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Interview with Cathleen London, M.D. |
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| COVER STORY
by Lyle Hurd, editor of totalhealth
Cathleen London, M.D.
 Cathleen London, M.D., is on the clinical faculty
of Boston University and Tufts University
School of Medicine. She is a graduate of Yale
University School of Medicine and Brown University.
Dr. London is a board certified Family Medicine
Physician. As such, her practice encompasses the
entire family, including all ages, both sexes, and any
health problems that may arise. Family Medicine is
the only specialty that required board recertification
by written exam every seven years. As a result, many
believe that Family Physicians are best qualified to
serve as each patient’s advocate in health-related
matters, including use of consultants, health services,
and community resources.
Dr. London believes in a holistic, integrative
approach to health care. She utilizes a combination
of western medicine, allopathic medicine, diet and
lifestyle modification, and herbal medicine when
appropriate. She states, “I enjoy family medicine
because you treat the whole person. And it is more
open-minded about the alternatives.”
Her commitment to identifying and helping to
meet the evolving health care needs of our 21st century
society and environment pervade every facet of her
lifestyle. Whether it is in treating a patient or family,
acting as an advocate for children’s rights to healthy
food in school, attending and lecturing at medical or nutritional conferences, or designing
studies to determine the medical benefits
of condition-specific nutritional
ingredients in preventing or treating
disease, she is helping to shape the
future of health care.
Recently, Dr. London also earned
the moniker, “Rock Doc,” after traveling
with band members during part
of the Loggins and Messina reunion
tour. Her involvement began when
a member of the tour consulted her
about his supplement routine. “When
musicians are on tour, it is hard to
fine tune their supplement regimen
because the effects aren’t quite as dramatic
as prescription medications,”
she says. After agreeing to travel with
the band, she wound up caring for the
entire crew, treating everything from
viruses to tendonitis.
th: Dr. London after hearing you
speak a number of times and your
having contributed a few articles to
totalhealth magazine, it is a pleasure
to have the opportunity to interview
you.
Dr. L: Thank you.
th: I understand you have been interested in medicine
from the time you were a small child. However you
did not enter medical school until you were 29. Do
you find having had a career before making your commitment
to medicine has been an asset in relating to
the needs of your patients?
Dr. L: Definitely. I really think at least a year or two of
experience outside the academic environment can be
invaluable to anyone dedicated to pursuing a medical
career. There is no question when you have had
a variety of real-life experiences over the period of a
few years it gives you a broader perspective in understanding
the needs and circumstances of individuals
who come from diverse walks of life. Going directly
from high school to college, then premed then med
school and a residency, you don’t really have much
contact with individuals and families from other walks
of life. While the reality is that your patients aren’t
going to fit the mold of hybrid textbook, lab and classroom
situations. You need to be able to communicate
with them on their level to understand what makes
them tick.
For me, in particular the experience of those
nine years not only confirmed my commitment to
becoming a physician; it motivated me to specialize
in the field of family medicine. Somehow it never made sense that you would split the body—that you would
only concentrate on one aspect. It always seemed a myopic
point of view. Everything is connected with the ultimate being
the mind/body connection. I always stress that there are four
major ingredients of our heal
th: your physical health, your
mental health, your emotional health, and your spiritual health.
They are interconnected and unless you address all four, you
end up with disease.
th: I notice you didn’t mention diet and nutrition. Do you
consider these as an integral aspect of physical health?
Dr. L: Certainly. Diet and nutrition, as well as exercise, are all
part of what I refer to as physical health.
I grew up in a household where both my mother and grandmother
espoused the benefits of diet and nutrition, including
supplementation. My grandmother read Adelle Davis and lined
up the vitamin bottles. As a youngster, I was almost concentration
camp skinny and can remember them feeding me tonics to
make me hungry, and lots of vitamins to keep me healthy.
th: Do you find that many of your peers really don’t understand
that the mind/body connection is such an important part of
what determines the state of the patient’s health?
