It’s important that you keep these two forms of painful arthritis separate in your mind. Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered ‘non-inflammatory’ and basically a ‘wear-and-tear’ phenomenon that occurs with passage of time. There are inflammatory components as ‘anti-inflammatory medications’, like aspirin, or the NSAIDs (Motrin, Aleve, etc.) will relieve pain, but so will Tylenol, which is […]
Anti-Aging and optimization
Treatments / Anti-Aging and optimization
Anti-Aging and optimization
A wide variety of diagnostic tests and therapies are used to maximize healthy longevity. Many of the anti-aging approaches are part of standard health care.
We have a multitude of testing capabilities for not only environmental and food allergies but also food sensitivities. Once we pinpoint what your allergies or sensitivities are, we offer several options for treatment. Our providers can put together a healing path customized to your needs and follow up with you to be sure you are making progress.
A controversial medical subspecialty not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Medical Association, anti-aging medicine was literally invented in 1992 by two Chicago osteopaths (doctors of osteopathy, or DOs), Robert Goldman and Ronald Klatz. The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) lists current membership at 22,000 in 100 countries, 85% of whom are licensed MDs or DOs. Physician members use a wide variety of diagnostic tests and therapies to maximize healthy longevity. Many of the anti-aging approaches are part of standard health care: colonoscopies, mammograms, cholesterol measurement, hormone replacement. Others are less well accepted by conventional physicians. These may include detoxification, chelation therapy, growth hormone therapy, live cell therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and taking high doses of nutritional supplements.
- Nutrition counseling
- Infusion therapy (NAD, PC)
- Nutritional supplements
- Detoxification
- Acupuncture
Providers
David Edelberg, MD
Medical Director & Internal Medicine Physician
Dr. Edelberg, board certified in Internal Medicine in 1974, began incorporating alternative therapies into his practice during the 1980’s. Since founding the parent company of WholeHealth Chicago in 1993, he has become nationally recognized as one of the pioneers of integrative medicine, the new medical specialty combining conventional medicine with alternative therapies.
Caley Scott, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Caley Scott is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. Dr. Scott developed a passion for naturopathic medicine while working as a medical assistant at an integrative clinic in the Chicago suburbs after completing her bachelor’s degree. Seeing first-hand the incredible success of using nutrition and natural therapies with her patients helped shape her view on healthcare and compelled her to seek a unique route in medicine.
Parisa Samsami, DC, DABCI
Functional Medicine Physician
Dr. Parisa Samsami is a Chiropractic Physician specializing in Functional Medicine. She has great success in treating patients unable to find answers in the traditional medical paradigm. She places a strong emphasis on patient education and believes that diet and lifestyle play an important role in achieving optimal health and chronic disease prevention.
Wendy Ploegstra, APN
Integrative Nurse Practitioner
Board-certified in family practice in 2008 and certified as a Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner in 2018, Wendy A. Ploegstra has incorporated alternative therapies into her practice as far back as she can remember.
Health Tips
High on the wish list (probably highest, actually) of a new patient coming into WholeHealth Chicago for “wellness” is not just “longevity” but “longevity plus ‘brains/wit/wisdom’”, a la Betty White, Norman Lear, George Burns, actor Mike Nussbaum. So let’s talk “brain” and say you’re in one of these four situations: For everyone listed above, 1 […]
If you’ve got some spare time, you might want to read two or three articles summarizing the work of Claudia Goldin, the first woman to be a solo winner for the Nobel Prize in Economics. Most involves gender inequalities, especially in marriage and the workplace. The results of which I observe with painful regularity in […]
Sometime in her eighties, my Aunt Hildy, who passed on at 94 or so, handed me a book, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water”, by an Iranian physician with a totally unpronounceable name, Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D. She told me it had changed her life. Dr. B. attributed virtually all chronic illnesses, premature death, and susceptibility to infections to the state of chronic dehydration we had allowed ourselves to endure by our insufficient intake of water.
Because Dr. B. also felt that water had curative properties, his work was literally shredded by conventional physicians here in the U.S., where he was regarded as a “crank” and a “quack”. The Wikipedia entry is especially brutal since it’s written by Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch, which (if you bother to read it) seems to have a special loathing for Dr. B. because of his claims that good hydration promotes longevity.
And so the years pass. Dr. B. dies at 74, although his books (he wrote seven more) all remain in print, apparently being read by the well-hydrated, healthy, and generally ignored by the desiccated conventional physicians.
Taurine. Never heard of it, right? It’s an amino acid, one of the building blocks of protein, and helps digestive, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nervous system functions. However, we require more taurine than we can manufacture, so deficiencies are possible. Fortunately, plenty of taurine is found in protein foods: meat, poultry, dairy, seafood, and yes, vegans […]
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