Transitional Care is dedicated to women who want to minimize the effects on the body as they transition in age. As women transition from 30's onward various signs begin to show that need special attention, such as: blood sugar control, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, weight, skin health and energy levels. These signs, in time, will lead to long-term health consequences, which if left untreated become serious. At this time most women turn to conventional medicine whose response typically is to medicate. Over time this results in many women becoming dependent on 2, 3 or more simultaneous medications, which not only cause difficult and crippling side-effects, but also may be impossible to wean off without significant risk. Lacking options and the proper information to make intelligent choices, women are increasingly finding themselves caught in a spider-web of taking a myriad of medications, sometimes for life, often with harmful consequences. Our clinic offers many non-pharmaceutical options for transitional aging that are effective; completely integrated; have no side-effects; can be dropped without risk; are significantly less expensive, with no harmful interaction with other substances such as alcohol.
You may have older friends or parents who are on numerous and various medications. There are often unpleasant side-effects, and in many cases one medication leads to another to deal with these side-effects. This is a difficult spiral to break and much easier to prevent in the first place. Are you presently on medication? Many women in there 30's are on birth control pills, antidepressants, thyroid medication, migraine medication or antacids. Before this becomes a lifetime of pharmaceutical dependence, please come in to discuss alternatives and preventative measures for maintaining your good health.
- Weight gain
- Depression
- Rising cholesterol levels not often flagged in standard lab tests
- Blood pressure levels that are high or less stable
- Aging skin - wrinkles, dry skin, acne, age spots
- Frequent indigestion and/or heartburn
- Thyroid imbalance - fatigue, weight gain, constipation, hair loss, frequent infections
- Joint pains
- Increased and/or regular headaches/migraines
- Poor sleep - interrupted sleep, insomnia
- Worsening menstrual symptoms (PMS, pain, heavy bleeding)
- Blood sugar imbalance - hypoglycemia or high insulin levels
- Frequent fatigue - easily tired
- Reduced sex drive
- Hair loss
Below are typical consequences that are associated with transitional aging; all of which can be effectively managed within the transitional care program.
- Pre-diabetes, insulin resistance or outright diabetes
- Hypothyroidism
- Arthritis
- Acid reflux
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Hormone imbalance
The following are diseases/conditions that may result from not heading the early warning signs of poor health as listed above. In many cases these are completely preventable with early intervention.
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Chronic arthritis
- Difficult menopause
- Hormonal cancers (breast, uterine, ovarian)
- Life long dependence on medication to manage the above conditions
Through the transitional care program early detection followed by treatment greatly minimizes and/or eliminates secondary conditions.
- The first step is being proactive, and paying attention to test values like cholesterol, blood sugar, vitamin D levels, thyroid hormones, to name a few. By monitoring every 1-2 years, if there is a trend it can be treated promptly. Our conventional system only flags these values when they have reached a point of crisis requiring immediate intervention.
- The other important part is to pay attention to warning signs that may arise early on - fatigue, changes in hormones, skin health, worsening digestion, and addressing them right away.
- Also, testing that is not conventionally available may be recommended for adrenal health, hormone imbalance and food sensitivities may be recommended in order to maintain optimal health.
- For specifics like high cholesterol or arthritis, a naturopathic treatment plan would be recommended to reverse the condition rather than palliate. To take cholesterol as an example: there are two options - one is to take dietary and lifestyle steps to lower it, and the second is to use a life-long medication and ignore the factors that caused high cholesterol in the first place.
The shortcomings of the conventional medical model as a patient, is that you are rarely aware of an approaching disease state because an MD will not flag test results as abnormal until they cross a certain threshold, usually requiring medication. The problem with this approach is that by the time the condition reaches the determined threshold, preventative methods may no longer be effective. In other words, the medical model does not acknowledge the increasing shades of gray leading to an acute condition but only diagnoses you only once you've breached their established threshold.
The Transitional Care Program as offered in our clinic differs greatly from the medical model in that it emphasizes early detection by applying a more strict 'optimal range' when looking at laboratory results, as well as watching for trends over time before the situation becomes acute, while also looking at family history.
Case in point 1: A woman (lets call her Laura) goes to her doctor for her annual physical. The doctor orders a typical laboratory test for cholesterol levels. If her doctor had looked back at the past 3 years of testing, he/ she may have noted that the total cholesterol has been climbing steadily each year. In this case, her MD would not flag the test as abnormal if the results came in under their prescribed threshold. Laura would be told that the tests look normal, and will walk away thinking everything is fine and to continue on as she has. A year later she goes in for her annual check-up again, her doctor orders a series of blood tests but this time he/she determines her to have high cholesterol and recommends a daily dosage of cholesterol lowering medication (which has many potentially serious side-effects including harm to the liver). Under our Transitional Care Program this condition would have been easily detected, treated and reversed permanently with a simple treatment protocol.
Case in point 2: Another woman (lets call her Angela) goes to her doctor with symptoms of tiredness, weight gain and difficult menstrual periods. Standard blood test show that everything is within the so-called 'normal' range, so she is told simply to watch her diet and exercise. From our Transitional Care Program perspective, we would have noted that her thyroid hormones were not within an 'optimal' range, but had not yet crossed the threshold requiring daily medication. All of her symptoms point towards an under active thyroid. This is where our treatment protocol excels in that we can reverse the 'sub clinical' hypothyroid state, thereby preventing any future need for medication, and greatly improving the quality of life.
Case in point 3: A third woman (lets call her Julia) visits her medical doctor with a strong family history of diabetes, and recent symptoms of weight gain, tiredness after eating and strong sugar cravings. She is concerned about her blood sugar levels and about the potential of having diabetes. Blood tests are ordered and they show her fasting glucose to be well within the range of normal so she is told not to worry and simply to reduce her sugar intake. In our Transitional Care Program, the combination of a strong family history of diabetes, along with weight gain and high sugar intake would be a big red flag. The good news is that at this stage this condition is treatable and that diabetes can be prevented with a tailored treatment protocol supporting an optimal diet plan, exercise program, and possibly supplements to support the process. Many women feel that a familial tendency for disease is a life sentence. Our experience is that these tendencies indicate a strong direction for preventative medicine which is effective in the vast majority of cases.
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