Total cost for an average patient is $2500 per year
With increasing research, medicine is coming to understand the role that chemicals, inflammation and decreased or imbalanced hormonal levels can play in a number of disease states and aging.
An educated assessment of the client's individual issues and needs can result in significant improvements in problems with aging, PMS, menopause and peri-menopause, andropause, weight management and overall health. For many, this can be accomplished through individually tailored nutritional and lifestyle changes, prescription-grade nutritional supplements and customized endocrine or hormonal support, with a goal toward a rational, evidence-based plan for long term health.
Let us help you design a proactive plan to optimize your health and minimize the impact of aging. Traditional medicine does well in helping patients treat an acute injury or illness, but the goal is merely to address diseases as they arise and attempt to minimize their consequences. Integrative medicine says this isn't enough - its aim is for you to wake up every morning feeling healthy, happy, and motivated to experience the day to its fullest. Dr. Gelber can help you design a proactive plan to optimize your health and minimize the impact of aging. To this end integrative medicine takes a more holistic approach, in which the patient takes primary charge of their health, with the goal of achieving optimal inner and outer wellness, both for today and the long term.
True fixes to long-term problems can't be resolved in a five-minute visit and a quickly scribbled prescription. Issues which have developed over months, years or even decades take time to evaluate and require gradual changes to fix. To ultimately evoke change, a far more detailed assessment of why you are experiencing problems must be made, instead of just an approach where the physician tries to find what they can do to mask your symptoms for the short term. However, as you come to understand your body better, you can take control of your own health in a way you never imagined.
Many things that you, or even your doctor, may have written off as 'you're just getting older', including depression, chronic pain or anxiety which you have been told can only be covered up with drugs, are often quite reversible if you are willing to take the time to identify the underlying causes and address them. These can include a wide range of issues including inflammatory and degenerative problems with arthritis, food and chemical sensitivities, chronic problems with mood, libido, and metabolism. Many diseases that you may have resigned yourself to, such as hypertension, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel may be mitigated or even eliminated if you and Dr. Gelber work together.
There is no one solution to these problems. Changes will come through modification of diet, nutrients, exercise, stress and sleep management. Diaries of your symptoms, diet, stressors and other contributing factors will help us together learn more about how your body responds to your environment. Comprehensive history, physical examination and laboratory assessment, including hormonal assays, metabolic evaluations of inflammation, lipids and nutrients, and even evaluation of sensitivities and toxic burdens will teach us even more about what can be done to optimize your health.
With this information, Dr. Gelber can help you make very personal changes based on your goals and needs. For some patients, this may include treatment with oral or intravenous supplements to boost your own flagging metabolism or hormone production. For other patients who choose, it may involve replacement with bioidentical hormones those chemicals that your body requires for your best well-being.
For many, the words 'hormone replacement' are pretty scary. After all the contradictory information over the last few decades regarding what is 'right' when it comes to putting pharmaceutical hormones in our bodies, it isn't surprising that many are leery of these substances.
Pharmaceutical hormones are modified hormones, changed from the natural form so that they can be patented and sold. They are different from bioidentical or natural hormones, which cannot be patented, in the same way that commercially patented trans-fats are different from the fat you might consume in a wild salmon you caught on a fishing trip in clean waters off of Alaska. Both are fat, but most of us would agree that they don't have the same effects on your body.
Only through testing and evaluation will Dr. Gelber be able to determine which combination of strategies might be most helpful for you. After education and discussion, you can decide which paths you want to take to find your way to your best health.
The total cost of an anti-aging program will vary from person to person. The expenses come from three areas: physician fees, costs of medication, and lab testing fees.
Physician fees: The fee for an initial evaluation and workup is $500. Subsequent visits are $250. Most patients will need to be seen four times per year. Office visits are much longer and more comprehensive than what you are used to. Most insurance companies do not cover anti-aging plans, so you'll need to pay at the time of the visit. We are happy to provide any documentation you need to get your insurance company to reimburse you.
Medication costs: Depending on the complexity of your issue, medication costs range from several hundred dollars per year to several thousand. Dr. Gelber will write you prescriptions, which you can fill at any pharmacy you choose. Your insurance company may or may not cover the costs.
Laboratory testing fees: Lab testing is typically performed four times per year. If you have a PPO or PPS insurance plan (not an HMO or Medicare), we can take samples at our office and send them to Biophysical for a very comprehensive analysis; the copay is about $200. If you have to pay out of pocket, the testing will cost around $500 and will be less comprehensive, unless you want to pay more for larger panels.
The total cost for an average patient is $2500 per year, but as you can see the cost of the biggest component, lab testing, is out of our control and will vary widely depending on your insurance situation.
We do give a 10% discount on any aesthetic services to patients who are enrolled in our anti-aging program.
