Don't grow older,
grow better
My
Mission
No-frills information to help you make informed choices about your health
Achieving Wellness, Aging Gently
Hello and welcome to my site! I’m on a mission to provide my readers with useful and up-to-date information on wellness topics to help you to look and feel your best at any age. I’ve taken a personal interest in wellness since early in my career, and the longer I’ve been in practice, the more apparent it has become that wellness is not simply the absence of disease. Wellness means that we’re functioning optimally not only physically, but also mentally, and spiritually.
Traditional medicine has come far in terms of technology and the ability to diagnose and treat disease states. However, some of the most basic principles involved in improving our health have been neglected. In the hustle-bustle of everyday life, it’s become harder and harder to allow time for self-care. But there are many things we can do for ourselves to keep us well and help us age more gently. One of my goals is to bring information to you in a straightforward, non-biased way that can help you achieve optimum wellness.
Restoring delivery of healthcare through patient advocacy
Another goal of mine is to be a patient advocate, as many people are struggling to access healthcare due to various obstacles. The system in the U.S., which has often been called “the best healthcare system in the world”, has recently been brought to its knees. The Covid-19 pandemic played a role. But the system was already teetering on the edge before the pandemic. Many patients are treated differently depending on their age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability to pay large health insurance premiums, prescription drug costs, etc. In particular, our seniors have fallen victim to scams and Medicare supplement plans that claim to offer many benefits but don’t actually deliver on these promises. No one should be treated in a dismissive or exploitative manner. I will discuss some topics in my blog posts, which may at times be controversial or “the elephant in the room”.
Nonetheless these topics must be out in the open before positive changes can occur. We’ve kicked the can down the road long enough; the system must be fixed now. Your doctor needs to be your advocate and not be constantly stuck behind a computer screen clicking boxes instead of engaging with you in a meaningful way.
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If you enjoy reading my posts, please consider following my blog. This supports my work and allows me time to continue to bring you enjoyable and useful content. Please let me know of topics and issues of importance to you, and I’ll do my best to address these concerns on my site.
Thank you for following
In good health,
-Dr. B
About Holly Barko M.D.
Dr. Holly Barko attended medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She completed her internship in Internal Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, followed by a residency in anesthesiology, critical care, and pain management at the Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (board-certified in 2011). She then returned to Dallas to begin a job in private practice. A few years into practice, it began to weigh on her how much our medical care revolves around treating an illness once it has appeared (as opposed to emphasizing preventive care), with a heavy focus on the use of pharmaceuticals and surgeries. She began to study functional and anti-aging medicine, which uses a more integrative approach to patient care, with a strong emphasis on preventative care and lifestyle changes. She completed a fellowship in Anti-Aging, Metabolic, and Functional Medicine and became board-certified in this specialty in 2020. She has also completed extensive training in aesthetic medicine, becoming skilled at performing aesthetic injections and consulting with clients on skincare and anti-aging treatments. She was the medical director for Advanced Skin Fitness, a medical spa in Dallas, Texas, from 2018 to July 2023; and has since joined the former owner of ASF (William Moore) as medical director at his new clinic- Advanced You Dallas (Bio-Hacking and Wellness).
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In her spare time, Dr. Barko enjoys blogging, photography, world travel, gastronomy, wine-tasting, walking her dog, cooking, yoga, and pilates.
