By Abbey Cannan
A new medical centre and dispensary has opened in Noosa Junction with an expert team who are eager to bring a holistic approach to patient care.
Created by Dr Cheyne Mitchell and his pharmacist business partner, Alya Abdulmaksoud, Budding Wellness specialises in endo-cannabinoid support (ECS) therapy to improve quality of life.
“In my opinion taking a holistic approach to patient care is essential in being able to understand and facilitate goals each individual patient has for their treatment,” Dr Cheyne said.
“It’s exciting to now work in a fully independent practitioner run environment that allows us to put patient care at the centre of all we do.”
After moving to the Sunshine Coast as a junior doctor in 2013, Dr Cheyne spent more than 10 years with Queensland Health, first based at Nambour and then the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
“My medical background is primarily in critical care and anaesthetic medicine,” he said.
“It was during my paediatric anaesthetic training where I first became aware of endo-cannabinoid medications being used to reduce seizures in children with difficult to control epilepsy.
“From there I also discovered their role in chronic pain management as a safer alternative to opiate based pain medications.”
The Budding Wellness team aims to focus directly on making meaningful differences in how people live their lives.
“That might be getting a better night of sleep, reducing restrictions on physical activity or being less anxious in a busy supermarket,” Dr Cheyne said.
“The aim is to reduce the barriers between a patient and undertaking life positive experiences. To this end we look at optimising existing therapies, tailor an individualised ECS therapy plan and discuss other non medication based interventions to be employed alongside.
“That combination of understanding patient needs from their perspective, and optimal use of medications in concert with lifestyle interventions, is what I understand holistic care to be.
“I believe it is the most effective way to open up more space for patients to enjoy living their lives. This isn’t just nice for patients, it’s an important health intervention in its own right.
“Individuals with greater life satisfaction are more likely to be a healthy weight, be more active, have better quality sleep and have lower circulating levels of stress hormones. All of which are known to be useful in slowing aging, reducing rates of cognitive decline and decreasing risk of heart attack or stroke.”
ECS therapies may be suitable for anyone with a chronic health condition for which conventional therapies have proven ineffective or have been associated with unhelpful side effects.
The most common reasons for booking an appointment are often anxiety and mood related issues, chronic pain and insomnia.
“There are a variety of other medical conditions for which we may be useful, our friendly staff will be happy to discuss if we might be useful in improving quality of life for your particular health concern,” Dr Cheyne said.
For more information or to book an appointment, visit buddingwellness.com.au or call (07) 5440 4900.
Drop into the Budding Wellness clinic to chat through any questions at Shop 6, 4-6 Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Heads.
