Private MD

Private MD is the health care alternative focused on providing premium quality patient care with emphasis on personal attention and health. Private MDs get to know patients as people, not just as lists of symptoms. Fewer patients give the MD an opportunity to stay abreast of medical advances that will surely come to bear on the welfare of his patients. Advances in modern medicine have contributed to our growing population. On average, an internist in the US is responsible for 3,000 patients. Primary care providers find it, therefore, increasingly difficult to afford patients enough time to get to know them and to keep up with scientific progress. Increasing the patient-MD involvement improves the MD's familiarity with his patients. Having MDs to spend more time with each patient provides a higher level of care than is normally available. The Private MDs with Concierge Medicine deliver the highest standard of care. Concierge MDs care for fewer patients than in a conventional practice, ranging from 100 patients per MD to 1,000, instead of the 3,000 to 4,000 that the average MD now sees every year. All generally claim to be accessible via cell phone or email at any time of day or night or offer some other "special" service above and beyond the "normal" care provided. The annual fees vary widely, from $600 to $5,000 per year for an individual, with the lower annual fees being in addition to the usual fees for each service and the higher annual fees including most services.

Natural Skin Care

Natural skin care is the care of the skin (the largest organ of the body) using naturally derived ingredients (such as herbs, roots, and flowers) combined with naturally occurring carrier agents (everything from natural soap to oils to pure water). Many people with sensitive skin turn to natural skin care solutions. Many people use natural skin care recipes to care for their skin at home. Many spas and skin care salons now focus on using more naturally derived skin care products. There is, however, no actual definition of "natural." All ingredients are chemicals by definition. "Derived" ingredients are "unnatural," according to both their original substance and the method of derivation. The term "natural" has considerable market value when promoting cosmetic products to consumers, but dermatologists say it has very little medical meaning.

Retinoids Topical Acne Treatment

Retinoids are a group of medications that normalize the follicle cell lifecycle. There are topical retinoids such as tretinoin (brand name Retin-A), adapalene (brand name Differin) and tazarotene (brand name Tazorac). Like isotretinoin, these medications are similar to vitamin A, but they are topical treatments and generally have much milder side effects. However, they can cause significant irritation of the skin. The retinoids appear to influence the creation and death lifecycle of cells in the follicle lining. This helps prevent the hyper-keratinization of these cells that can create a blockage. Retinol, a form of vitamin A, has similar but milder effects and doctors prescribe because it also contains moisturizers. Doctors have prescribed topical retinoids for over 30 years, but are not available over the counter, so they are not as widely used as other topical treatments. Topical retinoids often cause an initial flare up of acne and facial flushing.

Allergist

An allergist-immunologist is a physician who successfully completed an accredited educational program in allergy and immunology. An allergist/immunologist specializes in the treatment of allergic and immunologic diseases. This special practice includes the diagnosis and treatment of allergic rhinitis, asthma, allergic eye diseases, atopic dermatitis, hives, chronic cough, chronic sinus infections, frequent colds or bronchitis and immune system problems. Allergists also treat patients with food allergies, medication allergies, venom allergies and even latex allergies. Allergists or immunologists are medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of immune system diseases. They treat people with conditions such as asthma, eczema and allergic reactions to food, medications, insect stings or environmental agents such as pollen. Allergists may specialize in treating certain types of conditions, such as food allergies, or they may specialize in treating people in certain age groups, such as pediatric allergists, who treat children. As researchers discover more about immune system disorders, allergists treat a broader range of conditions caused by immune system problems.