Dr Stephen Weiss Articles Holistic Medicine Integrative Medicine Albuquerque

Dr. Stephen P. Weiss practices alternative medicine and complimentary healthcare in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Weiss is a Medical Doctor and a Classical Homeopath. He has decades of experience helping his patients regain their optimal health by blending the best of Western and Integrative Medicine.

During the 4th and final year of medical school, students must decide what they want to do with their lives. I knew I wanted to practice Holistic/Integrative Medicine from the very first day of my Freshman year, so a Family Practice residency seemed best suited to prepare me for my future career. I also loved the idea of treating patients of all ages, from pediatrics to geriatrics, and of being able to get to know and care for entire families. What a privilege! Family Physicians were also the most open-minded doctors I had encountered, and I felt they would be most supportive of my maverick (spoken with a Minnesotan accent) tendencies.

Fast forward to July, 2003. A mother brings in her 14 month-old son, Silas, to see me. She is sleep deprived and exhausted, as her little one still wakes up 3 or 4 times a night wanting her breast. Up until a few weeks prior, he was waking up every 45 minutes like clockwork. Despite this severe imposition on her biological clock, Pam Rowen-Herzog is possibly the most unconditionally loving mother I have ever encountered. She exudes genuine warmth, joy and kindness that is palpable. When I think of the mother archetype, Pam comes to mind. She and her husband Bob have since added 2 more beauties to their family. I am blessed to count all 5 of them as my patients. My heart melts when they walk through the door. All 3 boys are cute beyond cute, and are living proof of Love’s daunting power. Despite the fact that you won’t find 2 parents who take better care of themselves (under the circumstances) and their kids, this family has had its share of health challenges. It took a few attempts to find the right remedy and potency for Silas, but when we did, the result was dramatic. From the first dose of Calcarea phosphorica 30C, Silas’ awakenings dropped by 80%, from five times a night to only once, and within a week, he was sleeping through the night without interruption. Whenever the remedy was stopped, his insomnia immediately resumed. Eventually, two years later, Silas was able to sleep soundly with-out homeopathy...READ MORE

Are you in love with your life and your wife (husband/partner)? Do you have the health & vitality to express your innate talents and gifts, as well as to fulfill your life's purpose? Do you even have the foggiest idea what your life's purpose might be? Do you feel whole, all parts working together in synchrony, without pain, anxiety, or other troublesome symptoms that rob your life force? TAKE A SIGH OF RELIEF! You're really not that different from the rest of humanity if you answered "No" to most or all of these questions. We think we're the only soul out of 6 billion that hasn't figured their life out or isn't thriving. That couldn't be further from the truth. The good news (in addition to the fact that most of humanity is just as confused as you are) is that there are safe, natural therapies which can profoundly impact your health and life in positive ways.

My adult life has been devoted to the study of a wide range of healing traditions. In Medical School at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, then during a 3 year residency in Family Practice, I busted my b___ working 36 hour shifts and saw both the wonders of Modern Medicine as well as the pitfalls of a system that suppresses/covers up symptoms, overuses (& misuses) pharmaceutical drugs which are directly toxic to human life, and treats body parts rather than the whole person. I went on to study Craniosacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute, Ayurveda at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, and Herbology with Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, world-renowned Herbal Medicine specialist. Dr. Low Dog & I eventually became partners at the Treehouse Center of Integrative Medicine, also in Albuquerque. As staff physician at the Schachter Center for Complementary Medicine in Sufferin, N. Y., I learned all about vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements from Dr. Michael Schachter, past president of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM). I incorporate all of these modalities in my private practice and each plays a pivotal role. Yet I see the greatest healing and transformation with Classical Homeopathic Medicine........ Read More....

Alan and his Mom first consulted me in April 2005. Despite being on the highest dose of Concerta, a long acting form of the stimulant Methylphenidate (Ritalin), his ADHD was not adequately controlled. He was experiencing unpleasant side effects from the medication, including fatigue, which gradually worsened through the day.

