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Our healthcare system is broken.
Many prescription medications when taken long-term, do not generate wellness. Yet that is how physicians are trained to practice.
Ten years ago, my mom passed from breast cancer. It was difficult for me to watch my mom’s health decline over the years from many physical ailments. I could see that the dozen or more prescription medications were not producing wellness.
When my dad’s health began to fail, our family was lucky enough to be able to help care for him. I witnessed my dad’s health decline firsthand. I also noticed with each physician visit he would have a new medication. Often the medications would cause additional ailments and consequently more medications and specialist visits. As Dad aged, the cycle became faster and more intense.
As an IU Medicine trained internal medicine physician, I was well-trained on how to treat common conditions with prescriptions. When I personally experienced high blood pressure, I started prescription medication as I was trained to do. When I developed side effects from the prescription medication, I decided I did not want to go down that path.
I did some research and found a study indicating oyster mushrooms can lower blood pressure. I tried them and my blood pressure normalized. I quit taking the prescription medication and felt better than I had in a long time.
That personal experience sparked a paradigm shift. I had worked for years in urgent care. I began researching natural options for my patients to treat common medical conditions. This grew into a dedicated private natural medicine practice.
At AccuDoc Care Natural Medicine, we spend more time with the patient than in the urgent care setting and can work with them on lifestyle and diet changes. Today, I’m accompanied by talented and caring Keith Tenhundfeld.
We refer to the primary care as natural medicine because it closely mimics naturopathic medicine to use natural remedies to help the body heal.
One of my hobbies is hiking and learning native medicinal plants. From heal-all to plantain to turkey-tail mushrooms, many natural remedies are all around us. Many ancient healing techniques such as Aruvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Native American Medicine, or American Folk Medicine are legitimate healing techniques which stand up to scientific investigation.
This is not to say our practice has given up on western medicine. Often, we need the science of pharmaceuticals to treat serious conditions. A prescription medication can be safe when taken for a short period of time to treat a serious condition. Our practice offers the best of both worlds with the option to utilize prescriptions when necessary combined with knowledge of natural options.
Helping patients by utilizing natural medicine has reinvigorated my passion for medicine. By bringing the natural word into the practice of medicine we can truly begin healing.
