Dr. James Prego and the staff at Long Island Naturopathic, in downtown Islip, adhere to a philosophy that sets them apart from other medical practices in the area. Instead of seeing a patient for an earache and looking in the ear to “fix” the problem, Prego digs deeper. “We see patients who have many different conditions, but for us, the actual condition doesn’t matter as much as finding what is needed to help the patient heal,” he explains. “We support the body’s own healing process, treat the whole person (not just the ear for an earache), and try to find the deeper causes of disease or illness. We excel at helping the chronically sick, but we also help people maintain good health and help some with acute conditions.”
“Naturopathic medicine isn’t really about the type of service, but about how we look at the patient,” Prego continues. “What we offer is a way to improve your health by changing the way you look at health and your body and mind.”
While Long Island Naturopathic does not focus on any one specific service, they do feature a wide variety of options on the path to helping their patients achieve optimal health. They include herbal medicine; clinical nutrition; lifestyle modification; stress management; homeopathy; lifestyle changes; dietary changes; vitamins and minerals; biotherapeutic drainage; some hydrotherapy; and more.
Prego enjoys helping patients dig deep and find out what is really affecting their body and mind. He says, “In naturopathic medicine, we do not ‘hijack’ the systems of the body, but try to find what it is missing or what is holding it back, and give the support the body and mind need to overcome the problems and get back into balance. They key is to eventually get the patient to a point where they do not need anything other than good living and eating habits to maintain good health.”
In addition, Prego is an activist for naturopathic doctors in the state of New York. He explains, “In New York state, naturopathic doctors are very limited in what we can do because there are no licensing laws to cover our kind of medicine. This is a big reason why there are not many naturopathic doctors in the state.” Prego is determined to bring licensing for naturopathic doctors to New York state so that he and his colleagues can better serve New Yorkers and attract more naturopathic doctors to the area.
