Orthomolecular medicine is treating illness and promoting wellness from a nutritional and naturopathic (ANPA) medicine perspective. I trained in clinical medicine and bio functional medicine in my degree in complementary medicine. In my clinic I offer a holistic treatment approach because you are a whole person, and everything is connected.
I look at the biochemical functions in your body, order tests, recommend dietary changes, prescribe supplements, herbs and lifestyle changes. I am also qualified in nutritional medicine, medical herbalism, clinical hypnotherapy (AHA), clinical psychotherapy and am a registered mental health professional (PACFA).
I may coordinate with your other clinicians and you may get health fund rebates.
Illness is a biological dysfunction of your body, and at times your mind, which has to be corrected and treatment is different for everyone so I treat you as an individual.
What is orthomolecular biofunctional medicine?
We don’t assume that one pill can fix illness for everyone because most prescribed medications don’t this (1) and drug companies bury studies that show this because they don’t want to dent their profits (2). In fact, a medication that one person can tolerate may be dangerous for someone else.
It’s become more and more obvious that many medications that work on singular chemical formulas can be devastating for large parts of the population. They don’t address a disease that may have many factors that need treating. What nutritional decencies are present and what toxins do we need to eliminate?
Again – I will say illness is individual so a practitioner must look at the whole person not just a loose, presumed diagnosis.
The No. 1 rule of medicine: observe, test then treat, not guess and treat.
The No. 1 guide of the Hippocratic code is ‘do no harm’.
Tracie O’Keefe at 65
Health is your natural state of being and strength at any age
– homeostasis
The side effects from drugs
Modern medicine has a great deal to offer in emergency medicine. If I break my leg I’m going to the emergency department at a hospital.
However, with chronic conditions in particular and treating many diseases at times, it struggles and fails and the treatment can be equally as toxic as the condition. Doctors are often not trained in bifounctional medicine.
Many drugs have side effects that may impact some people. For example: stilbesterol (cancer and kidney failure), thalidomide (limb deformities), Tenuate Dospan (addiction), Ritalin (anxiety) Oxycodone (addiction), antidepressants (erectile failure), anti-psychotics (suicidal thoughts), Aspirin (tinnitus), Statins (vomiting, nausea, constipation), some vaccines (anaphylaxis) and I could continue but you get the picture. Patients are rarely informed of the potential side effects. (3)
Ask yourself this question: When did a doctor last sit down with you and fully explain the possibility of all side effects that could occur from the medication they are prescribing?
Governments and drugs companies hide and under-report those side effects and are not by law required to disclose them. Some governments have signed contracts not to criticise a drug for 70 years or the drug company can sue them (4).
The research
We know the great library of Alexandria in Ancient Egypt held up to 400,000 scrolls with many on natural medicine. We still use many of those herbs today.
Hippocrates of ancient Greece taught of the dangers of eating the way most people do in the Western world today that cause disease.
The great biochemist and double Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling published extensively on the essential use of vitamin C in disease recovery. The monumental psychiatrist Abraham Hoffer published on the use of niacin and other biofunctional therapeutic approaches in mental health.
There are actually hundreds of thousands of research papers on orthomolecular medicine. However, drug companies take up half of medical journals in high-dollar advertising and bury orthomolecular research.
Testing biological function
We have fantastic medical laboratories today. I am constantly ordering bifounctional tests for patients to tell me what’s happening in your blood, tissues, organs and genetics.
For us as clinicians, this information is essential and when we cross-reference the results it can pinpoint a problem that has previously been undiagnosed.
Remember earlier I said “observe, test then treat”. Six minutes in a GP’s office doesn’t not allow them to follow that formula so they are constantly prescribing medication without necessarily reading the research or ordering the right tests.
This is why your first appointment with me is two hours.
Integrated orthomolecular approach
Let’s break it down because I’m scientifically trained and I like facts.
What I look at and might change or help you accommodate:
- Your genetics and whether there are any variances
- What you eat because you become what you eat
- How you eat as it makes a difference to extraction of nutrition
- The way you use your body physically, stance, posture, locomotion
- Toxicology for poison or noxious exposures
- Environmental exposures as we absorb our environment
- Allergies and sensitivities
- Blood profiles and what these can tell us
- Tissue profiles and how your organs are functioning
- The presence of disease states
- Immunological reactions and their efficiency
- Psychological states and exposures
Putting all of that information together I then devise a comprehensive treatment plan for you and monitor and review your progress.
To book an appointment for orthomolecular natural medicine treatment with Dr Tracie O’Keefe in the office or by Zoom anywhere in the world call 0403 398 808.
References
(1) Murshid, A. M., & Mohaidin, Z. (2017, June 30). Models and theories of prescribing decisions: A review and suggested a new model. Pharm Pract (Granada), 15(2): 990. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5499356/
(2) Goldance, B. (2010, August 14). Drug firms hiding negative research are unfit to experiment on people. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/14/drug-companies-bury-negative-research
(3) Jose, J., & AlHajri, L. (2018, August 23). Potential negative impact of informing patients about medication side effects: a systematic review. Springer Link. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11096-018-0716-7
(4) Sigalos, M. (2020, December 17). severe Covid vaccine side effects. The government likely won’t compensate you for damages either. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/16/covid-vaccine-side-effects-compensation-lawsuit.html
(5) Hemilä, H. & Chalker, E. (2022). Bias against Vitamin C in Mainstream Medicine: Examples from Trials of Vitamin C for Infections. Life (Basel), 12(1): 62. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8779885/
(6) Tian, S., Wu, L., Zheng, H., Zhong, X., Liu, M., Yu, X., Wu, W. (2023, September 18). Dietary niacin intake in relation to depression among adults: a population-based study. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05188-8
