A Golden Opportunity To Boost Your Quality Of Life

Dr. Heather Rooks, DC, Executive Director

PATH Integrative Health Center

Traditional Western medicine and its doctors are the finest in the world for dealing with acute care such as the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or short-duration illnesses in need of urgent care. For example, a traumatic car accident, appendicitis, or a broken leg. For such harrowing situations, I want traditional medicine in my corner!

But to stave off chronic problems or diseases, to better control or even reverse disease states and debilitation, and to train people in the art and science of wellness and self-healing, functional medicine is better suited for developing and maintaining a higher quality of life well into one’s senior years.

What is Functional Medicine? 

Functional medicine is personally tailored medicine, it is TRUE HEALTHCARE. It deals with primary prevention and underlying causes of chronic disease rather than simply removing or masking symptoms once they arise. Functional medicine emphasizes true healing, treatment of the person rather than a disease, and a partnership of joint responsibility between doctor and patient, with the patient carrying most of the load. It also embraces the most current science in diagnosing early abnormalities that eventually lead to chronic illness.

Functional medicine uses botanicals and other forms of nutritional supplementation rather than pharmaceutical agents that create high levels of stress damage. Under the influence of functional medicine, “old age” is not what it used to be, anti-aging is now a science, and optimized living is the “new normal” for people of every age. In light of the above points, I view functional medicine as a complement to traditional medicine and not an alternative. Systems of health protection should work together where possible. One approach cannot serve all of “heaven and earth.”

Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?

Chronic disease, as a rule, is slow to develop. Examples are diabetes, cardiovascular damage, hypertension, low thyroid, cancer, mental illness, autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, and back problems. Long-term predictions for such chronic diseases keep rising because the physical, emotional, and mental effects of stress are overwhelming us. This stress comes from poor diet, a toxic environment, drugs, accidents, nervous system impairments, emotional reactions to life, mental overload, lack of exercise, and insufficient sleep. Even falling in love is stressful (eustress)! Functional medicine works to keep you from becoming a high-risk disease candidate in the first place. The rule is simple: prevent disease states from developing now so there’s nothing to “treat” later. 

Who Qualifies for This Type of Proactive Approach?

Here’s the catch. People must qualify themselves to follow the prevention approaches of functional medicine and optimized living. Although a prevention or wellness lifestyle is highly rewarding, it is not for the timid. Such a lifestyle requires us to understand how the symptom management only misleads us and reduces our collective wellness. The problem is that most people have fallen victim to the harmful mental pattern of hoping rather than (pro)acting. They hope they will somehow fare better than others whom they know are suffering degraded lifestyles. Hope, however, doesn’t have a good track record for preventing chronic disease.  But hey, hope is easy!

So, what are some of the harmful mental patterns you may inadvertently hold? Here are a few examples. Do any fit you?

You’ll pop a pill as a quick fix for almost anything to improve your short-term quality of life.

You think your doctor’s job is to take charge of your health and “fix” you when symptoms arise.

Your physical activity has decreased with each passing year because you think you’re supposed to slow down as your calendar age rises.

You want your body to act and recover as it did in your teens and 20s. Hint: It can’t and won’t without ongoing lifestyle adjustments.

Please consider this: Most cancers incubate 10 years or more before they are finally detectible. An even longer incubation period applies to the metabolic abnormalities that lead to diabetes. What environmental stresses and biological imbalances occur during those incubation years to serve as such fertile ground for cancer and diabetes? It’s the job of functional medicine to answer such questions and provide tailored rebalancing programs for individuals before they find themselves needing drugs, surgery, or medical appliances.

As an overview, FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE takes a HOLISTIC approach. It pays attention to ALL aspects of health including PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL and MENTAL/EMOTIONAL stress and focuses in re-balancing the body to homeostasis, reducing toxic burden, correcting imbalances and restoring normal function.

What are you not getting from your HEALTH care that you need? Maybe we can help . . .

What PATIENTS ARE SAYING:

What PATIENTS ARE SAYING:

“I feel awesome! I’ve lost 15 pounds and I think I’m looking great. I am a 57-year-old man and I’m on zero prescriptions. I think she’s just awesome!” ~ Vincent C.

“Seeing Dr. Rooks was probably the best decision I’ve made. She’s so knowledgeable and tailored everything for me. My thyroid is functioning better and my head in clearing. I feel so much better and I would recommend her to anyone.”  ~ Debbie M.

“Within 4 months of following Dr. Heather’s protocol I was off all medications totally. My family physician that I’ve been with for over 40 years was astounded by the turnaround and my health. My A1C was in non-diabetic range, my cholesterol numbers were perfect, and I no longer had high blood pressure. It’s been a dramatic turn around.”  ~ Dan D.

Dr. Rooks is skilled and experienced at finding and addressing the root physiological, biochemical, hormonal and neurological imbalances causing the poor health status of people today. In the current health tragedy most people find themselves in, she has found an emphasis in Metabolic disorders like weight gain, pre diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, digestive disorders and Hypothyroidism, but she works with all kinds of conditions.

Dr. Heather Rooks, DC  

PATH Integrative Health Center

Suite 3, 98 Wilmington-West Chester Pike (Rt. 202)

Chadds Ford, PA 19317         

484-775-0550

Call today for a complimentary consultation

[email protected]
www.PathHealthCenter.com