Newsletter
|
|
|
People We Treat
Conditions We Treat
Treatment Methods
Preventive Medical Center of Marin
Meet Us
More About PMCM |
An Integrated Healthcare FacilityThe Preventive Medical Center of Marin, established in 1984, provides an advanced and unique blend of Modern Health Care. It is a learning center for both patients and providers to best create wellness and improved vitality for individuals and families. Our integrated approach brings together three keys:
The GOAL of Preventive Medical Center is to educate patients as well as to support them in making healthy changes through wiser choices. The Center strives to empower our patients by teaching them to listen to their bodies and to take more responsibility for their own health. Our Mission began more than two decades ago and is: To provide the best quality health care to as many people as possible. Be well! Book UpdatesDr. Elson Haas and his book team recently released the revised (21st Century) edition of his major tome, Staying Healthy with the Nutrition, which was originally published in 1992 and sold through 20 printings (now available as a soft cover edition at $39.95, and special hardcover at $80). Other new books include his popular work in the field of detoxification with the original edition of The Detox Diet being expanded and fully renewed book entitled in 2004, The NEW Detox Diet: The Complete Guide for Lifelong Vitality. Also, Dr. Haas’ classic book from 1981, Staying Healthy with the Seasons, has an updated 21st Century Edition produced in 2003.
Dr. Haas wishes to thank his long time book associate, Bethany Argisle of Argisle Enterprises, Inc. (www.elementemporium.com ) for her diligence, inspiration, and support, as well as the great team at Celestial Arts/Tenspeed Press in Berkeley, CA. You can read about and order any of these books through www.elsonhaas.com, www.thyroidpower.com and www.feelingfff.com.
Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled? Authored by an expert physician/nurse team, this book offers an innovative program to easily identify your particular hormone-related metabolic disorder, a five-day jump-start to quickly alleviate symptoms of weight gain, low energy, or frayed nerves, and also a long term plan to maintain your new-found health forever. All in all, this remarkable book provides a clear, comprehensive, and user-friendly road map to restore and rebalance disrupted hormones. TESTOSTERONE IMPORTANT TO WOMEN, TOO!by Judy Lane, NP Estrogen is not the only hormone that can effect how women feel. Testosterone can also play an important role in mood, energy, and muscle and bone strength. Testosterone is most widely known for its effects in the area of sexual health for both men and women. Testosterone production peaks in our twenties and decreases about ten percent per decade in both sexes. For many women this hormone can decline in the PeriMenopause much earlier than estrogen and can be a cause for declining libido as well.Another cause that is often overlooked is hysterectomy. A large percentage of women who have had a hysterectomy will have lower levels of testosterone, especially (but not only) if the ovaries have been removed along with the uterus. Resolving this imbalance may be a simple matter of restoring hormonal levels back into their normal range. Both sex drive (libido) and sexual function can be affected by lower testosterone levels. Did you know that up to 25% of women experience symptoms of a syndrome called “Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD)?” Women may experience being uninterested in sex, unable to get “turned on,” vaginal dryness, not feeling “excited,” or loss of sensation in the genitals or the nipples. The most common causes of the syndrome are hormonal loss as with menopause or as a medication effect with a class of antidepressant drugs known as SSRI’s (Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors, like Prozac and Zoloft). As many of these symptoms are complex, we cannot ignore the personal, social, energetic, or relationship issues that contribute to this situation. Sometimes, sex therapy is also helpful. Testing levels of testosterone is a simple matter of a morning blood or saliva collection. This can be ordered during your health visits to PMCM. Treatment usually involves some trial experimentation to find out what will work for you. If levels are low, natural bioidentical hormone supplementation may be tried. This treatment is done with individually compounded transdermal creams, sublingual tablets or drops, a skin patch, or oral capsules. Some women may want to try an herbal or nutritional approach, which can be quite effective. There have been a few studies using sildenifil (Viagra) for women who have experienced FSAD caused by SSRI drugs. Results of the 2003 trial at UCLA Medical Center showed better arousal, lubrication, sexual satisfaction, and orgasm. Specially compounded forms are available in sublingual or topical gels for the benefit of lower dosing and decreased side effects. If you are experiencing any of these sexual symptoms, please talk to your health care provider because you may be able to get help. What is NOW Medicine?It’s an integrated, wellness approach for both evaluating people and treating them, as well as looking at the way doctors go about practicing medicine.N-O-W stands for Natural, Oriental, and Western; it also stands for Nutrition, Optimal Health, and Wellness. NOW Medicine is about providing the best health care from what is currently available today. NOW Medicine is a practical approach about the healthcare system and how to make it work better for patients/ consumers and for doctors/practitioners. NOW Medicine has three parts: 1: The Politics and Economics of Healthcare, i.e. the big picture, and this includes the insurance system; 2: The Individual Medical Practice and how to make it more health based and less stressful for the doctors and staff while keeping the patients out of expensive crisis care; and 3: How to deal with common problems that