Ritalin and other stimulant medications recently made national news because it was discovered they can cause serious and even life-threatening cardiac problems in children. This has not stopped doctors from dishing out stimulant prescriptions to 2 ½ million children each year in this country. Shocking!

An 8th grader, Alan's attention problems had been so severe that he was four years behind in Math and struggling in other subjects as well. In 3rd grade before starting on stimulants, he used to stand up in the middle of class out of the blue and walk aimlessly around the classroom.

Academics wasn't the only area where Alan was lagging. He was terrified of insects and of being alone, refused to go to stores by himself, and disinterested in girls because of inordinate shyness. Undoubtedly, his worst symptom, however, was a severe case of bedwetting...... Read More.....

Holistic Cardiology - Healing the Lotus Deep Within the Heart
- by Dr. Stephen P. Weiss

Mary consulted me for the first time 20 months ago, on the day of her 29th birthday. She was the first patient I had ever seen with the rare condition known as post-partum cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure that begins after childbirth. Her heart was functioning at a capacity of 55-60% of normal. She had been having increasing heart palpitations and shortness of breath during the weeks before her appointment. A single mother of two children, ages one and two, Mary wrote on her intake form, "I am terrified of being too sick to play with them, or not see them grow up". After speaking with a cardiologist, I learned that 15-20% of patients with her condition require a heart transplant.

In addition to her heart condition, Mary suffered from depression, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), fatigue, muscle pain, anxiety, and chronically infected sweat glands. She had stopped Zoloft four months ago. She was crying more frequently and feeling more depressed. She found out her husband was cheating on her two weeks before the birth of her first child, and separated from him right after she gave birth. Mary informed me that her visit with me that day was her birthday present from her mother. This saddened me. Coming to a doctor (even Yours Truly) and spilling my guts is not my idea of a birthday bash. Somehow this tidbit of information hammered home the stark reality of Mary's condition. Her courage and sincerity impressed me..... Read More......

Laura is a 64 year old woman referred to me last January by Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, my former partner at the Treehouse Center of Integrative Medicine, She was suffering from a ten year history of gastrointestinal bleeding accompanied by shaking chills and severe abdominal cramps despite taking Protonix, a powerful acid blocker (Proton Pump Inhibitor) for a large hiatal hernia and for mild gastritis. "The tissue in my gut feels like it's torn", she explained. These nasty bleeding episodes were preceded by anxiety, breathlessness and tearfulness. After numerous endoscopies and colonoscopies (approximately 15 to date) in New Mexico, she traveled to the Mayo Clinic in 2003 to try to get a definitive diagnosis and to stop the bleeding.

Unfortunately, they were unable to pinpoint the source of her bleeding, or adequately treat the problem. Laura's gastroenterologist, after performing his umpteenth inconclusive endoscopy, looked at her, let out a nervous laugh, and blurted, "Just get out of here". As a result of the blood loss, she developed chronic iron deficiency anemia and had undergone blood transfusions as well as intravenous iron infusions to periodically raise her blood count. The anemia left her in a state of chronic exhaustion which severely limited her activities and quality of life. The initial labwork I ordered revealed a hemoglobin of 9.9 (normal range 12-16), and ferritin (which tests for iron stores in the body) which was 4 (normal 17-335). "These last six weeks I've really been going downhill-my energy is dropping even lower, and I'm more pale," she informed me.

Laura had also been unsuccessfully trying to get off Paxil, (an anti-depressant) because it was causing headaches and an unpleasant whooshing sound when she bent over. As a young child, Laura suffered severe emotional trauma, and since then, has been struggling with lifelong bouts of anxiety and depression. Paxil can be an extremely difficult drug to withdraw from. Whenever she would drop the dose below a certain level, all hell would break loose-- she developed anxiety, shortness of breath, palpitations, crying spells, lightheadedness, stumbling from feeling off balance, slurred speech, shaking chills and extreme exhaustion. At times she felt like she was going crazy. Back in January, Dr.Kevorkian was not an option, so she thought to give Classical Homeopathy a try.

