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Dr Donthu sitting on sofa

Hello, I am pleased to see you here!

My name is Dr. Donthu, a physician, wife, daughter, and a mom to my two little, or big depending on who you ask, boys.

My origins in medicine go back to my childhood in my native country. I grew up in India and since I was 3 years old, spent most of my after-school time in my dad’s clinic, who is also a physician and my biggest inspiration.

Amazed by his passion to help others, I eagerly accompanied and helped my dad in the free rural health camps he organized. This continued from the age of 8 until after my med school graduation when I began to be included as a doctor treating patients.

My father and I share a similar philosophy when it comes to treating

My Passion

My passion lies in optimizing health and wellness promotion as being healthy is vital to be able to do the things you want to and enjoy them. Good health is the greatest gift you can give to your family.

I work to achieve this goal through evidence based medicine meaning medicine based on robust scientific data – may it be primary care or functional medicine.

I love spending time with my patients to LISTEN which helps me not only in laying strong physician- patient relationship but also enables me to use the best of both worlds of conventional medicine and functional medicine through lifestyle modification.

Why Functional Medicine?

What most people do not realize is that human bodies have an incredible capacity to heal themselves and restore their natural rhythm once they are provided support and fuel in the form of nutrients, rest, and relaxation.

I experienced this phenomenon myself when I was faced with a health issue in early 2019, and that breakthrough is the reason I decided to pursue the integration of internal and functional medicine in my practice.

One day, I decided to treat my staff to lunch at a local restaurant, as a token of appreciation for all of their hard work. As everyone was happily enjoying their meals and time off from work, I experienced what ended up taking me on a health journey of my own.

While eating, I felt a sensation of something being stuck in my throat. Medically, we call it a “globus sensation”. Being a practitioner myself, I knew better than to wait, so I consulted a very fine ENT surgeon and was diagnosed with Laryngopharyngeal reflux, caused by acid regurgitation into the throat.

I have been prescribed reflux medications (PPI) for 6 weeks and although I followed every direction I was given, I did not feel any better by the end of the therapy. I decided to seek help elsewhere.

Fruits and Vegetables
top-view-healthy-balanced-vegetarian-food

I was seen by gastroenterology and once again nothing was found in my throat, yet I continued to experience the same symptoms. Hoping that my third visit would help me discover and treat what was so severely impacting the comfort of my life, I went to a neurolaryngologist who felt it was something neurological. I was given nerve blocks multiple times, and to my disappointment, it did not help once again.

After 8 months of being on and off medications that did little to treat my condition, I felt helpless. What may seem minor to some was a huge factor impacting the quality of my life. I wanted to feel free again.

I then decided that treating the symptom is not enough. I needed to find the root cause first before attempting to treat any symptoms. I started by listening to my body and observing my routine. With the extra attention given to my lifestyle, combined with hours spent in books and research, I figured that there was too much stress in my life and that certain foods were worsening my symptom.

As Danzae Pace says: “Stress is the trash of modern life. We all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life”.

I decided to take action.

While my life may have been seen as healthy, an active vegetarian with a passion for yoga, it didn’t prevent me from being impacted by conditions. As every human body is different, what the public may seem like the epitome of health can still result in symptoms and conditions.

Through a combination of powerful yogic practice called “ Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya” that I do daily and an elimination diet, I was able to pinpoint exactly which foods were triggering the choking sensation and how to decrease the daily stress in my life.

I was amazed to see how my body liked all the cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc, and started refining my diet. I was symptom-free in 3 months!  

That is when the great strengths of functional medicine dawned on me! I was thrilled to realize through my own experience that there was a way to help patients who cannot find a solution in conventional medicine.

That is how my journey to becoming a Functional Medicine practitioner began.