Phone: 317.863.5888
Living With Intention
  • About
    • Overview - Fees & Services
    • Mission
    • The LWI Story
  • Staff
    • Stephen Elliott, M.D.
    • Linda B. Elliott, MA, LMHC
    • Kelley Keesling, CMT, Physician Liaison & Certified Thermography Technician
  • Services
    • Functional Medicine >
      • What Is Functional Medicine?
      • Allergies- Food and More
      • Brain and Neurological Health
      • Multiple Sclerosis & Parkinson's
      • Lyme Disease
      • Alzheimer's Dementia
      • Detoxification
      • Heart Health
      • Hormone Balance
      • Nutrition
      • Stress and Fatigue
    • Counseling >
      • All Ages >
        • Depression
        • Anxiety
        • Trauma
        • Anger Management
        • Grief and Loss
        • Self-Esteem
      • Adults >
        • Marriage
        • Career Change
        • Chronic Illness
        • Divorce
        • Stress Management
        • Sandwich Generation
        • Empty Nest
        • Women's Concerns
        • Work-Life Balance
    • Medical Thermography
    • Pain Relief
    • Supplements
  • What Others Are Saying
    • Stephen P. Elliott, MD
    • Linda B. Elliott, MA, LMHC
    • Kelley Keesling, Certified Massage Therapist CMT
  • News and Events
    • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • New Page
  • Multiple Sclerosis & Parkinson's
  • Blog

Migraines

6/7/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
It's likely that either you or someone you know suffer from migraines. In conventional medicine, an individual is diagnosed with "migraines,” and then is treated with a variety of prescription medications including antidepressants, blood pressure medications, and anti-seizure medications – all of which have known side-effects. This method of treatment focuses on symptom management rather than treating the root cause
Migraines can be caused by a vast variety of reasons. Obtaining a thorough history about your symptoms and your individual health/medical history can help uncover the root cause as to why your migraines are occurring. Possible causes include magnesium deficiency, hormonal imbalances of progesterone and estrogen, food allergies and sensitivities, or mitochondrial dysfunction. Identifying the root cause and treating it appropriately can lead to elimination of migraines and a better quality of life.

Here is a list of common symptoms you may experience before, during and after a migraine episode:


PRODOME (1-2 DAYS PRIOR TO HEADACHE)
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Food Cravings
  • Uncontrollable yawning
  • Hyperactivity
  • Irritability
  • Neck stiffness

AURA (PRIOR TO OR DURING THE MIGRAINE)
  • Visual phenomena, such as seeing various shapes, bright spots or flashes of light.
  • Vision loss
  • Pins & needles sensations in an arm or leg
  • Speech or language problems (aphasia)

ATTACK (TYPICALLY LASTS 4 – 72 HOURS)
  • Pain on one or both sides of your head
  • Pain that has a pulsating, throbbing quality
  • Sensitivity to light, sounds & sometimes smells
  • Nausea & vomiting
  • Blurred vision
  • Lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting

POSTDROME (FINAL PHASE – AFTER ATTACK)
  • You may feel drained & washed out
  • Some people report feeling mild euphoria

Possible causes of migraines can include:
  • Hormonal changes in women
  • Certain foods, as well as skipping meals or fasting
  • Food Additives – aspartame, MSG
  • Drinks – alcohol (especially wine), highly caffeinated drinkis
  • Stress
  • Sensory stimuli – bright lights, glare, smells
  • Changes in wake-sleep pattern
  • Physical factors
  • Changes in the environment
  • Certain medications and medication interactions

There are several non-prescription treatments, including:
  • Magnesium as well as other supplementation
  • Dietary modifications
  • Hormone treatment
  • Stress-relief techniques
  • Sleep hygiene exercises

If you’re ready to get to the root cause of your migraines, call our office to schedule a consultation with Dr. Elliott. Our
functional/integrative medicine approach targets the root cause of your symptoms.




4 Comments

The Why’s of Wise Exercise

5/31/2017

7 Comments

 
Picture
Finding your motivation

We’ve all heard, from childhood on, that exercise is good for us. It’s one of those things we never think to question. So let’s question:

Why precisely, is exercise good for us?
 
