SOME THOUGHTS FROM DR. VARANO- WHY DID HE LEAVE A TRADITIONAL HOSPITAL SYSTEM? WHY PRACTICE THIS KIND OF MEDICINE?
Dr. Kenneth Varano is the Medical Director of YoungerMeMD and practices Anti-Aging Medicine with a board license in Integrative Medicine. Dr. Varano began his medical training in Family Practice with the goal to treat comprehensively every single one of his traditional patients. He along with many other physicians entered the medical field with a desire to help people as they struggled with disease and illness. After becoming board certified in Family Practice, Dr. Varano quickly realized that medications were a central theme within the traditional medical culture of practicing. Dr. Varano knew very early on upon entering the medical field, that he wanted more than just to prescribe medications. The idea of a “pill for your ills” was not something he felt was successful in truly making his patients better. His success was in the success of his patients being able to live an optimal life. Traditional medical insurance does not optimate for the best wellness outcomes. This frustrated Dr. Varano and this is why he pursued Anti-Aging Medicine.
When asked Dr. Varano what his thoughts are on his colleagues, he mentioned the following:
Dr. Varano notes that doctors are typically lovers of science and analytics, finding pleasure in breaking down problems to find answers or solutions. He believes that this is the beauty of Integrative Medicine, as it combines physiology with metabolism and body levels. This is all back by science and includes laboratory testing. With reviewing patient symptoms, he can dissect where the problems remain and begin to implement changes to correct them.
Dr. Varano highlights that we are all living organisms, and everything within our bodies must work as one. With nutrition being one of the most vitally important factors as our hormones and muscles are built around what we consume, creating much truth to the old adage: “you are what you eat”. Physical exercise is another important piece. Additionally, hormones too play a significant role in how our bodies function.
Stress is often recognized as the “great killer” within American society because of its influences on every part of our body. The primary stress hormone is known as cortisol, (commonly confused for adrenaline) which identifies as a “long term stress” throughout daily life. For most people, this is a job or finances, relationship issues, or marital problems. But, if our cortisol levels are extensively high for a long period, it can begin to break our bodies down and tear us apart through bone decay, cancer risk, diabetes, and heart disease. Advanced aging also being one of the dominant effects of high cortisol levels.
The question is then, how do we deal with all these factors? And well, unfortunately, there is no one pill or simple answer to deal with it all, because everyone is unique.
