GOOD GIRL GO GO GO!

Doctor Go! highlights ways to create a healthy relationship with our doctors and ourselves by showing us how to tune in to our own body and its needs and how to practice self-care effectively. Our good health is THE most important thing. Let’s face it, without it, we can’t do much of anything, yet relationships with doctors often fail to have a healthy dialogue...read more

Dr. Mark Pettus is a triple-board certified Internist, Nephrologist and Integrative Medicine physician practicing for over 25 years.  He received his A.B. from Boston University and his M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  His postdoctoral training was at Harvard Medical School.  He completed his renal fellowship at The Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.  Dr. Pettus is also an alumnus of The Advanced Program for Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and Mediation at The Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Pettus currently serves as the Director of Medical Education, Wellness and Population Health at Berkshire Health Systems in western Massachusetts. In addition, he serves as The Associate Dean of Medical Education at The University of Massachusetts Medical School.  He is the author of two books, The Savvy Patient: The Ultimate Advocate for Quality Health Care and It’s All in Your Head: Change Your Mind, Change Your Health. He serves on the teaching faculty at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine based in Washington D.C. and The Meditation Institute in Averill Park NY.

Dr. Pettus is the 2018 recipient of The National Institute of Wellness’ Halbert Dunn MD, PhD Award, the most prestigious award presented by the National Wellness Institute and regarded as one of the highest honors in the health promotion and wellness fields. Recipients of the award have shown a dedication to wellness over the course of their lifetime, making many significant contributions and offering leadership that furthered the field of wellness.

In addition, Dr. Pettus was recognized by the Massachusetts State Senate in 2018 for his leadership in Population-Community Health in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  

Dr. Pettus appears on numerous TV and Radio venues nationally including the 700 Club, Good Morning America, NPR and PBS. His podcast, The Health Edge is heard by people all over the world.

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In this 8 week series, Dr Mark Pettus presents concrete lifestyle strategies for promoting optimal health and managing chronic complex disease through NUTRITION, MOVEMENT, MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION, AND SOCIAL CONNECTION. The series will provide a scientific, evidence-based overview of an integrative-holistic approach for the creation of health. Dr. Pettus will discuss the profound potential for lifestyle and behavioral changes using the latest research. Read more

Creating Health - Exploring the Causes of the Causes is the first of eight lectures created to form "a wellness road map." The Creating Health lecture series is about how you function. How you function determines how you feel. In eight weeks we will explore the key metabolic underpinnings of how we function. We will learn how our biology becomes our biography.

The #1 cause of death and diminished quality of life are the choices we make.  Healthy living does not happen at the doctor’s office. Good Health requires that we transform perceptions of Self-Care and what we as humans are capable of. It’s not the hand you’re dealt but, how you play your cards. Read More

How did the fat switch get turned on? and why isn't it turning off?

This week's Creating Health lecture focuses on Metabolism, Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome. The learning objectives of the lecture will be to examine the drivers of Weight Gain, Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome; the relationship between macro-nutrient content, lipogenesis [the biologic imperative to store fat] and leptin-insulin resistance; and the relationship between Biology and Behavior. read more 

INFLAMMATION: ARE YOU PLAYING WITH FIRE?

Today's lecture explores the root causes of inflammation that fuel chronic-complex disease; examines the connection between inflammation and brain health; explains the mechanisms that link many common environmental triggers with increased inflammation; and considers lifestyle changes that can reduce-reverse inflammation to improve longevity and quality of life read more...

Our intestines are so much more than just a tube for digestion and absorption.  The gut contents are an inner world that is “outside” the cellular body. Its surface is a frontier of 100 square meters and is only one cell layer thick. Your gut flora are an organ [the microbiome] that contains 10 times more microbial cells than the body has mammalian cells. Our microbiome has 100x the DNA than all of human DNA combined. From a cellular perspective, we are 10% human and 90% microbial. This lecture explores what the microbes in our gut might be telling us ...read more

Since WWII, more than 85,000 new synthetic chemicals have been released into the environment. As a species we are exposed to 6 million lbs mercury and 2.5 billion lbs of other toxic chemicals each year. Most have not been tested for potential toxicity in adults [few in children]. Over 4 billion lbs of pesticides are used annually in the US. Current law allows 350 pesticides to be used on the foods we eat. The average home contains 3-10 gallons of hazardous materials. Traces > 280 synthetic chemicals can be found in the average newborn. Read more

al·lo·sta·sisˌ aləˈstāsis/: noun. 1. the process by which the body responds to stressors in order to regain homeostasis. Allostasis is the ability to achieve stability through CHANGE... Your DNA is therefore not your destiny... read more