Dr. Arturo Portales, D.O., F.A.A.R.F.M.
Specialty: Integrative Medicine
Practicing Since: 1992
Dr. Portales trained at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in 1989. After residency, he worked in emergency medicine for 15 years. He became board certified in emergency medicine in 1997. Despite working in a variety of emergency department settings, he did not find the work fulfilling because he felt that there had to be more than a "band aid" approach to helping people fight disease. What he found in practice was that conventional medicine is disease oriented but fails to address the underlying issues of the individual. He also found that a patient's lifestyle and nutrition were seldom if ever addressed. In the acute care setting, this approach saves lives. However, in the chronic care setting, this approach fails miserably. Chronic disease represents 78% of the total healthcare expenditures in the U.S and despite the billions spent, people are not any healthier.
Dr. Portales has sought out other methods to deliver healthcare to patients where the root causes are addressed. What he learned through many hours of study is that diseases are multi-factorial and healthcare must be approached with an open mind integrating other methods of healthcare delivery with an ultimate goal of optimizing a patient's health. He found that each patient represents a unique set of circumstances and this necessitates an individualized approach to each patient.
Dr. Portales takes a functional medicine approach to health which believes that being healthy and being symptom free are not the same. A disease is not something a person ‘catches' or necessarily inherits, but rather, it represents each individual's response to a given set of metabolic, genetic, psychological, and physiologic circumstances. His approach sets out to identify the metabolic imbalances whether they are hormonal, immunological, structural, psychological, inflammatory, environmental, oxidative stress, or gastrointestinal function.
Dr. Portales is Board Certified by the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine in Anti-aging, Regenerative, and Functional Medicine. He completed his Fellowship training in Anti-aging, Regenerative, and Functional Medicine in 2011. He continues to pursue a Masters in Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine at the University Of South Florida College Of Medicine.