Women in Business - Northlake Cardiology & WellCare

Dr. Prashanthi Atluri Northlake Cardiology & WellCare

Dr. Prashanthi Atluri established Northlake Cardiology and WellCare Center to provide diet and lifestyle-based medicine that supports wellness and reversal of disease, rather than treating patients based on their symptoms. She is inspired by the work of Dr. J.H. Tilden and Dr. Herbert M. Shelton who practiced wellness-based model of health in the 1800s and 1900s. She says all diseases come from the body not being able to eliminate its own waste, which is called toxemia.

“Cardiology is synonymous with lifestyle medicine,” she says. “If you look at it, it’s our habits, what we are eating, what we are putting in our body. When we address everything at the root cause then pretty much all these modern-day cardiac issues are going to be nonexistent.”

Dr. Atluri is trained in Internal Medicine and General Cardiology at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. She worked at the University Medical center for 10 plus years. At that time, she shared that both she and her daughter experienced health issues, and she wasn’t satisfied with the treatment options being offered.

“I was prescribing medications, but I never took any pills in my life,” she says. “When you start reading about the side effects, being dependent on medications and administering them to my daughter didn’t sit with me very well. So, I started exploring more and better options for myself, for my family, without any side effects.”

She says as she continued her research, it was like pieces of a puzzle snapping into place. “Nutrition and lifestyle are rarely taught in med school. It’s like, you need to take a few vitamins, some minerals, a whole lot of drugs but not proper lifestyle advice. When we realize we can’t get well in the same system that made us sick then we will realize the importance of proper diet, sleep, exercise, and stress in our lives.”

When patients come to the WellCare Center, Dr. Atluri begins with an extensive health history, then provides recommendations with treatment plans that the patient can choose from, including conventional medicine approach. The best option she says is to rebuild health. “When we add more positive things to our lifestyle, the positive health indicators go up, and the negatives are going to come down. As the body gets filled up with good nutrients, rest, and stress-reduction, the need for medications is also going to come down.”

As Americans, we want things to be fast, Dr. Atluri says, but it’s better not to make the body multitask. “We adopted the Standard American Diet, which we call SAD. We started using more and different kinds of pharmaceuticals to suppress every condition. Everything we do to our body deviates from nutrition and lifestyle. The body doesn’t digest, repair, and detox at the same time.”

Her advice for a healthier life is simple: “Eat more plant-based and natural foods and stay away from highly processed foods. Get more exposure to sunlight, a lot of time in nature, and maintain your relationships by talking less and listening to other people more.”

804 Heavens Dr., Ste. 200, Mandeville

(985) 334-4210 northlakecardiologyandwellcarecenter.com