Sponsored content:
Thirteen years ago when Lee Harris and his wife crossed paths with Dr. Corey Priest, the couple wanted to live a healthier lifestyle and stave off the aging process. Instead of going down the path of traditional medicine, Harris wanted to learn more about integrative and functional medicine—and all the things Lifeworks, Priest’s clinic, brought to the table. From the first consultation, it was a good match. “There weren’t any major burning issues at the time,” Harris says. “We were looking at total wellness. Thirteen years later—we’re still working together.”
For Priest, that’s just one of his many success stories. At Lifeworks, Priest has been taking his expertise in both integrative and functional medicine to the next level. “We’re on a mission to really educate people on what options there are when it comes to looking at health and wellness with a different perspective—and what it takes for them to get well,” he says. “It’s a huge task—and it begins with people understanding what the options are.”
Functional medicine has been around for a while, but “it’s now just coming onto the scene,” Priest says. “We bring a very detailed understanding of human physiology and how all systems are integrated.” Priest and his team offer a more unified approach to healthcare. “It’s about fine-tuning and tweaking things to help make someone’s physiology better.”
The list of ailments that Priest treats is lengthy. “The majority of people we work with are people who have been everywhere and are now in crisis mode—from hormone imbalance to autoimmune issues, diabetes to chronic infections,” he says. Many patients at Lifeworks have been to three or four different providers and typically are frustrated because their doctors or specialists haven’t been listening to them. “The problem is no one is looking at how everything is working together,” Priest says. “I often hear ‘you’re my last resort.’”
And the sheer variety of people who come to Lifeworks is noteworthy. On any given day, Priest’s patient list will run the gamut from elite athletes trying to optimize their good health to patients in dire straits with extreme gastrointestinal issues or autoimmune deficiencies. “It’s all very individualized and comprehensive. No one’s protocol is the same,” says Eli Trave, the office manager at Lifeworks. “Here we focus on that person. We listen to their needs. We hear a lot of ‘I’ve been telling this to my doctor’ and here they get validation and then get steps to feel better.”
It’s that personalized attention that helped Harris and his wife get on the road to better health. “The supplement routine was designed for that process. At the time, we’d put on a few pounds and were looking for some ways to lose weight,” Harris says. “I lost 82 pounds over two years eating better and taking supplements. As our physician said, ‘We owe Corey thanks and gratitude.’” For Harris, it was a collaborative effort across the board. Priest and his team were more than happy to work with Harris’ healthcare providers to ensure the best care. “The way we like to work with Corey and our wellness team is to get everybody to talk together,” says Harris. “Between our doctors and Corey, they’re all clued in and making sure that everybody is in agreement with our therapies. That gives me comfort that three doctors are all looking out for me and that I’m on the right path.”
For Harris, it’s Priest’s personalized attention to detail that makes all the difference. “My wife and I feel like he cares. We’re not another number,” says Harris. “We’re friends and patients all rolled into one. He’s vested in the wellness we’ve been experiencing.”
With any patient, Priest and his team strive to discover the cause of the issues and the best plan of attack. “We peel the layers back to get to the root,” Priest says. Many patients visit Lifeworks simply because they have a hunch they should be feeling better than they are. Others suffer from concerns such as insomnia, lack of energy, or decreased libido.
Fortunately, Lifeworks has been solving health issues for nearly 20 years. The goal? Find the underlying cause of patients’ ailments, correcting the imbalance, and maintaining optimal health. “Corey is the guy to go to when no one else can figure out what’s going on,” Trave says.
Interested in learning more? If you want to gain more insight into your current health situation, Lifeworks is here to help. Priest and his team offer the expertise, compassion, and motivation to empower you toward the healthier life you want and deserve. “At the end of the day, it’s about making changes and feeling better,” Priest says.