A Cookie Cutter Approach To A Very Personal Problem
In a previous post, I briefly discussed a common problem with many Western Medicine doctors – evaluating your health from a surface level perspective, thus discounting all the intricacies and complexities of your unique life and physiology. Today, I would like to discuss some differences you can expect between a visit with me at my clinic and a visit to your doctor’s office.
You can typically get an appointment to see me within a week. You may even be able to meet with me a few times before you are even able to see your primary care provider, especially since their wait times have increased since the pandemic. During your visit to my clinic, we will explore what lifestyle factors may be contributing to your ailment and adjust these accordingly for optimal results. I will also evaluate any lab results and suggest further lab testing if necessary. I will use acupuncture to treat the root cause of the exhibiting symptoms. We may even use supplements and herbs that work synergistically together and are complementary to your treatment.
Meanwhile, once you are finally able to see your doctor, they may consider prescribing medication to treat your symptoms. Or, he or she will focus on adjusting your current prescription levels, maybe even increasing the dosage. Taking this route, you’ll find that without addressing underlying causes and adjusting the important lifestyle factors mentioned earlier, you may remain in a chronically ill state. While medication may temporarily relieve symptoms and normalize numbers on your lab results, your ailments may perpetuate and eventually get worse. This is a stalemate – there’s no progress to be made here, only maintenance of your current condition.
I have too many examples as you know, I’m so willing to share with you, so here is one more. Diabetes. How is it managed in your legacy medical practice? Let’s begin with they won’t diagnose it until it’s already too late. Here’s according to the CDC.
Diagnosing Pre-diabetes or Diabetes with A1C
| Normal | Below 5.7% |
|---|---|
| Prediabetes | 5.7% to 6.4% |
| Diabetes | 6.5% or above |
A1C test measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.
So if you developed your diabetes within 3 months, plus you happened to see a doctor at that time, they may spot your pre diabetes. Secondly, you can absolutely be pre-diabetic before your A1C levels are above 5.7. I have a term I use for this, condition pre-pre-diabetes. Here are some symptoms of pre-pre-diabetes. Tired and sleepy after meals. Crave sweets during the day. Must have sweets after meals. Eating sweets often doesn’t relieve the craving. Weight gain. Difficulty loosing weight. Increased thirst and appetite. Aversion to exercise. You don’t have to have all, all the time. I rate it on scale 0 to 3. More 2s and 3s you have the likelier the chance.
If you have any of these, we can confirm your diagnosis by checking your fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, A1C and insulin. Then depending on your levels, we develop a treatment plan and you may get referred to an endocrinologist for your peace of mind, but usually I don’t. We then work together to make bite size manageable lifestyle and diet changes, I outline everything you need to do for the next week or two and how much. You get your exercise prescription and appropriate supplements to support what I find during your visit. I follow up with you every week to make sure everything goes according to plan and adjust your prescriptions as needed. We track your nutrition, exercise, calories, sleep using a smart watch like AppleWatch or Fitbit and I make sure that we’re on targets on all those metrics. you loose weight, your blood pressure is coming down and you feel more energy. Feeling better motives your into doing even more and your results accelerate.
Contrast that with your legacy doctor’s office visit.
You may get a brochure on nutrition which is generally impractical and even counterproductive. Their advise is generally based on American Diabetic Association which ignores the fact that carbs convert into sugar and almost always recommend high carbohydrate diets such as vegetarian. You’re getting your A1C levels checked, complete metabolic panel, fasting glucose at best 2 times a year and adjust your medications. Your doctor may adjust your meds based on your current blood pressure, your cholesterol and other things and will write you a script for your next 6 months, ciao. Unlikely you’ll get a glucose monitor. Hopefully your doctor will tell you to loose weight and you act surprised as if you didn’t know, She then says do so exercise and you nod your head thinking who has time.
Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I truly believe you desire to feel better so that you can enjoy life. If we are seeking to improve, then keeping up with the status quo is simply not an option.
To Your Health,
Arthur Gazaryants, DOM
Arthur Gazaryants is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, a Naturopathic Practitioner and a Licensed Acupuncturist located in the Los Angeles region of Southern California. Dr. Gazaryants is licensed and has 22 years of experience in acupuncture and functional medicine. He uses a combination of various techniques such as Acupuncture, Electric Stim, Functional Medicine, Nutrition and Supplements, as well as Cupping, Myofascial Release and Active Release Technique to maximize the benefits and to achieve optimum results for his patients. He has busy private practices in Calabasas and Long Beach, treating pain of all sorts, including but not limited to neck, back, shoulder, hip, knee, elbows, wrist, head and many other various types of pain. He’s also successful in treating many complex and chronic conditions such as autoimmune disease, infertility, fibromyalgia, and different chronic degenerative conditions such as diabetes, heart, neurological, digestive diseases. He loves helping athletes and high performance individuals such as CEOs, portfolio and fund managers with their performance, brain function, energy and rehabilitation. Dr. Gazaryants cares deeply for his patients as well as the overall health of individuals and the community.
