MDs turn to alternatives in area holistic clinics
By Barbara Darling

Dissatisfied with conventional medical care, 42 percent of Americans tried a non-conventional treatment during 1997. According to The Landmark Report on Public Perceptions of Alternative Care, the most common treatments of that 42 percent were herbal therapy (17 percent), chiropractic (16 percent), massage therapy (14 percent) and vitamin therapy (13 percent). The study found that 74 percent of the Americans queried use alternative care along with traditional care.

Alternative medicine, once scoffed at by medical school educators and mainstream physicians, is now a burgeoning business predicted to generate $13 billion this year. Clearly, the days when it could be said alternative medicine “can’t get no respect” are over.

Metro area clinics run by M.D.s who embrace Eastern medicine reflect the increasing legitimatization of holistic medicine. Yet these doctors are careful to caution patients to be sure that they are receiving care from qualified practitioners. What is qualified varies, especially since Colorado is not among the 25 states that have regulations for practitioners. There is some trepidation that the tremendous dollar value of alternative medicine will entice poorly trained people to the field who want their piece of the proliferating pie.

At the East West Health Centers in Greenwood Village, a multi-disciplinary team approach based on integrative medicine is practiced, according to Managing Partner Troy Pickett. The clinic opened over a year ago and offers a balance between Eastern and Western therapies. The 15 practitioners include M.D.s, OB/GYNs, physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, Rolfers, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors and psychotherapists. Yoga and Tai Chi classes are also offered.

Pickett says that other metro-Denver clinics offer different models for complementary medical care, but he believes "we're somewhat pioneers in the effort because we were one of the first in the marketplace to blend Eastern and Western medicine. The prevalence of integrative medicine around the country is growing quite rapidly," he says. He credits consumers as the drivers "because they're becoming more and more affected by chronic diseases and are getting tired of some of the focus of traditional medicine, in that it's usually very high-tech, very expensive and the visits are short. A new visit to an alternative medicine practitioner lasts up to one-and-a-half hours. There's a difference in the relationships going on with those two types of health care."

At East West Health Centers practitioners see a high number of patients with chronic illnesses. Unfortunately, they are seeking alternative practitioners as a last resort, something Pickett would like to see change. People frustrated with ongoing migraines, back pain, allergies and the side effects of traditional medicines and treatments come to the clinic. Pickett describes the typical patients as proactive consumers who are very well educated with expendable income. They have read a lot and already know about alternative medicine. Most are 30 to 49 years old.

He views complementary therapies as cost-effective. Low back surgery, for example, costs $40,000 versus six visits to a chiropractor at $300. He adds, "Even if the less invasive therapies are not as effective in the long run and you still need surgery, the additional cost is very limited. If you do it the opposite way, you are still going to have huge costs in the beginning and less in the end."

As insurance companies respond to the public demand for coverage of alternative medical practices, more services will be available to consumers, says Pickett.

"The integration of conventional Western medical and non-conventional treatments is motivated not by the leadership of the medical community, but by the leadership of the ordinary citizen who has been looking for help," agrees Wm. Jai Gottlieb, M.D., medical director of Still Mountain Clinic. "When people saw those dollar signs it got everyone's attention. Now insurance companies, hospitals and alternative practitioners are all eager to take a piece of that $13 billion. That's a rather mercantile point of view."

Recently named the first staff acupuncturist at Boulder Community Hospital, Gottlieb says he was trained in a pathological model but has come to understand that a larger and more inclusive model is educational. He says, "The point is not to live as long as possible, but to live well."

A common theme among physicians employing holistic practices is the patient's responsibility for his or her own health. Gottlieb says that his approach is the beginning of a deep educational process that can only take a person so far, at which point the patient has to be self-regulating to be healthy.

Maurieke Deer Shyelle, M.D., who opened her Infinite Health clinic in January, claims she is the coach who gives the patient recommendations, which he or she can follow or ignore.

"My bottom line is that the patient's the king who determines every step of the process. I am the person who gives the advice," she says. "Each person can co-create perfect health."

She deals with the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of her patients, claiming three key reasons for ill health: the fear of abandonment, a lack of self-worth and unrealized dreams. A new patient's one-and-a-half hour initial exam will include discussion about the patient's dreams of perfect health. She asks, "If you had $1 billion, what loving work would you like to create?"

"There is nothing to fix about the individual," she says. "We have symptoms that are signposts on the way to looking deeper and to allow love and self-empowerment to come back."

Shyelle uses a number of tests to help determine the patient's condition. While many of those tests are traditional tools, some are deemed unconventional by her peers. Along with blood tests, she uses light microscopy to learn what nutritional supplements would be helpful for the patient. Iridology (iris readings) shows her the patient's particular constitution. A biological terrain analysis (BTA) helps determine what is going on with the internal organs and the aging that is occurring. "Rejuvenation is a big focus of my clinic," she says. "Every human being has the capacity and capability to reduce aging."

