NOVEMBER 2016 MIAMI for web

COVER STORY
WE ARE CHANGING
THE FACE OF HEALTHCARE
An interview with
DR. RUBEN
VALDES, DC
The world of medicine is experiencing
a cataclysmic paradigm shift and Dr.
Ruben Valdes, director of Integrated
Health Center of Miami, is at the
forefront of this NEW approach in Healthcare
called Functional Medicine.
Hailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where
he had a successful practice for many years,
Dr. Valdes completed his undergraduate
studies in Miami and then went on to earn his
doctorate degree from Palmer College. He has
completed extensive post-doctoral training in
functional medicine and functional nutrition.
As a child, Dr. Valdes suffered from severe
blood sugar issues, requiring 3 major longterm
hospitalizations and setting the stage
for his enormous drive and passion to find a
real solution for the spectrum of blood sugar
disorders. His determination to help people
who suffered from Type 2 Diabetes, led Dr.
Valdes to open Integrated Health Center of
Miami in March 2015 to help patients learn
how they could reverse this possibly fatal
condition. IHCMiami focuses on working with
individuals who suffer from Type 2 Diabetes
as well as Hypothyroidism (low thyroid).
Using the Functional Medicine model,
IHCMiami’s mission is to uncover and correct
the underlying mechanisms of their patients’
condition.
According to Dr. Valdes, the plagues of the
21st century, the wave of illnesses that are
now destroying our population, are much
different than those of the previous century.
We are in the era of chronic illnesses.
Diabetes, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s,
Dementia, and Cancer are among some of
the illnesses with which we are confronted
with more often than we would like. Sadly,
these chronic diseases do not respond well
to long-term conventional management with
the “Silver Bullet” approach used to treat
infectious and other acute diseases.
“By the time a patient has developed a
“disease”, and they have been given a label
and have symptoms, there has already been
underlying mechanisms in that patient for
16 / HEALTHY MIAMI
"One of the initial steps in a functional
medicine model is testing the patient
thoroughly. Detailed findings are then
used to customize a plan for patients
based on underlying root causes."
years before
the disease
has ever
surfaced,” says
Valdes. Unfortunately, most chronic illness
treatments are designed to address the
disease and its symptoms, rather than treat
the root causes.
This is where Functional Medicine shines. One
of the initial steps in a functional medicine
model is testing the patient thoroughly.
Detailed findings are then used to customize
a plan for patients based on underlying root
causes. IHCMiami’s success lies in looking
beyond the label of a patient’s disease to
uncover WHY a person is no longer able to
regulate their blood sugar. This is done by
uncovering hormonal imbalances, organ
dysfunction, nutritional deficiencies, etc. that
are associated with the condition.
“We test blood, stool, saliva; we will do
immune testing, DNA Testing, heavy metal
testing, toxicity testing, anything we need to
look at to understand where this patient’s
physiology is breaking down, resulting in the
disease with which they have been labeled,”
says Valdes. In fact, testing, testing and more
testing before the onset of symptoms is the
key to stay in top condition.
This approach is now sweeping the Nation's
outlook on chronic disease and has even been
added to the list of services at prestigious
institutions such as The Cleveland Clinic in
Ohio.
Dr. Valdes’ practice in Miami is a beacon of
hope for individuals suffering from chronic
diseases. Offering hope with integrity is his
commitment to the population afflicted with
chronic illness.
“It is exciting to see patients’ recover their
health by reversing chronic conditions.” says
Valdes. IHCMiami aims to be very accessible
to their patients and available to answer their
questions through email, cell phone, text, etc.
They can be confident that they will dedicate
TIME to them in understanding their specific
clinical presentation, frustrations and major
health concerns. Dr. Valdes knows the urgency
of their conditions. For this reason the clinic
keeps a couple of available spaces weekly
for highly motivated patients that want to
find a solution and a way out of their current
situation. They strongly believe that it doesn’t
make any sense to have a two-month wait for
a person that could die waiting.
“By the same token, we expect our patients
to be committed to their overall health and
well being; to follow the lifestyle and nutrition
changes we recommend and to have the
motivation to win back their life. Together, We
are changing the face of Healthcare.” Says Dr.
Valdes.
LATEST THOUGHTS ON DIABETES:
Lately, Dr. Valdes has been doing more
extensive research on the cause of Type 2
Diabetes. For years, doctors believed the
reason why individuals developed diabetes
and insulin resistance was primarily problems
at the receptor site for insulin. Through Dr.
Valdes’ studies, he has learned that, for most
of these patients, their receptors were not
only working perfectly fine, but also instilling
the proper intake of glucose into the cells by
passive transporters in the cell membrane.
Another interesting finding, is that a patients’
meal is only responsible for 15-30% of blood
sugar elevation. According to Valdes, much
of the sugar we see in the blood is actually
being made by the patient’s own body. And
the insulin does not have as an important
role in taking that sugar into the cells, as we
formerly believed it did in Type 2 Diabetics.
Giving these patients too much insulin might
actually be making things worse long term.
For more information on Integrated Health
Center of Miami, please visit
www.ihcmiami.com or call 786.801.3977.
By Ava Mallory