There are lots of reasons; here are just a few:
 
  • CANCER. Exercise helps prevent cancer. Studies now show that regular exercise lowers the risk of 13 specific cancers, including breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer in current and/or former smokers, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, myeloid leukemia, and more.
  • BRAIN HEALTH. Exercise helps prevent dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Regular physical exercise improves brain function, cognitive clarity and memory.
    • Emotional well-being: Exercise improves mood and alleviates feelings of depression.
    • Exercise improves confidence, promotes a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-esteem.
  • SLEEP. Exercise improves sleep, especially the restful, restorative stages of sleep called N3 and REM.
    • Quality sleep improves healthy immune function, minimizing your risk of infection and cancer.
    • Important hormones are released in sleep that help with weight loss.
  • SEXUAL PERFORMANCE & LIBIDO. Exercise can put the zip back in your sex life. Studies indicate that physical exercise may enhance sexual stimulation and arousal for both sexes. And for men, it helps improve erections.
  • ENERGY, STRENGTH & STAMINA. Certain exercises help with balance, too, minimizing the risk of falls and fractures.
  • BONE HEALTH. Weight-bearing, resistance exercise is crucial for building strong bones and preventing osteoporosis.
  • DETOXIFICATION. By stimulating blood flow, heart rate, and lung function, exercise delivers essential nutrients throughout the boy and improves the elimination of dangerous toxins through sweat.
  • ADD & ADHD. By stimulating dopamine production, exercise improves concentration, focus and attention.
  • WEIGHT CONTROL. Of course, exercise helps with weight loss. Given the fact that being overweight increases your risk of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic fatigue and dementia, this may be the single most compelling motivation to get started today.
 
Moving from why to how:
 
So that’s WHY it is important to exercise. For many of us though, the bigger question is HOW to get started. We want to do it. We intend to do it. And, at the end of the day, we feel badly (again) that we’ve not done it.
 
How do we move from intention to action? It’s a timeless question, raised by countless scholars, philosophers and theologians through the ages. It’s only recently, though, that we’ve begun to discover what happens in the brain when it comes to breaking old habits and creating new ones. We’re in the very infancy of understanding the “science of change.”
 
Having said that, strategies that work for many include:
  • Write it down. Put your goal down on paper. Keep it in front of you (bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, computer screen).
  • Tell a friend about your intention to exercise, someone your trust. Ask them to hold you accountable. (This has long been a foundational strategy and secret success of Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers.)
  • Invite a friend to exercise with you. Again, it’s that accountability thing.
  • Set some measurable goals:
    • “I’ll exercise 3 times this week for at least 20 minutes this week.”
    • “I’m going to walk a 5K in August.”
  • Schedule time for exercise in your calendar or your daily to-do list.

7 Comments

Breast Health: What has led to such a surge in rates of breast cancer?

9/14/2016

5 Comments

 
Written by Emily Miller, Nurse Practitioner

There are many factors contributing to breast cancer, but one of the primary influences is an imbalance of your estrogen levels. Overcoming insulin resistance is the first step in maintaining the estrogen balance. After you eat a meal, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin and signals the brain to absorb sugar from your blood. However, the modern diet that many of us consume is wreaking havoc on our system with sugar being the main offender. Insulin resistance develops when we eat too much sugar, especially in forms of highly-refined and processed carbohydrates and high-fructose corn syrup. Excess insulin increases body fat and systemic inflammation, both leading risk factors for breast cancer.

What can we do about it?
The most important thing you can do to avoid insulin resistance is to eat real, whole, organic foods, participate in daily exercise, and maintain a healthy body weight.
5 Comments

Antibiotic Overuse

9/14/2016

3 Comments

 
Written by Emily Miller, Nurse Practitioner

Antibiotics were once considered a life-saving solution, but now are overused and exist in our food, water, and milk supply. Taking antibiotics disrupts our digestive tract by causing inflammation and forcing our immune systems to work harder to keep us healthy. Every year at least 2 million people become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die as a direct result of these infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet healthcare providers continue to overprescribe antibiotics for illnesses that have no benefit from them, and our food supply continues be inundated with antibiotics to avoid infection and enhance growth.


What can we do to help keep our gut healthy?
  • Eat a diet with fibrous whole foods
  • Restrict exposure to antibiotics unless absolutely necessary
  • Purchase meat from livestock raised without antibiotics
  • Limit sugar, sweets, and artificial sweeteners
  • Avoid highly process and refined foods
3 Comments

When “Normal” Isn’t Healthy

7/13/2016

2 Comments

 
By Stephen P. Elliott, M.D., Medical Director, Living with Intention, Inc.

