Deatherage Health Products

Deatherage Health Products was founded in 1986 by Dr. Christopher and Gloria Deatherage to provide the finest natural health products and natural foods to their patients and the public.

Dr. Deatherage realized that the quality of most nutritional herbal supplemnts sold to the public through health food stores and mail-order companies were low quality, only marginally effective, and lacked clinical data to support their use. Deatherage Health Products carries nutritional and herbal supplements that are manufactured to the highest quality standards and have solid clinical data to support their effectiveness.

Article:

Giving Better Service as a Naturopathic Doctor

When I became a naturopathic doctor many years ago, I was counseled by my medical mentors, Dr. Agatha Thrash as well as Dr. Frederick Cox, now both in their eighties, of the importance of striving to give more service to my patients than other naturopathic doctors were giving, thus truly fulfilling the role of the general practitioner as well as increasing the wellness outcome of my patients. I truly believe that twenty-first century western medicine more often than not is profit rather than patient oriented. This is so contrary to the practice of early twentieth-century medicine where doctors truly lived to serve their patients.  Having the privilege of knowing and observing some of these doctors who were trained during that era, I have strived to implement their service and patient-oriented model into my practice as a naturopathic doctor in the following ways:

Full Naturopathic Services

Credibly trained naturopathic doctors are the only doctors trained in America today in a medical school setting to provide natural health care to their patients as general practitioners. Unfortunately, most naturopathic doctors practice much lower than their scope of training. Knowing this, as well as the needs of the naturopathic health consumer, I have tried to serve my patients by providing an extent of services that no one else I know of provides. The following is a partial summary of my services as a naturopathic doctor.

Thorough Naturopathic Consultation

This includes naturopathic consultation for acute illness as well as chronic illness. We provide consultation in our office during hours as well as in office consultation after hours. We provide telephone consultation during office hours as well as after hours. In other words, we provide 24 hour naturopathic care. In today’s medical world I do not know of one other practitioner who provides 24 hour care. Instead, when you become sick after your doctor’s regular office hours and need medical assistance, you have no choice but to go to the emergency room for care. I have learned, however, that most acute illness that occurs after hours and at night can be taken care of by telephone consultation, thus saving the patient a considerable amount of money and side effects from harmful or unnecessary treatment.

Full Functional Health Assessment

Credibly trained naturopathic doctors often practice functional medicine. Functional medicine views disease as of secondary importance to an understanding of the function or dysfunction of every body system which prevents or allows disease to occur. In other words, functional medicine determines the cause of illness seeking to address and remove such, thus allowing the body to heal on its own as God created it to do. In my personal  practice I use three major approaches to find a patient’s underlying cause of illness. First, we use a comprehensive questionnaire and thorough history. Secondly, we use CRT thermography—a technology that assesses the function of every organ and system using heat assessment. Thirdly, on the findings of our thermogram we order specific functional laboratory tests. With the information from all three assessment tools we are able to design an individualized naturopathic program addressing the cause of illness and thus recommend specific lifestyle adjustments and proven traditional natural therapies to bring body imbalances into balance and assist the body to heal itself.

Proven Traditional Natural Therapies

Credibly trained naturopathic doctors recognize that quackery abounds in many areas of alternative medicine as well as in western medicine. Because of this, I am careful in my practice to use only natural therapies that have been proven by tradition as well as by good science. Examples of valid natural therapies are herbal medicine, energy medicine, hydrotherapy, structural manipulation, homeopathy, etc.

The Value of Quality Naturopathic Service A dear friend of mine who is a dentist once said to me, “The majority of health professionals are mediocre.” Unfortunately, I have found this to be true. There are only a few in each of the health fields that passionately try to improve their skills daily for the benefit of the patient. I often tell my patients, “If you are looking for a good doctor, I am looking for a good patient.” In other words, I am not going to compete with all the alternative medicine falsehoods circulated on the internet, from health food store clerks, etc. Yet, if a prospective patient is looking for a naturopathic doctor who strives to perfect his skills daily and provide the best naturopathic services available, I would be privileged to be your doctor.

Christopher S. Deatherage, N.D.

Rural Route 5, Box 806, Ava, Missouri 65608 Phone for Appointment: (417)683-1300