Dr. Bismah Irfan, MD holds an active Alabama medical license and works with Alabama patients by video visit. She is a board certified nephrologist who spends the first appointment on one question most Alabama patients have never been asked: what started the damage, and how much of it can still be moved.
Birmingham and Huntsville have kidney specialists. Much of the rest of Alabama, from the Black Belt to the Wiregrass, does not, and a nephrology appointment can mean half a day on the road. The visits happen by video instead.
High blood pressure and type 2 diabetes are both more common in Alabama than in most of the country, and together they sit behind most chronic kidney disease. Patients usually have one doctor for the pressure, another for the sugar, and nobody asking how the two are wearing on the kidneys at the same time.
Patients come to us from Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Auburn and the rest of Alabama.
Functional medicine gets a lot of loose claims attached to it. This is the conventional training underneath it.
Internal Medicine and Nephrology, both through the American Board of Internal Medicine, plus Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM).
Nephrology fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois.
Former assistant professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
Trained through the Institute for Functional Medicine after her own rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, and built the HEAL protocol around what she found.
Every one of these has causes underneath it. That is where the work starts.
Slowing progression and protecting the function you still have.
The most common driver of CKD, and the one where root-cause work pays off fastest.
Blood pressure damages kidneys, damaged kidneys raise blood pressure. We work on both ends.
Genetic, but the rate of progression is not fixed.
Autoimmune kidney involvement, managed alongside your rheumatology care.
What to do after an injury so it does not become chronic.
When blood pressure has been high for years, the kidneys are usually part of the reason and part of the damage at the same time. Bringing the pressure down without asking why it went up treats the number and leaves the cause where it was.
Worth reading next: how blood pressure and the kidneys affect each other.
Every step below happens without you leaving Alabama. Alabama runs on Central time, the same clock as the Houston clinic.
The qualification form asks about your stage, your history and what you have already tried, so the first conversation is not spent on paperwork.
No pressure and no diagnosis on this call. It exists so you can ask what the program involves and decide whether a full consultation makes sense. If you already know, you can skip it and book the consultation.
A 150 minute review with Dr. Bismah Irfan of your labs, imaging, medication list, diet and history. This is the appointment where you get an answer to why the damage started.
Testing that goes past the standard kidney panel: toxin load, infections, immune and metabolic markers, nutrient status. Collection is done near you or by kit at home.
A personalized plan covering nutrition, targeted supplementation, detoxification and the medical side, with scheduled follow-ups so it gets adjusted as your numbers move.
Some of what we offer has to be done in a room: EBOO, IV chelation, hyperbaric oxygen and stem cell and exosome therapy. Patients fly into Houston for a concentrated block of treatment and continue by video from home. Birmingham to Houston is under two hours in the air.
See the Houston travel guide for flights, hotels and how a visit is scheduled, or read what the comprehensive consult covers.
“You are a nephrologist and a functional medicine doctor, which we had been looking for. We did not find one that combines both.”
Patient, name withheld
“When I started with you, my labs were pretty bad. This year I did them again, and everything came back normal.”
Patient, name withheld
Published with names removed for privacy. Individual results vary. More patient stories.
Yes. Dr. Bismah Irfan holds an active Alabama medical license and sees Alabama residents by video visit.
No, and most patients do not. Functional nephrology runs alongside conventional care. We look for the causes behind the numbers, your existing team keeps doing what it does, and nothing in your medication plan changes without your physicians in the loop.
You send your records ahead of time, then meet Dr. Bismah Irfan by secure video. Lab draws and imaging are done locally near you and the results come back to us. The only reason to travel is if you want the in-clinic therapies that have to be done in person.
Chronic kidney disease at every stage, diabetic and hypertensive kidney disease, polycystic kidney disease, lupus nephritis, proteinuria, recurrent stones and recovery after acute kidney injury. If your case is not a fit, we will tell you on the call rather than after you have paid for a program.
Late stage is harder. It is still worth doing. The goal shifts toward protecting the function you have left, taking load off the kidneys and improving how you feel day to day. What is realistic for your stage is something Dr. Bismah Irfan will tell you honestly on the consult.
Dr. Bismah Irfan, MD. She is board certified in both internal medicine and nephrology through the American Board of Internal Medicine, completed her nephrology fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and previously taught nephrology as an assistant professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
The qualification form is short. If your case is not a fit for this kind of care, we will say so.
See if you qualify