Here’s an all-too-common scenario:  You go to the doctor because you’re just not feeling well.  Let’s say you’re tired.  Or not sleeping well.  Or having frequent headaches.  Or whatever.
 
So the doctor does what doctors are trained to do.  She orders some tests..  And two or three days later her nurse calls you with the results:   “Everything’s normal!  You’re just fine.”
 
Just one problem:  You don’t feel fine.  You don’t feel “normal”.  Or, more accurately, if this is “normal”, you don’t want any part of it.  “Normal” is actually pretty miserable. 
 
Sound familiar?
 
To see what what’s going on here, it’s important to understand what “normal” means.  In the field of medicine, “normal” has a very specific, technical definition. 
 
When it comes to medical tests, we say that something is “normal” when it falls within a specific “reference range.”  And that reference range is defined to include 95% of all results ever measured for that particular test.  (For those with a mathematical bent, it’s defined to include all results that fall within two standard deviations of the median.)
 
But here’s the rub:  Let’s say 100 people go to the doctor complaining of fatigue, one of the most common frustrations doctors encounter every day.  And now let’s speculate that you’re one of those 100 people. 
 
So your doctor, hearing your story, considers her options.  Maybe your thyroid gland isn’t working right.  Maybe it’s low iron.  Or B12.  Maybe you’re anemic.  Or depressed.  Or have sleep apnea.  Or whatever.  So you go to the lab, do your tests, and sure enough, as if on cue, three days later your phone rings:  “Relax, all is well.  Your tests are all ‘normal.’  You’re fine.”
 
What have you just learned?  You’ve learned that your test results fall within that 95% reference range that defines “normal”.   In other words, your results are just like everyone else who feels tired.   Super.  That’s great. Everything’s “normal”.  (Translation:  It’s “normal” to be tired.)
 
Here’s the point:  There’s an enormous difference between “normal” and “healthy.”  There’s a vast chasm between “normal” and “optimal”.
 
This recognition, that normal and optimal are not the same, is one of the fundamental distinctions separating Functional Medicine from Conventional Medicine.  Conventional Medicine defines health merely as the absence of disease.  Functional Medicine sees it as optimal well-being. 
 
The goal is to feel vital, vibrant, strong, energetic, fit, resilient, emotionally hardy, and so on.  Health is defined not as the absence of negative well-being, but instead as something positive.

Normal vs. Optimal — 2 Examples
 
Obesity
  • Fact:  69% of all American adults are either overweight or obese.  Technically speaking, that makes it “normal” to be fat.   Would anyone dare argue that it’s healthy to be fat?  Is that optimal?  Of course not.
 
Toxicity in Newborns
  • Fact:  Studies reveal that the average umbilical cord blood of newborn infants contains 200 toxic chemicals.  That’s now the norm.  Is it healthy?  Is it optimal?  NO!   (Source: Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005)

 
 Dr. Elliott practices Functional and Integrative Medicine at Living with Intention, Inc.  For more information about him and Living with Intention, call 317.863.5888.
2 Comments

Thyroid Testing Done Right

6/3/2016

2 Comments

 
By Stephen P. Elliott, M.D., Medical Director, Living with Intention, Inc.
 
What’s the best way to monitor thyroid function?  With a TSH, right?

Not any more.  In fact, TSH hasn’t been the best option for many years now.  Frustratingly, it’s still the reflexive test of choice in most Conventional Medicine offices today.

The problem with TSH is that it’s not a thyroid hormone at all.  It’s a pituitary hormone.  The historical rationale supporting TSH testing is quite simple:  It’s all we had.  For many years, before lab testing technology had advanced sufficiently, TSH really was the best, most accurate thyroid assessment available to physicians.  But that's simply not true anymore.

Today we can actually measure thyroid hormone production with great accuracy.  And when we take the time to do that, we get a much better and clearer assessment of thyroid function.  Here’s what you need at the very least:  Total T3, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and anti-thyroid antibodies.  Ask your doctor to run those tests.

Dr. Elliott practices Functional and Integrative Medicine at Living with Intention, Inc. For more information call 317.863.5888 or visit their website at www.livingwithintention.biz.

2 Comments

Health Care or Disease Care?

5/2/2016

5 Comments

 
Picture
By Dr. Elliot

The American health care system is broken. 
 
