The medical practice, My Concierge MD, is one of top practices in the Los Angeles area serving celebrity patients in the entertainment industry, including the prestigious Motion Picture Group. It is the brainchild of Dr. David Nazarian, one of the most prestigious doctors in Los Angeles. Today the practice has expanded beyond the entertainment industry and provides the same level of concierge medical care to patients throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area. Dr. Nazarian is known for his focus on the ‘whole person’, placing a strong emphasis on prevention and early detection and making use of all therapeutic approaches as appropriate, to achieve his patients’ optimal health and wellness. He earned his Bachelor of Sciences in Biology and Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Doctor of Medicine from the Sackler School of Medicine/New York State Program; after which he completed his training at Huntington Memorial Hospital and was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. eniGma’s founder and CEO Yasmine Shihata sat down with Dr. Nazarian to learn more about his medical practice and his approach to health and wellbeing. Here are some exclusive excerpts from their chat.
Tell us about how you started on your professional journey.
When I finished my training in medical school, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. My dream was to become the best doctor I could be. I initially worked as a hospitalist in a cardiac unit, then in the ICU, then I worked in the emergency room treating patients in the ER to see what that was like. I decided I wanted to have a practice where I could spend time with patients, get to know them personally, and do more preventative, early diagnosis, and optimisation of health care. So, I started a concierge practice where I took care of individuals, and families. We also do international health care. We have patients from all over the world who come for things like cancer screening, cardiac heart tests, ultrasounds and body scans. An important service that I’ve been doing for years is hormone replacement.
What is hormone replacement?
It is the replacement of the hormones which our bodies naturally produce. In women, usually around the age of fifty, they go into pre-menopause and menopause, and basically that’s when the ovaries that produce women’s hormones stop functioning. They stop producing estrogen, progestrone, and testosterone. Before, doctors used to recommend hormone replacement for all women. But then they did a study called the Women’s Health Initiative, where they found that there was a slight increase in breast cancer risk. Doctors stopped recommending hormone replacement for women all together. At the same time hormones play a huge role in the human body. While the study showed that there was a small increase in breast cancer risk, the good metabolite of estrogen which is estradiol, has so many benefits. Many physicians, including me, believe that those benefits outweigh the risks, because there’s so much to gain from being on hormones.
Do hormonal replacements delay menopause?
They do not delay menopause, because menopause is your own body’s production of these hormones from the ovaries. Women will still go into menopause but instead of the hormones stopping, we continue them in many ways. So, you get to have the benefits of those hormones throughout. Also, hormone replacement prevents symptoms of menopause, and thus women age more gracefully. This is very noticeable on a woman’s appearance. We also do hormone replacement for men, and it makes a difference with them as well.
Is there a test to know when you should start?
Yes, there are blood tests you can do to check if your hormone levels are normal. A lot of the time women who go into early menopause or menopause will have changes in their cycle. It may start by being irregular, then they start developing symptoms. Sometimes people will come to me and say, “my menstrual cycle is off” or “it’s not regular” or “it’s skipping.” Then we’ll check to see if they have normal hormone levels.
What are the things that women should be mindful of when they go to the doctor?
Just doing regular checkups as you get older is important. Doing blood tests, screenings, and ultrasounds are helpful, because you find stuff that you aren’t aware of before developing those symptoms. For example, checking your thyroid with ultrasound, checking your aorta and heart function.
Can you tell us about the vitamin therapy you do?
Yes, that’s when someone has a vitamin deficiency. It’s very common in the Middle East that people have Vitamin D deficiency. Because the weather is too hot, people don’t usually go in the sun, and once your Vitamin D drops too low, it’s hard to replace it. We do different IV drips to replace the vitamins in the human body. I just created this supplement brand called Vitamin MD from scratch because I saw a lot of vitamin deficiencies in general. Also, people during the pandemic kept asking me what they should take to stay healthy, and I couldn’t find anything for them. This is a liquid format which you put in a glass of water. It has 3000 mg of Vitamin D because a lot of people have Vitamin D deficiency. It also has a 1000 mg of Vitamin C, all the B12, B complex, and all the electrolytes. One has probiotics for gut health, and one has collagen and biotin for beauty purposes, and one is for the mind and body which includes Vitamin E. This has been life changing for a lot of people. I’ve done research on how much the body needs from each supplement and concluded that this is what the body needs for a boost.
You can visit Dr. Nazarian’s website at www.myconciergemd.com