When you make a first appointment with us, we will send you a package of information, plus a registration form and questionnaire to complete before you come to see us. Adult patients will also be asked to record their body temperature for a week, so allow time for this (if there is no time before your initial visit, complete it later).
You can download a pdf of the letter we send to all new patients hereAt your first consultation the doctor will want to see your questionnaire, plus any other useful documentation you can bring. He will ask you a number of questions, discuss your problems and if relevant examine you physically. He will then draw up with you a plan of the next steps, including the investigations needed, and any immediate treatment you can start on. Initial consultations are usually for 45 minutes - 1 hour and follow-up consultations for 30 minutes.
In certain very clear-cut circumstances, such as a simple hay fever problem with no complications, it may be possible to start treatment immediately.
| Tests for: | Sent to: |
| Nutritional deficiencies | Biolab |
| Bowel parasites | Parascope, Leeds University |
| Digestive function | Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory |
| Hormonal problems | Diagnostech European Laboratory for Nutrients |
| Food allergy | YorkTest |
Elimination diet
Avoidance of foods to which you react, under our medical supervision.
To begin with, this is likely to be conducted as an experiment, designed to identify those foods to which you react - or to confirm the results of your allergy test. When we have that information we can move to longer-term avoidance to keep your symptoms away, plus other measures as listed here.
Therapeutic diets
You are what you eat; we will advise you on what this should be.
We may need to consider your intake of nutrients - for instance older ladies may have to pay extra attention to Calcium; and anti-nutrients - sugar and certain fats can be very harmful for some people. Laboratory tests will help us to know what you need.
If necessary we will refer you to our dietitian, who can offer you
long-term support, and even a computerised dietary analysis.
Lifestyle measures
Simple but fundamental changes in how you live your life can have a major impact on health.
These may include reducing stress levels, exercise, sunlight, fresh air. Of course we will inform and advise employers where necessary - always with your full consent.
Desensitisation
Injections to control allergies & intolerances.
Injections designed to reduce or even eradicate your reactions to foods, inhalants or chemicals. We are one of
the few authorised users of the technique of Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation. And yes, we are experienced in administering them to children with the minimum upset.
Nutritional supplementation
Specific formulations to supply what you need.
Often this will be based on laboratory tests, although sometimes it is clear from an examination. Sometimes, too, we use doses well above normal daily requirements to achieve a particular goal - high dose Vitamin C to help get rid of an acute infection for example.
We also import a specialised range of nutritional supplements - vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs. These are NOT available for sale
to the public - you need to be recommended to them by a practitioner. These products are all selected for their high degree of purity -
many of our clients suffer from multiple allergies, which mean that they may react to ordinary supplements. For the same reason we ask all
our patients and visitors to wear no perfume or scented cosmetics when they visit our clinics.
Intravenous therapy
Rapid delivery of nutrients direct to the bloodstream.
Some people need more than diet or oral supplements can provide; intravenous injection of nutrients can provide a rapid boost to the
system.
Detoxification
Removal of poisons from the body.
The two main types of toxin that we deal with are heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and chemical compounds such as pesticides, polybrominated biphenyls etc.
The metals - which appear to be particularly important in autism, for instance - we remove using compounds known as chelating agents, which bond to the metals and are excreted with them. Examples are DMSA, and now we are starting to use DMPS - although even vitamin C is a mild chelator.
The chemicals can be factors in chronic fatigue syndromes, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and other chronic, ill-defined disorders - as well as raising a risk of cancer and inborn errrors in babies. They are removed via sweat, in a process called sauna depuration - although we are also evaluating a gut-based system that uses a drug called cholestyramine.
Any detox requires careful attention to nutrition both before and during it, which we will manage for you. It is inevitably a long process, taking as much as 2-3 years. This is an evolving field, and we are always interested in new methods, which we would insist on evaluating carefully before employing.
Light therapy
Light is an essential nutrient
- and not just for SAD sufferers. Many people can obtain benefit from its effects on depression, fatigue, hormonal disorders and other problems. See Dr. Downing's books for more information on this fascinating topic.
Hormonal therapy
Correction of sub-clinical endocrine problems - thyroid, adrenal, gonadal (including Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), pituitary.
Sub-clinical really means something that doesn't show up on routine tests; we often use different testing methods to get a more in-depth look at endocrine functions. This is an aspect of many peoples' ill health, and one that we recognise and are willing to address. But, as you will appreciate by now, we always try to approach this problem nutritionally first. Also, hormone replacement can only be prescribed by a doctor as part of a course of treatment. No quick fixes!
One important factor that has been neglected by medicine in general is vitamin D; normally obtained from sunlight, and deficient in almost everybody, it is actually a molecule very closely related to the steroid hormones, and particularly useful in PCOS.