In fact, I’ll go further than that:  Health care in America isn’t health care at all.  It’s “disease care” or “disease management” or “emergency care”.  Call it anything you want.  Just don’t call it “health care”.
 
We don’t promote health.  We treat disease.  Has it always been this way?  Not at all.
 
Over the past generation, medicine has changed.  It’s become big business.  The focus has shifted from patient to profit.  It’s an industry, now. 
 
The result?  Doctors today are frustrated, overwhelmed, and even burned out.  They spend their days seeing too many patients in quick, in-and-out appointments.  They look at and touch their computers more than they do their patients.  They take care of their employers.  They take care of their insurers.  They take care of their documentation.  They don’t have time to care for their patients.  Not the way they’d like to.
 
Not convinced?  Consider this:   When your physician enters the exam room, he or she always wrestles with two questions:  First, “What’s the right thing to do for this patient?”  Second, “What will insurance allow?”  All too frequently, the answers are quite different.  Miles apart, in fact. 
 
Now, there’s a lot to be said for Convention Medicine.  Conventional Medicine is extremely good at treating acute problems:  a sudden illness, a serious injury, a medical emergency.  Where Conventional Medicine falls short, however, is chronic disease.  When it comes to preventing and treating chronic disease, Conventional Medicine fails.
 
Is there an alternative?
 
Yes there is.  Here’s what real Heath Care looks like.
 
First, where Disease Care addresses symptoms, real Health Care investigates and treats the true “root cause” of those symptoms.
 
Where Disease Care reflexively writes prescriptions, real Health Care uses more natural treatments  emphasizing nutrition and life-style changes.
 
Where the Disease Care model treats disease after the fact, real Health Care aims at preventing disease from happening in the first place.
 
Where the Disease Care model divides the body up into parts, each with its own specialist (cardiologist, endocrinologist, etc.), real Health Care embraces the complex interrelatedness of all parts and treats the whole patient.
 
Where Disease Care patients are discouraged from taking an active role in their own care and are often ill-informed about their condition, real Health Care patients are educated by their physician and empowered to take an active role in their journey toward more optimal health.
 
Does real Health Care exist?  Yes it does.  It exists in the world of Functional and Integrative Medicine.  While it’s a small movement today, it’s growing steadily.  It’s the medicine of the future.  It’s medicine done right.


Is our “Health Care” system working? What do you think?
  • Today the U.S. Spends over $2,000,000,000,000 on “health care” annually. That’s more than any other nation total and more than twice as much per person than any other country on earth.
  • Despite all that money, the U.S. Ranks 34th in life expectancy and 29th in infant mortality.
  • Among the 13 nations most like us, the U.S. ranks next to last in 16 important measures of health.
  • According to JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) medical care today may actually be the leading cause of death in the U.S.
5 Comments

ANXIETY IN KIDS, TEENS AND ADULTS

4/12/2016

2 Comments

 
So What Is Anxiety, Really?
Anxiety is a physiological, mental, and emotional response to a stressor; it is a heightened, more extreme response to things that aren’t necessarily threats.   For example, that sensation you might get when meeting someone new:  feeling your heart beating faster, trembling in your hands, dry mouth.  Chances are, the person you are meeting isn’t a threat, but your autonomic nervous system perceives them that way.

What are the Symptoms of Anxiety in Kids and Teens?
Kids experience anxiety in a variety of ways.  Most commonly…
  • Moodiness/irritability
  • Withdrawal from friends, families or activities
  • Headaches or stomachaches
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Difficulty with transitions from home to school or class to class
  • Increased self-consciousness
Back-to-school can be a very stressful time for kids and teens, and can trigger the start of or continuation of anxious thoughts and feelings.  Those with ADD or ADHD frequently also experience anxiety.

How Is Anxiety Different in Adults?
Common symptoms in adults include:
  • Worry about work, relationships and finances
  • Feeling “keyed-up”, or tired
  • Difficulty falling or staying asleep
  • Difficulty with concentration and focus
  • “Comfort eating” or craving “carbs”
  • Feeling irritable
  • Difficulty relaxing and “turning off” thoughts

Is It Real or In My Head?

Anxiety is absolutely real. And incredibly common. We live in a 24/7 culture, with stimulation through technology and media coming at us at a pace that is impossible to keep up with.  Imagine a thimble trying to contain a waterfall.  Anxiety is often the result when we criticize ourselves for not being able to keep up, or compare ourselves with others.  And anxiety has strong genetic ties and can worsen when stressful life circumstances occur.
 
