A Doctor's View of the Restore Program

A few months ago, one of our respected colleagues from Michigan, Dr. Robert Thomas came for a visit. Graduating from the University of Colorado in 1962, he opened his private practice in 1964 specializing in family medicine. He has worked in collaboration with Madison Pharmacy Associates and Women?s Health America for 18 years.

Dr. Thomas specializes in family practice however believes highly in natural hormone replacement therapy for both men and women.

Some specific reasons why Dr. Thomas agrees that the Restore program is beneficial to health care professionals and their patients are because "Patients that utilize this program have access to years of professional resources, support and guidance." Dr. Thomas added that using this program allows him to treat his patients properly without needing to have all of the answers. He adds that Madison Pharmacy Associate?s staff is competent and does this specialized work over 100 times per week, whereas he himself only works with it two to three times per week.

When asking Dr. Thomas if he feels intimidated when using this program he notes, "No, because it makes him an expert, saves time and makes his patients happy and healthy."

What makes saliva testing and Madison Pharmacy Associates so distinct from other companies? Dr. Thomas and Ms. Ahlgrimm agree that it is the individualization, which is brought out through saliva testing included in the Restore program and the individual treatment that each patient receives. Where as dosing with synthetic products is a "one size fits all" approach to treating everyone the same.

What else can saliva testing and Madison Pharmacy Associates offer that other places cannot. "Fine tuning", which has made great strides from 10 years ago. The reason Madison Pharmacy Associates is able to do "fine tuning" is the access to testing and compounded prescriptions for each individual. According to Dr. Thomas and Ms. Ahlgrimm saliva testing has taken the guesswork out of hormone replacement therapy and provides specific parameters for treatment. The importance of saliva testing is to measure the absorption and adequacy of the prescribed hormone replacement therapy.

In asking Dr. Thomas how he feels about Madison Pharmacy Associates and working with the Restore program since its beginning, he shared and experiences that he had. "The big advantage of working with Madison Pharmacy Associates is the variety of tests that are provided, sound interpretations, recommendations for HRT and ongoing nurse case management." Dr. Thomas is confident that Madison Pharmacy Associates and the Restore program provides accurate test results and dosing in an efficient manner, allowing him to provide quality patient care.

In closing, Dr. Thomas shared that some of his patients have chosen to stop taking their natural hormone replacement therapy and using saliva testing because of the expense and lack of insurance coverage, only to find that when the patients switched to synthetic products covered by insurance, their symptoms increased and caused them to be placed on psychiatric medications on top of their hormone replacement therapy. When the patients went back to Dr. Thomas, lab testing proved that it was a hormonal imbalance. When patients were properly treated with natural hormone replacement therapy there was no need for psychiatric medications.

Thanks to Dr. Thomas for his support and shared information.