SPOTLIGHT ON DOCTORS

Dr. Steve Ayre
Contemporary Medicine
322 Burr Ridge Pkwy
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
(630) 321-9010
http://www.contemporarymedicine.net/

Describe your Services: I specialize in Comprehensive Cancer Care, which is composed of three parts:

1. Something to treat the tumor - for this, I use a technique called Insulin Potentiation Therapy or IPT. IPT allows physicians to take advantage of the cell killing affects of chemotherapy drugs while avoiding the sometimes damaging side-effects of these drugs.

2. Nutritional Biochemistry - We have a nutritionist, Jim Golick, LDN, CCN who works with our patients on diet, supplementation, and detoxification.

3. Mind/Body Medicine - Relaxation Therapist Lilita Matison, MSW has extensive training with Mind/Body Medicine through her work with the Center for Mind/Body Medicine in Washington D.C. Techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, journaling, and affirmations are all intended to facilitate your body's innate ability to heal.

What sets you apart from other doctors: I am personally invested in the care of my patients. My personal goal in my work is to extend the life of my patients and improve the quality of their lives.

Who is an ideal patient: Cancer patients with Stage 4 disease who are contemplating a treatment experience where they get to participate in constructing aspects of a Comprehensive Cancer Care program.

What needs to Change in medicine today: My feeling on that subject can best be summed up in a quote from John Ott, "No one has ever made a breakthrough by conducting clinical trials - breakthroughs are a result of close, clinical observation."
 
Closing thought:Integrative medicine is that which allows us to take advantage of standard medical therapy and other contributing modes of disease management. The glue that holds it all together is our indefinable faith and unfaltering commitment to something bigger than any one of us.

 

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Dr. Augusto N. Pareja, MD, FAAFP, ABHM
Pareja Medical Center
3232 W. 55th St.
Chicago, IL 60632
773.434.8026 (office)
773.434.8107 (fax)
www.parejamedical.com
 

Describe Your Services: The team at Pareja Medical Center and I specialize in integrated medicine. This is also known as Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM). It is the wedding of traditional, homeopathic and Chinese medicinal modalities of treatment. It is highly specialized in that one needs to know when to use what modality. So, all of our services are integrated. Our services include weight loss, minor surgery, complete lab and diagnostic testing, genomic (DNA) testing, pain management (detoxification, depression, massage therapy, acupuncture, lymphatic drainage), laser hair removal and laser skin rejuvenation and other treatments.

What sets you apart from other Doctors? I've been told by my patients that they have never had a physician spend as much time with them before. I have also been known to be a doctor whose caring influence cuts across socio-economic barriers. At Pareja Medical Center you can get a glimpse of the face of Chicago. It seems that when you look out into our patient reception area, people are content to be in a medical facility that cares. That demographic of people seems to be comfortable together under the care of the same physician. It's really neat to see. Also, I tend to think outside the box of convention, yet I have the credentials.

What is an ideal patient? "Ideal" seems a bit presumptuous. Patients are people, and they are people who hurt to one degree or another. To say that there is a "model" patient - for me - impinges on my intense commitment to individual need and that hurting person's ability to rise to the level of ideal. It goes without saying, however, that most doctors desire compliance from their patients in the treatments that are given. Some people are undisciplined or belligerent and never see progress. Then there are those patients who do not comply with their medical provider because that provider's manner with and lack of care for them dissuades them from complying. There are really only two things I ask of people who entrust their care to me: a) have patience as the team at Pareja Medical Center gets to the root of your problem and b) be open-minded to our integrated approach to medicine. That is an ideal doctor-patient relationship.

What needs to change in medicine today? There are three things I would like to see changed in the healthcare industry.

First, I believe things need to be changed in academia. There are some great schools out there producing world-class physicians and researchers. When I was in medical school, there were a lot of things that were not taught to us. Since medicine is constantly evolving, I have to allow some latitude in my criticism. Nevertheless, I still think that the traditional methods and messages of the medical school professor need to be critically scrutinized and if necessary turned on their heads. Practically, this affects two areas: A) physicians need to be schooled as businessmen. I think this is happening more now in the medical schools than it did in the past. B) These changes might affect the way and the time we spend educating our patients.

