Managing cardiovascular health can feel overwhelming, especially when you're navigating new diagnoses, medication side effects, or trying to understand conflicting advice about diet and lifestyle.
Maybe your doctor wants to start you on statins or blood pressure medication, but you'd like to explore lifestyle changes first. Or perhaps you're already on medications but struggling with side effects, or wondering if there's more you could be doing to support your heart health. You might not even have a family doctor and need someone who can both manage your prescriptions and help you optimize your overall cardiovascular wellness.
At Oak Clinic, we take a comprehensive approach to cardiovascular health—one that integrates evidence-informed lifestyle strategies with medical management when needed. We're not anti-medication; we simply believe that the best outcomes come from addressing all the factors that influence heart health: nutrition, exercise, stress, sleep, inflammation, and yes, pharmaceuticals when appropriate.
Whether you're newly diagnosed, have been managing these conditions for years, or want to prevent cardiovascular disease before it starts, we're here to provide personalized, proactive care.
Our naturopathic doctors work with patients experiencing:
We see patients at all stages—whether you're working to prevent disease, newly diagnosed and exploring your options, or managing long-standing conditions with or without medications.
Cardiovascular disease doesn't develop in isolation. During your initial naturopathic consultation, we assess your complete cardiovascular risk profile: family history, current symptoms, lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, stress, sleep), existing medications, and any gaps in your previous testing or care.
From there, we develop an evidence-informed plan tailored to your specific needs and goals—whether that's avoiding medication through aggressive lifestyle changes, optimizing your current regimen, or starting pharmaceutical treatment when clinically necessary.
We offer comprehensive cardiovascular testing to get a complete picture of your heart health and metabolic function:
Testing is always individualized based on your history and current health status. We work with the labs and testing you've already had done, ordering additional tests only when they'll meaningfully inform your treatment plan.
Learn More Here: https://oakclinic.ca/services/lab-testing
We combine lifestyle medicine with pharmaceutical management, tailoring treatment to what your body needs and what your goals are.
Treatment options include:
Our approach is flexible. Some patients want to try intensive lifestyle changes before considering medication—we support that. Others are already on medications and want to optimize their regimen or explore whether lifestyle improvements might allow for dose reductions over time—we support that too. And for some, starting medication promptly is the right choice—we support that as well.
The goal is always the same: reduce your cardiovascular risk, improve your quality of life, and help you feel your best.
While less commonly used than in digestive or pain management, acupuncture has emerging evidence for supporting cardiovascular health. Research suggests that acupuncture may help regulate blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, improve heart rate variability, and modulate inflammation—all factors that influence cardiovascular risk.
For patients interested in an integrative approach, acupuncture can complement lifestyle and medical management, particularly when stress is a significant contributing factor to blood pressure or metabolic issues.
Ally Ratzke, our Registered Acupuncturist, sees patients Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and can discuss whether acupuncture might be beneficial as part of your cardiovascular care plan.
Cardiovascular health improvements don't happen overnight, but with consistent effort, most patients begin seeing measurable changes within the first three months of treatment. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels typically respond to lifestyle and medical interventions within this timeframe, though the degree of improvement varies based on your starting point and the interventions used.
We work with you throughout the process, monitoring your labs, adjusting your treatment plan as needed, and collaborating with your cardiologist or other specialists when appropriate. For patients already on medications, we can adjust doses as your health improves—always in coordination with your overall care team.
Comprehensive, individualized care. We assess your complete cardiovascular risk profile and design treatment plans based on your unique needs, preferences, and health goals.
Medication management when needed. For patients without a family doctor, we can prescribe and manage cardiovascular medications. We're not anti-medication—we simply want to ensure you're getting the right interventions at the right time.
Lifestyle medicine expertise. We provide evidence-informed guidance on nutrition, exercise, stress management, and supplementation—not generic advice, but strategies tailored to your life.
Advanced testing. We use comprehensive lipid panels and metabolic markers to get a more complete picture of your cardiovascular health.
Collaborative approach. We're happy to work alongside your cardiologist, endocrinologist, or family doctor to provide coordinated care.
Dr. Elena is a full-time Naturopathic Doctor. While she operates a general clinic, her expertise and primary areas of focus are mental health, digestion, hormonal health, and cardiovascular disease.
Alexandra (Ally) Ratzke is a Registered Acupuncturist with the CTCMA and Certified Laser Acupuncturist. She sees patients Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
**Mackenzie is registered with CMMOTA. Please confirm with your insurer that services from a CMMOTA-registered practitioner are eligible under your benefits.**
