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Medford doctor�s �functional medicine� calling for a careful diet, exercise and stress reduction helps Jackson County�s senior citizens put ... Aging on hold By JOHN DARLING We all have to grow old, but Medford Dr. Helen Trew believes aging is optional. A family practitioner for 25 years, Trew in 1996 departed from the norm of treating symptoms with drugs and surgery and two years later became among the first physicians in Oregon to be certified in the new field of anti-aging medicine. It may be a new field for doctors, but the philosophy of anti-aging medicine is crammed with common-sense advice we�ve heard all our lives: Eat your vegetables, exercise, reduce stress and go easy on red meat, sweets, coffee and alcohol. The typical Trew exam and treatment might include lab tests on bodily fluids to pinpoint deficiencies and disease; cleansing of liver and intestines with a special diet; vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements; and recommended exercise, even if it�s just daily walks. This approach, called "functional medicine," treats causes of disease, rather than its symptoms � and focuses on maintaining overall health through nutrition, said Trew, who was certified with the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. "I don�t knock mainstream medicine. It�s still my basis, but it wasn�t getting me the results of patients feeling better. I wasn�t satisfied," she said. Pharmaceutical drugs and surgery can�t fix most of what�s wrong with Americans� health today, she said � sedentary lifestyles and diets dosed with refined carbohydrates, sugars, fats, antibiotics, hormones and pesticides. "It�s the same diet, seriously, that we feed cattle in a feed lot," she said. "We�re fooling our bodies with all these foreign molecules and putting our livers under horrendous stress. "Much of what we call aging is the progressive degeneration of the body under these stresses. But until you feel sick, you don�t pay attention to it." As a result of modern foods, it�s common for patients to have "leaky gut," a condition in which the intestine allows food to pass between cells and through its walls instead of being absorbed as nutrients, Trew said. For this, she often puts patients on a three- to four-month cleansing diet that excludes red meat, wheat (the source of many allergies), dairy products, eggs, shellfish and, of course, junk foods and sweets. Patients are allowed to eat poultry, fish, whole grains (except wheat), garlic (a natural antibiotic), lots of organic vegetables and fruit and supplements. Functional medicine works well in treatment of arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, allergies, migraines, nervous disorders, depression, insomnia, hypertension, fibromyalgia and most conditions whose symptoms are pain and fatigue, Trew said. KCMX-AM talk show host Garth Harrington said Trew has helped him counter leaky gut and "the normal aches and pains" of aging by getting his body in balance. Fibromyalgia sufferer Kay Gideon, Medford, a 10-year Trew patient, said at least half her pain went away when Trew began treating her with functional medicine methods. "It�s made a huge difference in my quality of life," she said. "I feel much better all around." Michelle Pillon, Medford, said persistent rashes cleared up when Trew took her off wheat. "It�s hard to convince people there�s no magic pill for their diseases," Pillon said. "The ailments didn�t start overnight and it also takes time to get back into balance. But it�s important to find these things before they develop into disease." An initial consultation with Trew is free. The first visit, which costs $150, involves an hour-and-a-half physical that includes a "bio-energetic" computer screening that displays diagnostic graphs when "acu-points" and meridians are touched with sensors, said Trew�s assistant, Dr. Olga Heiss, a Russian cardiologist who operates the system. The machines determine, among other things, energy levels of tissues and organs, areas of stress and possible allergies. Return visits average $65. Trew departs from traditional medicine in another big way: She doesn�t take medical insurance Patients pay for the service when they get it. They may bill their own insurer, but Trew cautions companies won�t cover most of her services. "It takes more time and work to educate people about health than to talk to them for three minutes and give them a pill. Insurers won�t reimburse me for it," she said. "But my patients know what they�re getting into and are happy to pay. It�s a partnership and the physician is a teacher who gives you the tools to heal yourself." On the net: www.htrew.com and www.gsdl.com/gsdl/functional_med.html . Trew can be reached at 770-1143. Her office is at 2921 Doctors Park Drive, Medford. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. 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