When I was younger, the problems I had were so much different from the ones I have now.
Now that I’m older, I wonder why I get headaches in the afternoon for no reason at all, and they last until I fall asleep. I have this leg pain I only feel when I’m lying down at night.
As soon as I wake up I feel lethargic, depressed and anxious.
I can’t seem to lose any weight despite attempts at dieting and working out.
While most of us attribute these frustrations to growing old, many times it’s all about our hormones and there is hope for us after all.
Men and women with testosterone deficiency may have a hard time losing weight despite hitting the gym everyday.
If you are often tired and lethargic, it could be the result of thyroid problems. If you have headaches in the afternoon, it could be your cortisol levels.
An excess of estrogen and a cortisol deficiency in men and women could result in grumpiness. For males, a drop in virility could be the result of deficiencies in zinc and testosterone.
Most doctors would also tell us we don’t really need to take vitamins, as long as we have a good diet. But how many of us really have the time to eat a good diet?
For instance, a very common deficiency in the different types of vitamin B can predispose one to depression.
I feel very fortunate to have met Dr. Cenia Lucas-Acevedo recently at a lunch. I feel like I was meant to meet her, hear and share her story, how she discovered Health Optimization Medicine (HOMe) when she started having problems with her son.
Health Optimization Medicine is a relatively young branch of medicine that measures borderline deficiencies and subtle toxicities for a customized approach to optimal health via vitamins, supplements and hormones.
Several years ago, Dr. Cenia and her husband Eugene noticed their eldest son becoming difficult. He was hoarding empty bottles for no reason and refused to go to school. Before these episodes, her son was an honor student. He became combative against his parents.
Dr. Cenia and her husband Eugene brought their son to several doctors here and abroad. He was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and prescribed with medication which didn’t work.
“He was over 200 lbs. and had acne all over his face. He dropped out of school, too,” said Eugene, a bank executive.
Dr. Cenia blamed herself. Her husband sort of blamed her, too, and their marriage became strained.
Dr. Cenia recalls, when she was pregnant with their son, she was a resident-physician at a very busy government hospital along Taft Ave. She kept long hours and was only given a short leave after she gave birth. She left their son in the care of a nanny. She was unable to breastfeed her firstborn as long as she would have wanted.
Looking back, Dr. Cenia realizes it was a combination of factors that might have caused their son’s problems. She remembers giving him a lot of dairy as he loved milk and cheese.
“Too much milk and dairy products may have inflamed his gut which resulted in poor absorption. Naturally, the other nutrients were not properly absorbed which resulted in my son unable to produce the healthy brain cells and hormones to make him an emotionally and psychologically well balanced teenager.”
Too much stress during her pregnancy, Dr. Cenia thinks, may have permanently altered the fetus’ response to it later in life.
She learned about nutritional medicine and hormonal balancing from another mother whose child was in a similar situation. Being a doctor, Dr. Cenia was skeptical at first but she also realized it was her only option at that time.
She was certified in Belgium for Anti-Aging Medicine and Nutritional Medicine, both With Distinction, and trained under the mentorship of Dr. Theodore Achacoso, the creator of Health Optimization Medicine. She is one of only five certified Filipino doctors, currently practicing in the Philippines.
Dr. Cenia’s son is probably his mother’s first success story. He is now down to his original weight of 130 lbs. and is a happy and well-adjusted 22-year-old studying at the University of the Philippines in Diliman where he is a University Scholar.
As Dr. Cenia explained it, conventional medical tests may not be able to detect anything wrong at an early stage and without correction, the metabolism’s ability to compensate is weakened and symptoms of illness may start appearing.
“With HOMe, the correction of what’s ailing the patient goes beyond the organ level where conventional medicine usually focuses. We complement traditional medicine by working at the cellular level,” she added.
For instance, during an active illness, HOMe takes care of the healthy cells and helps the sick cells recover faster while the patient is on prescription medication.
HOMe is not out to replace conventional medicine, which has made people live longer and greatly reduced deaths due to infection and trauma.
“However, chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, hypertension and heart problems are on the rise despite people living longer. These diseases have resulted in a poorer quality of life for many. Health span has to catch up with life span and HOMe may be able to help people achieve this,” said Dr. Cenia.
Every HOMe diagnosis and program is customized for each patient. A patient has to undergo a series of consultations, biochemical/hormonal and toxin blood tests and evaluation of results. Deficiencies are corrected through measured supplementation of nutrients and/or hormones.
Dr. Cenia’s patients include those who are health-conscious and want to improve their health further; those who don’t want conventional medicine or therapies; those who want to continue but reduce their use of conventional medicines; those taking care of a very precious sick family member and for whom conventional medicine hasn’t seemed to help, and those suffering from serious illnesses like cancer
and want to consider additional supportive therapy other than conventional ones.
She also has patients seeing her for depression, autism and other mental problems. She creates customized prenatal care and supportive care for infertility cases, to complement her conventional training as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
The age range of patients can be anywhere from five to 90, male and female. This is because anyone can potentially have borderline deficiencies and toxicities.
Dr. Cenia currently does home/office visits, and will continue to offer this option (even when her Vivacite clinic opens later this year) to clients who value their times and privacy.
Personal assessments are done by appointment, which would run for at least one hour.
Interested parties may call 423-57302 or (0920) 823-8976 or email clacevedopracto@gmail.com. Contact details may change anytime and will be advised.
Replies can be expected within an hour (from 9 AM-6 PM, Mondays to Saturdays).