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Meet William Mitchell of AZ Integrative Rheumatology in Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to William Mitchell.

Thanks for sharing your story with us William. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a Naturopathic Doctor practicing in Scottsdale Arizona. I work with folks of all ages to ensure we’re aging slower and minimizing our need for medications.

My primary interests are autoimmune diseases which are illnesses where your immune system attacks your body including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and inflammatory bowel disease. I also have a passion for helping men and women with mood disorders.

My story begins as a youngster with health issues that I didn’t pay much attention to early on. As a child, I struggled with chronic anemia, difficulty concentrating, gastrointestinal issues, mood problems and eczema. My parents did their best to make sure I was cared for, but the doctor never had any real answers for my health concerns. The worst of which was the anemia and the eczema. I recall being told there was blood in my stool and having a barium enema exam which revealed nothing. That’s not a fun exam, by the way, you have to drink this chalky stuff and have it infused up your other end. Yuck! The anemia got so bad that I collapsd during a training run for track and field.

The coach called an ambulance and I was driven off to the hospital. For my eczema, I was simply told to use steroid creams, which became impracticle when large surface areas of skin became involved. And as usual, when I wanted to stop the steroid creams to protect my skin, the rashes would always come back worse than before.

Things came to a head during my college years, when my mood, skin and digestive issues were at their peak. I remember having lots of abdominal discomfort and bathroom troubles. My skin was so bad I’d be up at night scratching it open because of the itching or calming it with scalding hot water. I recall wearing long sleeves all the time hiding my skin that I was ashamed of. This added to my generally depressed mood which isolated me from others and made it difficult to interact normally.

Eventually, I had enough. I looked for answers in the online community that, similar to me, had found a solution to their issues through the body what it needs and removing obstacles to health. I learned so much about how your environment can actually turn on genes that we all have that lead to our own unique expression of disease. One of the bigger factors was nutrition. I learned the importance of eating a diet of whole and unprocessed foods, finding what foods were best tailored for my immune system and learned about lab testing that I could order myself as a consumer.

I coupled my nutritional habits with learning about how to detoxify everything we’re exposed to in our environment, regulating our body clock, decompressing my stress and finding the amount of exercise that was appropriate for me, I had for the first time EVER in my life, achieved clear skin and dramatically reduced the magnitude of many of my other issues.

I was floored. Why don’t doctors know this stuff? Why don’t doctors know that if we give our bodies what they need and eliminate obstacles to health, they can heal!?

Around this time, I had just finished up my undergraduate degree and was working part-time at a health food store. I loved listening to people on their health journey, hearing what they had tried, what had worked and what didn’t. I formed a lot of relationships with some regular shoppers who would come in with lab work asking me to interpret it. Yikes! All I could tell them was, “sorry, I’m not equipped to interpret any of that!”

But I wanted to learn how. I knew this was my calling.

My undergraduate anatomy instructor, who was very influential in my life, had introduced me to the idea of becoming a Naturopathic Doctor. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded really cool. And so I did some homework, spent the next year completing some of the prerequisites in organic and biochemistry and applied to Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. I interviewed and was accepted, passed my boards and licensing exams and joined the ranks of Naturopathic Doctors. Doctors who aren’t involved in sick care, but work with our patients to help them achieve remarkable levels of health. I’m grateful every day for the amazing men and women I get to work with and the health transformations I have witnessed.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t think anyone’s road is ever smooth. We all have our own unique set of circumstances and challenges that put huge inclines on the path before us.

In my estimation, my biggest obstacle was my own mind. I frequently felt like I was never worthy or good enough to get after my calling.

It’s funny because I would frequently hear from my friends, colleagues and mentors that I was talented, smart and capable. But the truth is that I had repeatedly gone through several cycles of self-hatred and dark thoughts. It makes you feel incredible loneliness and it’s difficult to come out about this stuff for both men and women in this day and age. I think it’s even harder for medical students and future clinicians.

It got so bad in a few cases and I came close to calling it quits in several instances, but I reminded myself of why I got into this and my deep passion for health. I had a lot of love and support from friends and peers and am so appreciative of them. I’m proud that I was able to overcome this particular obstacle and make it through.

We’d love to hear more about your practice.
Rheumatology is branch of internal medicine focused on bones, joints, muscles and the immune system. These days, doctors who treat patients with rheumatic disease are primarily managing autoimmune disorders. Such conditions include Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Thyroid disease, Psoriasis, and Ankylosing Spondylitis. Some of the other conditions we help with are loss of bone density, gout, fibromyalgia and wear and tear arthritis. It’s really complex stuff that takes a lot of thought and is fun to sort through.

Being a Naturopathic Doctor who focuses on treating patients with rheumatologic diseases is very unique. I respect the value of medication for these diseases. If you know anything about the history of rheumatology, it would be silly to totally write off these potentially life-saving medications.

However, there’s often so much more we can do adjunctively with nutrition, regulating circadian rhythms, reducing stress, addressing toxic burden and considering the state of the patient’s microbiome. It’s often that we see that some patients can reduce medications and sometimes put their disease into complete remission.

One of the most frustrating things for the patient in this space is there a lot of ambiguity and unknowns when it comes to the early stages of diagnosis. It is often that one leaves their rheumatologist’s office frustrated and confused. Unfortunately, the way our medical model is set up for many large practices of specialists is not very patient-centered. There’s this sort of revolving door effect, where you feel you were rushed in an out with little care given to your case. At our practice, we make an extra effort to sit down and listen to the patient’s whole story and spend some extra time with answering all questions about their diagnosis or working diagnosis, their labs, what they should expect, discussing treatments and ultimately holding space for that patient.

I also have a passion for helping men and women perform their best and age gracefully, reducing their risk of heart disease, dementia and cancer. This involves a deep look at their health history and in-depth lab testing looking at hormones, cholesterols, thyroid function, pancreatic function, nutrient levels and more for health optimization. Does your doctor check your ferritin levels? Your LDL particle count? Your homocysteine? Your thyroid function and not just a TSH? Your fasting insulin? Your other micronutrients? The future of preventative medicine is using biomarkers like this to more sensitively ascertain your overall risk, individualize your diet and lifestyle and help you take action so you evade chronic illness. This is stuff your regular primary care isn’t doing.

Prevention is super important and there’s no reason we can’t keep you as fit in your 60s and 70s as you were in your 30s!

Tell us about your childhood, what were you like growing up?
Growing up I was a shy and reserved kid. I was pretty goofy and liked to jest plenty with those I was familiar with. I’m the oldest of four, two sisters and a brother and they can attest to how much of a goof I can be.

But yeah, really shy! It always took me a little longer to be comfortable with people. And high school was a nightmare! But isn’t it for everyone? I was really geeky, had small group of close friends and hung out with other kids who were into anime, videogames and traded Pokemon cards. Yes, pokemon cards – when pokemon was cool! Actually, as a physician I do have some appreciation for recent developments like Pokemon Go… heck it got people moving more!

I was also fairly athletic. I played a basketball recreationally and ran cross country and track and field competively. Track and field was around a ten-year endeavor. I posted some pretty decent marks in the 1500m run, 3:56. It sounds fast, but that’s still getting your butt kicked by the true elites.

I really like staying active and enjoy fitness a lot! My biggest outlet right now is rock climbing. It’s a nice way to get out, enjoy some nature and get a little bit of an adrenaline rush in. Plus the people you meet doing it is just awesome.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Megan McLeod

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