"I had been complaining for years about tiredness, stomach problems, constant yeast infections and bouts of constipation/diarrhea—since my early teens," says Cathy Galinot. "After a test was done for my chemical levels, all of which were too low, Dr. Guillory suggested I try some supplements to see if they would elevate my vitamin D, DHEA and iron levels. That's how I got started on New Mark probiotics." More than a year ago, Galinot began taking the probiotic supplement, developed by the New Mark division of New Chapter, Inc. "The results have been quite good," she says. "It really seems to have helped out with the stomach problems."

She later underwent testing for food allergies and found that she is allergic to eggs and dairy products. "When I cut those out and continued the probiotics, everything fell into place," Galinot says. "It really put the icing on the cake."

To combat the tiredness, Galinot now takes fish oil, vitamin D drops and other supplements. She also avoids monosodium glutamate, aspartame and any highly processed foods. "Those had been causing migraines since my early forties," she says.

"All of this combined has helped me feel much better than I did. I have more energy and I feel better than I have in a long time. I would recommend that all women have these tests done if they are having any of these problems."

I invited Dr. Guillory to address all Cherry Creek administrators about his "Employer's Guide of 10 Steps to Better Health." His presentation was very informative, humorous, and motivating. He impacted our leaders in respect to their own behavior, and made them advocates of the 10 steps to better health with the people they supervise.

Months after Dr. Guillory's presentation, there is still a positive "buzz" about how our employees are incorporating healthy decisions into their lifestyles.

Dr. Guillory not only helped our employees individually, he has improved our organization as a whole.

Visit the Corporate Wellness Page for more information.

Jeanne Barr had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for several months when she happened to attend a seminar Dr. Guillory presented regarding inflammation, nutrition and other health topics. Barr, who is a nurse, scheduled an appointment to see Dr. Guillory.

After a discussion with the doctor, Barr underwent testing for food allergies and found that she is allergic to eggs. She eliminated eggs from her diet and soon thereafter began to notice that the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis were subsiding. "I still hurt some," she says, "but I'm feeling much better."

In addition, Barr takes vitamin D drops as well cod liver oil, also at Dr. Guillory's suggestion. "I'm impressed with Dr. Guillory's knowledge and commitment to using something other than standard medicines," Barr says.

Avon Carey had been living with chronic pain for three decades when she finally decided she had had enough.

She went to see Dr. Guillory, who asked about her symptoms and, moments later, brought her a pamphlet describing fibromyalgia. "He asked me to read it while I was there in the office," she says. "I was in awe. It was exactly what I was experiencing. I had no idea it had a name."

"At the time - this was in 1998 - not much was known about fibromyalgia, so it was a learning curve," Carey says. "Initially, I took some mild anti-depressants to help the muscles relax at night. But the condition was so severe that that didn’t really help. I went back to Dr. Guillory and he made me aware of MSG in foods."

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a widely used food additive that contains glutamic acid, which has been linked to a variety of health problems, including headache, impaired ability to concentrate, attention deficit disorder (ADD), dizziness, flushing, muscle aches, fatigue, digestive complaints and more. Many people think of MSG in relation to Chinese food, but it is found in most commercially produced soups, salad dressings, seasoning mixes, frozen dinners and processed foods.

"When I started paying attention to that, my symptoms weren’t as severe," Carey says. "But I also have learned that stress and the weather affect the condition as well."

At one point, Carey underwent acupuncture at The Care Group, to help with lower back pain. "That was very helpful," she says. "I don’t have that particular pain anymore."

"I am doing much better than I was 11 years ago," she says.

"My most recent visit with Dr. Guillory provided me with additional health aids that benefit my overall well-being," Carey says, adding that his article and seminar titled "Ten Steps to Better Health" have been particularly helpful.

I recently attended the "Ten Steps to Better Health" seminar and - in the airline business, in this economy - it was time very well spent. The opportunity to step away from the daily stresses in order to focus time on our health and the health of co-workers, families and friends, was invaluable. Dr. Guillory clearly cares deeply about the topic and the audience. He's incredibly knowledgeable, talented and humorous as a presenter. He's one of a kind, and so is the subject matter.

When Ron Chirhart retired from his job as an airline pilot, he was worried that his blood pressure and cholesterol level were soaring to dangerous heights.

The worries-and the high readings-since have fallen off sharply. "In my last two physicals, the blood work was excellent," Chirhart says. "Everything has been great. Four or five years ago, it wasn't. When I had blood work done then, I used to have five or six things in the 'high' area. Not anymore."

