FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Hepsharat Amadi, M.D. (Medical Director for Holistic Health Magazine)

Florida Medical Doctor Uses Holistic Practices

 By Candice Russell

Holistic health application is second nature to one forward-thinking South Florida medical doctor. Nutrition, acupuncture, herbs, and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy are among the tools used by Dr. Hepsharat Amadi in her private family practice in Coral Springs. This New York native earned her medical degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook. "I was really always helping people to get well naturally," she says. "It seemed obvious to me as I went through medical school and residency that just medicine and surgery weren't enough to help people who are sick."

Adopting alternative modalities was part of Dr. Amadi's thinking all along. She believed in the dramatic role that the food we put into our bodies plays in our health. A stint in acupuncture school, study of Chinese herbs, and a belief in lifestyle counseling prepared her to do the best job possible for her clients. "The American public has been so brainwashed about the effectiveness of medical therapies," says Dr. Amadi. "They are good when it comes to crisis resuscitation and emergencies, but not when it comes to chronic conditions. You can be on fifteen different medications, but it doesn't mean you're healing."

Acupuncture, which she calls an aid to modulate the body's flow of energy, homeopathy and the Quantum Biofeedback machine that resembles a laptop computer, help her diagnose a patient's problem. "Even most doctors don't know about Quantum Biofeedback, which is really based on the principle that anything considered matter can be considered energy," says Dr. Amadi. "This equipment can pick up on and send out frequencies in your entire body in order to appropriately balance the body. We're not taught about any of this in medical school."

Who walks through the door of her medical practice? "Just about everybody of any age," she says. "I get mostly female patients, however, because they understand preventive medicine better than men. People come in complaining of fatigue, anxiety, depression, pre-menopausal symptoms, high blood pressure, diabetes and insomnia -- the usual garden variety. I try to find out more about the patient's lifestyle and things they're doing or not doing to make their situation worse. These things might be going to bed too late, not getting enough exercise, and no nutritional supplements. Unfortunately, our food supply is so deficient that we need to take nutritional supplements. Maybe some things are stressing them out. If a patient is aware of what things stress them out, they can put a limit on them."

If you come to her office complaining of migraine headaches, she's not going to give you a pill and send you on your way. "I'd look for a spinal misalignment, inflammation in the body," she says. "I'd ask about diet and lifestyle and allergies, all of which could be causes."

The first visit to Dr. Amadi's office, which can last more than two hours, costs $350. "I want people to feel better immediately," says this caring health professional of her patients. "By the time a patient comes in, they're trying to get to the bottom of what's bothering him or her. It takes at least ninety minutes on the Quantum Biofeedback machine for a person to be improved. A little bit of work is necessary to get someone in the right direction again. I need to explain what I'm trying to address with each patient because it's important for me to have a patient understand about their health."

Living her own advice matters to Dr. Amadi. "I do for the most part," she says. "I'm a work in progress. I try to eat well, get a decent amount of sleep, drink enough water and exercise, but I do fall down by having one cup of strong coffee per day. I tell people what to do, even though it could dismay them. For weight management, I say people can't eat what they used to eat when they were younger. By making changes gradually in their diets, they don't feel deprived. The idea is to change slowly over time. We need to have an awareness of what needs to be done. Most doctors don't know about nutrition or why it matters."

Regional differences in the acceptance of alternative methodologies occur in U.S.. "There aren't a lot of doctors who believe in traditional and alternative practices in South Florida," says Dr. Amadi. "In fact I can count them on one hand. The atmosphere isn't that hospitable, which has a lot to do with money, power, politics and territorialism. I don't talk to other medical doctors about what I do except at seminars sponsored by supplement companies where people are more open to the holistic side of health."

Practicing what she preaches, Dr. Amadi doesn't place an abundance of faith in traditional medicine, which she says over-emphasizes the use of pharmaceuticals. "More times than not, the remedy is overkill," she says. "Then you have to consider the possible consequences of what ever therapies are recommended. There are consequences to being in a hospital. I didn't even have my own three children in the hospital, which is a cold and sterile, or sometimes not-so-sterile, environment. A hospital isn't a welcoming place, so I had my children at home. It was great working with a midwife. With my first child, I would have wound up having a Caesarean section if I had been in a hospital."

Advertising on television and radio for drugs dealing with everything from restless leg syndrome to erectile dysfunction only seems to empower consumers. Yet in fact all the messages may wind up confusing them. "There are powerful forces in advertising," says Dr. Amadi. "There needs to be a level of consciousness and motivation on the part of patients. People are coming to my practice definitely open to what I have to offer. The most common way I get new patients is by referral, which is the best way to get new people."

Money is what she calls "the dirty little secret" that fuels the engine for the advertising industry for drugs, Dr. Amadi believes. "It's really very cheap to pay for an herbal supplement which may help balance the body," she says. "But why should doctors do that when they get people on expensive prescription medicine? Then the medicine may cause side effects and weaken the immune system. People are often on not just one but three or four different medications to mitigate their side effects."

Dr. Amadi notes that other countries use alternative therapies more regularly than are used in the U.S. "That is because they are not under the thumb of the pharmaceutical companies," she says. "People are a lot of times really naïve about doctors and pharmaceutical companies, which aren't altruistic. The U.S. prides itself on medical therapy, yet we're way behind other countries in terms of health statistics. One in eleven women would develop breast cancer in her lifetime years ago and now it's one in nine women will develop breast cancer. Obesity is rampant. Autism rates have gone through the roof."

The Quantum Biofeedback machine is used more widely overseas than in this country. "It detects nutritional deficiencies, allergies, toxins, pathogens and one's level of energy," says Dr. Amadi, who doesn't carry health insurance for herself. "I was treated on it several times and saw how much better I felt. I went to a convention and learned even more about it. This machine has had a huge effect on my life and practice. Now I see life differently. Most people operate under a Newtonian world view. In Quantum physics, the notion of time doesn't exist."

For patients who want to do their own research, she recommends a book called "The Cure for the Cure Suppressed" about a doctor in the 1930s who invented a cure for cancer and "The Social History of American Medicine" by Paul Starr.

While traditional medicine and alternative medicine continue to grow more aligned among enlightened health professionals like Dr. Amadi, she is hopeful for the future. "The internet is a powerful force for knowledge," she says. "Physicians used to be able to keep their secrets and talk in a language people didn't understand. Now anybody can go on the internet and look up anything. Doctors can't get away with keeping the population in ignorance. As the world gets smaller, people are talking to other cultures, which are still into herbs because they couldn't afford to pay for medicines and health insurance. It also helps to know that before Richard Nixon went to China, there was no acupuncture in this country. Things tend to go in cycles. We're getting back to fundamentals." To contact Dr. Amadi, telephone (954) 757-0064.