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Health Consultation Request

Congratulations. By considering a health consultation, you have taken the first step towards making yourself well. What follows may seem lengthy and, at times, complex, but well worth your time if you wish to make a sound decision on how to take part in the restoration of your own health.

Our team of health practitioners is here to give you the knowledge and tools you need to travel this healing path. Before you move forward, however, it is important for you to recognize that the ultimate responsibility for your own wellness rests in your hands . Taking that responsibility begins with becoming fully informed, and with your commitment to follow the advice you are given in the consultation process.

This page is designed to do two things:

  1. To give you the information you need to decide whether you should go ahead with the consultation, and which type of consultation best suits your needs.

  2. To help you see what a true commitment to healing requires, and to encourage you to make that commitment.

Let's figure out what kind of disease (Webster's definition: an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning ) you have to contend with, and what might be at its root. In order to understand disease, we must also have a grasp of how the human body functions when it is healthy. Western/allopathic and Eastern/natural medicines view health and disease in different ways.

Disease as War

The Western idea of disease is based in germ theory the idea that disease is something that invades the body and causes it to become sick. Western medicine views most illness in this way, using metaphors of war disease attacks the body, we get well by conquering disease, we fight disease, we eradicate illness to describe the relationship between disease and host. Unfortunately, this kind of war tends to have casualties, in the form of side effects from medications or surgeries. Sometimes this is unavoidable; sometimes it isn't. A consultation will help you to discern whether you can find other, less warlike ways to approach the treatment of your condition.

Disease as Loss of Balance

The Eastern healing arts, along with the arts of homeopathy and naturopathy, see disease as a result of an imbalance within the body. This imbalance might be caused by one or more of a variety of factors, including poor diet, overwork, stress, hereditary characteristics, or emotional issues. Such imbalances create fertile ground for disease to take hold. Rather than viewing disease as something that attacks the body, these healing arts see it as a manifestation of imbalances that reduces our resistance against bacteria, viruses, and other pathogenic organisms that can cause uncomfortable symptoms.

Our bodies hold within them all they need to fight off virtually any pathogen, as long as we maintain proper balance with a nourishing diet, exercise, sleep, and a health-promoting attitude. When we do become ill, we can look to Western medicine to tamp down symptoms with drugs, but in order to truly heal we need to reclaim that balanced state that is our birthright.

The Eastern, holistic view of health and disease is more complicated than the Western view, and it requires more participation and understanding on the part of the patient; but if you are dealing with an illness that Western medicine cannot cure, you will likely find that the extra work is well worth it.

Disease as Communication Breakdown

At its most basic level, the body is a conglomeration of thousands of chemicals, circuits, enzymes, and proteins, all of which constantly strike a dynamic state of balance. That dynamic balance is orchestrated by a remarkable and complex communications system, comprised of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. This communications system is the link between the inner workings of the body and the external environment the foods we eat, the places we go, the substances we come into contact with. The activities of all of the millions of cells that comprise our bodies are, in the end, dictated by communications from the nervous system.

This concept is an easy one to understand if you have ever been married. In a marriage, open and abundant communications are a must. As soon as one partner starts to keep secrets, aspects of the relationship start to break down. Or, you can compare it to a government, with the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) as commander-in-chief. The President doesn't deal directly with the members of each city council in the nation, but his communications trickle down to their level through an intricate network of contacts. A loss of any one of those contacts will disrupt the whole system.

In the body, too, communication lapses which can be the result of structural issues typically dealt with through chiropractic, or due to organ dysfunction caused by poor diet, stress, or underlying disease lead to an ever-expanding series of miscommunications that prohibit the body from healing itself.

With natural medicine also known as integrative, holistic, or alternative we address this balance throughout the lifespan, helping to maintain it in a world that is usually anything but health-promoting. We nudge it this way or that with homeopathic remedies, dietary changes, or lifestyle changes. Because it is a dynamic balance, and because each person is different, every person's needs are unique and change throughout the lifespan. Western medicine generally fails to take this into account.

To get the most from the consultation process, begin to see your condition through the eyes of Eastern, holistic healing practices. Holistic practitioners categorize patients in a bit more detail than Western medicine's sick/not sick. The spectrum of health and disease is much broader than this. A person without apparent disease in the eyes of Western medicine may have low energy, dry skin, digestive problems, or other subtle symptoms that suggest either low-grade chronic condition or the beginnings of something more serious. In simple terms, here is a breakdown of the spectrum of disease. Try to figure out which category best fits your condition:

Simple disease/infection. Examples: common cold, strep throat, insect bite, food poisoning. This category of illness is easiest to understand and to treat. In many instances, a simple disease or infection resolves on its own, especially if the person's immune system is strong and all of his or her organs are working well. A person who is somewhat weaker might have more of a struggle when dealing with these simple infections, and may require temporary antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, or other pharmaceutical therapy. If this person's treatment is not entirely successful if vestiges of disease remain for more than a few days the condition may escalate to the next category.

