Women's Health

Our work as women is about taking care of ourselves, finding the balance we need to maintain health and prevent disease.

As young adult women, we emerge from adolescence discovering a career path, considering marriage and family, and then there is life with young children with the struggle to sustain an individual self or the single life in our society today with it’s freedoms and frustrations.

In early middle age we start to wonder more what we can do to support our health. What do we need to know and be prepared to face?

How do I age? What grace and gratitude can I develop in the face of loss which inevitably comes with age, whether it’s no longer being able to run because of degenerative arthritis, or wrinkled skin, or stress incontinence.

How can I remain the most balanced to support my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being?

The experience I offer

• A complete medical evaluation from the Eastern and Western perspectives.
• Consultations on complex problems.
• Osteoporosis: When do I need a bone density test? Are the tests reliable? What do my numbers mean? When do I need medication? What else can I do for bone health?
• Hormones!: Why is my PMS getting worse? What can I do to protect my health as I approach menopause. I am post-menopausal and tired…what can I do? What about hormone replacement? What are bio-identical hormones and are they right for me?
• My emotional health: Anxiety rules my life! Am I depressed? How do I learn to handle stress so it doesn’t lead to disease?
• What about my family history: breast, ovarian, colon cancer and heart attack and stroke. What are my risks?
• How does my spirituality affect my health?
• Is my eating affecting my health?
• What can I do to lead a long, happy, productive life?
• Time with your doctor!!!

 

Family Medicine

Family medicine is the only specialty that encompasses the general practice of medicine. Thirty years of practice has shown me the beauty of “knowing it all,” so to speak. By taking care of entire families I am given the gift of truly seeing the dynamics of each individual in their family structure.

This is where the depth of medicine comes in. Not only does the common cold spread through a family like wildfire, the struggles of a learning-challenged elementary school child affect everyone in the family and the loss of the beloved family dog bring tears. In this way, knowing all of this, I can help in a much more comprehensive way.

Preventive care and urgent care are critical to the health of your entire family. My practice provides comprehensive family medical care for every family member, ages 9 and up.

Urgent care

• Early morning and evening hours
• Same day appointments
• House calls

Routine care

• Routine immunizations
• Routine exams: sports, school and work physicals
• Health Maintenance

Chronic care

• Diagnosis of complex problems
• Nutritional support
• Obesity in children
• Insulin Resistance
• Athletic eating
• Disordered eating/Eating Disorders
• The balance of healthy aging

Adolescent Health

People ask me over and over why I enjoy working so much with adolescents. It is because “THEY LISTEN!”

As odd as that sounds, I feel as though when I take this opportunity to help solve a problem, educate and support whatever is going on with this particular teen, I have provided them with a place of safety, a place where they can return over and over again with their questions and problems.

We can look at the definition of “health” as a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease. You might ask, as an adolescent or as a parent of an adolescent, whether you need to see a doctor if you have had all of your shots, seem relatively happy and have no major illness.

Some sobering statistics

Adolescents represent the only demographic group in this country for whom significant morbidity, and in some areas, mortality rates have become worse during the past 30 years Some statistics:

1. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of adolescent death.
2. Infection with HIV is now the 6th leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds.
3. About one in ten 15-19 year old girls get pregnant each year.
4. 36% of high school students report smoking.
5. 13.9% report marijuana use on a regular basis.
6. 36.9% report binge drinking.
7. Adolescents are more likely to be sexually, physically and emotionally abused than any other age group of children.
8. 5-10 million adolescent girls struggle with an eating disorder
9. 9. 1 million boys struggle with an eating disorder
10. The number of people with an eating disorder and “disordered eating” is triple the number of people living with AIDS.
    

Adolescents need to see a health provider once a year

• To check their height and weight.
• To check their menstrual history.
• To check their sexual orientation and sexual activity.
• To screen for health risk behaviors.
• To inquire about their psycho-social well-being. Are they isolated, depressed, anxious?
• Do they know someone cares?

Other reasons to seek medical help

• Puberty: Am I developing normally?
• Menstrual concerns: Will I always have cramps? PMS?
• How can I live with this stress?
• I am flunking out of school: Do I have ADD/ADHD or a learning problem?

Medical Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a medical art that has been in existence for over 2,000 years. I completed Dr. Joseph Helm’s medical acupuncture course through Stanford because it is a valuable modality for balancing, restoring and addressing illness. I have observed through 30 years of experience that there are many issues that traditional, allopathic medicine can neither diagnose or treat. Acupuncture brings a depth and breadth to my practice.

We come into this world with a certain “Jing.” This is our original energy. This is what makes us unique. This energy is confronted with life, the many stressors on the human mind, body and spirit. As our defense mechanism works to keep us in balance, we develop symptoms and in some cases, significant disease. Acupuncture helps you redefine who you are and balances your original energy.

What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a form of therapy in which fine, sterile, single-use needles are inserted into specific points on the body. Moxabustion may be used along with an infrared heat lamp and electrical stimulation to increase the effectiveness of your treatment.

Medical acupuncture is acupuncture performed by a doctor (MD) trained and licensed in Western medicine who also has completed an intensive course in acupuncture.

What can medical acupuncture do?

• Support health
• Prevent illness
• Treat medical conditions
  

The World Health Organization recognizes the ability of acupuncture to treat common disorders including:

• Emotional and psychological: anxiety, depression, panic attacks, grief and loss, mood swings
• Gatrointestional: food allergies, chronic diarrhea, indigestion, irritable bowel symptoms, diverticulitis
• Gynecological: PMS, painful, irregular periods, fibroids, peri-menopause, menopause and inferitility
• Respiratory: emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, allergies
  Nervous system: migraines, tension headaches, neuropathic pain
• Musculoskeletal: acute injury, acute and chronic pain

In addition, regular acupuncture can provide:

• Deep, uninterrupted sleep
• Quieting of a busy mind
• Stress Reduction
• Balancing of mood swings
• Ease of irritability
• Diminished fatigue
• An enhanced sense of well-being and vitality

Recommended Reading

If you are interested in what acupuncture can do for you, I highly recommend Dr. Joseph Helm’s book, “Getting To Know You; A physician's explanation of how acupunture helps you be the best you.”

Nutrition & Eating Disorders

I have been taking care of patients with Eating Disorders for the last 19 years. The team approach I use, together with a therapist and nutritionist, helps patients find a road to physical and emotional recovery.

The most important thing to recognize is that while there are strict diagnostic categories for Eating Disorders, there is a huge range of non-specific disordered eating patterns which create similar medical risks.

Know that help is available. THE EARLIER YOU GET HELP, THE MORE APT YOU ARE TO FULLY RECOVER!!!

Acupuncture in the treatment of Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders can in one sense be described as the blockage of energy. Patients are "stuck" in a mind-set that becomes a disease state and are unable to move forward into healthy eating. By opening up energy channels with acupuncture, patients make great strides toward recovery.

Known risk factors for Eating Disorders

• Perfectionism
• Early Puberty
• Power Struggles
• Previous illness with weight loss
• Athletics
• Family history

I do medical assessments for degree of stability and the complications of Eating Disorders, and work with teams of professionals to establish treatment plans.

Questions often asked

• Do I have an Eating Disorder?
• Should I be hospitalized?
• Have I hurt myself already?
• What are my chances of recovering?

Eating Disorders in later life

In our culture, food is equated with love. In midlife we mourn the loss of the ideal body and youth.

To rise to this challenge, we must turn inward for spiritual growth and outward to friendships and, if the Eating Disorder becomes stronger, to health professionals for care.