|
Vladimir Turovsky learned his craft working with Russian ballet dancers and weight
lifters.
As a sports therapist and rehabilitation specialist with the
Moscow Bodybuilding Federation, Turovsky helped world-class
athletes recover from injuries and regain their peak condition.
Before that, he worked with ballet dancers and athletes at the
Moscow Institute of Orthopedics.
In 1993, Turovsky migrated to the US and completed his education
by earning a degree in Oriental medicine. These twin influences—Oriental
medicine and traditional therapy and nutrition—form the
foundation of his clinical practice at the Center of Integrative
Medicine in Sunny Isles, Florida.
A Personalized, Integrative Approach
At his clinic, Turovsky
sees patients with a wide range of disorders, ranging from chronic
pain caused by debilitating diseases to joint ailments, muscle
injuries, and obesity.
No matter the problem, Turovsky works closely with his patients
to design a highly personal protocol. His patients get the kind
of attention rarely seen today in doctors’ offices, where
most patients are lucky to get 10 minutes and a standard, one-size-fits-all
prescription.
Instead, Turovsky’s practice incorporates the best of
medical traditions from around the world, relying on supplementation,
massage, acupuncture, strength training, nutrition counseling,
and even traditional Western medicine. His goal is to heal people
instead of fixing problems, and to treat diseases instead of
symptoms.
This was the case for one recent patient, a 34-year-old woman
suffering from obesity. As with so many patients, obesity was
not her only problem, accompanied as it was by fatigue, sleeping
problems, and various other health issues.
Turovsky began her therapy the way he begins treatment for
all of his patients: by sitting with her for more than an hour
and discussing her lifestyle, diet, medical background, and
even her personal goals.
“It’s very in-depth,” he says of this initial
meeting. “If somebody comes in with back pain, we’re
going to talk about sleep, nutritional habits, relationships,
and stress. It all matters.”
In this case, the patient reported that her physical problems
were due to her stressful lifestyle. A harried single mother
as well as owner of a successful business, she was overweight,
a condition that had contributed to the development of hypoglycemia,
hypothyroidism, and moderate depression.
Turovsky wanted to make sure she improved in all areas, addressing
not only her need to lose weight but also her emotional health
and other chronic conditions. He recommended weekly acupuncture
sessions, a modified diet, behavioral and cognitive counseling,
exercise, and a comprehensive vitamin and supplement regimen.
She was to take 300 mg of St. John’s wort three times
a day, 250 ml of chamomile decoction (extract by boiling) twice
a day, 500 mg of 5-HTP (a naturally derived amino acid) before
dinner, 500 mg of L-carnitine twice a day, and a vitamin-B complex
twice a day.
The prescription worked: six weeks later, she reported a dramatic
increase in energy, greater control over her diet, improved
sleep, and a healthy, stable weight loss of nine pounds.
Combining Alternative and Traditional Medicine
This personal,
integrative approach is typical in Turovsky’s
clinic. He believes the body is a series of interrelated systems
with physical, mental, and emotional components. This is why
Turovsky frequently provides counseling for his patients along
with their other therapies. He even sometimes sends his patients
to conventional physicians for emergency medical intervention.
“My treatment is custom-made from all the components
that are available: acupuncture, massage, nutritional supplements,
dietary therapy,” Turovsky says. “If there is a
need, I will send them for evaluation and treatment with a conventional
doctor.”
Turovsky’s attitude toward medicine was influenced strongly
by his experience in Russia, where he was classically trained
in rehabilitation, nutrition, and therapy at the Moscow-based
All-Russia Research Institute for Physical Culture and Sports
and at the Moscow Medical School.
In Russia, both alternative and traditional medical doctors
must go to medical school, and supplementation with vitamins
and herbs is widely accepted. Conventional doctors frequently
work in tightly knit teams with physicians who would be described
as “alternative” in the US.
“We do not juxtapose holistic medicine with traditional
medicine,” Turovsky says. “Integrative medicine
means there are a variety of approaches, anything from acupuncture,
massage and herbs to physical therapy, medication, and modern
diagnostic methods.”
In Russia, physicians who are trained in the unique properties
of natural medicines and herbs dispense them through special
pharmacies. “The difference in Russia is that we did not
have as many supplements available as in the US,” Turovsky
says.
Turovsky says that despite the lack of access to some supplements,
Russian medicine was ahead of its Western counterpart in some
areas, especially in its use of “adaptagenic” herbs.
Here in the US, he still uses adaptagenic herbs in his practice,
including Siberian ginseng, Chinese magnolia, and rhodiola.
Siberian ginseng and Chinese magnolia are making inroads in
the US, though rhodiola remains virtually unknown.
“These adaptagenic herbs promote adaptation to stress,” Turovsky
says. “They facilitate recuperation and healing, negating
outside stress and allowing for enhanced performance.”
Besides nutrition, Turovsky also turns to acupuncture to treat
a wide variety of conditions. “In the US, acupuncture
is viewed as a pain management tool,” he says. “However,
Oriental medicine is a complete medicine. It uses herbs, massage,
exercise, and nutrition in addition to acupuncture, and can
be used in any medical condition.”
Acupuncture works especially well with functionality issues
such as mental stress, sleep disorders, headaches and other
types of pain, and sexual dysfunction.
Personal Regimen: Exercise, Diet, and Supplements
Turovsky practices
what he preaches. At 36, he is a dedicated athlete who follows
a careful regimen of exercise training, diet, and supplementation.
His personal vitamin and herbal regimen is designed to maintain
endurance and strength while helping muscles recover from stressful
workouts.
In the morning, he drinks 100 ml of organic aloe juice, and
later in the day a mix of 50 grams of whey protein and 5 grams
of creatine. A half-hour before working out, he takes 500 mg
of branch-chain amino acids, 1000 mg of conjugated linoleic
acid, and 250 mg of alpha lipoic acid.
These supplements help sustain him throughout a demanding
workout. Afterwards, he takes 500 mg each of taurine and glutamine
to promote recovery, along with 1000 mg of vitamin C and 1200
mg of omega-3 fatty acids as antioxidants. In the evening, he
takes 300 mg of tribulus and ZMA (zinc-magnesium aspartate)
to promote testosterone release.
An expert in nutrition, Turovsky stresses that people who
are interested in dietary supplements should consult a knowledgeable
professional before beginning a supplementation protocol so
as to obtain the maximum benefit as well as safe, effective
products. Or they can consult a comprehensive, credible resource
such as the Life Extension Foundation’s Disease Treatment
and Protocol book.
The goal should be to create a therapy that addresses all
of your needs and promotes total health and longevity.
“Often patients with back pain might want some needles
in their back and off they go, substituting acupuncture for
medications,” Turovsky says. “But symptoms like
back pain are just manifestations. If you treat just the symptom,
you end up pushing the disease deeper. The principle is that
you treat the disease itself. You treat the patient with the
problem, not the problem with the patient.”
Fortunately, integrative medicine is more accepted now than
it was in 1993, when Turovsky moved to the US. Since then, he
has witnessed a revolution in patient-driven health care, with
more and more patients seeking to incorporate alternative medicine
in their lives.
This revolution has been driven at least in part by organizations
such as the Life Extension Foundation, which makes comprehensive,
scientifically validated health care information available to
consumers. Turovsky himself relies on Life Extension magazine
and displays it in his waiting room.
Even with modern progress, however, Turovsky still sees room
for improvement.
“Certainly, I would say that various alternative therapies
are much more popular than they used to be, but I don’t
know if they have more acceptance in the Western medical community,” he
said. “They’re more popular with patients.” |