Medical disclaimer

This is education, not medical advice

The articles, condition pages, symptom guides, report explainers, videos and learning sessions on Alitheau are general educational information. They describe how conditions work and what the evidence says for people in general. They are not a diagnosis, not a treatment plan, and not medical advice for you.

Reading this site, watching a video, joining the community or attending a learning session does not create a doctor–patient relationship between you and Dr Tarang Jain Arora or Alitheau.

A doctor–patient relationship begins when you book and attend a consultation. In a consultation there is a history, an assessment, and a clinician taking responsibility for advice given to you personally. That is a different thing from reading a page.

Not a substitute for seeing your own doctor

Nothing here replaces a personal assessment by a qualified professional who knows your history and can examine you.

Always ask your doctor about anything concerning your own health. Never delay seeking care, and never disregard advice you have already been given, because of something you read on this site. If what you read here conflicts with what your own doctor has told you, your own doctor has information about you that this website does not. Go back to them with the question.

No promise of results

Metabolic health does not follow a script. Two people with the same diagnosis, following the same plan, can get very different results — because of genetics, other conditions, medicines, sleep, stress, age, how long the problem has been present, and much that is not yet understood.

Nothing on this site is a guarantee, a promise or a prediction of any particular outcome, including weight change, blood test results, reversal or remission of a condition, or reduction in medication. Anyone in this field who guarantees you an outcome is telling you something they cannot know.

Medicines and supplements

Do not start, stop, change or adjust the dose of any prescribed medicine because of something you read here. Talk to the doctor who prescribed it. Stopping some medicines abruptly — including steroids, blood pressure medicines, anti-epileptics, thyroid medication and antidepressants — is dangerous.

The same caution applies to supplements, and it applies harder than most people expect.

• Supplements interact with medicines. To take four well-documented examples: St John’s wort reduces the effect of many prescription drugs; high-dose vitamin K changes how warfarin works; berberine and cinnamon can add to the blood-sugar-lowering effect of diabetes medicines; and calcium and iron interfere with the absorption of thyroid medication. There are many more.
• “Natural” does not mean safe. Herbal and ayurvedic products are still pharmacologically active. Several are known causes of drug-induced liver injury, and some products on the Indian market have been found adulterated with heavy metals or with undeclared prescription drugs such as steroids.
• Dose and quality vary widely. Supplements are not regulated to the same standard as medicines, and what is on the label is not always what is in the bottle.
• Tell your doctor and your pharmacist about everything you take, including supplements, herbal products and anything bought without a prescription.

Your lab reports

Our report explainers exist to help you understand what a test measures and what questions to ask. They are not an interpretation of your result.

Reference ranges differ between laboratories, between testing methods and between populations. The range printed on your own report is the one that applies to your sample. A result outside a range is not automatically a disease, and a result inside a range does not automatically mean all is well — a number only means something alongside your symptoms, your history and your other results.

Please do not diagnose yourself, and do not start treatment, from a report. Take it to a doctor.

Pregnancy, children and existing conditions

General guidance is least reliable exactly where the stakes are highest. Get individual advice before acting on anything here if you are:

• pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or breastfeeding — fasting, restrictive diets, weight-loss approaches and many supplements are not appropriate in pregnancy;
• looking for guidance for a child or adolescent — this site is written for adults, and children are not small adults;
• living with an existing condition, including diabetes, kidney or liver disease, heart disease, an eating disorder, a thyroid disorder, or any condition treated with regular medicine;
• taking any prescription medicine, or recovering from surgery or an acute illness;
• older, frail, or underweight.

Links to other websites

We sometimes link to studies, guidelines, organisations and other resources. A link is a pointer, not an endorsement. We do not control those sites, we are not responsible for their content or accuracy, and their privacy practices are their own. Nothing on a linked site becomes our advice by being linked.

Medicine changes, and so does this site

Every clinical page here carries a named reviewer and a review date, and is revisited at least once a year — our editorial policy explains how. Even so, guidance moves, and a page can be accurate on the day it was reviewed and out of date some months later. Always check the review date, and treat older pages with more caution.

If something here looks wrong or out of date, please tell us: [editorial contact email — to be confirmed before launch]. We would much rather hear about it.

If you want personal advice

Consultations with Dr Tarang Jain Arora are available in person and online. A consultation is where your history, your reports and your circumstances can actually be taken into account. Details, fees and the terms that apply are on the booking page and in our terms of use.

A consultation is still not an emergency service. If you need help urgently, use the numbers at the top of this page.