‘Healing and Prevention Through Integrative Medicine’ author to speak at Rancho Santa Fe Library

As part of the health-related lecture series hosted by the Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild, the Rancho Santa Fe library will host Dr. Charles A. Moss for a presentation and book signing at 11 a.m. June 4.

Titled “Healing and Prevention Through Integrative Medicine,” the presentation builds on Moss’s earlier lecture held May 12 at the library.

Moss — who provides alternative medicine, acupuncture, thyroid disease treatment, chronic fatigue treatment and more — will explain what integrative medicine is, how he practices it, and how he approaches his patients by looking at the whole person.

Known as the “terrain” of the person, this approach was invented by 19th-century French physician Claude Bernard.

“We look at why someone may develop a certain problem or why they are prone to it, so we look at nutrition, certain tests to measure vitamins and minerals, and we also test to see if the person may have had any exposure to toxic heavy metals, and we look at the digestive tract — it’s the big picture,” said Moss, who has been in practice since 1978.

On a cellular level and a personal level, each of us is adjusting to changing circumstances, explained Moss. “Even in ancient Chinese literature, they talk about life as being a constant state of adaptation,” he said.

Patients who end up having health problems are not adapting well, either to stress or to poor environment or diet, according to Moss.

Moss has written two books: “The Power of the Five Elements,” with a focus on acupuncture, and “The Adaptation Diet,” which homes in on epigenetics, which highlights the effects of environment, diet and stress on health.

Signed copies of both books will be available for purchase at the presentation. Moss’s talk will focus on the concept of adaptation and how individuals are affected by stress and other factors.

Food allergies, for example, can be very detrimental to health. “I’ve seen so many patients who drop a certain food item from their diet, like soy, corn or wheat and their headaches or their pain goes away, or they can sleep better,” said Moss.

Hormonal imbalance may also affect health. If deficiencies are detected, bio-identical hormone therapy may be used to correct the imbalance.

“As we get older there’s a lot of evidence showing that you can maintain a higher level of well-being, if it’s appropriate, by using the right form of hormone therapy,” Moss explained.

If a patient goes to the doctor with high blood pressure, the medical model is to prescribe medication. Moss’s model is to look at patients’ diets and at their stress levels.

For example, magnesium deficiency is often linked to high blood pressure. Also, the accumulation of heavy metals like lead, arsenic and mercury may be an indicator, so these are tested for, he said.

“The average American has over 200 chemicals in their system, according to a Food and Drug Administration study in 2009, but they didn’t make much out of it because none of them were high enough in certain levels to make you sick. But they also didn’t say, ‘Well, all of these things together may make you sick,’” said Moss.

Moss’s message ultimately is that it is up to people themselves to stay healthy. “People have to take control (of their health) and they have to be empowered by having information so that they can stay healthy,” he said.

Visit www.mosscenterforintegrativemedicine.com.