The problems began easing after Dr. Guillory suggested that Chirhart begin taking vitamin D supplements as well as Omega-3 fatty acids. The physician also changed the blood-pressure medication that Chirhart was taking.

"I have really seen a big difference," he says. Not only are the blood pressure and cholesterol readings back within the healthy range, but Chirhart is feeling better as well. "I'm sleeping better too," he adds.

Miles Davies found himself coughing continually. "I had a nerve-wracking cough," he says, adding that he had no idea what caused it. "It went on for at least a year."

Finally, Davies visited Dr. Guillory, who tested for food allergies. "One of the things that turned up was that I am allergic to eggs," Davies says. "I had no idea. I used to eat two eggs every morning."

Davies immediately stopped eating eggs and the coughing fits disappeared. "I'm not sure what triggered the allergy," he says. "I'm not sure anyone knows why allergies develop. But I'm not going to eat eggs again."

Unetta Borbone, an accountant, spends long days in front of a computer. After she began experiencing persistent pain in both shoulders, she tried to make her workstation more ergonomically sound. But the pain persisted.

"So I went to Dr. Guillory's office and was offered acupuncture," Borbone says. "I was very open to the idea. I was ready to try anything."

After two sessions with acupuncturist Nhu Nguyen, Borbone is feeling much better.

"The results have been wonderful," she says. "I got immediate relief from the first session. After the second session, I would say I was experiencing 95-percent relief. I'm going back for another session soon, and then we'll take it from there."

Acupuncture, a traditional form of Chinese medicine, involves the insertion of fine needles at specific points in the body. The procedure is safe and has been practiced for thousands of years. The goal is to restore, promote, and maintain good health by helping the body heal itself naturally.

Friends often ask Borbone if the sessions are painful. "It doesn't hurt, even when the needles are being removed," she says, adding that she "definitely would recommend that other people explore acupuncture as a treatment option. I can't believe I am feeling this good."

"It used to take me longer to get to sleep and I slept lightly," Joe Frary says. "Anything would wake me up." This left Frary, a software engineer, feeling sluggish during the day and it created stress at work.

A blood test indicated that Frary had vitamin D deficiency. At the suggestion of The Care Group's Dr. Gerard Guillory, Frary began taking sublingual vitamin D drops. He soon noticed significant, positive changes in his sleep patterns. "After I started taking the vitamin D, I slept through the night for the first time," he says. "I felt better during the day. I think I have been more productive at work. And I have been less stressed at work about what needs to get done and what doesn't need to get done."

Frary had been taking statins as well - prescription medications designed to lower cholesterol. Like many people who take statins, Frary found the side-effects unpleasant. "My lower back - below the ribs and down - ached all the time," he says. At the suggestion of Dr. Guillory, Frary discontinued the statins and began taking high-quality fish oil and a niacin supplement. "I haven't had those body aches lately," he says. "I'm not taking statins at all. It feels better taking vitamins and fish oil."

Gerard Guillory, M.D., was the keynote speaker at our recent Colorado Council annual meeting. His presentation, Ten Steps to Better Health, was so informative and helpful that it already has led many members to take steps to improve their own health.

As women who work in the highly stressful insurance business, we are all aware of the need to lead healthier lives. Dr. Guillory's presentation provided straightforward, easy-to-implement steps toward that objective. His suggestions include adding probiotics and nutritional supplements to the diet; avoiding foods that contain trans fats, aspartame and monosodium glutamate; and reducing inflammation, which can help delay or even reverse the aging process.

Our hope is that those who attended the presentation will pass Dr. Guillory's message to those who didn't attend. Much of the information presented by Dr. Guillory also appears in news and educational articles that appear on his Website, thecaregrouppc.com.

Thank you, Dr. Guillory, for the inspiration and knowledge you have given us.

For a year, Johanna Goodings-Paul had been experiencing fatigue and insomnia, and when she drove her car, she experienced restless legs syndrome - a "pins-and-needles" sensation in the legs.

She decided to visit Dr. Guillory, who performed a routine blood test and found that Goodings-Paul's ferritin (or iron) level was unusually low. "So Dr. Guillory said, 'Let's put you on some iron supplements,'" Goodings-Paul says, "And the restless legs syndrome quickly went away. I haven't had problems with it since."

The fatigue and insomnia also abated, as did another problem that Goodings-Paul had been experiencing. For some time, she had been having two menstrual cycles each month, with each period lasting seven days.

"Now it's once a month for just four days," she says.

