Integrative Medicine

At Salutogenesis, we offer an integrative approach to health, crafting personalized strategies for every patient that takes into consideration their unique conditions and needs. We will focus on the factors that have supported you in your journey and have promoted your well-being rather than looking at the “diseased organs”.

Internal Medicine Consultation

Are you interested in a comprehensive assessment of your “inner health”?

Would you like your genome mapped and your risk factors reviewed so you can prevent any illness before it occurs?

Perhaps you are looking for a second opinion on a newly diagnosed condition?

Are you tired of all your “chronic conditions” and need someone to make sense of it all?

At Salutogenesis you can look forward to a relaxed, non hurried visit with the doctor. You are welcome to schedule as much time as you think you need to discuss your health. Your treatment plan will always be individualized to your unique situation. 

Palliative Care Medicine

Wether you have just been diagnosed with a serious life threatening illness or are living with chronic progressive illnesses like COPD, CHF or kidney failure, you are likely suffering with your life being consumed by managing your health.

When people get diagnosed with a serious life threatening illness or suffer from chronic disease they are at their most vulnerable. They are often left alone to traverse the complexity of their illness with confusing treatment choices while at the same time trying to manage their insurance and financial resources.

With my background in palliative care, I can help you navigate the complex health care system. I will meet with you and your family to review your medical problems in detail. Together we will create a treatment plan that is aligned with you goals, values and beliefs.

As part of the palliative care consult I will also address any unpleasant symptoms you may have as a result of your condition or as a result of the treatment thereof.

Palliative care seeks to restore your autonomy and dignity. We will focus on your quality of life as it is defined uniquely by you.

Advance Health Care Directive
If you haven’t already done so I can help you to create your Advance Health Directives as well as completing a POLST (Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment) for you.

A health care directive allows you to plan your medical treatment in advance should there ever come a time when you are unable to express your health care wishes. In medicine the “things” we can do to people are endless and often come at the cost of great suffering. I will review the various scenarios with you in detail so you can make decisions in advance and in a relaxed state rather than in a crisis. Memorializing your wishes is a powerful gift to your family and loved ones as it takes the burden of difficult decision making out of their hands. It also maintains your autonomy, allowing you to always stay in control regardless of what happens to you.

Pharmacological Assessment

Have you ever taken a medication that has not worked for you? 

Do you feel that the medications that are supposed to help you are making you sick? 

Your visit will include a comprehensive assessment and if desired a pharmacogenomic test that analyzes your DNA to determine how you may respond to medications and which medications and dosages may work best for you. 

The results of your testing will be reviewed and alternate medications or natural remedies recommended. Your wellness plans will focus on nutrition, natural remedies and other proven modalities such as acupuncture, therapeutic massage, meditation, reiki and yoga to maximize your body’s potential for self-healing.

Cardiovascular Health, including EKG

Cardiovascular health relates to the health of your heart and blood vessels. Illness and disease in these can lead to heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias and numerous other life threatening conditions.

At Salutogenesis we offer specialized blood tests and diagnostic imaging to better understand your cardiovascular health. With the results, we will co-create a care plan which will include diet, exercise, lifestyle recommendations, stress management, nutritional supplements and medications if needed. 

Autoimmune disorders

Many of the chronic illnesses suffered by people are related to stress and dysfunction of the immune system. These includes cardiovascular disorders, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dementia, fibromyalgia, celiac disease, arthritis to name just a few. Our immune system is designed to protect us yet due to various factors, for more and more people, it is so overwhelmed that it is unintentionally causing harm. When the body attacks itself and causes organ and tissue damage it is called autoimmunity. The process occurs over months and years with early symptoms including joint pains, weight gain, brain fog, gut imbalances, depression, mood disorders and fatigue which often go undiagnosed. By the time a diagnosis is made significant organ damage may already have occurred.  

Management of autoimmune disorders is thus a multi-faceted approach that addresses and seeks to rewind the chronic processes that led to it. Your customized care plan will start with a comprehensive assessment. You will be started on an anti inflammatory diet and slowly, step by step, with the addition of exercise, meditation and stress management, brought back into balance and well being. 

Cancer Care

Cancer lies dormant in all of us. Like diabetes, it is something that needs to be managed every day. Abnormal cells are being produced all the time. When these cells escape normal control mechanisms they loose the obligation to die, poison the surrounding tissues and requisition nearby blood vessels in order to proliferate and spread. 