Second, the way we approach diagnosis and healing need a systemic transformation. Modern or conventional medicine has to contend with assertions and results of homeopathy and other natural modalities. There is a growing number of consumers that are becoming polarized as to the schools of thought that exist. Many who have become distrusting of the establishment swing to natural doctors or healers that are no doctors at all. Conversely, many have become entrenched and loyal to the traditional system of medicine because they are skeptical of "natural" doctors or pass them off as "loony". These reactions seem typical of human nature. Nevertheless, persistence in the current state of affairs will only mean more complicated insurance plans and premiums and bigger establishments which leads me to the third issue.

In my opinion, our government and the big companies need to relax their grip on health care. By mentioning this, I know I am opening up a can of worms. Health care in the United States is becoming more about an oligarchic heaping up of money than realizing the Hippocratic Oath for the common good. Enough said.

Closing thought: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

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Dr. Fred Schultz
2150 Manchester Rd..
Center for Healing & Health
email
Wheaton, IL 60187
http://www.drfredschultz.com/
630 933 9722


Describe your services: I provide individualized care for every person I see. My goal is to get their life back. I do not follow any "cookbook" rules. I help people in a way that is appropriate for them. I work with each person as a partner and as a teacher. I will do whatever it takes to help people get well without doing them harm.

In order to get started diagnosing and treating their health problems, I order comprehensive blood work which I determine by the patient's clinical signs and symptoms. Based upon the results, I may then order further testing: blood testing for thyroid function, urine testing for hormone status, and/or urine and blood testing for a complete metabolic profile. I may order urine testing for bone resorption assessment, blood testing for food and environmental allergies, urine testing for toxic element status, and/or stool testing for digestive and absorption evaluation.

After analyzing the results, I provide a detailed analysis of the person's individual biochemistry. I work with the patient to make specific, tailored dietary changes. I prescribe pharmaceutical-grade vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and amino acids to stimulate the body's healing process. I utilize intravenous (IV) therapies, oxygen and nebulizer treatments, as well as light, electro-stim, and ultrasound. The IV's I use are not the "Meyer's Cocktail", but rather an individualized, custom-made treatment for each person, using exclusively preservative-free nutrients.

What sets you apart from other doctors?:  I have the ability to synthesize large amounts of complex data related to a person's health and well-being, and then distill it into practical terms to aid in a person's recovery to health. I routinely care for people with extremely complex medical issues and I have a high degree of success. Most of the people I see have already had extensive workups and treatments by many specialists before seeking my help.

I also have a very broad range of knowledge and experience. My background is in chemistry. My medical background extends over 28 years. I practiced in the conventional world of medicine, including one of the busiest medical practices in Naperville, for over 17 years. Then in 1997 I opened the Center for Health and Healing, where I practice integrative medicine.

I am also a musician and a professional artist. My intuitive side is well developed. I have a unique ability to listen and hear people, and to utilize both sides of my brain for healing people. I believe I have been given the gift of healing.

Who is an ideal patient?:  An ideal patient is one who is willing to take responsibility for his or her own health. Many people who first seek me out already are there; they just need my guidance and expertise. An ideal patient has an open mind, willing to try natural approaches and willing to trust the process to unfold.

What needs to change in medicine today?:  Medicine is changing now, thanks to the groundswell of people questioning the conventional paradigm and because of the profound amount of information via the internet, etc. This information was once only available to doctors. Being an informed patient is a great help in regaining or maintaining good health.

The way I practice medicine is the way medicine will be practiced in the future: an intelligent integration of what is best for each individual. It may involve conventional, as well as natural approaches to healing. The structure of medicine needs to change so that insurance carriers embrace this change. They will realize they will become even more profitable by endorsing the concept of wellness.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has helped people in many ways, unfortunately, has also harmed many people through adverse drug effects and interactions. Healing imbalances in body systems and finding and treating and/or curing illness should be the goal, not merely treating symptoms. If I could have one wish for the industry, it would be to align itself with the healing-wellness paradigm.

