Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

I continue to be blessed in that so many of my patients have good things to say about me and refer their friends and family to my practice. As I often say, I only do the job I was trained to do – but I do it with passion and dedication, and that probably adds a little something to my results and how people see me.

Still, these days many people find me through Internet searches. The internet has certainly changed the way in which people find services they need and make decisions about how to proceed. Once someone comes across my website, if they like what they read, they often pick up the phone and set up an appointment to see me.

In addition to helping people have access to services they are looking for, the internet also eliminated many traditional boundaries and even borders, so that someone who finds me via an internet search might just as well be across the country as here in Houston. Because of this, it has become commonplace for me to receive emails asking if I know a doctor who works like I do in this or that part of the country and sometimes even abroad.

Although I certainly have colleagues and friends to whom I would refer patients with no hesitation, we are talking about only a few who work like I do. It would be a rare coincidence for someone to ask me for a referral in an area where one of my professional friends live and work.

When I am asked if I offer long-distance consultations, my answer is always that I do offer them and that they can be just as effective as meeting in person. In fact, given the type of natural healthcare that I practice I can just as easily recommend a diet or supplement over the phone as I can in person, as long as I have enough time to gather the information I need about a person. I can also order many lab tests, if necessary, on a long-distance basis.

If you have questions or might be interested in setting up a phone appointment, please call my office at 713.529.5669 and my staff will be happy to answer your questions and help you set up an appointment.

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Contributed by Allison Medford Plesko
For those of you who may not know, I am the Neurofeedback technician here at Dr. Volpe’s office. It’s hard to believe that I have been here nearly three years. I am grateful to work with good people such as Diana and Dr. Volpe. I think my favorite aspect is getting to pick Dr. Volpe’s brain and take advantage of his vast wealth of medical knowledge, which I truly appreciate. While sustaining my initial roles working with the website and ordering supplements, throughout the years, my position has evolved to include Neurofeedback.

I used to be an elementary school teacher so, naturally, I love working with kids, especially through Neurofeedback. We have seen some amazing results in the years we have offered this therapy. I also have two boys of my own who benefited from it – so, speaking as a parent, I have also seen many positive outcomes.

I am pleased to announce that I have recently completed my Massage Therapy degree. Additionally, I will be completing my CranioSacral certification from the Upledger Institute this March and will begin practicing this therapy on a limited basis while continuing to fulfill my current duties at Dr. Volpe’s office, including Neurofeedback. Watch for an update in a future newsletter as I start to offer CranioSacral therapy.

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Call 713.529.5669 now and receive the following discounts:

20% on all Hyperbaric, Neurofeedback and AIT treatment packages

10% on all supplements purchased at our office or online with a coupon code delivered to newsletter subscribers. To subscribe, click here.

Valid through December 31, 2011

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As of last month my office no longer closes for lunch. We now have continuous hours from 9 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Thursday and from 9 am to 12:30 pm on Friday. If you’d like to stop by on your lunch break to pick up supplements or for any other reason please do so.

Allison Medford-Plesko has now worked in my practice for more than a year. During this time she has steadily acquired new knowledge and skills, and taken on more responsibility. She now operates my new state-of-the-art neurofeedback equipment and has become the neurofeedback expert in my office. If you have any questions about it or wonder if it could help you or your child do not hesitate to call her or email her at drvolpe@sbcglobal.net with your questions.

Allison has been implementing a gluten- and casein-free diet for her two boys over the last
several years even as they have attended mainstream school, have normal social lives, and are happy, well-adjusted children. She can be a great resource to other parents attempting to implement any restricted diet for their children and is happy to share her experience and knowledge.

Allison is also in charge of supplement inventory, ordering, and writing descriptions of each supplement for my website. She has become very knowledgeable in this area as well so if you have a question you don’t feel is sufficiently complex to make an appointment with me feel free to direct it to her.

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As a nutritionist I am very aware that some in my profession have a bad reputation for putting people on a long list of supplements that do little or no good. Whenever feasible, I always look for the smallest number of supplements that will do the job. Here are six supplements that I have found to be particularly effective either on their own or when taken with just a few other products.