Classical Homeopathy is perhaps the most individualized medicine on the planet. By that I mean the homeopath strives to tailor the prescription to fit the exact nuances of as many of a patient's symptoms as possible.... Read More.....

It's that time of the year again. You've spent hours preparing for this all important company meeting. You arrive early to make last minute changes to your presentation. Your colleagues file through the door, but you are so focused on what you are doing, that you barely notice. You are about to begin your presentation. All eyes are fixed on you and the room becomes silent. Then you cell phone rings. Your heart sinks because you forgot to turn the *x#z thing off. "Hello, this is Angela from Roosevelt Middle School, I'm the school nurse. Billy started to feel sick about 15 minutes ago. He's complaining of a sore throat and a headache. I just took his temperature and it is 103. You'll have to come pick him up and take him home." Senor Murphy (as in Murphy's Law) is at it again.

In my previous articles, I've discussed Classical Homeopathy's amazing ability to reverse severe chronic diseases present for years and even decades. But what about acute diseases such as Strep throat, croup, pneumonia, ear infections and influenza? Can homeopathy cure these problems without having to resort to antibiotics, steroids and other pharmaceuticals? Absolutely. And what about the frightening prospect of another world wide flu pandemic - is there any evidence of homeopathy's effectiveness in epidemics and ability to reduce mortality? You bet. Homeopathy offers a revolutionary treatment approach for epidemic diseases which very few people are aware of. There are certainly times when I would use Western (allopathic) medicine as first-line treatment - if a child or adult were in respiratory distress, lethargic, had a dangerously high fever, i.e. in true emergencies. But many patients suffering from acute illnesses can be safely cured using homeopathy.

David is a 4 year old boy who was in Iowa with his family when he came down with a sore throat. Many of his classmates had already been diagnosed with Strep and treated with antibiotics. Since there is a remote risk of rheumatic fever after strep, I had treated him previously for strep throat with antibiotics, but this time, his Mom wanted to avoid them..... Read More.....

Although the last several articles I have written for Living Natural have all been about the dramatic results I often see using Classical Homeopathy, every day in the private practice, I rely heavily on the skills I learned during my four years in Medical School and three years in Family Practice Residency….. Read More….

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common and sometimes debilitating condition that affects 30 to 60 million Americans). Symptoms include abdominal cramping, diarrhea, constipation or diarrhea alternating with constipation, bloating, rectal urgency (urgent need to pass stool) which can be severe enough that it results in fecal incontinence (soiling), and excessive mucus in the stool. In Medical School it was referred to as a “wastebasket” diagnosis because there are no specific tests available to diagnose this condition. Instead, other bowel disorders are ruled out that can mimic some of the symptoms of IBS, and if all tests are normal, the patient is labeled with “IBS”. It is especially important to rule out IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)—Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease, because these conditions are much more serious and can severely impair health. Crohn’s Disease can cause intermittent bouts of low-grade fever, non-bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain which is commonly located in the right lower belly, weight loss, and obstruction of the small intestine. Fistula formation is also possible (formation of a pathological tract or passageway between the diseased bowel and other organs or the skin often resulting in infection and/or abscess formation)..... Read More....

ENERGY. The buzz word of the 21st century. There’s renewable energy. Energy dependence. Energy policy. Energy medicine (homeopathy being one of the best known and most effective forms), E= mc² (Einstein’s revolutionary finding that energy and matter are interconvertible/interchangeable – the scientific fact that everything in the universe is Energy). Energy bars. Even energy vampires (those people who suck your life force from you and leave you feeling like a wet dishrag).

Since we’re constantly hearing how scarce our energy resources are, which is fueling (no pun intended) the long overdue “greening” of our country and our world, is it any surprise that we have an epidemic of fatigue (“low energy”) in our midst?