Thank you for the awesome question and the intention behind it. It's a true community service. I've been working on attempts to help friends and family for a while, but my resources as an individual are limited and I can immediately see the value in the project you propose.

Of course, this list is informed by my personal experience and that of my close friends and family- I’m pretty protective of them and would love to have better resources to help hack their health.

1. Osteoporosis- my mother has lost 5" and deals with considerable pain...
2. Heart disease- lost both of my grandparents
3. Alzheimers/dementia- participated in the care of multiple family members and friends-simply scary.
4. stroke...
5. Diabetes type 1- several members of my family
6. Crohns- my cousin is only 42 and is already severely osteoporotic and in constant pain as a result
7. Colitis-cousins
8. Macular degeneration- mother losing sight and I have "interesting" issues with my retina since I was 16 years old.
9. Primary hypertension & hypertensive renal disease- mom again...
10. Nephritis- kidney disease
11. Chronic Liver disease- Grandfather
12. Lupus - multiple friends in constant pain
    Various cancers, particularly:
13. Lymphomas- it's shocking how many people I know with various Lymphomas
14. Breast Cancer- mom
15. Colon Cancer- cousins

Many of my family and friends are suffering through these conditions with only a bit of symptom alleviation and management, and no true prevention or cure available... it's scary to see them go through this and just as scary to contemplate what might be in store for me (hopefully prevented by a Paleo diet.)

Thanks-I hope you get a lot of useful answers!

1. Depression
2. Asthma
3. Weight issues (other than obesity, which still sounds extreme)
4. Obesity
5. Diabetes/Type 2 diabetes
6. High cholesterol
7. ADHD
8. Acne
9. Migraines
10. IBS
11. Crohn's disease
12. Cancer
13. Addictive behaviors
14. Hypothyroidism
15. Autoimmune diseases

In no particular order:

1. Crohns/IBS
2. Lupus
3. Sjogrens
4. MS
5. Fibromyalgia
6. Graves Disease
7. Hashimoto's
8. Rheumatoid Arthritis
9. Lyme Disease
10. Alzheimer's
11. Depression
12. Psoriasis
13. Ankylosing Spondylitis
14. Scleroderma
15. Alopecia

It's hard to list 15 because I think certain groups of disease have the same root cause, so I'll list the diseases I think need the most attention in terms of root cause:

1.Developmental disorders- in my future practice I hope to focus a lot on things that negatively impact development. I think this is the #1 aspect of health that is being hurt by modern society in terms of lack of education. Toxic chemicals from canned food, plastic toys, water bottles, hospital equipment, etc are having a huge effect on the development of our kids. I think many people who have had mysterious illnesses all their lives or had one that was triggered once they reached a certain age could have them explained by something that hurt them during their development either directly or by the lack of something. For example, now about 1 in every 3 women have a C section birth, and a CDC report found that only about 1 in 3 women were breastfeeding after 3 months. The implications of these numbers are huge. It means that all the babies born by C section and who aren't breastfed aren't getting the good bacteria they need to populate their gut and thus protect them from infections in the future, allow their immune system to recognize the difference between good bacteria and everything else and tolerate the good bacteria, and even allow their brain to develop properly in many cases. So I think if a baby has a mom who ate healthy, had low stress while pregnant, and avoided all these things, it's much more likely he or she won't have many of the other diseases I list below (of course it depends on the environment they grow up in and the diet/lifestyle they have as well).

2.Digestive disorders (leaky gut, dysbiosis, crohn's, UC, etc)- the root cause of most diseases imo is either located in the gut or started out there and spread to other areas. If you have a properly functioning gut with the proper balance of good and bad bacteria it's hard to have a chronic illness of any kind.

3.autoimmune disorders (food allergies, thyroid, MS, etc)

4.neurological disorders (depression, anxiety, ocd, adhd, autism, insomnia, etc)

5.metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes, etc)

6.imbalanced hormones (thyroid, chronically elevated cortisol, estrogen dominance, etc)

There is overlap in much of these.

In no particular order:

1) Allergies - nasal, food, eye, asthma, eczema, etc.

2) Brain issues - ADHD, bipolar, depression, Alzheimers, Parkinsons', dementia, senility, schizophrenia, MS, eating disorders, etc.

