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My Journey:
From Primary Care Pediatrics to Precision Medicine
In 2005, I founded Pediatric Associates of Durango. It was an integrated practice from the beginning as we offered a variety of holistic modalities such as osteopathy, homeopathy, and neurofeedback. We provided free classes such as Infant Massage, Yoga for Children, and Cooking Matters. In 2007, I added acupuncture and shonishin (a needle-less form of acupuncture for children) to my practice. It was fabulous to identify and improve, if not resolve, a wide variety of issues that Western medicine alone could not definitively address.
As the years, went by, I watched the make-up of my practice change dramatically. To respond to the increasing number of children with autism, ADHD, mood disorders, gut disorders, behavioral problems, I found myself making more and more dietary changes, adding micronutrients, probiotics, utilizing other 'alternative' labs and therapeutic modalities and even brought in a child psychiatrist.
The CDC was documenting the same trends I was seeing in my practice: in 2000 the prevalence of autism was 1:500, by 2020 it had jumped to 1:36!
Due to this tsunami of neurodevelopment issues, I decided to leave primary care pediatrics to work on the ‘big picture’. How can we de-tox our world and prevent further chemicals and pollutants from entering our children’s bodies, our bodies!? How can we make these connections for families and physicians alike so that everyone could make the changes needed?
As I came full circle, exploring the possibility of updating the PSR, In Harm's Way talk, I met the co-founder of IntellxxDNA, Dr. Sharon Hausman-Cohen. I was thrilled to discover that they had found a way to determine the precise ways in which an individual child's genes are interacting with their environment and how the child's health could be optimized using this information to make specific dietary, lifestyle, supplemental, and occasionally medication recommendations. It has been deeply gratifying to discover the genomic reasons why the interventions I had advised worked the majority of the time, and why they, less frequently, didn't work at all.
It is exciting to have access to this robust clinical decision support tool. I look forward to having the opportunity to partner with you to unleash your child's potential and allow them to blossom into the best possible version of themselves!
Sincerely,
Dr. Pakhi
In 2000, I completed my pediatric residency and happened to attend the Physicians for Responsibility presentation, In Harm’s Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development . I was struck by the ominous projections they made in regard to the brain health of our future children.
Despite these looming concerns, I enthusiastically jumped into primary care pediatrics and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved partnering with parents to ensure that their children remained healthy and thrived.
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