After thirteen years of practice and working with thousands of patients I have observed many patterns that undermine health. Of course there are all the classic issues that most people struggle with related to lifestyle; like eating too much sugar, not exercising enough, high levels of stress and reduced sleep. However, none of these are the primary mistake I see people make most often.
The most common mistake people continually make when it comes to their health, is foregoing regular office visits to proactively maintain their health. Sound unbelievable? Let me explain.
As our bodies age, we face many challenges related to staying healthy. Cardiovascular risk, cancer risk, diabetes risk, deteriorating joints and muscles and cognitive declines take a major toll on our quality of life as we get older. However, rigorous scientific research has shown that the risk of developing these conditions can be dramatically reduced with the proper preventative care. Optimal nutrition, regular activity, addressing nutrient deficiencies with supplements, optimizing sleep and lowering body mass index are all proven ways to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and arthritis. However, each person has a unique predisposition to each one of these issues and it is an overwhelming task to navigate the appropriate lab testing, results interpretation, nutritional planning and exercise routine needed to address your individual risk factors. Modern medicine offers little when it comes to providing people with proactive measures to avoid chronic disease. The focus is primarily on addressing these disease states once they have already occurred, often with significant side effects resulting from prescription drugs and/or surgical intervention.
As a naturopathic doctor, focused on optimal health and wellness, this issue is of particular importance. In the traditional model of health care, patients typically only see their doctor when they are sick. However, the benefits of naturopathic medicine primarily come from exploring and implementing ways to support our body and our health through regular maintenance and prevention. This approach is what leads to the maximum expression of health, vitality and wellness. The paradigm of naturopathy offers an approach to health care the emphasizes regular maintenance and support to bring about and maintain health, similar to the required maintenance necessary to ensure the proper function and reliability of an automobile. Regular check ins related to the maintenance and progression of health often result in dramatic improvements in quality of life and the significant reduction of potential health problems.
My practice has developed advanced programs specifically focused on preventing the most common diseases people face as we age to ensure a proactive approach to reducing disease and maintaining the highest quality of life.
For example, most patients don’t realize that Green Healing Wellness offers advanced cardiovascular workups to assess heart disease risk with specialized blood testing through our partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Heart Lab. Did you know that the number one killer of all Americans is heart disease and that using a traditional test that measures just cholesterol is only about 50% accurate in predicting heart disease risk? This means that 50% of people with “good” cholesterol numbers will suffer a heart attack! It also means that 50% of people with “bad” cholesterol numbers will never have a cardiovascular problem yet are likely put on powerful drugs with serious potential side effects to lower cholesterol with no significant benefit and often significant drawbacks.
Because much of my time spent with existing patients is used to focus on a specific health concern, some of these preventive strategies for optimizing health are overlooked. With regular office check ins, even when you are feeling great, we create the time and opportunity to implement tools that will bring your health to a whole new level of vitality.
To encourage people to take a more preventative approach to health, I am offering a 20% discount on all follow up visits through the month of July for people who mention this email and have not been seen for more than three months. Additionally, if you know someone who might benefit from the preventative approach to health offered by naturopathic medicine, I am also offering 20% off of all new patient visits for people referred through this email.
It is time to take a proactive role in your health and refocus on achieving optimal wellness.
