The A1A Health Clinic- Returning to Basics to Treat Patients

By Scott Lebowitz

What is the name of Florida’s oldest continuously-running health clinic?  The answer is the A1A Health Clinic (opened in 1938).  Located on A1A, just north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach, the A1A Health Clinic is home to the remarkably diverse and learned holistic physician, Dr. John Christiansen.

The clinic opened seventy years ago as a tiny practice with basic holistic modalities including chiropractic and naturopathic care.  The office building was originally built as a single family residence and still maintains all of its original charm and character.  Central air-conditioning has been added and the kitchen has been converted to an x-ray room, but the quaint comfort of feeling like you’re at grandma’s house remains.

In 1975, Dr. Christiansen took over for Dr. Harold Sammons.   While he started as a chiropractor, Dr. Christiansen now boasts a full arsenal of degrees and certifications.  He is a doctor of internal medicine, naturopathy and homeopathy, a certified addiction professional (1997) and has a master’s degree in public health.  Dr. Christiansen is also board certified in preventive medicine and pain management and a licensed acupuncturist.  He finds his diverse training allows him to be of maximum benefit to his patients.

“Being a chiropractor, acupuncturist, homeopath, and naturopath, I can see so much more than others might be able to see,” Christiansen observes. “For instance, a man with a hammer looks for a nail, a man with a screwdriver looks for a screw.  Patients coming in with pain always have other issues, like depression, which can lead to other symptoms.  I am able to see the other symptoms and I try to trace them back to their root causes.

“The basic mantra of holistic health is to allow the body to heal itself.  The patient is a self healing organism.  Chiropractics and naturopathy have not changed much, but medicine has changed a great deal.  Now there is a rush to medicate.  Some medications are imperative to live, but a lot we don’t need.  As the old saying goes, ‘if all medicines were thrown into the ocean, it would be so much better for mankind but so much worse for the fish.’ ”

Dr. Christiansen is also adamant in his belief that his patients need to attend to their mental and spiritual health in order to stay physically healthy:  “People need to do the right the things to preserve their health.  The mind/body/spirit trilogy is not just a concept, but it’s a truism.  If you are unhappy spiritually, chances are you will get sick.  The organism will not function right.  What are you doing for your spiritual health?  If you start meditating, believing in something bigger than yourself, you will lower your blood pressure.”

There has been a huge surge in complimentary and alternative medicine since the late 1970s.  The goal of Dr. Christiansen and many other holistic practitioners is to improve health consciousness and bring about a better quality of life throughout the entire family.  Christiansen believes the pure essence of preventive medicine is to keep people well rather than to get them better.  Proper nutrition is one of the cornerstones in this process.

“The public perception used to be that health has nothing to do with diet and nutrition, that doctors and hospitals can care for everyone’s needs,” Christiansen contends. “Now patients feel the need to take more proactive measures in mind, body and spirit. I try to have the whole family involved in treatment.  If a patient is obese, we talk to who cooks the food for the household.  There is no special ‘magic bullet’ for a lot of what ails us.  I believe in the grass roots approach like reducing your chances of developing cancer by stopping smoking, maintaining a better diet, exercise, weight  loss and using sun block.”

Building a safer community also is a gateway to better health, according to Dr. Christiansen.  He has received the Crime Prevention Merit Award from Palm Beach County and is actively involved with Florida’s Department of Children and Families.  Christiansen sees drug and alcohol abuse as the community’s problem.  He works hand in hand with families and law enforcement agencies to address that problem in his community.

Some of the specific services Dr. Christiansen offers are auriculotherapy, spinal chiropractic care, smoking cessation and nutritional counseling (especially for the elderly, children and pregnant women).  He is also very careful about the diagnosis he makes, even a seemingly simple one like high blood pressure.

“Blood pressure is going to be high if it’s tested in a high pressure environment,” Dr. Christiansen notes.  “A patient needs to be calm and relaxed to get the true reading.  Why put a patient prematurely on blood pressure medicine, which leads to side effects and more medicines.  If a patient has high cholesterol, let’s try some red yeast rice instead of statin for high lipids.”

Dr. Christiansen does not see the recent surge in the popularity of holistic remedies subsiding any time soon.  To the contrary, he sees an integration of conventional and alternative medicine on the not too distant horizon.