1701 Woodfield Rd. Suite 423 Schaumburg, IL 60173
About
Dr. Kenton Anderson ND
Healing Happens Within
Hi, I am
Dr. Kenton Anderson
When I was 12, I told a friend that I was going to be a doctor. Of course, like many of us, I got a bit sidetracked with life.
After college, armed with a B.S. in Accounting and CPA certification, I joined the corporate world and made a successful career for myself for over 20 years.
But something kept gnawing at me...
About this time, I had a personal health crisis when I gained 30 lbs in a month. I knew it was a thyroid issue, but my doctor tried to tell me I was overeating. Only at my insistence did he agree to test me. A few days later I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and told to take thyroid medication for the rest of my life.
I wanted a better solution…
something that got to the bottom of things and could offer a natural, effective and permanent solution.
At the same time, my parents were getting older and experiencing a huge decline in their quality of living… and the only solution given to them were pharmaceuticals.
Again, I knew there had to be a better way.
That’s when the dream I had forgotten became real…
I made the decision to become a Naturopathic Physician and, in 2012, graduated from the National University of Health Sciences in Chicago with a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine.
Today I work with people like you
Who want to restore their foundation of health in a way that allows the body to recover optimally.
As part of the Vitalistic Naturopathic Community, a community of physicians who believe in the ability of the human body to heal itself, my job is to help you create a healing environment that reawakens your health.
Certainly, pharmaceutical medications, as well as lifesaving or improvement surgeries, have a place…
but I’ve found that the best approach to solving health problems is an integrative approach.
It's not one or the other. There are benefits to both naturopathic and conventional healthcare. But in my life, I've learned that traditional naturopathic modalities with conventional medicine added as an alternative when needed works best to help me be my best healthy self.
Because life flows in the middle… in the grey.
Here’s My Story — Is It Similar to Yours?
In my mid 30’s, I gained 35 pounds — 30 of them in one month...
I had a suspicion it was a thyroid problem, but when I went to my doctor and suggested it, he shrugged it off with, ‘Don't be silly, thyroid problems are for women. It's December... how many parties did you go to? And how many cookies and bottles of wine did you drink?’
To prove me wrong, he went ahead and tested me. A few days later he called and said, ‘You made a liar out of me, you've got hypothyroidism... you need to go on thyroid medication.’
I did, but it didn’t help me feel any better. The following year I was fatigued, depressed, struggling to lose weight and coping with all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.
The pill he gave me didn’t make me feel better, so I kept looking for the solution.
I tried therapy and counseling. I tried a personal trainer, diet fads, etc. I’d have moderate success in bits and pieces, but couldn’t get it working all together at any one time to produce overall health.
During this period when I was trying to get on top of my health, my parents were aging and the only ‘answer’ to their issues the medical doctors could provide were pharmaceuticals, which seemed to add quantity of life, but definitely not quality That was still diminishing.
All of this factored into my decision to leave a successful corporate career and pursue a new path as a Naturopathic Physician. So at the age of 45, I entered medical school at the National University of Health Sciences in Chicago, one of only 5 accredited schools in U.S. and Canada. (More on this later but it’s never too late to follow a dream - at ANY age — I know, I did it!)
And just in time...
My mother, who’d been a surgical nurse and was very western medicine oriented, didn’t question the fact that she was given one drug after another to keep her going until about a year before she died when she came to me and said,
'I need your help'
Her ankles measured 9 ½ inches around and she didn't have the strength to walk. Although she’d never smoked, she had COPD — an outcome of pneumonia when she was 3. She was on oxygen and had trouble breathing, with a lot of phlegm in her lungs.
I was still in school so I referred her to a Naturopathic colleague of mine. Within 2 weeks her ankles shrank 2 1/2 inches — just by changing her diet (getting her more protein and eliminating citrus fruits and other inflammation/phlegm-generating foods like dairy and grains).
Along with changing her diet, her Naturopathic Physician added a couple of supplements and some water therapies. For the first time, she was able to return to the pool for her arthritis exercises… and at the age of 87 reduced her 10 medications a day to 4 in a matter of 6 months.
Unfortunately, my mother died just 20 days before I graduated from medical school. She had fallen, broken her hip, and then succumbed to pulmonary failure. Mortality is not good for that type of injury given her age.
From a health perspective, the last year of her life had been the best year of her life in a very long time. She felt really good, was happy and couldn’t believe how well she was doing from making some very simple dietary changes. I miss my mother, but I know she lived well and I know that Naturopathic medicine decreased her suffering... and isn’t that the point?
I saw firsthand that, even at the age of 87, people respond to the Naturopathic approach to health. Naturopathic medicine has been practiced for hundreds of years because it works. Sometimes people think it’s not “scientific” but in fact, science is proving more and more everyday that naturopathic medicine not only ‘works’, it leads to improved outcomes and a higher quality of life.
How long we live is important,
but what’s most important is the quality of our lives while we’re here.
If you’re seeking sound natural healing from a straightforward professional, call Dr. Kent. I’ve already referred close friends for their issues.
I’m in my mid-forties and had been experiencing constant back, shoulder, and joint pain for the past few years. Finally I went to both a shoulder and a back specialist; I was given a Rx of 1,000mg Naproxen (4+ tablets of Aleve) daily for inflammation & 12 weeks of Physical Therapy (PT) to see if it would help. The PT did help somewhat, but I had sharp GI pains for weeks, became uncomfortably puffy and let like a blob. I stopped the Naproxen and kept doing PT as it did provide daily relief. My insurance approved surgery, but after speaking with other close friends, an ER doctor & a nurse anesthetist, they said while surgery is an option, it may not resolve the problems.
I knew Dr. Kent from a past business coaching group. I told him my symptoms, he accurately framed my body’s experience like my other doctors. Unlike the others and more importantly, he explained WHY my body was experiencing GI issues & inflammation. His plan was simple, keep up with my daily PT movements, slight changes to my diet, and take a few natural supplements. In less than 2 weeks my energy was back, don’t feel the need for the surgery, and my GI feels better than ever. Since I didn’t have to wait another 12+ weeks due to surgery recovery I’ve played 6 rounds of golf this year. I was tired afterward, but it’s that good satisfying play-hard tired as the joint & muscle aches I typically had afterward were gone.
Sean B.