If you like this article, post a comment below or email me and next month I’ll cover a few more of these supplements. There are probably a dozen more that could fit in this category.

1. BioEssence: immune system support
This was the first Chinese herbal combination I started to use in my practice based on the recommendation of a friend from Tennessee, Dr. Dan Kalb, who used to head the Family Practice department at St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston. It turned out to be incredibly effective for everything connected with the immune system. This includes rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gout, skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis, not to mention allergies and asthma.

What amazed me the most about this herbal combination is that it does not work by suppressing the immune system, like western drugs for these conditions do, and has few or no side effects. I will not claim that is works in every case, but it does often enough, and when it does the results can be almost miraculous and remarkably fast.

Results I saw with this product gave me the incentive I needed to study Chinese herbal medicine, and I am glad I embarked on this project because it is now enabling me to help many more people in ways I couldn’t do before.
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Tags: ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, Constipation, Depression, Health, Immune System, Insomnia, Mental Health, Viruses
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Whatever challenges we face, or whatever our personal goals, as we enter a new decade it is important to do so with the awareness that our mindset is often our biggest obstacle to success.
 
Established medicine has a tendency to issue verdicts:  autism is incurable; this individual has six months to live; and so on. While statistically these statements may have some validity, in individual cases they have none because miracles happen all the time.
 
Throughout my years of practice it has been my observation that “miracles” happen most often among those who believe they are possible, and who are prepared to pay the price. Drastic changes in diet and lifestyle are often needed, and still the outcome is rarely guaranteed.
 
I am attaching a link to a touching picture story about a mother who did not accept the idea that autism could not be cured, embarked on a mission to change the entire family’s lifestyle, and is now reaping the benefits.  Her way is not the only way, but it is her drive, belief and single-mindedness that are most inspiring about the story.  Here it is:
http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d5451794d4459324d44553d0d0a&blogview=true
 
Personal goals are a similar story.  It was believed that no human could run a mile in under 4 minutes until someone did so in the 1960′s, and then a number of athletes who had previously been unable to achieve it did so as well.
 
Early last year I decided to pursue an old dream of mine to run a marathon, though I had never been a runner. At first I injured myself repeatedly and several people told me that I was too old and this was a bad idea.  Then, I successfully ran the Houston Half Marathon this January and remained injury-free and ready to continue my marathon training. I was feeling proud of myself for achieving this at age 57 until I read the story of Fauja Singh, an Indian man living in England who started to run in his eighties. At 89 Mr. Singh ran his first marathon and at 92 he ran again, shaving more than an hour off his time. Today at 98 he continues to train. Everything is possible!

Tags: Autism, Health
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A survey published in the Journal of Internal Medicine (Jul 2001;16:451-459) reveals that most physicians are dissatisfied with various aspects of their work, including professional autonomy, leisure time available, time available with individual patients and income. When compared with a similar survey performed in 1986, these results show a sharp decline in job satisfaction among MDís.

In my work there is a great deal of job satisfaction, even though leisure time is clearly a problem. More and more MDís are making the switch to nutritional medicine because it gives them the tools to help people regain their health rather than just controlling their symptoms.

Tags: Health, Physicians and their Work
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It has not been long since the new COX-2 inhibitors (these include Vioxx and Celebrex) were promoted as miracle drugs that would cure the symptoms of arthritis with no side effects. Older anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had been associated with bleeding in the stomach and ulcers.
A review article recently published in JAMA (2001;286(8):954-9) analyzed the results from four major studies that included approximately 16,000 patients. In one study patients on the COX-2 inhibitor had more than double the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events than those on NSAIDs.

Another study did not confirm this finding, but in this case patients were taking a COX-2 inhibitor and aspirin at the same time. The authors assume that the aspirin may have had a cardio-protective effect for those patients while at the same increasing the risk of ulcers, the major benefit of COX-2 inhibitors.

When is this madness going to stop? There are many natural treatments for arthritis that are completely free of negative side effects. These include avoidance of allergic foods, glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin, MSM, the vitamin niacinamide, fish oil and various herbs, including Turmeric, Yucca and Boswellia.

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