I wrote this for my MMC2100 class and submitted it to The Villages Daily Sun.
THE VILLAGES -- Traditional check-ups at the doctor's office may not be the best way to go for everyone.
Two Mulberry Oriental Medicine seminars were held at Waterfront Inn earlier this month in an attempt to explain its alternative method of medicine to about 100 prospective and current patients. Its alternative medicine, including acupuncture and functional medicine, were explained to be a great route to take with chronic disease and many other health issues.
Mulberry Oriental Medicine (MOM) has two offices in The Villages. One office, 910 Old Camp Road, Suite 164, practices acupuncture, and the other, 1400 N. 441, Suite 524, practices primary care, gynecology and functional medicine.
By the end of this year, the staff plans to come together under one roof in the Lake Sumter Landing area.
Functional medicine, as explained at the seminar by Dr. Douglas C. Hall, uses more of a patient-centered approach rather than the traditional disease-centered approach, considering the patients' history, physiology and lifestyle. It addresses the person as a whole rather than a set of symptoms and uses natural vitamins and supplements to treat the patient instead of drugs.
It can help treat all kinds of health issues, Hall said. Most people come to him with issues, such as stress-related illnesses, hormone imbalances and gastrointestinal problems.
“I want to change lives by teaching people how the body works,” Hall said. “Our job is to educate you and empower you to take care of yourself so that you don’t need us.”
Acupuncture, the original functional medicine, can also treat a wide range of health problems, including, but not limited to, headaches, the flu, allergies, depression and any type of pain.
Christopher Cheshire, doctor of oriental medicine with a focus on acupuncture, said he has seen about 5,000 patients so far in The Villages, and his office is one of the largest acupuncture clinics in the country.
The one thing Cheshire had in mind when he came to The Villages was to help as many people as he could using natural health care. The goal of functional medicine is for the patient to be healthy until he passes away, Cheshire said.
“It’s you and I together going for one common goal, which is to get you healthy and keep you healthy,” Cheshire said. “In my office, until you hit your mid '80s, you can’t complain to me that you’re old.”
With critical care, western medicine is the way to go, but with chronic disease, functional medicine is the best option, Cheshire said.
Donna F. Theiss, ANRP of MOM, said whatever type of medicine works best for the patient is great, and it is her job to make the options available to them.
“What works for one patient doesn’t work for another,” Theiss said.
Austin Meehan, 77, a type 2 diabetic, came to the seminar with his wife who is a patient at the practice. He sees a primary care doctor and an endocrinologist and has yet to try any functional medicine or be a patient at MOM.
"I must confess that up until now I viewed it with a good deal of suspicion," Meehan said. “It’s a little foreign to me, but I’m here because I’m interested in what they do.”
Switching over could be an option for him in the future, Meehan said.
“I might start having to think about all those aging problems that you get,” Meehan said. “And this might be a very good way of looking at it.”
There will be several 30 minute lectures over the period of several months, including discussions on cortisol, gastrointestinal health, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s and more. For more information call Cheshire’s office at 352-430-2720, or Hall’s office at 352-205-8533.
“Look into it now so you have a better life later on,” Hall said.
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