Dr. Donald Tice
About Dr. Tice: He heads up the WellHealth Center for Metabolic and Hormonal Medicine, which specializes in metabolic weight loss and hormonal health care. Dr. Tice is board certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. He served as president of the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Association in 1998. Dr. Tice attended medical school at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and is licensed to practice in Nevada, Arizona, South Carolina and Florida.
What is metabolic medicine?
Metabolic medicine encompasses nutritional, hormonal, environmental, molecular, holistic, and preventative medicine to restore the metabolism to optimal levels.
What does a metabolic and hormonal medicine clinic treat?
We identify and treat nutritional, metabolic and hormonal disorders that lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, peri-menopausal, post menopausal and male andropausal symptoms. Hormones play a crucial role in determining health and well-being. Proper nutritional and hormonal balance has a positive effect on preventing health problems.
Who can benefit from metabolic and hormonal medicine?
Metabolic and hormonal medicine is for adult men and women of any age.
Are there any recent medical or technological advances in your field?
The fields of metabolic, bariatric and hormonal medicine are technologically advanced. With highly detailed analysis of specimens, doctors can now see exactly what is going on with patients’ hormones, vitamins and minerals, genetics and neurotransmitters. In my office, I emphasize genetic testing and family history because clues to disease risks and other problems may lie in a patient’s history or gene code. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is a fascinating field. Bio-identical hormones have been around for decades but have emerged over the last several years as a treatment of choice for many patients. Testosterone therapy for women is a commonly overlooked treatment for behavioral and hormonal imbalance. The effect of testosterone on the human body for both men and women is being reexamined. Testosterone therapy relieves many women of PMS and post-menopausal symptoms without increasing cancer risk. Properly administered hormone therapy and nutrition can also prevent or slow the occurrence of many diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, strokes, arthritis, diabetes and more.
The American Medical Association just named obesity a disease. Can you explain why?
Obesity is a complex systemic metabolic disease. It is the result of a widespread bio-metabolic breakdown in the body. Obesity stems from a variety of conditions, and it creates many disease states. It does not respect age, race, gender, religion, or social status. Recent research has been extensive and has given us more insight into this perplexing condition. With the recent mapping of human genetics from the human genome project, genetic codes have been identified that predispose people to obesity, cardiovascular disease, strokes, blood clots, diabetes, cancer and more. Another important realization is that these diseases are not singular or solitary. Hormones, neurotransmitters, stress, nutrition, environment, medications and activities are all interrelated and affect many of these diseases.
What causes a person to gain weight?
Nobody wants to be obese. The causes of weight gain are varied with many contributing factors. Some people have weight problems stemming from childhood. Other triggers that start the metabolic decline include illness, injury, surgery, mental or physical stress, financial difficulty, sedentary jobs, pregnancy, death or a loss of a loved one. Food for many people becomes a source of comfort.
When do bodies typically start to have problems with hormone levels?
Starting about age 20, we lose about 1 to 3 percent of our hormones per year. Many people by age 40 have hormone levels that are reduced to half.
Is this a natural process?
We are constantly bombarded with toxins in our environment that adversely affect our hormone balance. Our current society tends to eat more processed fast food, drinks and sugar. We become resistant to our own hormones and neurotransmitters. Fatigue, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings and weight gain are a common result.
I would like to lose weight, but I feel like when I try, I fail,so it’s discouraging. What can I do?
Society is bombarded with full-page ads of a quick fix to our weight problems. There is no quick and easy fix. What is required is a lifestyle change. A short-term diet or exercise program, which is what is offered by many weight-loss programs, is destined to fail. Lifestyle change has to be accomplished by a multidimensional approach. Nutrition has to be addressed. Lack of quality sources of protein with the carbohydrate excess is one cause of many peoples’ weight problems. Excess fat consumption is a problem for a smaller minority of the population. Genetic profiles can tell us which approach is best suited to a particular individual. Making proper food choices consistently is critical. Vitamin and mineral supplements are necessary. Knowing which supplement and in what amounts is vital.
After the recent announcement from the American Medical Association about obesity being a disease, a lot of people believe obese people are just being lazy. Is that the case?
People don’t become obese just because they are lazy. That is a purely prejudiced statement. Many obese people are some of the hardest working, productive people I know. Others may be on disability and are not productive, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to make such a blanket and inaccurate statement. All obese people have a metabolic imbalance that takes a multidimensional approach to resolve. Exercise is important, but it is only one of a number of components. Understanding, insight, education, training and empathy are required to effectively treat and improve quality of life for the millions who suffer from this complex systemic metabolic disease known as obesity.
How do I know if I need a metabolic and hormonal doctor?
If you are one of the many men and women who are experience any of the following, you make a great candidate to seek metabolic and hormonal treatment: loss of sex drive, hot flashes, low testosterone, irritability, inability to lose weight, elevated BMI greater than 25, post-surgical hysterectomy pain, insomnia, fatigue or nutritional and mineral deficiencies.