While most health/spa programs charge significantly extra fees for medical appointments and tests, the following medical services are standard at Pritikin:
- Comprehensive history and physical, and includes dietary analysis, blood pressure review, medication review, and weight-loss planning
- On-going personal consultations with our physicians to closely track fitness, weight loss, health progress, and changes (often reductions) in prescription drugs for conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. In total, you will spend up to 90 minutes in private consultations with one of our physicians.
- Cardiometabolic fitness testing
- State-of-the-art blood panels, including inflammatory markers, comprehensive cholesterol analysis, and insulin and blood sugar sensitivity
- Daily variety of fitness classes
Each week, our physicians also sit down with our other health professionals at Pritikin, including our exercise team and nutritionists, to discuss each guest’s progress and challenges, and chart a course for success.
And certainly, the private counseling with your physician is vital to your success. Observes Pritikin’s Medical Director Danine Fruge, MD: “Outside Pritikin, in the ‘real world’ of medical care, we doctors have little time to listen. About seven minutes. Then we pick up a pad and write a prescription. We can do a lot of harm that way. At Pritikin, we take seriously the Latin meaning of the word ‘doctor’ – which is ‘teacher.’ We spend a long time listening and educating. And the payoff is priceless. Patients tell me, ‘I never really understand my medical situation until now… and I haven’t felt this good in years.'”
Additional Medical Services at Pritikin Include:
Biomechanical and Musculoskeletal Evaluation (BME)
Knee, shoulder, or back pain? Old injury bothering you? Does pain get in the way every time you try to start an exercise program?
If so, make an appointment with one of our two biomechanical consultants. Each has more than 25 years of orthopedic experience helping hundreds rediscover the joy of movement when it’s pain- and injury-free.
Your evaluation consists of two life-changing sessions.
In the first, which is 90 minutes, one of our biomechanical consultants will assess you from head to toe, analyzing your posture, alignment, gait, muscle strength, range of motion, flexibility, and any pain or discomfort you feel in your daily activities. You’ll then receive personalized exercise instructions based on your unique needs.
You’ll also receive written step-by-step guidelines and pictures of the exercises for future use when you return home, plus a dictated narrative detailing each exercise’s purpose and benefit.
In the second session, which is 60 minutes, one of our university-degreed exercise physiologists will make sure you’re performing every exercise correctly. And together you will design your daily home fitness routine.
DEXA Bone Density Scan
Osteoporosis is characterized by thinning, brittle bones and deterioration of bone tissue, leading to an increased susceptibility to serious fractures of the hip, wrists, spine, and ribs.
Osteoporosis afflicts women and men. It is called the “silent disease” because it is symptom-free until a bone fracture occurs. With DEXA, the most advanced assessment of bone strength, you and your physician can take steps to treat the disease before you’re at risk of fracture. You will also learn how to prevent bone loss. No other bone density test can match DEXA for dependability and accuracy.
DEXA Body Composition Scan
Your weight as measured by the scale is far from the whole story. The scale doesn’t tell you how much muscle mass and body fat you have. It’s important to know because gaining muscle and losing body fat greatly enhances your health and your weight-loss efforts.
The DEXA Body Composition Scan calculates your percentage of lean muscle and body fat from head to toe.
With the Pritikin Program, you certainly lose fat. But you also gain lean muscle mass. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn – and the quicker you reach the leaner body you want.
More muscle mass means you look better, too – leaner, fitter, more toned – regardless of what the scale says. It’s far healthier to be 220 pounds with a high percentage of muscle tissue than 220 pounds with little muscle.
The DEXA Body Composition Scan is also very motivating. No matter what the scale says, you know you’re on the right track. You can feel it, you can see it, and your DEXA results prove it.
If you are staying two weeks or more, you will also receive a free follow-up scan. You’ll actually see the extraordinary effects of the Pritikin Program in each area of your body.