Closing though:  I really appreciate the opportunity to relate a few thoughts to your readership. I love the entire compounding pharmacy concept. My patients and I depend upon it. The Compounder is an exceptional pharmacy. Finally, I would like to add that I truly love what I do. I love helping people.

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Describe your service: I practice what some would call "interventional natural medicine". This means I treat really sick people and use tools with enough power to get the job done. Whether it's a patient after his first heart attack or stroke, a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, or MS, or chronic pain conditions, I believe (because I have seen it happen again and again) that I can help  people regain their health. A few herbs, acupuncture, and a vegetarian diet are NOT going to get the job done in a lt of cases. Mine is NOT the watered down kind of integrative medicine that you will find being tolerated and promoted  at local hospitals and "wellness" centers. I need therapies that work, and I am not afraid to try new things as long as they are safe. So that's why I use injection therapies of various sorts (EDTA, glutathione, phosphatidylcholine, magnesium, DMPS etc), as well as oral supplements, and prolotherapy (which helps the body heal itself, but may be considered interventional because of the injections involved).

But I am also personally and professionally very interested in age management medicine. There are now some awesome tools which, when coupled with knowledge I have gained over the years, makes me confident that I can help people live younger and better longer.  I am also the only area physician (with his Boards in Psychiatry) who has an interest and expertise in treating neurotransmitter related disease with nutrition, orthomolecular medicine, and balanced and targeted amino acid therapy. This is especially important for patients with psychiatric complaints like depression, OCD, ADHD, and anxiety, as well as those with Migraine headaches, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Parkinson's disease, or obesity. Amino acids can safely turn off the appetite, thus permitting sustained weight loss using low calorie regimens. Because I am an integrative physician who still believes in scientific diagnosis, and utilizes the best that traditional medicine has to offer, many patients have found that their so called "psychiatric" or :hypochondriac" problems actually turned out to be physiological. Just because the local GP or specialist can't diagnose it doesn't mean the problem isn't real and very treatble. By patient files are full of stories where patients saw multiple specialists, were not properly diagnosed, and then who were subsequently completely and permanently relieved of their distress because I helped them find the real cause.

I'm also very proud to be able to bring prolotherapy and neural services to the western suburbs. Prolotherapy is an awesome treatment for chronic pain, including back and sacroiliac, knee, shoulder, foot, and elbow pain. The results are very gratifying and permanent, and occur because the body has actually healed the weakened area.

What sets you apart from other doctors?  I have been practicing natural medicine exclusively since 1980, decades of front line training has helped me learn how to solve some of the toughest health problems out there. So my experience is the first thing. I believe I was one of the first physicians in Illinois to turn to an alternative medicine practice. Secondly, the rapport and loyalty I achieve with patients is outstanding. My secret is simple: I listen and I care. Third, I feel that I am long past the point of feeling the need to "sell" anything. I give patients the straight story, give them all the facts, and answer all their questions. I don't push any un-needed potions, procedures, or tests. I just help them get well. Finally, my patients have my cell phone number and can call me directly. No one abuses this privilege. I am a real person to them. I do not hide behind the title of doctor, or behind the white coat, or behind the chart and the lab tests. I interact closely with people, and together we usually get the job done.

Who is an ideal patient? That's easy. The ideal patient in a nutshell is the one who has experienced the revelation and now understands that to a great degree their future health is in their own hands. This requires someone with a proactive attitude, plenty of motivation, commitment, and hope. It also requires someone who does not take another doctors word for their outlook or prognosis. They read, they research, they ask questions. They participate in the health care decision making process. And most of all, they are willing to think outside the box.

What needs to change in medicine today?  The major problems with modern medicine are that it is disease rather than health oriented, it relies on LATE high tech and invasive interventions and pharmaceuticals and ignores the modifiable risk factors and known causes that can improve outcomes or prevent later problems. Generally physicians show no interest whatsoever in getting to the root of health problems. They only want to cut or burn it out, replace it, or suppress it with drugs. The physicians who most clearly represent modern medicine today are on the whole a closed minded group who for whatever and various reasons refuse to consider other approaches than those they learned in medical school, and those which their esteemed colleagues in the "club" use. I think the lack of intellectual honesty and curiosity which produces "learned" physicians who not only don't know, but are dead set on NOT knowing about other safer and less expensive ways of helping patients is one of the greatest impediments to progress. We need a system that pays for health education, early intervention and preventive services, and for less expensive yet equally (or more) effective natural treatments. We need to break through the deadly stranglehold imposed on us by the pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and protected by the FDA. The way they tell it in the media, we should all be excited when a new drug comes out. I never am. Except for an occasional infection responding to an antibiotic, there are virtually no drugs that cure anything!

