A standing-room-only crowd packed the halls and treatment areas of the Loma Linda University Center for Health Promotion's pediatric wholistic medicine clinic during grand opening ceremonies the afternoon of Thursday, April 29. The Clinic is located at 24785 Stewart Street, in suite 111 of Evans Hall.
According to Pejman Katiraei, D.O., founder/director of the clinic, the crowd was estimated at between 200 and 300 people. The clinic was so crowded that it was difficult to navigate the hallways throughout the gala event. Dr. K, as his youthful patients call him, was delighted at the turnout.
In naming the clinic, Dr. Katiraei differentiated 'wholistic' from the more commonly used 'holistic,' to emphasize the whole-person care the clinic strives to provide.
Not only does the unique spelling of the clinic's name resonate with Loma Linda University's official motto, "to make man whole," it also harmonizes with the founding principles of Loma Linda University. Dr. Katiraei noted that Ellen G. White, a driving force behind the establishment of the university, wrote extensively on the importance of the mind-body connection, and advocated the use of natural remedies such as pure air, sunlight, avoiding harmful stimulants, rest, exercise, fresh water, and trust in divine power.
At the grand opening, Dr. Katiraei welcomed his guests and pointed out that you don't have to be a child to be a patient at the clinic. "Adults are welcome, too," he said.
The clinic offers a wide range of treatment options, which include diet, supplements, herbs, and other holistic treatments. "Holistic medicine is about bringing a different perspective to chronic disease," Dr. Katiraei said. "Western treatments and medications are very useful, but they are not the only ways to treat a chronic condition. Sometimes we find new answers by looking in different places. Unfortunately, right now, we believe that all the answers are within our field of view within the Western medical model. Holistic medicine is nothing more than a looking outside of the areas we are currently looking in."
Nevertheless, the clinic doesn't exclude Western medicine from its practice. Dr. Katireai observed that conventional diagnostic and treatment modalities--such as X-rays, laboratory tests, antibiotics, and medications-- are utilized by the clinic whenever those options afford the best opportunities for healing.
Some of the holistic practices offered at the clinic include acupuncture, biofeedback, herbal medicine, massage therapy, nutrition, and osteopathy. He cites irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disease commonly reported, as an example of how Eastern medicine can sometimes address conditions not always successfully treated with Western procedures.
"With irritable bowel syndrome, the current consensus is that there is 'nothing wrong,'" he said. "And certainly, when we use standard endoscopy and histology (using a microscope to look at the tissue in the gut), we do not see anything."
But, "it turns out that when you use electron microscopy to see the same tissue in patients with IBS, all of a sudden, you find many inflammatory cells."
Fortunately for the millions of individuals who suffer the symptoms of IBS--recurrent bouts of cramping, abdominal pain, bloating gas, diarrhea, and constipation--holistic medicine may be able to offer relief.
"This is holistic medicine in action!" Dr. Katiraei said. "Once we understand how things work, then we just find the best tools to fix what's wrong. For us in the pediatric wholistic medicine clinic, we have found that probiotics and certain herbs are a great way to calm down these mast cells [that cause IBS] and ultimately help heal IBS. Of course, the whole person is addressed, and we try to understand how the mind can influence the body, and try to address all other parts of the person to help bring about their healing.
"In the case of people with IBS," he said, "we teach them how stress can contribute to their disease, and how they can learn to control their stress. Too often, Western medicine is so focused on the physical and chemical effects of disease that it doesn't give enough credit to the mind and its role."
In addition to IBS, the clinic also treats a variety of other conditions including stress and anxiety, depression, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, weak immune system, digestive problems, back and neck pain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis, repetitive strain injuries, fibromyalgia, muscle strains, and pelvic pain.
A longer version of this story appeared in the May 21, 2010, edition of Today.