Wellness
We live in an age where everything can be customised to your specific needs. Your healthcare should be no exception!
Functional medicine is a patient-specific, personalised approach to healthcare. Instead of looking at a disease and treating the disease, our priority is to find the root cause of the disease. Our focus is also on the prevention of chronic disease. We want to assist you in your journey to health restoration. We believe that it is ALL about you. We help you improve your health and subsequently improve your quality of life. Our focus is on aiding the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
The basic principles of functional medicine look at Biochemical Individuality. We are all genetically different and we all have different gene expression based on our life and environmental experiences, we look for the connection between the two. As a result functional medicine is often referred to as precision or personalised medicine.
Factors and the way they are connected are often better understood when we illustrate the idea as your health being similar to a tree. We often spend a lot of time treating the “leaves”, our diseases and symptoms, and occasionally we will look at the “trunk”, our internal imbalances like hormones and immunity. But rarely, and often not at all, do we actually dive into the “root” cause of our health problems.
Within Functional medicine we also use what is called a Systems Biology Approach where we treat a patient knowing that each system is connected to the other and we cannot deconstruct the body into individual systems or specialities.
Some root causes are easily managed and changed and others may only be improved by supplementation and lifestyle change. Irrespective of the methods chosen to improve a patient’s life, it has to be made one’s highest priority. This journey requires partnership between doctor and patient. It requires patience, a willingness to learn and explore alternative approaches, in conjunction with traditional pharmaceuticals. Take ownership of your health today.
If you suffer from a chronic disease you most likely need a Functional Medicine approach. Your initial consultation will most likely be an hour long, much longer than a conventional GP appointment.
You will benefit from regular feedback and follow up sessions. Your follow up visits will most likely be focused on repeat laboratory tests, next medical management steps or a need for scheduled medication or management of a crisis in symptoms. These sessions facilitate the ideal Functional medicine journey needed to facilitate healing.
In-depth questionnaires and a variety of Functional and scientific medical tests are needed. Ongoing nutritional and lifestyle information and materials will be provided to support your individual needs.
If you choose to engage in this service, the procedure will go as follows:
The feedback sessions will take place more formerly on engagement of this service. This journey will include a monthly face-to-face consultation with in depth questionnaires and a single email or Skype consultation. Ongoing nutritional and lifestyle information and materials will be provided according to your individual needs.
The 7 Pillars
These are basic tenants of lifestyle medicine that we should incorporate into our lives. They are a call to action when our health or energy levels are fading. They seem basic and simplistic but should never be neglected when making the journey back to health and wellness. We often know them – we just don’t practice them. They deserve mentioning because they are necessary to heal a broken immune system, balance hormones and heal our genes.
For Men & Women
The 7 Pillars
1. EAT
‘Let food be thy medicine or medicine will become thy food’. WHOLE foods with a variety of colourful vegetables (grown from the earth) and organic protein (grazed on the earth) are what is recommended.
We need to ‘unprocess’ our diets. Sugar is highly inflammatory and we need adequate amounts of WATER.
Dr Heidi’s 4 V’s are: VEGETABLES – our highest priority, VARIETY is key. Bio-diVERSITY and the new fiVE a day.
We can also restrict our eating window. Depending on what you personally require, Dr Heidi will advise on the FODMAP diet, the Hormone reset diet and guide you with intermittent fasting.
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2. MOVE
Every day by movement snacking. Become stronger and build muscle and strength. We can balance aging and repair by exercising more. Choose something you enjoy and get out into nature.
Depending on the state of your adrenal function Dr Heidi, will assist you to choose the right form of exercise. Hiking or high-intensity interval training (HIT) will depend on what you need. For longevity we need better heart rate variability and stable glucose readings. We achieve these with pillars 1 and 2.
3. SLEEP
When you hear that just 3% of the world’s population are most likely getting adequate sleep (approximately 8 hours of sleep and 90 minutes of deep sleep), you realise the enormity of the problem we face.
We need to manage our commotion before bedtime and practice good sleep-hygiene. We need to sleep with darkness and embrace the morning light and manage caffeine intake. The use of sleep trackers is very useful.
Cell regeneration, liver detoxification and hormone balancing are key biological events that occur at night during sleep. When a sleep disorder is suspected Dr Heidi will refer you to a sleep lab for proper diagnosis and treatment.
4. THINK
We can sometimes have high levels of perceived stress not actual stress. We need to become actively aware of our thoughts – both positive and negative, and increase our self-awareness. Managing and changing our thoughts is well within our ability and a move towards more positivity will greatly improve our physical health.
5. SOOTHE
The body’s stress response is highly intelligent. Our ability or inability to soothe or relax ourselves has an enormous impact on our HPATG Axis. This is our Hypothalamic- Pituitary-Adrenal-Thyroid-Gonad Axis, a critical symphony of hormones needed for almost every function in the body. We can do so much to start regulating them. These are some simple examples of techniques that work:
- Abdominal breathing
- Mindfulness and meditation
- Me-time every day (you are not being selfish, you are filling your tank up)
- Take a screen-free Sabbath
- Keep a gratitude journal and reclaim your dining-room tabl
6. CONNECT
Socialising and being a part of the community are vital to the human experience. Socialising around work is not necessarily the type of socialising that I am referring to. We need to connect on a deep, spiritual, intellectual and emotional level with people.
7. DETOXIFY
Detoxification often raises awful connotations of headaches, fatigue and nausea, but it does not need to. It must be deliberate and it needs to be ongoing.
Think of detoxification as an intentional reset for the liver and gastrointestinal tract. You can use ‘clean eating’, supplements, infra-red saunas, hot and cold showers, dry brushing and sweating with exercise.
These methods can be used safely, in combination, for superior results. We need to detoxify of heavy metals (from dental amalgam dental fillings, and small amounts in vaccinations), pesticides – especially glyphosates found in wheat – and various other toxic substances sometimes found in lotions and antiperspirants. There are even times when we may feel the need to detoxify of relationships and even emotions.
Appointments
Every procedure to inject soft tissue materials involves a certain amount of risk. It is important to discuss the possibility of this in your initial consultation with Dr Frere. Follow your pre- and post-care instructions and be sure to arrange a follow up consultation
We will be in touch to confirm your requested date and time.