Closing thought:  Remember that it has always been true that for every progressive spirit, there are hundreds of mediocre minds set on maintaining the status quo. I urge people to think for themselves, and to look beyond what the traditional medical system has to offer. Those who insist on getting only treatments that their insurance will pay for will inevitably fail to get the very best of care and advice, and will subject themselves to various unnecessary risks as well.

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Dr. Martin Plotkin
Wellness Concepts, LLC
1121 Thoroughbred Circle
St, Charles, IL 60174-5840
Phone: 630-587-4338
FAX 630-587-4341
email

Describe your services. M.D. based Medical Practice: Our initial patient meeting is a thorough 3-hour hands-on history, physical examination, review of systems, and past care experiences. With care direction ascertained, tangible care can be drawn from an extensive knowledge base and background of 43 years of Medical Practice utilizing my background as/in:  

• American Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon, teaching faculty at two leading U.S. medical schools for nearly 3 decades,
• Homeopathics certified by the Board of Homeopathic Examiners of the State of Arizona by examination and lecturer in Homeopathic Practice,
• Homeopathic Injection Biotherapeutics using FDA approved homeopathic medications for a wide variety of conditions
• Fellowship Training in Functional Medicine (assessing, preventing and treating complex chronic disease),
• University of Wisconsin initially trained in Prolotherapy (injection treatment modality that strengthens weakened connective tissue and alleviates musculoskeletal pain),
• Fellowship Training in Bio-Identical Hormones testing and prescribing as needed,
• Certified Training in Nutrition as part of a therapeutic lifestyle.

 To the very best of our ability our guidelines are:

• Do no harm,
• Not only listening but hearing what our patients, we do desire to serve, have to say,
• Search out the underlying cause,
• Meet the patient where they are at,
• Mutual trust and respect,
• Genuine concern,
• Education,
• Eventual self-care where ever possible,
• Preservation of function for the best quality of life.

 What sets you apart from other Doctors? :over four decades of experience, training, certification in areas of Medical Practice that is truly multi-dimensional and highly unlikely matched in background and training by other Medical Doctors.

 Who is an ideal patient?:  The patient that would best benefit from our Practice of Medicine:

• Understands that the human being, a symphony of interactive processes, has a largely unlimited capacity to heal her/him-self if properly and constructively directed with natural means that takes the whole individual into account.
• That patient chooses to participate, is open to share observations, questions, and suggestions, learn, and be compliant with the treatment process based on their desire, understanding and open communication. 

What needs to change in medicine today? :The Practice of Medicine needs to return to being patient centered.

Today’s healthcare has taken to ever evolving technology, designer drugs, devices and claims that cause major confusion to the public, amplified by advertising and internet sleight-of-hand sales. Assured true separation of the financial beneficiaries of healthcare: insurance, hospitals, drug, device and supplement manufacturers from professional activities, such as research, teaching in the medical schools and post-graduate training is good jump start area. Currently well over 50% of all medical instructional meetings to M.D.s and D.O.s are funded by these industries with the slant of benefiting their future profits. The public's health would gain greatly if these same healthcare industry financial beneficiaries were actually and completely separated from influencing the FDA.  

Closing thought: Our Practice has taught us great humility and appreciation of what we as humans can do for ourselves to gain the well-being we are intended to have with the aid of the knowledge of Medical Physiology and a broad-based understanding of what is the Pathologic Basis of Disease.

