Understanding Integrative Medicine
A Q&A session with Kirti Kalidas, MD, ND  What are some of the ailments that conventional medicine ignores that you deal with daily?
For the adult population, I see chronic fatigue syndrome, Fibromyalgia, chronic Lyme, inflammatory gastrointestinal syndromes, like ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chrones disease. For children, I see a lot of children with autism, ADHD,ADD, etc. What thyroid issues are best treated with integrative medicine? Most doctors look at the TSH (a marker for the thyroid gland) levels but the tests don't often go with the symptoms. You could have weight gain, lack of energy and your labs could be in the normal range but you could have hypothyroidism. So I treat the symptoms not just the lab results. How would you treat thyroid issues? I would give them zinc to start off with because it is primary to converting the thyroid from T4 to T3 which is an active thyroid. Why is integrative medicine so expensive and not covered by insurance? The patients I see are multiple complex issues. If I would document in a patient chart that they have chronic fatigue syndrome, the average physician would see a patient 10 minutes or so, where as I see the patient for up to an hour to really understand what is going on with the patient. Insurance companies will not reimburse me for the time I spend with the patients. So I choose not be included in insurance plans. What is the web of dysfunction? The web of dysfunction or the health web is about how you deal with toxins in your environment. Our ability to deal with the toxic load is dependent on how well your liver is functioning, how well you are hydrated, your hormonal status and how well nutrients can be absorbed. Since we are a society that eats on the run, overly stressed and bombarded with electromagnetic waves daily, there are pesticides that we are exposed to daily through the air or the foods we eat. This can lead to cellular fatigue which means the cell can no longer regulate themselves. The liver is then affected and can no longer handle the stress. Your body starts to react to chemical, perfumes and you begin to get headaches or walking through a department store, you start to feel sick. These are all ways that your body shows you that it can't detox. On its own.. This starts to affect the hormones in your body. What is integrative medicine or Naturopathic medicine? These can be used interchangeably. The naturopathic, works with five modalities botanical medicine, life style, nutritional, homeopathy and manipulation. Only fifteen states lets a naturopath be primary care physicians. There are about three thousand naturopaths in the county. You are a rarity being an MD and a Naturopath. I spent two years in training after being a medical doctor to get the degree as the naturopath. Being an Integrative physician means using natural modalities with a typical MD approach. People come to me because of my naturopathy background and training. While being a medical doctor they know I will order the appropriate tests but will integrate the natural approach into all of their treatments. What is your philosophy of the Golden hour? The golden hour or the first hour that I spend with a patient, I keep very open and this is when I get a social history on the patient, during the first 10 minutes. This pretty much sets the pace for the rest of the exam. Then I will have them discuss there symptoms. We then dig deep down into their issues or symptoms. We also cover a lot about their life style choices. We look at their faith, their exercise routine, how much they drink, their caffeine intake, and their nutritional intake and what meds they are taking. A lot of time is spent on digestive health. We find out about their sleep patterns, are they fatigued? Does their energy fluctuate during the day? I focus a lot with women on their hormonal health. With men we talk about their libido I will also do a general evaluation on their skin, nails, look into their mouth and look at their teeth and their fillings a well as their tongue. While we are talking, I am also determining if they need further testing. Do you have a menu of services or a list of tests that patients can pick from? No, I rely on my assessment of the patients and then determine what is needed. I am looking at what tests can affect a patients functions and what can get to the root cause of the problem. Another test that is important is a spectra cell test which tells you what your vitamin status would be. What are some basic supplements that people can use to optimize their health? Take a daily vitamin that has adequate B vitamins then focus on taking a fatty acid supplements like fish oil. Zinc is also a crucial supplement. Many people have a zinc deficiency which can affect their liver and how they metabolize foods. Vitamin C is another crucial supplement as well as magnesium. Coenzyme Q10 is also an important supplement. What is the next great treatment on the horizon? The ability to diagnose more quickly and then be able to treat them according to their symptoms. Chronic Lyme continues to be an issue here in Florida. You find chronic Lyme more in the New York and often these patient s go untreated here in Florida How does ones attitude determine the outcomes? Attitude is key. To fight anything, cancer, chronic fatigue you must have hope. I help the patient connect the dots so they understand how everything affects them in their environment. I Detoxified a 40 year old lady. She was disabled for 8 years, was in a wheel chair with five back surgeries and she was about to go in for bladder surgery. She came to me and I determined she had mercury toxicity. She had dental fillings that had been replaced. The mercury had leaked out into the blood stream caused major elevation in mercury levels in the blood stream. Through a series of detox, after three months she was out of the wheel chair off oxygen was starting to do activities again. After 15 months, she was walking with a cane and going back to school to be a social worker. Kirti M. Kalidas M.D., N.D. is a Board Certified Physician in Internal Medicine. Dr. Kalidas spent an additional two years broadening his medical knowledge at the NationalCollege of Naturopathic Medicine. He is now one of few physicians in the country to hold dual doctorate degrees, and is thus uniquely positioned to truly integrate both disciplines to optimize wellness.
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