Conditions
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High Blood Pressure
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High Cholesterol
- High Triglycerides
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IBD: Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
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Metabolic Syndrome
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Osteoporosis / Osteopenia
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Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
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Pregnancy Preparation
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Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
As a Naturopathic doctor, I treat you as a whole person with unique needs and concerns related to your physical, emotional, environmental, spiritual, and social health. This is a human-centered, or holistic, approach to health and illness with the goal of uncovering the cause(s) of what ails you. Whenever possible, true prevention and disease treatment must address the root cause of your symptoms and give you the tools to fix them.
Because I treat you, rather than disease, this list of conditions and treatment goals is meant only as a guideline. If you have any questions please contact me.
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Blood Sugar Disorders
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Cancer Recovery
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Cardiovascular Diseases
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Cognitive (Brain) Decline
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Dementia / Alzheimer's Prevention
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Diabetes, Type 2
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Fasting, Intermittent or Full
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Fatigue / Insomnia
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Fatty Liver Disease
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GERD & Heartburn
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General Wellness & Prevention
General Wellness and Prevention
Why don't we talk about prevention more? Perhaps it's human nature to worry less about the future or maybe we're just used to the status quo in medicine, which, when it comes to our everyday health care, is mainly just sick care after all. What we think of as "preventative" health care when we see our conventional primary care doctor, for the most part, is not preventing illness. Annual physicals and labs are looking for disease(s) that has started—do you already have anemia, thyroid issues, kidney disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or a palpable breast lump? Obviously, these appointments are important and shouldn't be skipped, but to call them "preventative" is a stretch. True prevention requires a deep health history and often, lifestyle modification. Detailed lab testing can also help to find deficiencies, dysfunction, and patterns of imbalance that aren't yet disease and try to stay ahead of them. Keeping ahead of these things and staying well allows you to live your life, reach your potential, and save money.
Illness is expensive! The average couple can expect to spend $275,000 on their health care in retirement. This is above what Medicare covers and costs even more if you think dental care is important! Therefore, if you're planning to live it up in your retirement, prevention should be a part of your financial plan.
Fatigue & Energy
Thyroid, Adrenals, Hormones, Mitochondria, Neurotransmitters, Digestion, Nutrition, Metabolism
We are sooooo tired! Fatigue is one of the biggest reasons that people go to their doctors. If you're lucky the reason for your fatigue is found easily by your practitioner, but what happens when it isn't? Sleeping pills and other drugs can actually make the situation worse, can be addictive, and have additional side effects. They are not healthy long-term solutions.
Fatigue is tricky and nuanced. The maintenance of energy is a complicated process that involves every system of your body. Excluding frank disease, there are usually multiple causes for fatigue ranging from unmet dietary needs to, sleep disorders, stress, inflammation, hormone and brain chemistry imbalances, unregulated blood sugar, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, depression, and on. Careful health history followed by lifestyle measures can often provide relief. Sometimes more detailed lab testing and a more personalized approach are needed. As with any other ailment, figuring out the root cause for your fatigue and treating it is my main goal. Set up your free consultation or give me a call if you have any questions.
Type 2 Diabetes & Metabolic Illnesses
PCOS, Metabolic Syndrome, Pre-Diabetes, High Blood Sugar, High/Low Blood Sugar, NAFLD (fatty liver)... The rise of blood sugar disorders and specifically Type 2 Diabetes in the U.S. and around the world is epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 3 Americans have pre-diabetes and most don't know it. About 30 million Americans have Diabetes and nearly 25% of those don't know it. This is a super-disease. Diabetes causes or contributes to heart disease, strokes, cancer, and Alzheimer's. It also causes kidney failure, blindness, and nerve and blood vessel damage that leads to many other serious and painful illnesses.
We're often told, or it's at least implied, that having this illness is our fault. The implication is that we are weak and lack the willpower to eat "right" and take care of ourselves. This needless shaming unfortunately keeps some people from getting help. Yet, when you think about it, epidemics are caused by factors bigger than each of us. Besides genetics and other lesser influences, this disease is caused by changes in our food systems, increasing stress levels, poor preventative services, and a lack of understanding of what to do about it in the medical community.