Our immune system has amazing abilities to fight disease. Stress and poor nutrition however handicaps its potential.  The immune system can be restored by improved nutrition and the releasing of negative emotions. 

Comprehensive cancer care thus necessitates a multi faceted approach. In addition to attempting the destruction of cancer cells via traditional therapy we must also attempt to restore the immune control mechanisms to effect healing. At the same time the body needs to be cleansed and detoxified of harmful chemicals to allow restoration of normal function.

Your customized care plan will include a diet, herbs and supplements that will seek to reduce inflammation and detoxification.  Yoga and meditation classes will be encouraged to reduce stress, facilitate a parasympathetic state so as to bring your organism back into balance. 

Lifestyle Optimization

This wellness program assesses your unique risk factors for disease including cancer, cardiovascular illness and autoimmune disorders. If desired a DNA analysis will be ordered to further evaluate your risks. Human DNA is about 99.5% identical from person to person. However, there are small differences (variants) that make each person unique. These variants can be linked to certain health conditions and knowing about them through either your history or DNA testing can arm you with specific actionable information. 

Each patient is unique, and recommendations will be tailored to your individual health needs and goals. Your wellness plans will focus on nutrition, natural remedies and other proven modalities such as acupuncture, therapeutic massage, meditation, reiki and yoga to maximize your body’s potential for self-healing. Overall, we emphasize prevention and developing healthy behaviors and effective self-care skills you can use throughout your life to achieve and sustain your long-term health goals.

Weight management

Obesity or excessive body fat is a complex disorder and not just a cosmetic issue. It often occurs as part of the metabolic syndrome- a cluster of conditions including increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels which increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Stress and its resultant hormonal imbalances further aggravate the condition. 

Management of obesity is thus a multi faceted approach that addresses and seeks to rewind the chronic processes that led to it. Your customized care plan will include a comprehensive assessment and advice on diet, exercise and stress management to bring your organism back into balance. 

Women’s health

Women’s health needs are different across their lifespan. It’s important to take this into account when caring for women of different ages. Integrative medicine has unique benefits for staying healthy and promoting wellness. Your comprehensive women’s health consultation will offer a range of options such as herbs, supplements, nutrition, and mind-body methods and classes for managing your unique women’s health needs. 

Men’s health

Men undergo several changes throughout their lives and deal with issues such as obesity, prostate problems, andropause, infertility, erectile dysfunction and basic hormonal imbalances. 

Your comprehensive men’s health consultation will offer a range of options such as herbs, supplements, nutrition, and mind-body methods and classes for managing your unique men’s health needs. 

Chronic pain management

Chronic pain affects more people than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined and is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Living with pain causes intense suffering and significantly decreases quality of life and increases all cause mortality. 

Pain has many causes and is rarely caused just by a structural deficiency in the area of concern. Common causes include:

• Muscle weakness, stiffness or spasm
• Inflammation
• Chronic tension caused by stress or unresolved emotional trauma
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Food sensitivities
• Toxins

There are many effective treatments for chronic pain and it requires a multifaceted approach to addresses the pain and suffering and not just the prescription on a narcotic. 

Your customized care plan will start with a comprehensive assessment followed by recommendations for an anti inflammatory diet, nutrition, herbs, supplements, exercise, yoga, bodywork, meditation, reiki or acupuncture as indicated.

Classes: 

Yoga: In Sanskrit it literally means “union”. 

Yoga is a mind and body practice with a 5,000-year history in ancient Indian philosophy. Various styles of yoga combine breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures. 

Yin Yoga is designed to help you sit longer, and more comfortably, in meditation by stretching connective tissue around the joints (mainly the knees, pelvis, sacrum, and spine). A passive practice, Yin Yoga involves variations of seated and supine poses typically held for 3 to 5 minutes, accessing deeper layers of fascia.

Meditation

Meditation is a practice where an individual quietens their mind to achieve a state of calm. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity and most of the world religions and traditions have some form of this practice included as part of their devotional practice. There are various types of meditation practices. Common to all is the control of the breath. Among all the autonomous activity of our nervous system, the breath is the only one that can also be voluntarily controlled thus giving us a means to access our inner state, activating our parasympathetic system and positively affecting rest, restoration and healing.