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Dr. Tom Drost, MD/ND & Dr. Lisa Drost, ND
Oaktree Wellness Center
200 E. Willow Ave. Suite 204 • Wheaton, IL • 60187
Phone: • 630-871-8100 | Fax: • 630-871-8118
http://www.oaktreewellness.com/

Describe Your Services: We are a husband and wife physician team utilizing our uniquely combined educational and diagnostic experiences to provide a full spectrum of health care for the entire family. We provide initial, continuing and comprehensive care by evaluating patients’ total health needs, and support them based on their personal requirements. We practice and emphasize the importance of both disease prevention and health promotion to our patients. We provide nutritional counseling as well as offer specialized IV nutrient and chelation therapies to our patients depending on their needs. The advice we give our patients is based on the awareness that each person is unique and has different requirements.

What Sets Your Apart From Other Doctors? A few things come to mind. First, we follow what is called the “Therapeutic Order”, the natural hierarchy of intervention. We are very experienced in knowing which level in the order to start with. While we typically start at Level 1, we sometimes work with multiple levels simultaneously, depending on the patient’s health situation. We start with the intention of finding the cause first. Following the therapeutic order, we then look at what needs to be eliminated, stimulated, enhanced, or balanced. We may look at structural integrity, and address pathology using either natural supplementation first, if possible, followed by a drug if necessary. As a last resort, if necessary, we may suggest surgery if it’s in the best need of the patient. We always strive to do what’s least invasive first. Every patient is different, and while a natural supplement may be the best support for one person, an appropriate antibiotic is the best choice for another. We believe treatment should be based on the “whole” person, not just a segment of them.

Secondly, we are very passionate when it comes to environmental medicine and treating conditions of dis-ease that are directly caused by the toxins we face on a daily basis. We have undergone specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses due to toxic exposure. We have trained extensively with experts in this field and are experienced in the various methods of detecting harmful substances in the body. We integrate detoxification methods to help cleanse the body of toxic chemicals.

Thirdly, we are strong on education and fill a missing need for educating our patients on nutrition and detoxification. We stay informed and current for ourselves as well as our patients. We treat our patients the way we want to be treated, which keeps us grounded in a healthy patient/physician relationship. This helps us to intuit our patients to better understand the pace to move forward with them. Some patients need a slower approach with more hand holding than others do.

Who Is An Ideal Patient?  Someone who wants to be here! Seriously though, we have found that the patients that have the best health outcomes truly want to be here and learn how to heal and nurture themselves back to health. On the other hand, when a family member or friend drags someone in because they believe they’ll do well here it can have a very different outcome for the patient. We support the belief system of each patient when it comes to health care. However, when someone truly doesn’t believe in the way we practice, they tend not to take the ownership to do what they can to heal themselves with our support. They tend to want a quick fix, not realizing that sometimes it can take awhile to undo what has already been done. We don’t want power over the patient - we want to empower our patients to heal. The patient who is invested in his or her own health has a much better outcome. We like patients who participate in their health, share information with us, and are motivated to heal.

What Needs to Change in Medicine Today?  First and foremost, we have to realize our current healthcare system is a failure. We must move from our current mode of crisis management and get back to the practice of preventing situations of disease before they ever manifest in the body. In many cases now this requires us to move the condition back out of the body to get back to the place of health, but hopefully, with the paradigm shift driven largely by the consumer in this country, one day we will get back to the business of preventive medicine. In this country we are armed with the knowledge of how people get cancer and other diseases in the first place - we spend more money on the reasons “why” rather than on how to prevent them in the first place. Unfortunately, the funding of research studies and “cures” also supports the current model.

The vision we live by at Oaktree Wellness supports the very possibility that generations down the line could have no cancer or other debilitating conditions. Getting back to the business and basics of prevention will get us there. We know the cure for cancer - to never get it in the first place. The human body has an innate intelligence, the ability to heal when given the chance to get it back into balance. As long as we continue to rely on surgical and diagnostic techniques, drugs and heavy force to battle against what the body is designed to do, we will lose. We feel that by teaching our patients one at a time we contribute to the big picture of getting back to the place of preventive medicine. We choose to not be at battle with the human body but rather nurture and support it to heal itself.
 
Closing Thought: We are in a very good position to help others heal. We enjoy educating people in every way possible. We have a passion for healing, are blessed to be able teach and do what we love, and we look forward to helping as many people as we can.

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