict, with unsettling accuracy, how social media would damage a generation of kids. Look at the incentives, and the outcome follows. That same tool now points somewhere uncomfortable, since the AI industry is organized around market dominance, not curing disease, and the fastest way to win is to build something addictive and worry about the damage later.Tristan connects this directly to the work Dr. Gordon and Dr. Parpia do every day, arguing AI should work with natural human systems rather than replace them, the same principle behind functional medicine. The conversation covers the "intelligence curse," where an economy's wealth shifts from people to data centers; the water and energy strain data centers already put on communities; and the loneliness epidemic fueled by AI companions built to replace relationships. He is candid about how bad this could get, and just as candid about why he still has hope.Episode Highlights:Why Tristan predicted social media's harms years in advance, and what that same method reveals about AIThe "intelligence curse," and what happens when an economy's wealth shifts from people to machinesWhy AI companions built to replace relationships are fueling the loneliness epidemicLegal wins protecting kids, including a growing number of countries banning social media for under 16Listen in to learn more: 0:00:01 Why AI’s Benefits and Risks Are Inseparable0:02:30 The Intelligence Curse and an Anti-Human Economy0:06:55 Learning from Social Media’s Incentive Failures0:11:40 The Geopolitical AI Arms Race and Safety Shortcuts0:17:20 Pro-Human Path: Education, Vision, and Policy Interventions0:22:45 Tech, Capitalism, and the Polluted Attention Commons0:27:30 Jagged AI Capabilities: Superhuman Hacking and Science0:32:15 Uncontrollable AI: Real-World Rogue Behavior0:38:40 AI, Geopolitics, and “Too Big to Stop” IncentivesAbout Tristan HarrisCalled “the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience” by The Atlantic, Tristan Harris is a technology ethicist and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit dedicated to aligning technology with humanity’s best interest. Tristan gained international recognition when he was featured in the Emmy-winning Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. Since raising the alarm on the harms of social media, he has emerged as a leading public educator on the harms of unregulated artificial intelligence. Named to the TIME100 AI list and recipient of the 2023 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Award, Tristan is “a tech leader committed to ensuring that we get this generation of AI right, because we simply can’t afford to get it wrong.” Tristan is featured in The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, a new documentary from Focus Features available on demand.Learn more at humanetech.com and tristanharris.comGordon Medical Associates Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gordonmedical.com/ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gordonmedical/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GordonMedicalAssociates Gordon Medical ForumWebsite: https://gordonmedicalforum.com/Plasmapheresis at Gordon MedicalWebsite: https://plasmapheresiswest.com/💬 Text us your feedback and future show ideas! (Please note we can't respond to texts - email questions to info@gordonmedical.com)Discovery Call Ad -- Updated 2026Interested in Becoming A Patient?Find out if working with Gordon Medical is right for you. Set up a complimentary discovery call with our new patient coordinator at www.gordonmedical.com.** This information is not to be taken as medical advice. Always consult your practitioner before making any changes to your treatment.
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    58 mins
  • Chronic Illness, Brain Trauma, and the Role of Peptides

    Chronic Illness, Brain Trauma, and the Role of Peptides
    Sep 9 2026
    A concussion or brain injury that happened years ago may still be driving chronic illness today, and most patients have never been told. In this episode, Dr. Eric Gordon sits down with board-certified neurosurgeon Dr. Chad Prusmack to explore how unresolved brain trauma, vestibular dysfunction, and dysautonomia underpin some of the most complex and treatment-resistant cases in chronic illness. Drawing on his experience with NFL athletes, spine surgery patients, and his own journey through tick-borne disease, Dr. Prusmack brings a uniquely cross-disciplinary lens to why some people never fully recover from an injury and what can actually be done about it.The conversation moves from how a misaligned neck disrupts the entire autonomic nervous system to the role of peptides in restoring mitochondrial function and endocrine health once the foundation is stable, and how the hardware and the software must be addressed together and in the right order.Episode Highlights:Why loss of cervical lordosis on a normal-looking MRI is a key sign of vestibulocervical dysregulation that almost everyone is told to ignoreHow unresolved vestibular dysfunction forces the brain to remap itself around a slower visual system, creating brain fog, anxiety, and dysautonomiaWhy dysautonomia must be treated before any meaningful rehab or recovery can take placeThe peptides Dr. Prusmack uses for mitochondrial support: subcutaneous NAD, MOT-C, and SS-31 and when to introduce themThree exercise strategies for patients who can barely move: blood flow restriction training, heart rate zone feedback training, and isometric trainingListen in to learn more: 0:00:00 Brain Trauma as a Driver of Chronic Illness0:02:30 From Neurosurgeon to Complex Chronic Brain Care0:05:45 Personal Journey: Misdiagnosis, CVID, and Lyme Disease0:10:20 Hardware vs. Software: Injury Meets Environment0:14:40 Dysautonomia as an Underdiagnosed, Treatable Pattern0:19:10 Neck, Vestibular System, and Spatial Orientation0:24:00 Structural Clues: Loss of Cervical Lordosis0:27:30 Chronic Symptoms, Whiplash, and Missed Mechanisms0:32:00 Dysautonomia, POTS, and Orthostatic Testing Framework0:37:30 Multisystem Evaluation: Beyond “It’s All Infection”0:42:00 Peptides for Pituitary and Hormone Axis Repair0:46:00 Mitochondrial Peptides: NAD, MOTS-c, and SS-310:51:00 Timing Peptides: Don’t Fuel the Fire Too Early0:55:00 Overlap of Longevity, Performance, and Chronic Illness Care0:59:00 Exercise for the “Can’t Exercise” Patient1:03:00 Blood Flow Restriction, HR-Zone Training, and Isometrics1:07:00 Reframing Goals: Daily Function Over MarathonsAbout Chad Prusmack, MDDr. Chad Prusmack is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the only neurosurgeon in the United States who holds a functional medicine certification through IFM. He is the founder of Resilience Code, a personalized health and performance practice focused on chronic illness, complex brain injury, and peak performance. He serves as the primary neurosurgical consultant for the United States Olympic Committee, with a specialty in neurodegenerative disease, concussion, and post-concussive syndrome.Learn more about Dr. Prusmack at https://www.myresiliencecode.com/LINKS Gordon Medical Associates Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gordonmedical.com/ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gordonmedical/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GordonMedicalAssociates Gordon Medical ForumWebsite: https://gordonmedicalforum.com/Plasmapheresis at Gordon MedicalWebsite: https://plasmapheresiswest.com/💬 Text us your feedback and future show ideas! (Please note we can't respond to texts - email questions to info@gordonmedical.com)Discovery Call Ad -- Updated 2026Interested in Becoming A Patient?Find out if working with Gordon Medical is right for you. Set up a complimentary discovery call with our new patient coordinator at www.gordonmedical.com.** This information is not to be taken as medical advice. Always consult your practitioner before making any changes to your treatment.
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    45 mins
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