3) Metabolic issues - diabetes, PCOS, obesity etc.

4) Eye Diseases - Cataracts, Age Related Macular Degeneration

5) Thyroid issues - autoimmune, hypo, etc.

6) Heart Disease - atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, stroke, heart attacks, hypertension, etc.

7) Infertility, Reproduction, and Pregnancy complications, ED, menstrual cycle issues, sex hormone issues, etc.

8) GI issues - constipation, bloating, gas, GERD, diarrhea, IBS, celiac, Crohns, colitis, antibiotics, etc.

9) Autoimmunity, gut permeability, psoriasis, lupus

10) Cancer and tumors

11) Hormonal Imbalances - melatonin, sleep, circadian rhythms, cortisol, etc.

12) Hearing loss and smell loss

13) Infections

14) Physical Trauma - burns, cuts

15) Aging and nutritional deficiencies - which probably includes all of the above!

Items 1-7: Autism

Items 8-15: ADD/ADHD

I think autism is important because there is certainly an indication that it is preventable, or is at least made more or less probable thru diet and other choices. It would be amazing to cut down on something that's so devastating to those who suffer from it.

I think ADD is important because it is SO quickly medicated, without any look to potential dietary changes. The blog posts I've seen parents write as to the immediate behavioral changes in their paleo kids when they have SAD foods is incredible.

1. Depression
2. Anxiety
3. ADHD
4. Pancreatic and other cancers
5. Autoimmune disorders
6. IBDs
7. Schizophrenia
8. Pneumonia
9. Osteoporosis
10. Arthritis
11. Fibromyalgia
12. Alzheimers/dementia/MCI
13. Stroke
14. Heart Disease
15. Thyroid disorders

Since I haven't seen it mentioned, and for personal reasons, Gout. Paleo is counterintuitive to a lot you're told about treating Gout, but it's been an amazing turnaround for me in the last year or so. I'm hoping to be completely off the Allopurinol one day, but now, I still do need it to keep my UA levels down. Basically went from a vegetarian suffering from horrific attacks to a heavy meat eater who hasn't suffered one attack since making the switch to Paleo.

Osteoarthritis; Hypothyroid; Seasonal allergies

I'm listing these because I suffer from them, and I've found relief through paleo, so I know that a Paleo diet can actually address them.

Also, a LOT of people have these conditions, they are considered by mainstream healthcare to be conditions that can't be cured, and the medications used to help manage them truly suck!

I think in general that Paleo has promise dealing with any of the autoimmune diseases. Also, I'm guessing, cancers.

Chrohns, Male Pattern Baldness Depression Insomnia GERD Epilepsy Temporal Brain Lesion Sciatic nerve pain Damaged Tail bone from sitting Cancer

Hepatitis C . I've seen lots hacked already on many of the aforementioned ailments. I've seen almost NOTHING on any of the hepatitis' and liver disease.

I've wondered if this might be because fat and protein are not so great on the liver in large quantity. While paleo is macro-nutrient agnostic (as RW says), it has a bias in the online forums for fat and protein.

Several that would benefit myself and people close to me are:

1. Diabetes
2. Alzheimers
3. Multiple Sclerosis
4. Hypothyroidism
5. Depression
6. ADHD
7. Testosterone/Hormonal problems
8. Brain cancer

Others that seem to be common are pancreatic cancer and heart/blood pressure problems.

Heart disease and hyperlipidemia

Osteoarthritis

Gout

Degenerative disc disease

NAFLD

Obesity

Fibromyalgia

Thyroid troubles (hypo and hyper)

Cancer

IBS

Hypertension

Prostatitis

Depression and anxiety

PCOS

Celiac disease

I want to see information put out there about the Paleo diet related to mental disorders. Life changes when the veil of deep depression/mania/anxiety/bipolar/etc. is lifted. If the general population could finally see and understand that eliminating neolithic agents of disease resolves their issues instead of band aiding them, many many people's lives could change for the better.

For selfish reasons: Parkinson's (my mom) and IBS (me).

Huntingtons - because it seems as though there is not much help out there for people with Huntingtons, just a wait and see and then suffer which is unacceptable - is there anything a paleo/primal diet can do to alleviate the symptoms?

