Once upon a time, you went to the doctor when you were sick or needed an annual physical.
Those days are gone. Now it”™s all about taking a proactive approach to aging and preventing disease in a suite of offices that provides all the services needed to support your passion for living.
“This is what patients are asking for,” Dr. Timothy Morley said. He”™s the medical director of NY Health & Wellness Westchester, a new, 6,000-square-foot center that”™s part of a modern white and glass building that stretches out along Mamaroaneck Avenue in Harrison.
- Clockwise, from upper left, Dr. Timothy Morley, Mitchell Suss, Lisa Avellino, Carol Cummings and Jacqui Justice of NY Health & Wellness Westchester. Photo by Bob Rozycki
Morley”™s background is in emergency medicine and he”™s also certified in pain management. But along the way, he became interested in integrated approaches to anti-aging and opened an office in Manhattan. Among his patients was Mitchell Suss, who became an advocate and the founding CEO of New York Health & Wellness. Suss explained his passion for anti-aging medicine with an automotive analogy: “What the center is about is natural hormone optimization. Think of hormones as premium gas for people. ”¦ It”™s so easy in today”™s society to get in a hormone imbalance. We”™re trying to balance the body naturally through stress reduction, fitness, nutrition and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.”
Suss knows what you”™re thinking: Hormone replacement therapy has been a hot-button issue ever since the 2002 Women”™s Health Initiative study of women taking synthetic estrogen and progestin was suspended due to increased risks for breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes and blood clots.
But bioidenticals are made from yam and soy extracts. “Molecule for molecule, they”™re what your body makes,” Morley said. “They”™re extremely safe if you do it right.”
And that means proper testing and an extensive blood panel to see what, if any, hormones a perimenopausal or menopausal woman may need. (About 80 percent of Morley”™s patients are women, though he said men also go through the change of life, called andropause.)
Hormonal imbalance resulting from the change of life is not the only problem Morley sees.
“Many times when we do blood and urine analysis, we find that people have elevated levels of heavy metals, such as mercury, iron, lead or aluminum, among others. Heavy metals in the blood can cause hormone imbalance, extreme fatigue, allergic reactions, brain fog, problems losing weight, headaches, skin problems, frequent colds and low immunity.”
Diet is the usual suspect. Morley said the average American eats 4 pounds of pesticides a year, including arsenic, which is present in things like chicken and rice. Supplements ”” up to 90 percent of which contain fillers ”” can also be a culprit. “It”™s almost impossible to find fish oil that doesn”™t contain some amount of mercury,” Morley said.
To treat metal toxicity, Morley relies on chelation therapy.
“The therapy includes either oral or IV infusion of binding agents, which allows your body to eliminate the toxins. We continue the chelation until the blood work shows that the toxicity is gone.”
Other patients might be exercising in a manner that causes them to gain weight instead of losing it. That”™s where Lisa Avellino, the center”™s fitness and movement therapist, comes in. Or patients may be gluten or lactose intolerant, which is where nutrition director Jacqui Justice steps in. (The other key members of the team are Nina Chaifetz, a licensed clinical social worker/certified holistic health counselor, and Carol Cummings, practice manager and clinical assistant.)
“Everybody has a different specialty,” Avellino said. “We are experts as a team at creating customized programs.”
“Our philosophy,” Suss said, “is to give the body what it needs.”
This article was first published in WAG magazine, the Business Journal”™s sister publication.