Still, on a personal level, we have to take control of our own health. I can help you prevent, reverse, and manage this super-disease by helping you navigate the pitfalls of modern life and by giving your body the tools it needs to heal. Set up a free consultation or just give me a call if you have any questions.
Heart Disease
Did you know that when you get your basic cholesterol levels checked at the doctor, your risk for Heart Disease is determined incorrectly about 50% of the time? In other words, you may be told your risk is low, yet there's a 50% chance that your doctor is wrong and that you are headed for a heart attack or stroke? This is because the key predictors of heart disease measured in basic lab tests (LDL, HDL, and Triglycerides) are NOT enough to say whether you are headed towards a heart attack or stroke. In fact, they aren't even close to enough.
The consequences of being misinformed about your heart disease risk are too high to ignore.
Like all other chronic illnesses, Cardiovascular disease is complicated. Understanding your family history and details about your day-to-day stress and sleep are very important. In addition, functional lab testing gives us a much more accurate insight into cholesterol, inflammation, your body's ability to manage blood sugar, your hormones, and your genetics. These details uncover your real cardiovascular risk and help us plan the most efficient ways to help you to improve it.
As a Naturopathic physician, I have many tools to help you prevent, slow, or even reverse this illness by using thoughtful natural remedies and lifestyle measures that are safe, even if you are already on medications. Set up a free consult or give me a call if you have any questions.
Digestive (Gut) Disorders
Anyone that has worked with a Naturopath is well aware that we jump up and down about the importance of a healthy digestive system, aka the "gut". This is because the gut is the source of health. This is just logic: it's huge with many organs and multiple functions that influence the health of every last cell in the body. Just think about a few of its major functions:
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Digestion, absorption, assimilation, and delivery of nutrients,
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Detoxification of toxins and the excretion of waste and cholesterol,
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Barrier Immunity—acts as a physical and acidic barrier to keep pathogens (like infectious bacteria, viruses, fungi) out of the rest of your body and houses the majority of our immune cells and helpful gut flora to help kill and remove them,
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Nervous system support through the production of chemicals that influence mood and brain function,
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Hormone production and the regulation of hunger.
When you look at it this way it's easy to understand that the health of your digestive tract is one of if not the most important determinants of health. Yet, our food systems, diet, increased usage of pesticides and other environmental chemicals, overuse of drugs (e.g. over-the-counter and by prescription antacids and NSAID pain relievers), as well as the stress of modern life, lead directly to digestive illnesses and non-digestive illnesses alike. Here's a short list of illnesses that commonly improve or are relieved entirely by treating the gut:
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IBS, Constipation, Diarrhea, Nausea, Heartburn
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Food Sensitivities
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Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s, Celiac Dz, Gall Bladder Disease
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Autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Hashimoto’s, Psoriasis, and more
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Mood disorders like Anxiety and Depression
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Skin rashes, Eczema, and Hives
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Disorders related to Western diet: Pancreatitis, Fatty Liver Disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Kidney Disease, and Cancer
As the source of health, an unhealthy digestive tract can become the source of disease. I have many tools to help you discover the cause of your illness(es) and help you heal them.
Detox and Cleanses
There are a lot of "detox" and "cleanse" diets out there. The truth is, they're not always healthy and are not appropriate for everyone, especially if you take medications, have chronic illnesses, recently had cancer treatments, are breastfeeding, or are in any sort of generally weakened state. Many people claim to be experts in "detox" and "cleanse" diets and programs but don't understand how their treatments are affecting your body. And, many of their programs are fads and either not adequate or even harmful to your health.
Instead, detoxing should be considered a way of life. Licensed Naturopaths like myself are experts in helping you support your body's natural detoxification systems through improved diet, gut health, lifestyle factors like sleep and hydration, and by reducing inflammation and exposure to unnecessary toxins in the environment. We know when to provide your body extra help through supplementation or helpful foods and can even provide appropriate lab testing to target our therapies to your specific needs.