Shyelle believes that alternative medicine is growing exponentially because of its grassroots foundation. Even insurance companies will "jump on the bandwagon because the groundswell is going to be so great," she says.

The staff at Infinite Health includes Alexandria Noble, who specializes in etheric clearings to find the original cause of one's trauma; and Larry Welsh, who performs acupuncture. The clinic offers a plan much like a health club, in which patients can purchase memberships and partake of massages and classes.

Pierre Brunschwig and Bob Rountree opened the Helios Health Center five years ago. In addition to the two M.D.s, three nurse practitioners and a nutritionist are on the staff, as well as a doctor of Chinese medicine, Stephanie Kingsman. Their focus is family medicine and each has training in pediatrics.

Brunschwig's interest in Chinese medicine predates his medical school days. Intrigued by homeopathy, acupuncture and the use of herbs, minerals and vitamins, he says, "I've always been a little bit strange. I haven't been conventional ever." That doesn't mean, however, that he doesn't use conventional medical practices in conjunction with his holistic approach.

"If you have appendicitis, I don't send you to the acupuncturist. I send you to the surgeon," he says, adding that there are plenty of instances in which he practices purely Western medicine.

Both he and Rountree have an interest in teaching and sponsor a medical student at their office. They hold assistant faculty positions at the University of Colorado Medical School.

Brunschwig has received varying responses from his colleagues about his medical approach.

"I can't think of any hostile interactions at all. The worst is disinterested," he says. "A lot of physicians are curious. Some are very curious and some are actually supportive." Managed care providers are less enthusiastic.

"They are willing to pay you at their rapidly diminishing rates just like they pay other physicians at rapidly diminishing rates," he says. "No one has ever really said, 'You're practicing holistic medicine and we won't reimburse you.'"

Claiming that the managed care situation is "kind of a disaster that we're getting out of," Brunschwig says that practitioners at Helios spend the time they feel is necessary to get a grasp of the patient's problem and to help that patient.

"You can't really do that in a managed care situation unless you do it at half the price. We could spend half as much time with our patients, but which part of the visit do you cut—the interview or the exam?" he asks.

Because of the money at stake in alternative services, he predicts that large corporate interests will infiltrate the field by establishing franchised holistic medical clinics. As a result, the "quality of care will vary considerably. There are not many well trained practitioners out there" for the franchises to hire. He imagines a spectrum of quality from the "quick-and-dirty doc-in-the-box holistic medicine to very chi-chi, gotta-have-a-lot-of-money holistic medicine."

Ron Rosedale, M.D., of the Colorado Center for Metabolic Medicine, tries to optimize the body's molecular and cellular physiology when he treats patients. Mike Eads, M.D., and Mary Dan Eads, M.D., who work with him, specialize in patients who have problems with chronic diseases associated with aging. The doctors also see a lot of Type II diabetics. A certified clinical nutritionist is also on the staff. "I approach diseases from a molecular and cellular basis," says Rosedale. "I get down as deep as possible to find the cause in the cellular physiology, so I can appropriately deal with disease with far better results than conventional medical practice would be able to." Rosedale conducts in-depth testing, including blood, salivary, urine, insulin, heavy metals, hormone levels and electrolytes. He's looking for how everything works inside the cell.

"In traditional circles, the patient gets to see the doctor a few minutes, they run a few lab tests and write a prescription for a drug to treat the symptoms without finding the cause of the problem," he says. His patients' first appointment lasts about four hours, which includes a one-and-one-half hour visit with Rosedale and an hour with the nutritionist. He says that he often gets calls from M.D.s who want to know what they do at the center. "It's definitely an exploding field. It will be the way medicine is practiced 10 to 20 years from now," he says. He sees the difference between how he practices now versus the way he did eight years ago and claims now is more effective because "we really get to a much deeper cause than just treating surface symptoms."

At Colorado Health Professionals, Joseph Montante, M.D., is assisted by nurse/nutritionist Debbie Spence and psychologist Richard Ruster, Ph.D. Montante practices complementary medicine, and sees it as the true traditional medicine, since it goes back to the old style when doctors incorporated the whole lifestyle into the patient's health.

Montante utilizes a number of tools, including a physical exam, a history of the patient's diet, symptoms, medical history, stress factors and blood tests. He has developed a computerized nutrition analysis program called Nutrabalance that puts all the patient information into one logical, concise format. The result is a plan to increase the patient's nutritional health. This state-of-the-art nutritional tool is reimbursable by insurance, he says.

Managed care is not aiding the public because it forces people to "go to one setting with a group all of one persuasion. That's no way to expand thinking," he says. "Managed care is a bit counterproductive. I just hope it will respond to the ringing of the bell."

He adds, "Most M.D.s need to wake up and reach out and find more technologies and find healing on a broader base, rather than just treating disease symptoms after the fact." They need to get out there and explore more and read more. There's a lot of research. There's just not enough doctors reading it. "It has to evolve," he says. "The people are demanding it."