Prolonged disease/infection. Examples: more complex, less readily diagnosable conditions, such as secondary infections like bronchitis or sinusitis, fungal infection, or environmental poisoning by chemicals or heavy metals. These conditions are not caught or contracted from others, but are cultivated within body systems in which communications are not clear, where diet and lifestyle choices fail to support the body's natural striving towards healthful balance. These conditions seem to hang on for prolonged periods, up to a month or a month and a half. They are not life-threatening, but they are bothersome and tough to beat.

Chronic disease/disorder. Examples: diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, psoriasis, asthma, allergies, Crohn's disease, or long-lasting, recurring viral, bacterial, or fungal infections. These kinds of conditions are hardest for the medical mainstream to treat, because they have a lot to do with diet, lifestyle, and thought patterns. They may take years to evolve and manifest themselves as symptoms. Some people are more genetically prone to these kinds of conditions. The drugs used to treat chronic disorders are more for symptom control than healing. They often are powerful agents that leave the ill person with major side effects. Alternative medicine is an ideal approach for chronic disorders because it addresses the whole person. It seeks to find the root causes and treats them with natural agents that promote balance and improved communications between the central nervous system and the rest of the body. Age-Related Diseases. Examples: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and other age-related memory loss, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis. These diseases are considered to be a natural part of the aging process, but this doesn't have to be the case. Our bodies change as we age in ways that lead to decreased nutrient absorption and assimilation. Alterations in hormone balance mean that what once kept us feeling fine is no longer adequate for self-care. Natural medicine, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications can make a big difference, pushing off these disease processes and extending your healthy, active lifespan.

Is A Consultation Right For You?

You are most likely to benefit from our service if you have a condition that is prolonged, chronic, or age-related. Simple conditions can also be treated and prevented through natural means, however, and if you tend to have them often, we may be able to help you make some changes that will better fortify your body against recurrent bouts of simple illness.

A consultation is designed to teach you about your condition and its foundation in the day-to-day functioning of your body. We will explain both the Western and Eastern points of view, and how each addresses control or cure. We take into account a great many factors as we try to develop a protocol especially for you, including:

All of these factors are important for proper diagnosis and for creating a treatment plan that re-establishes balance and harmony within the body.

If you go ahead with this consultation, you need to be prepared to:

  1. take pills (homeopathics, supplements, herbs) as directed, i.e. with or without food and at the right times of day;
  2. take the brand of pill specifically recommended (different products can vary enormously in quality and composition, and we can't vouch for the healing power of any but the ones we recommend) let go of the Western statistics on the prognosis of your condition (remember that all statistics and prognoses are referents of Western medicine only, and that integrative medicine does not have recording systems in place…in other words, if a million people were cured of cancer each year with alternative medicine, no one would know except through word of mouth)
  3. let go of popular myths around your condition, and accept information about its true causes rest!!!
  4. eliminate unnecessary stressors
  5. make appropriate dietary and other lifestyle changes

More than 60 percent of the patients we counsel do not comply with all of these directions. Then, they are frustrated that the treatment does not work. We're not here to take your money and run; we are here to help you heal. We can't do so without full participation on your part.

A Warning

This list might seem daunting to you. You may feel tempted to use whatever information you can get on the Internet or in books to pick and choose natural remedies on your own. There are two major problems with this approach:

  1. About 97 percent of the health information on the Internet is unreliable. Most of it is there to sell a product; a good deal of it is simply copied from other Web sites, with no information from actual research to support its veracity.

  2. Without a comprehensive understanding of how your body works and how natural therapies (supplements, herbs, homeopathics) work, and without the up-to-date research that we make it our business to stay on top of, you are likely to create a program that, in the end, promotes imbalance and causes further problems. For example: if you take high doses of folic acid a vitamin that is vital for good health you actually block the absorption of vitamin B12. These two nutrients are meant to be in a specific balance, and if you disrupt that balance with 400 or 800 micrograms of folic acid a day, it is possible that you will end up with a clinical B12 deficiency. This can manifest itself as nerve damage, muscle weakening, depression, absentmindedness, failing memory (levels of this vitamin are often low in Alzheimer's patients), fatigue, or anemia. Recent research showing that high doses of vitamin E or C may be harmful confirms this; antioxidant nutrients like these can actually become pro-oxidants if they are taken individually in high doses rather than in a complementary way. We have found that supplement plans need to be altered periodically to ensure that no imbalances are created.

What To Expect In Your Consultation Process

Integrated medicine can approach treating your condition in one of three ways. When you begin your consultation, we will need to know which of these paths you wish to take.

Consider the following as you examine your options:

In most consultations, we also discuss: