Tag Archive for: health

By Dr. Seneca & Kay Anderson, Longevity Founders 

 

We write to you today to officially announce our retirement at the end of May. This year we will turn 77 and 80 years old respectively (guess which one is oldest), and we feel that the time has come to live full-time at our home in the mountains of North Carolina. We have plenty of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, projects, a garden, and animals to keep us busy in the days ahead! 

It’s hard to believe that 2023 marks 45 years since our health practice began! When we first started out, we had no idea that our vision for a natural health care center would flourish to the extent that it has. At that time, there was only one Naturopath in practice in the entire Atlanta area. A statutory definition of Naturopathy existed in the Georgia code, left over from a naturopathic board that had been eliminated due to a coordinated campaign by the Georgia Medical Association.

I, my wife Kay (pregnant with #6), along with our 5 children moved to the Atlanta area from Boston, where I had completed my acupuncture training, only to discover that there was no licensing available for acupuncturists in the state of Georgia. In fact, acupuncture was generally unheard of, as opposed to chiropractic, which was already well established due to the presence of Life Chiropractic College in Marietta. 

In 1978 I completed my Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine, and later went on to earn a Doctorate in Oriental Medicine. Kay and I opened our first practice in  September, 1978, the East West Center. We offered acupuncture, nutritional consultation, massage therapy, and various classes on natural healing and cooking. I, along with several like-minded patients made repeated attempts to introduce acupuncture into the Georgia legislature, but it was always firmly resisted by the medical association and its big pharma backers. In fact, it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that an article in a prestigious journal criticizing the way Georgia left acupuncture unregulated embarrassed the legislature to pass the identical legislation which they had previously failed to pass.

While working for acupuncture legislation, we attempted to conform our practice to the statutory definition of naturopathy, which reads something like: the diagnosis and treatment of human illness with the use of air, light, heat and cold, utilizing such substances, nutritional, as naturally required by the human body, excluding drugs, surgery and radiation.

Our practice thrived, but eventually I was charged with practicing medicine without a license. I argued that I wasn’t practicing medicine. I do not utilize drugs or surgery, but practice naturopathy

according to the statutory definition. By the grace of God, Judge Curtis Tillman ruled that I could continue my practice under supervision, and that the supervision could be provided by an MD, DO, or DC. This has effectively established a precedent which has allowed for other naturopaths to practice in Georgia. So much headway has been made in the state of Georgia and across the country over the last few decades, and as I write this, the future of natural healing looks bright indeed! 

As we look back on the last 45 years, we are grateful and humbled by the many thousands of people  who trusted us to guide them and their families on a path to better health. And, of course, we are especially thankful for all of the caring professionals who have come alongside us to help achieve positive results for so many patients. To God be all the glory! He has sustained us and upheld us all these years! We know that we are just vessels, and He is the Great Physician! 

As we prepare to retire, we are so proud to pass the torch into the capable hands of our daughter, Dr. Alice Honican, who has been a Lead Practitioner at Longevity for nearly two decades, as well as our daughter, Melina Smith, who has faithfully served as Director of Operations for more than 35 years. Alice is a skillful Acupuncturist, Herbalist, and gifted student (She recently completed her Doctorate in Oriental Medicine!), and it makes us so proud to watch her serve her patients with so much knowledge, care, and compassion. 

We are also so confident in the knowledgeable, skilled, and caring practitioners, therapists, and staff members who make up the Longevity team. Christina McMullen. ND, joined us some 15 years ago, and is like another daughter to us. As a young mother of four, she is particularly skillful at working with children. Anna Powers, ND, joined Longevity some 6 years ago. Anna was already an accomplished tester and neurofeedback practitioner, and we have all benefited from her warm disposition, humor, and compassion. While working at my side for the past ten years, my personal Patient Coordinator, Maria Jones, ND, also earned Certifications as a Master Herbalist, Holistic Health Practitioner, and Traditional Naturopath and she is now stepping into the practitioner role herself. Maria often knows what I’m thinking during a patient evaluation before I can even say it! 

To all our loyal and faithful patients over the years, we say a huge thank you. You’ll never know how much it means to our family and staff that you have trusted us with your health, and hopefully will continue to do so. We know that the Longevity mission to Love God and Serve People will be carried out for generations to come. We wish you abundant health in mind, body, and spirit! 

Sincerely,

Doc & Kay 

Here at Longevity, we love hearing testimonials from our patients who have experienced amazing transformations with their health.  Enjoy this encouraging story from Julie V. whose son Gracen experienced amazing results with our Frequency Specific Microcurrent Therapy.  If you have a testimonial to share, we’d love to hear from you and use your story to encourage others!

 

Describe your son’s health concerns when you first started at Longevity. 

 

My son Gracen was 12 years old at the time, and a very active and talented multi-sport athlete. Doctors had diagnosed him with a condition called Osteonecrosis, commonly referred to as “Death of the Bone.” He had been kicked in the upper shin so many times playing sports that he had lost blood supply to his knee. The doctors were recommending multiple surgeries, and even then, complete healing did not look likely. Gracen  was in a lot of pain and his knee was giving out on him causing him to fall frequently.

 

What was your first experience with our office like? What was your son’s initial response to the treatments?

 

We were desperate for help and praying for answers, and I can confidently say that God led us to Longevity! The first time I called, the staff members were so kind, confident, and positive. They recommended Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) and assured us this therapy would help restore blood flow to the area. Gracen enjoyed visiting the clinic for his treatments. After only three sessions, all of his painful symptoms were completely gone!  We took him back for an X-ray, and where the bone was once completely black, it was now totally white again! The doctors said he was completely cured! 

 

Describe your son’s overall health picture today. What is your overall impression of Longevity Health Center, the practitioners and staff?  

 

Today Gracen is 16 years old and is still a stellar soccer and football athlete. He’s never again had any trouble with his knees! We are so thankful for Longevity and love telling people about the amazing staff members, and the way FSM helped Gracen keep doing what he loves.  I highly recommend this therapy for student athletes with injuries, or anyone dealing with pain and inflammation. 

 

Learn more about FSM at https://longevityhealth.com/fsm/ 

An Interview with Dr. Alise Jones-Bailey of Buckhead Functional Medicine 

 

Here at Longevity, we love partnering with like-minded practitioners in the community as we come alongside our patients on their wellness journeys. One of those trusted practitioners is Dr. Alise Jones-Bailey of Buckhead Functional Medicine. Her traditional functional medicine practice specializes in women’s health, digestive disorders, weight loss, cardiovascular disease, diabetes prevention, hormonal health, and immune system deficiencies.

 

We sat down with Dr. Jones-Bailey for a little Q&A to learn more about her practice, the services she offers, and her approach to overall health and wellness. 

 

What is the heart and mission behind your practice and the work you do? 

 

I am board certified in OB/Gyn and certified in Functional Medicine. The word doctor is derived from the Latin verb “docere’ meaning to teach. The mission behind my practice is to educate my patients health and disease while showing them the evidence based functional medicine practices. These practices promote prevention and ” healthspan over lifespan.”

 

What do you think is the biggest health factor or risk facing women today? 

 

Stress in my opinion, followed by obesity. This is so often behind mental and physical challenges many of us experience. Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer, uterine cancer, colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and others.

 

So many of our patients are concerned about hormonal health and its impact on their metabolism/weight, reproductive health, mood, and energy. What kind of approach do you take on hormone balance, and what services do you offer in this department? 

 

Hormonal health for both men and women is key to health and a sense of well being. Whether we are talking about sex hormones, stress hormones, sleep hormones or thyroid hormones, they all work collaboratively. Measuring and monitoring are key tools to hormone optimization.

 

What do you wish women understood when it comes to understanding and balancing their hormones?

 

Women experience many hormone transition periods throughout their lives as do men. From childhood to puberty to childbearing years, menopause and postmenopause hormone dynamics are at play. Understanding these transitions and proactively managing them via lifestyle supportive practices is the key to navigating! Specifically, adequate sleep, a quality diet, exercise, adequate water intake, spiritual practices, community and daily sunlight lie at the core.

 

Our practice takes a preventative approach to breast and reproductive health, utilizing proactive thermography testing to assess disease development and holistic detoxifying therapies such as lymphatic drainage massage. How can our practices work hand-in-hand to help our clients treat and get to the root cause of female health issues?

 

I love that your practice does such a phenomenal job with a proactive approach to female breast health! Recognizing that 80% of breast cancer is fueled by estrogen, all practices that support modulating estrogen are critical tools. Looking at lifestyle and genetic predispositions are important, allowing you to decrease risk factors as much as possible. Anti-estrogen and anti-inflammatory dietary nutrients from fiber, flaxseed, cocoa, aloe vera, cruciferous veggies, tumeric and seaweed to name a few are supportive here. Limiting alcohol, the less the better as studies are conflicting in this area. 

 

We can continue to work collaboratively with your patients by understanding individual risks,

and “test don’t guess!”  Look at genetics, look at hormone metabolism, look at genetic predisposing factors, and measure so you can see your progress in lowering or eliminating risk factors.

 

What advice or recommendations  do you have for our clients who are setting their 2023 wellness resolutions and goals this month? How can they get the most “bang for their buck” as they set new rhythms and habits for the year ahead? 

 

  • Leverage the power of lifestyle medicine. An excellent publication called The Original Prescription by Thomas Gilliams so eloquently reviews the science behind this concept and practice.
  • Let food be your medicine.
  • Limit environmental toxic exposures.
  • Control your thoughts with positivity and gratitude practices.
  • Get quality sleep.
  • Get daily sunlight for 60 minutes a day, winter or summer.
  • Turn off all electronics at least an hour before bedtime.
  • Engage a mindfulness or meditation daily practice.
  • Take care of your gut or the microbiome with pre and probiotics.

 

To learn more about Dr. Jones-Bailey and Buckhead Functional Medicine, visit https://www.buckheadfunctionalmedicine.com/ 

 

By Dr. Alice Honican, ND, Bio-Energetic Practitioner, Licensed Acupuncturist

 

Some people are able to bounce back quickly from Covid-19, but many others are experiencing ongoing symptoms, even several months or years after they first tested positive for the virus. Here at Longevity, not a day goes by that we don’t hear from or meet with a patient who is dealing with long-term issues after a Covid infection. 

Post-Covid conditions are referred to by many names, such as Post-Covid Conditions, Post Acute Covid, Chronic Covid, and Long Covid. Some of the most common issues include chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia, endocrine dysfunction, brain fog, and hair loss. 

Covid-19 may be a relatively new virus, but post-viral syndromes are nothing new. Dr. Anderson and I, along with our team of Bioenergetic Practitioners, have been treating these types of chronic infections our entire careers. 

 

If you or a loved one  are navigating Long Covid, here are five things you may not know, and some holistic solutions to restore your vitality and quality of life soon. 

 

  1. Long Covid symptoms can be due to the reactivation of other dormant viruses in the system. 

All of us have dormant viruses in our system. The most common include those in the Herpes family, such as shingles, Simplex I (fever blisters), Epstein Barr/Mono, and Cytomegalovirus. These common infections are reactivated by stress, and bring their own set of symptoms, such as painful rashes, cold sores, and extreme fatigue. Over the last couple years, we’ve observed that many of our patients are dealing with the symptoms of these reactivated viruses long after they fight off Covid. 

 

  1. Covid takes a massive toll on cellular function. 

Covid infections are extremely damaging to the mitochondria, or powerhouse of the cells. Decreased mitochondrial function means less cellular energy, resulting in overall fatigue, muscle weakness, and brain fog. The best way to combat cellular damage and restore healthy function is with high-powered antioxidants, such as Vitamins C, E, Selenium, Manganese, Glutathione, COQ10, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, and Zinc. We can assess cellular function and pinpoint specific antioxidant deficiencies in your system so you can restore balance and get your energy back! 

 

  1. Long Covid targets the systems of the body that are already most compromised. 

We’ve noticed that the Covid-19 virus seems to impact people where they are weakest. If they had pre-existing endocrine issues, Covid may impact their thyroid, causing long-term hair loss, low energy, or metabolism issues. If they were already at risk or dealing with cardiovascular dysfunction, they may experience hypertension or blood clotting after a Covid infection. 

 

  1. Detoxification is your secret weapon! 

We’ve seen time and again that supporting the detoxification process is key in helping people suffering with Long Covid to feel better faster. We use homeopathic and herbal remedies that help open up the lymphatic system, liver, and kidneys, so the body can eliminate toxins more efficiently. Acupuncture can help open up all the energy channels in the body, which is imperative for the elimination of toxins. This sets the stage for the body to repair and maintain its own health. Our Supporting Therapies are a game changer for many people, as well. Lymphatic Therapy and HOCATT are particularly beneficial in speeding up the detoxification and healing process. 

 

  1. There is no one-size fits all approach to recovering from Long Covid.

Here at Longevity, we know that each person’s health picture is unique, and we’ve always treated each of our patients as an individual. A holistic approach to Long Covid is aimed at lowering the viral load, reducing the overall toxic burden, assessing specific nutritional deficiencies, and eliminating inflammatory foods and other problematic factors in the patient’s environment. 

 

If you are suffering with acute or Long Covid, our team is here to help, with a customized plan specific to your needs. We can get to the root of the issues you’re experiencing and rebuild your immune system with our holistic treatments, products, and detoxifying therapies. Give us a call today, and get your energy, vitality, and hope back!