I love helping people shed their symptoms and their medications, and gain energy, a sense of greater well-being, and a better outlook on life. I use a science-based and holistic, integrative approach to health. My approach is called functional medicine.
I would like to help you create optimal health.
Dr. Jeffrey Bland, co-founder of the Institute for Functional Medicine (1991), and the author of the book The Disease Delusion, writes:
The way I see it, functional medicine is different from other integrative medicine approaches because it insists that we must develop a coherent and comprehensive "theory" of how disease came about in each patient we see.
As Dr. Bland says, "no two people have the identical form" of a disease. I collect a lot of information and take the time to synthesize it, in order to choose a sequence of steps that will lead you back to health.
To find out more about functional medicine, like our Facebook page!
- "What we call a "disease" is a result of imbalance in one or more of seven core physiological processes.
- Imbalances result from the unique interaction of an individual's genes with his or her lifestyle, diet and environment. Imbalances derive from multiple causes (genes are not in and of themselves the cause of chronic illness).
- No two people have the identical form of what we call a disease.
- Studies indicate that lifestyle, environment, and diet therapies personalized to the individual are a safe and effective approach to managing chronic illness.
- You need to know if your doctor specializes in health care or disease care."
The way I see it, functional medicine is different from other integrative medicine approaches because it insists that we must develop a coherent and comprehensive "theory" of how disease came about in each patient we see.
As Dr. Bland says, "no two people have the identical form" of a disease. I collect a lot of information and take the time to synthesize it, in order to choose a sequence of steps that will lead you back to health.
To find out more about functional medicine, like our Facebook page!
BIO for Dr. Ashe
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Certified in Functional Medicine by the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFMCP) 2017 Medical School: McGill University Faculty of Medicine (1987) Residency: Brown University Family Medicine Residency Program (1990) Masters in Public Health: UC Berkeley (1995) Preventive Medicine Residency: UC Berkeley (1996) Life Coach Instruction: The Coaches' Training Institute intermediate training (2003) |
Ongoing Learning and Contribution
I attend IFM Annual Conferences and other selected conferences throughout the year. I also read updates on a daily basis by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment.
In 2015, I was a presenter at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine, specifically on the topic of MTHFR and how we use genetic information to optimize patients' methylation. And in 2019, at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference I presented the results from 3 years of clinical work using a protocol to reverse cognitive decline.
I wrote a chapter in the 2015 textbook Integrative Treatments for Depression. The chapter title is "Mood-Related Effect of Medications Prescribed for Non-Psychiatric Indications."
Frequent discussions and study of the medical research literature are a central aspect of the practice of functional medicine. Recent discoveries in epigenetics and nutrigenomics have revolutionized what medicine can offer.
I sit on the Marin County Integrated Pest Management Committee.
In 2015, I was a presenter at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine, specifically on the topic of MTHFR and how we use genetic information to optimize patients' methylation. And in 2019, at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference I presented the results from 3 years of clinical work using a protocol to reverse cognitive decline.
I wrote a chapter in the 2015 textbook Integrative Treatments for Depression. The chapter title is "Mood-Related Effect of Medications Prescribed for Non-Psychiatric Indications."
Frequent discussions and study of the medical research literature are a central aspect of the practice of functional medicine. Recent discoveries in epigenetics and nutrigenomics have revolutionized what medicine can offer.
I sit on the Marin County Integrated Pest Management Committee.
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The RestWhen I'm not reading research articles, writing articles or preparing presentations, I garden and cook, hike with friends, and watch over 3 (now grown) boys, 6 chickens, and 1 entitled cat.
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My Philosophy
"Disease care" treats symptoms at the expense of “joie de vivre” and often creates additional problems. Even preventive care, which focuses on controlling certain numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol) does so without changing the underlying cause of the problem. The end result is that a “controlled hypertensive” is never as healthy as a “normotensive” person. My goal is to empower individuals to create optimal health.
Conventional medicine is based on decades of scientific research focused on asking single questions, usually in single body systems: cardiovascular, immune, neurological, gastrointestinal, psychiatric. This reductionistic approach has been very useful, but has now reached its limit. If there is an underlying imbalance, you can’t game the system. Suppressing a symptom will often lead to a problem in a different system. We have blood pressure pills that make you depressed, but many antidepressants cause weight gain, which will lead to worse blood pressure. You can’t feel good this way. You can’t get to health from here.
Conventional medicine is based on decades of scientific research focused on asking single questions, usually in single body systems: cardiovascular, immune, neurological, gastrointestinal, psychiatric. This reductionistic approach has been very useful, but has now reached its limit. If there is an underlying imbalance, you can’t game the system. Suppressing a symptom will often lead to a problem in a different system. We have blood pressure pills that make you depressed, but many antidepressants cause weight gain, which will lead to worse blood pressure. You can’t feel good this way. You can’t get to health from here.
We need to choose interventions without side effects. These tend to be
lifestyle interventions, and they usually solve several problems at once.
lifestyle interventions, and they usually solve several problems at once.
Conventional medicine lacks tools to promote health because it is based on disease-focused research. Functional medicine uses basic science research to propose tools to repair underlying dysfunction. Symptoms go away as a side effect of getting well, a positive side effect, for a change!
We get really excited when patients lose their “diagnosis.” Digestive problems, glucose intolerance, joint pains, chronic depression, cognitive difficulties, unusual fatigue, or high cholesterol can be reversed. Autoimmune disease can fade; precancerous lesions can disappear. Sometimes surgery is avoided; often people no longer need their medications.
We can address issues that specialists fail to resolve because we supporting the body and mind, trusting that symptoms will improve when this is done. I don't reject what specialists do, I just notice that it is often not enough, or that less medical treatment would be needed if we created health where we can. Another strength of the functional medicine approach is that in order to be a "medical detective" you need to take all the body systems into account. Yet specialists divide up the body, and therefore sometimes don't see the connections between symptoms in different body systems.
We use a combination of approaches: each on its own is usually too weak and the scientific research confirms this. We work together to improve nutrition, activity, sense of purpose and response to stress. Where appropriate, we recommend a variety of modalities, including acupuncture, other bodywork, herbs and mind-body techniques.
We get really excited when patients lose their “diagnosis.” Digestive problems, glucose intolerance, joint pains, chronic depression, cognitive difficulties, unusual fatigue, or high cholesterol can be reversed. Autoimmune disease can fade; precancerous lesions can disappear. Sometimes surgery is avoided; often people no longer need their medications.
We can address issues that specialists fail to resolve because we supporting the body and mind, trusting that symptoms will improve when this is done. I don't reject what specialists do, I just notice that it is often not enough, or that less medical treatment would be needed if we created health where we can. Another strength of the functional medicine approach is that in order to be a "medical detective" you need to take all the body systems into account. Yet specialists divide up the body, and therefore sometimes don't see the connections between symptoms in different body systems.
We use a combination of approaches: each on its own is usually too weak and the scientific research confirms this. We work together to improve nutrition, activity, sense of purpose and response to stress. Where appropriate, we recommend a variety of modalities, including acupuncture, other bodywork, herbs and mind-body techniques.
