Holistic health care encompasses the art and science of caring for the entire person to treat and prevent disease. It focuses on empowering patients to create a condition of optimal health far beyond merely the absence of illness. Holistic practice embraces the spirit of coordinated health care and physician-patient relationship building. Further, it balances the mitigation of causes with the relief of symptoms, integrates conventional and complementary therapies, and facilitates the experience of being fully alive.

 

What is Family Practice?

Family practice is the medical specialty, which provides comprehensive health care. The scope of family practice encompasses treatment for all ages and persons regardless of the disease or illness and promotes health awareness for the entire body. A family physician is trained in all areas of the medical specialties. It is the goal of the family practitioner to integrate the mind, body, and sprit to provide the very best in care for their patients. In addition to practicing Holistic Medicine, the family practitioner promotes good health by initiating preventive medicine. In summary, a family physician is a highly qualified medical specialist who learns the patient’s entire medical history and utilizes it to chart a complete regimen of caring for the whole body for life to ensure the patient’s best health and well-being.

What is a Massage?
Massage is the art of stroking, pressing, kneading, and otherwise manipulating the muscles under your skin. Although therapeutic massage does not cure any health problems, it is very useful for relieving stress. Massage helps insomnia, depression, and anxiety. It is also good for relieving chronic pain, arthritis, old injuries, headaches, and a painful muscle condition called “fibromyalgia”. For some people, massage helps with digestive problems, such as irritable bowel syndrome, and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma, allergies and sinus problems get relief from a massage.

What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a one of the oldest forms of healing in the world. It originated in China and developed throughout Asia in the last 2,500 years. Acupuncture remains an important source of medical treatment in Asia, and is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States and the world today. Acupuncture gained popularity in the USA since 1971 when the New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about it after his journey to China. During his visit he underwent an emergency appendectomy and acupuncture was used for his post surgical pain. Although acupuncture is best known to treat pain, it is now recognized to treat many psychological, neurological, muscular-skeletal, respiratory, gastrointestinal disorders.

What is Traditional Herbal Medicine?

Humans have been using herbs as medicine for thousands of years. Safe natural herbs can help with little aches, pains, and minor illnesses.  Herbs have natural healing powers that can help a whole range of ailments ranging from the common cold to heart disease and other serious medical problems. For over thousand of years it has been discovered through practical experience which herbs work best for various medical ailments. In fact, herbs work so well that about one forth of all prescription drugs in use today are derived from herbs. However, even though herbs appear to be harmless because they are natural, some herbs are dangerous and deadly. Therefore, a person should always consult a qualified physician before attempting to treat him or herself with herbal medicine.

What are Nutritional Supplements and Nutritional Testing?
A nutritional supplement is simply any substance that you take in addition to your normal diet to improve your health in a specific area. A daily multi-vitamin is the most common nutritional supplement. Sometimes people with serious medical problems such as kidney disease or cancer need prescription nutritional supplements. The best way to know where you are deficient is to get a full nutritional analysis. This may be accomplished at our office utilizing specialty labs. We can assess your levels of virtually every nutrient as described below and place you on your own personalized nutritional program. Research has shown that many diseases can be treated and prevented by proper nutrient balance. Examples of these diseases are heart disease, arthritis, ADHD, irritable bowel, infertility, fatigue, poor healing, depression, and anxiety. If you have any special nutritional needs consult with your doctor before you try any specific nutritional supplements. The most common nutritional supplements fall into some fairly well recognized categories:

a.  Vitamins - You need 14 different vitamins for good nutrition.
b.  Minerals - You need at least 10 different minerals, including calcium, magnesium, zinc, and potassium, for good health.
d.  Amino acids, which are the building blocks for protein.
e.  Essential fatty acids – These are good fats such as fish oil and evening primrose oil.

Allergy Testing and Treatment
The incidence of food allergies has increased over the years. Allergens can be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. From dairy products to gluten, animal dander, chemicals, and pollens; we are surrounded by substances to which we may be sensitive or allergic. Many problems or symptoms that have been bothering you or your child may all be due to hidden allergies. Examples are bloating, weight gain, constipation, irritable bowel, joint or muscle pain, arthritis, ADHD, headaches, fatigue, coughing, sinus infections, acne, rashes. If you or your child suffers from any of the symptoms above, you should consider being tested for every food, spice, mold, and environmental allergies. Testing is done at our office. Afterwards you may be placed on a successful rotation diet.

