Is this right for me?

If you’re here, you take your health very seriously and have likely run into the pitfalls of our current medical system. Either for yourself with chronic conditions or optimizing your own health. Perhaps you have watched loved ones struggle with Alzheimer’s or dementia, cancer, sudden cardiac events, or accelerated deterioration in what should have been golden years. The primary approach of trying to treat disease when it’s already underway, sometimes years in the process, is like swimming against a strong current; it’s difficult, exhausting, and doesn’t produce the desired results most of the time.

To be clear, for years I have practiced as a primary care physician and continue to do so. I deeply respect medicine in its many forms including pharmaceuticals and surgical interventions. My skills and passion for medicine lies with integrating diagnostic and treatment approaches for the best of what integrative medicine can offer. I have had the best success preventing and treating disease by understanding individual risk and empowering each individual in their health. It is for this reason I use pharmaceuticals, herbal medicine, biochemicals, vitamins, minerals, food, movement, breathing exercises and more as tools.

Examples of conditions we work to prevent, and treat, at the earliest sign include:

• Perimenopause

• Menopause

• Hypertension

• High cholesterol

• Arthritis and joint pain

• Erectile dysfunction

• Depression

I appreciate insurance, and I recognize its limitations in covering services that prevent illness. I have lost track of the number of times a continuous glucose monitor was denied for a patient with type 2 diabetes (let alone someone with prediabetes or high fasting insulin), because they were not yet far enough in the disease to require insulin for management. But what about understanding the impact food choices, exercise, stress, and sleep has on glucose? What about improving glucose control BEFORE you end up on insulin?

Here’s another example for you. The leading cause of death in the United States is cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke etc). We check basic cholesterol labs at an annual, take your blood pressure, and listen to your heart. What about plaque in your arteries? What about genetic risk for particles like apolipoprotein b or a? What about your VO2 max capacity, one of the greatest predictors of longevity? This is typically not covered until you have already had an event, if at all.

Last one. When perimenopausal and menopausal women come to discuss treatment including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we carefully consider options. Women commonly ask: should I take HRT to help with bone density? Me: insurance covers a DEXA scan (bone density) when you are 65 years old. Women: isn’t that after I go through menopause. Me: yes… unless we invest in our health earlier.

We could go on but the picture is clear. My mission is to help motivated individuals to understand their current health and feel empowered to take actionable steps towards their goals. Each evaluation includes customized labs and diagnostics as well as a customized treatment plan because you are unique. Retesting helps us understand if the interventions are effective. Outcomes are measured with data, and importantly, by the metrics you define as success in your life. 

-Emma Wilder, N.D.