In addition to taking iron supplements, Goodings-Paul had been taking calcium supplements. She found that the iron supplements were more effective when she took them in the morning and took the calcium supplements at night. This is because calcium tends to absorb minerals and can limit the effectiveness of supplementation. By taking iron and calcium at different times of the day, Goodings-Paul mitigated this problem.

"I'm feeling much better," she says.

When Roger Gunderson was a child, he learned that chocolate gave him unbearable migraine headaches - headaches so severe that his vision blurred, his speech became incoherent and he couldn't function well.

Although Gunderson gave up chocolate many years ago, he continued to experience migraines. "If I ate a lot of Colonel Sanders or Chinese food, for example, and then exerted myself, I would get them," he says.

Dr. Guillory encouraged Gunderson to change his diet again. He now avoids the artificial sweetener aspartame and the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate. Aspartame is used as replacement for sugar in many "diet" products, including diet soft drinks. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is contained in many processed foods, including canned soups and commercially manufactured salad dressings. Restaurants also frequently use MSG to enhance flavor.

"I started watching out for MSG and aspartame about four or five years ago," Gunderson says, "and I have noticed a difference. As a rule, if I watch what I eat and I take care of myself and don't allow myself to get run down, I don't have migraines." Still, avoiding MSG can be difficult because it is widely used in commercially prepared foods, and the labels (and restaurant menus) don't always state that the contents include MSG. "Almost all processed foods seem to contain MSG," Gunderson says. "I can get by now with eating a little of that stuff, as long as I don't do anything strenuous afterward."

For nearly eight years, Mark Reido was experiencing sleep apnea and sluggishness. "I had that tired, run-down feeling. It developed over a long-term period of years and it became more noticeable as I became older. I was under a lot of stress also."

During a visit to The Care Group, Reido underwent a blood test, with the results indicating that his vitamin D level was well below the optimal level. At Dr. Guillory's suggestion, Reido began taking vitamin D drops. Initially, he placed the drops on his daily multivitamin tablet and then ingested the tablet. But a subsequent blood test indicated that his vitamin D level remained low, so he began taking the drops sublingually.

"If you take the vitamin D sublingually (under the tongue) and let it sit there awhile, you absorb more," Reido says.

"I have been taking the vitamin D sublingually for about a week now," Reido says. "The sleep apnea is still kind of there, but I don't have that sluggish feeling during the day. And, in the past, a weekend wasn't a weekend without a nap. Now I can go and go. I'm thinking that the vitamin D contributed to that."

A & I Financial Services LLC invited Dr. Guillory to give a seminar, 10 Steps to Better Health, to a group of clients in October 2008. Dr. Guillory's presentation was engaging and informative. In fact, we received positive feedback from the participants, across the board. Many folks were excited to try his advice and requested more information. Dr. Guillory's committment to improving health and helping people feel their best sets him apart!

Thank you again for sharing your time and expertise with us. We appreciate it!

Marilyn Schadt had been experiencing aches and pains in her joints and found it increasingly difficult to move one of her shoulders. At Dr. Guillory's suggestion, she visited Nhu Nguyen, who provides acupuncture services at The Care Group's Aurora office.

Schadt has now undergone five sessions. "The pain in the joints has eased quite a bit," she says. "Some joints no longer have any pain. But with something that is degenerative like arthritis, it isn't necessarily going to go totally away. But it certainly has improved.

"One of the first things I noticed, besides decreased discomfort, was a little added range of motion," she says. "I still have some discomfort if I move in a certain direction, but I'm not as afraid to move it (the shoulder) as before."

Schadt's blood pressure also has dropped since she began receiving acupuncture, she says. The results have been so good that Schadt has recommended acupuncture to friends who are experiencing aches and pains.

For 15 years, Neil Wiese regularly experienced abdominal pains and bloating that lasted all day, nearly every day.

"I went through many, many doctors," Wiese says. "I even went as far as the Mayo Clinic. Nobody could figure out what it was."

In 2004, he attended a seminar by Dr. Guillory and, afterward, went to visit the doctor. After conducting tests and ruling out a number of potential causes, Dr. Guillory focused on the possibility that Wiese's digestive problems were related to monosodium glutamate (MSG), a widely used food additive.

Dr. Guillory recommended that Wiese avoid foods containing MSG. In addition, he recommended that Wiese steer clear of the artificial sweetener aspartame as well as high fructose corn syrup, also used as a sweetener.

"I went on the diet and watched everything I ate," Wiese says. "I also kept a diary. And in the course of a month or so, I was better. I have slowly continued getting better for the last couple of years. My life has changed dramatically. It's a miracle for me."