need an Integrated Approach since Western Medicine alone does not address them successfully. These specific health conditions include Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Recurrent Infections, Hormonal and Energy Imbalances, and many early Chronic Diseases, such as Diabetes, Hypertension, and High Cholesterol. Prevention, of course, works best in all these areas. How do we motivate people toward health? How can medical practices focus on health care over disease care? It involves going beyond just treating at end results, which are the symptoms and illnesses that people experience. This requires focusing the practice beyond the cookbook approach of “Name the disease and give it a pill” to more personalized health care and patient participation. This takes listening and guiding patients with appropriate and practical steps. We can improve upon the health insurance system and patient outcomes by addressing the major issue of personal responsibility. We can no longer accept the approach of “uninformed and unaware patients turning over their power to doctors to manage their health” (or even their diseases). Since many Western physicians are trained to manage and treat disease, they often don’t have the time or experience to practice in a healthier way. Therefore, it is our own interest to become involved personally in our health care to help focus the testing and treatment more upon improving health. I have changed my approach to more “cooperative, health-based medical care” that both involves and educates my patients. The Preventive Medical Center of Marin is focused on this concept of involving you in your integrated health care. What do you do NOW to Stay Healthy? I stay well by eating well and exercising, stretching, and lowering my stresses, in part with a better attitude of staying in the flow of life. I take a variety of supplements, especially in regard to lowering my cardiovascular risk, and I have massage and acupuncture throughout the year, keeping me balanced and vital. Take care of yourselves. It’s worth it! Feeling Healthier with Balanced Hormonesby Richard and Karilee Shames For many years, I have focused on optimizing my patients’ thyroid functions. My evaluation includes a history and laboratory tests to determine whether the person is too high or too low in hormones, and then we correct the imbalances with natural substances or prescription medicine. However, after many years engaged in this type of work, it became apparent to me that some people with thyroid problems have other hormonal abnormalities that interfere with how well a thyroid correction will work in their body. Now I look at a variety of hormones, not just the thyroid. Other crucial energy hormones that interplay with thyroid function are adrenal hormones and reproductive (sex) hormones. Taken all together, these three hormone systems constitute a fundamental three-legged stool upon which rests the proper functioning of the body’s entire metabolic processes. If any one leg of this stool is too short (low function), the stool is no longer level and the metabolism that rests upon it does not function properly. This topic has become part of my current practice and also constitutes the subject of my latest book, FEELING FAT, FUZZY, OR FRAZZLED, released in 2005. This new work is an important companion to my earlier book, THYROID POWER. Observing the practice of medicine currently, I have noted that many of my colleagues practice on just one of these important hormone systems, or treatment based on a limited evaluation. For instance, a gynecologist works to measure and balance the reproductive hormones. An endocrinologist focuses typically on insulin for diabetes or on a limited thyroid evaluation. Many naturopaths concentrate mainly on adrenal hormone balance. None of these activities is sufficient in and of themselves. A better approach is to look at the hormonal systems in a more integrated and comprehensive way. This is the means by which a person may find an intervention and healthy hormone function of lasting value. What is Cranial Osteopathy?by Tom Reece, DO Cranial Osteopathy is a subspecialty of Osteopathic medicine. It is a gentle, hands on method of evaluating and improving the functioning of the body. It recognizes the alternating expansion and contraction of the bones that make up the cranium. This motion acts as a pump to move the cerebral spinal fluid down through the spinal column to the sacrum. The movement of the cerebral spinal fluid created by this action is transmitted thru the entire body, influencing all body functions. Cranial Osteopathy has the ability to treat problems related to the skull and brain as well as many situations arising from disease or trauma in the body. In infants, alterations of the skull’s natural configuration and movement can lead to disorders as colic, frequent spitting up or delayed development. In adults, problems of the low back and neck, headaches/migraines, breathing and digestive disorders, sinusitis, arthritis, joint pains, menstrual disorders, irregular heartbeat, tendonitis, sciatica, nervous disorders, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and learning difficulties may all be helped with Cranial Osteopathy. AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE: Cleansing Programs
“Every year I need to cleanse because I love to eat.” Dr. Haas’ Cleansing and Detox programs are extremely popular. Most everyone experiences benefits, and many have remarkable results. It clearly helps people make change more easily and see what works and doesn’t work in their diet and lifestyle. The group support seems to work magic at getting people through this challenging period of giving up their habits to substances and foods. Weights are reduced, high blood pressures and cholesterol levels come down, medications are discarded, and many symptoms are alleviated. People feel healthier and more energetic, inspired with the motivation to continue their more life-enhancing diet and vitalizing exercise programs.
|