Lupus - I've had 2 family members pass from complications from Lupus - so sad what they went through from diagnosis to passing - so many terrible drugs and blank looks from the medical community. Also unacceptable. Especially since diet was NEVER discussed!

Hypothyroidism, breast cancer and colon cancer.

Attention deficit disorder

If you've been ancestral for more than 6 months, it's probably a true lifestyle by now but many people initially experiment with ancestral eating because of either nutrition or disease issues.

I think it's good to emphasize nutrition, because the competition re: weight loss is both intense and fragmented.

Educating people about sensible nutrition based on science that debunks recent myths would be a powerful step toward better disease management in the future.

Helping people "re-discover" fermented foods, cleaning up our meat and produce supplies and pressuring the food industry to use better preparation/fermentation of grain products are examples of nutrition-related initiatives that would have great leverage for all of us.

1. Glaucoma
2. Cataracts
3. Retinopathy
4. Optic Neuritis
5. Conjuctivitis
6. Scleritis
7. Keratitis
8. Uveitis
9. Macular Edema
10. Ophthalmoparesis
11. Myopia
12. Astigmatism
13. Presbyopia
14. Xerophthalmia
15. Nyctalopia

I chose these because they either effect me or family members. In no particular order of importance.

1. Psoriasis
2. Depression/bipolar
3. Eating disorders
4. ADHD
5. Allergies
6. osteoarthritis
7. Pcos
8. Endometriosis
9. Fertility/breastmilk production
10. Prostate cancer
11. Alcoholism
12. Cavities/tooth decay (I'd love some good science here Nagel has a lot of quackery mixed with the good)
13. Anxiety
14. Menopause/perimenopausal symptoms
15. PMS/PMDD

Everything.

Every bad feeling we experience is caused by eating things we don't know how to digest. Learn that you must have respect for all the things we consume, because they will attack you, but since you are told that everything we eat is good, you lose your instinct. Humans are just a blob of ugly cancer, and that rare biodiversity on earth is the small amount of good left in the world.

dental issues stroke diabetes dementia

There are 2 areas I would like addressed even though I think these both are SYMPTOMS of other things:

1. Insomnia. This tortures many people but the more I read and learn I think insomnia is a symptom of some other underlying issue. People are put on all sorts of medications including psychiatric medicine to help with this. I just read how insomnia can be a side effect of thyroid problems. hmmmm.......

2. Gallbladder disease. Gallbladder removal is one, if not THE, top surgery performed in the US on a yearly basis and they target women age 40 and up for this. Again, I think gallbladder attacks and problems is really a SYMPTOM of some underlying problem.

It would be good to learn about what to look for that could be causing these two things since I believe many people have one or both.

Most of my families history with low-mortality comes from direct correlation to alcoholism or drug abuse, so even though I am strongly concerned about the CHD, liver failure, diabetes issues... most of the things I think would make a profound impact would be the issues that my son (7yo) and myself have had to deal with in our lives.

Most notably - in the case of myself and my son, the following 4 are all related.

1. ADHD
2. Aspergers
3. Depression
4. Social Anxiety

As a secondary - but still along a psychological route.

1. Food addiction

Finally - to share what personal ailments I've had and what I feel has helped to resolve them (or if it's still a struggle, hinted with the "ongoing"), I would still like to know the "why":

1. IBS (diet)
2. Obesity (diet and lifestyle) - Ongoing
3. Chronic fatigue (diet and lifestyle)
4. Carbohydrate Addiction (diet)
5. Alcoholism (diet and lifestyle)
6. Muscle Spasms (diet and lifestyle)
7. Back pain (lifestyle) - Ongoing
8. Early-onset arthritis in hips and shoulder (lifestyle) - Ongoing
9. Skin irritations (diet and lifestyle)

MEH - PH changed my numbering - the intent was to have 1 - 14 ailments but the bulleting (even though I didn't select bulleting) decided to re-number between every paragraph. Oh well...

diabetes anxiety depression adhd insomnia peri/menopausal weightloss cataract & eye issues aging brain

Stop treating diseases. Start treating health.

Any mental illness, because they are physical illnesses.

Epilepsy, Hepatitis C, Cancer. The first two because of loved ones. The third because it's way too common.

Alzheimer's Macular Degeneration, ADHD/Add and Autism spectrum.