Dr. L: I get both. Some think it is really a good idea but don’t
get it so they don’t examine it. What really concerns me is that
while they realize the potential value of supplementation, they
continue to tell patients, “You really get all the vitamins you
need in your produce,“ rather than encourage the patient to
learn more about this incredibly important aspect of establishing
and maintaining optimum health.
Being involved with a medical school facility, we have first,
second and third year medical students rotate through our
office. In the first year, they are taking biochemistry, which is
really dry, but I get to bring them alive, which is really fun. To
me it is a terrific opportunity to introduce them to nutrition
and supplementation. For instance, omega-3 fatty acids. Every
cell in your body needs them; it’s in the membranes. We learn
this as part of both bio and organic chemistry. Yet when I talk
to people about supplementing with it for depression or other
situations, they will look at me like I am a martian.
th: However, as an integrative physician you would also use
antidepressive drugs when needed.
Dr. L: Absolutely, particularly with the millions of women who
suffer from postpartum depression. A great part of the problems
affecting these women may be caused by severe nutritional
deficits that, unfortunately, you can’t fix it over night.
So what I often do is start a patient on the nutrients they are
lacking and an antidepressant at the same time to give them
some immediate relief, and six months or so later wean them
off of the drugs.
Also, with pharmaceutical drugs creating such an extraordinary
burden on the cost of health care, think of the billions
of dollars that could be saved if at the same time you started
the drug treatment you begin a supplement protocol. While
there may be an additional expenditure in the beginning, once
the problem has been stabilized or reversed, then you can
eliminate the drugs rather than depend on them for the rest
of your life.
th: In our opinion, one of the most exciting advances in the
area of integrative and alternative medicine over the past few
years has been the recognition of research- proven, condition-specific
nutrition as an imperative to preventing or prolonging
the onset, and as therapy and co-therapy for a multitude of disease
conditions. And without the debilitating or life threatening
side effects of many classes of prescription drugs.
Dr. L: I heartily agree. There is no question condition-specific
and immune system potentiating nutritional supplementation
may literally offer the answer to our burgeoning health care
dilemma. If we can keep people well and confront disease with
non-invasive, prescription free protocols, it is a win/win situation
for the individuals, the medical practitioner, and, certainly,
the economy.
th: Please give us an example of two diverse nutritional
supplements you utilize in your practice.
Dr. L: Certainly. Let’s talk Suntheanine L-theanine for stress
symptom-related to PMS and other conditions, and Perfusia-
SR (sustained release) L-arginine for cardiovascular disease.
Suntheanine L-theanine is the identical form of the amino
acid in green tea. This amino acid, a derivative of one of the
brain’s neurotransmitters, is best known for creating a sense
of relaxation by reducing stress and anxiety. It is so effective in
dealing with stress that the Japanese have added L-theanine to
more than 50 products, including beverages, ice cream, jelly
candy, and gum. When it comes to stress reduction, L-theanine
helps the brain switch to an alpha brain wave pattern. Alpha
waves signify an awake, alert and relaxed physical and mental
state of being without drowsiness. L-theanine’s ability to
reduce stress has been documented in numerous human studies,
which have shown an increase in alpha waves just 30 to 40
minutes after consuming 50–200 mg of a Suntheanine supplement.
Whenever the stress response can be reduced, the negative
effect of high cortisol levels is significantly lessened.
L-arginine is involved in many of our bodily symptoms: it
helps create proteins, helps our endocrine (glandular) system
function, revs up our immune system, and helps injuries heal.
If your body does not make enough L-arginine on its own—due
to lifestyle, genetics, or dietary issues—sexual dysfunction, and
even serious cardiovascular conditions, may result.
Clinical studies have shown that supplemental L-arginine
supports cardiovascular health. Perfusia-SR is a patented
sustained release L-arginine that has been shown to have dramatic
results on patients with heart disease. Another feature of
Perfusia-SR is that it is slowly released into the blood stream,
so it only needs to be taken twice daily for a 24-hour benefit.
th: Thank you for your time, Dr. London, and the articles on
Perfusia-SR L-arginine, and Suntheanine L-theanine in the
following pages.
Dr. L: You’re welcome.
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