Natural Bioidentical Hormones
Hormones play an essential role in maintaining your health. Proper balance of your hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, thyroid, melatonin are important for healthy weight, bone health, libido, sleep, mood and many more functions. Many women and men have found that a personalized natural hormone therapy program has a positive affect on their quality of life. They have reported more energy, better sleep, softer skin, looking and feeling younger, better sex drive, weight loss, less or no hot flashes, regular menstrual cycles, no PMS, less or no headaches, improved mood. Testing is done utilizing blood, urine, or saliva depending on your situation. Results are reviewed and then you begin your journey of a personalized natural hormone program on your way to better health.

 

Neurotransmitter (brain chemicals) testing and Treatment for ADHD, Depression, Anxiety and Fatigue
Neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) are chemicals that relay signals between nerve cells in the nervous system called neurons. These are present throughout the body and are required for proper brain function. Serious mental and/or emotional problems can occur if neurotransmitter levels are too high or too low. Some neurotransmitters are excitatory such as dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine (adrenalin). When a child has elevations of excitatory neurotransmitters, he or she may have difficulty focusing and paying attention, or hyperactivity. Most of the time a child is diagnosed by a subjective questionnaire and then placed on a drug based on symptoms rather than specific neurotransmitter function. At our office we test neurotransmitters in the urine. Neurotransmitter levels are most accurate and valid when measured in the urine versus the blood. Thereafter, we place the child on targeted amino acid therapy specific to their neurotransmitter imbalance. The amino acids come in powder or small capsules. Results have been have been successful and rewarding for the parents and child. Anxiety disorders in adults are similar to ADHD in the fact that anxiety, stress or insomnia occurs as a result of elevations of excitatory neurotransmitters. We can test for all the neurotransmitters in patients exhibiting any type of anxiety disorder and then also place them on targeted amino acid therapy. Results have been successful. Finally, depression and fatigue are also caused by neurotransmitter imbalances. However, unlike ADHD and anxiety, these disorders are usually caused by deficiencies in the inhibitory neurotransmitters such as serotonin. Patients receive the same urine neurotransmitter testing and afterwards are placed on their targeted amino acid remedies. Results for these patients have been promising.

 

Women's Health/Gynecology
We provide expertise in many gynecological services. Services include annual gyn exams, pap smears, contraceptive options, and STD testing and treatment. We treat PMS, premenopause and menopause with conventional or natural hormone replacement. In addition, we provide the initial workup of infertility using blood work and acupuncture; and perform initial prenatal care. Finally, we order annual mammograms and dexa scans; and treat osteoporosis with high success rates utilizing conventional and natural medications.
 

Heart Health Testing and Treatment
A strong, healthy heart is vital for longevity. At our office we are able to detect and/or prevent heart problems by offering the following screening tools: Echocardiogram, Electrocardiogram, Holter Monitor, cholesterol testing, and blood pressure measurements.

• An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. It can provide helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart, its pumping capacity and the location and extent of any damage to its tissues. It is especially useful for assessing diseases of the heart valves. It can also detect abnormalities in the pattern of blood flow, such as the backward flow of blood through partly closed heart valves, known as regurgitation.

• An electrocardiogram (EKG) is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. With each beat, an electrical impulse travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart. An EKG can show whether there has been a heart attack or whether the electrical activity is too slow, too fast, or irregular.

• A Holter Monitor is a continuous tape recording of a patient's EKG for 24 hours. Since it can be worn during the patient's regular daily activities, it helps your physician correlate symptoms of dizziness, palpitations (a sensation of fast or irregular heart rhythm) or black outs. A holter monitor may be more revealing than an EKG since it is worn for 24 hours and an EKG only lasts less than 1 minute.

• The medical term for high blood cholesterol is lipid disorder. Such a disorder occurs when you have too many fatty substances in your blood. In our office, we provide cholesterol testing in where we measure LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol), If lifestyle changes do not improve your cholesterol levels, we may recommend medication or natural herbal therapy.

• Hypertension is the term used to describe high blood pressure. Blood pressure readings are measured in mmHg and usually given as two numbers. The top number is your systolic pressure, the pressure created when your heart beats. It is considered high if it is consistently over 140. The bottom number is your diastolic pressure, the pressure inside blood vessels when the heart is at rest. It is considered high if it is consistently over 90. The goal of treatment is to reduce blood pressure so that you have a lower risk of complications. As with high cholesterol problems, we are able to offer medications as well as natural herbal therapy to successfully treat high blood pressure.