What Can I Do To Help Relieve My Anxiety?
ANXIETY IS INCREDIBLY TREATABLE. The first step is to recognize it. Steps you can take on your own include:
  • Regular physical activity
  • Reading for pleasure
  • Watching TV or movies that make you laugh
  • Journaling
  • Being intentional about your social life
  • Limiting caffeine and foods high in sugar
  • Eliminate tobacco products
When these steps aren’t enough, seeking help from a professional counselor is wise. They can help you get to the root cause of your anxiety and teach additional skills and techniques to help.
2 Comments

SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN TEENS

4/12/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
By Stephen Creel, LCSW, LCAC 

The most frequently abused substances by adolescents are alcohol and marijuana (beyond tobacco, which is second). Amphetamines (typically Adderall) and synthetic marijuana (k2, spice) are also popular. LSD continues to be a problem.
 
Early intervention can prevent substance abuse in teens. For adolescents, the likelihood of addiction depends on multiple factors: 
  • the influence of parents, peers and other role models
  • how much they’re influenced by advertising of alcohol as well as other substances
  • how early in life they begin to use illegal substances (including alcohol)
  • the psychological need for the substance
  • genetic factors
 
If you have a teenager, be alert to signs and symptoms that may indicate a problem with alcohol/drug use:
  • Loss of interest in activities and hobbies, as well as in personal appearance.
  • Increased unplanned sleep overs with friends.
  • Red/bloodshot eyes, slurred speech.
  • Problems with coordination and memory lapses.
  • Frequent mood changes and defensive behavior.
  • Lighters/eye drops found in room, clothing pockets.
  • Difficulties or changes in relationships with friends, such as a new group of friends.
  • School problems such as slipping grades, increased disruptive behaviors, truancy, tardiness.
  • Frequent mood changes and defensive behavior.
  • Burning incense often, excessive cologne.
  • Clothes smell like burnt leaves.
  • Drug-related clothing/jewelry – know their music and what it stands for.
  • Increased appetite when returning home – “munchies,” or immediately washes hands or gets in shower (not part of typical daily routine).
  • Risk-taking behaviors (high speed driving, fighting, vandalism, shoplifting).
  • “Escaping” from events and/or family functions.
 
Risk factors for illegal substance use in adolescents include:
  • Family history of substance abuse disorders.
  • Recent relationship break-ups.
  • Grief and loss (even pets).
  • Diagnosis of Anxiety, Depression, ADD/ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder)
  • Age at first exposure: People who begin drinking at an early are at a higher risk of problem drinking or physical dependence.
  • Access to illegal substances – think parents’ alcohol, prescription drugs.
 
As a parent, you can help prevent teenage illegal substance use. Start by setting a good example with your own use. Use legal substances (alcohol) responsibly. Talk openly with your child. Spend quality time together and become actively involved in your child’s life. Let your child know what behavior you expect – and what the consequences will be if he or she doesn’t follow the rules.  And be consistent.

2 Comments

Sweetener Not So Sweet After All 

3/22/2016

684 Comments

 
Reference:  www.greenmedinfo.com
“Sucralose's (Splenda) Harms Vastly Underestimated: Baking Releases Dioxin”
Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder
 
Warning:  Avoid sucralose (Splenda®). 
Why the worry?  Several reasons, actually.

 
  • When heated, sucralose breaks down and releases many toxic chemicals, including dioxins.
  • A 2013 Italian study linked sucralose to leukemia.
  • Sucralose inhibits the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut (gastrointestinal tract).
  • Sucralose may actually increase blood sugar and insulin levels, thereby increasing the risk of diabetes.
  • Sucralose escapes water treatment systems, exposing unsuspecting victims to its toxic effects.
  • Sucralose “bio-accumulates”.  It isn’t broken down the way natural sugars are.  Instead, it persists and accumulates over time, increasing the likelihood of toxicity, affecting even those trying to avoid it.
  • Ongoing studies suggest that sucralose causes DNA damage (think cancer and birth defects)
  •  Sucralose affects important detoxification pathways in the liver.
 
Note: © [March 20, 2016] GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.
684 Comments
<<Previous

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

11979 Fishers Crossing Drive, Fishers, Indiana 46038
Phone: 317.863.5888 | Fax: 317.578.0253 | Email