Ana Isabel Lopez, MD Life’s Medicine in Southlake

Board certified Family Practice Physician Dr. Isabel Lopez is the first to admit she’s not a conventional doctor. Her loyal patients couldn’t be happier about it. Originally opting for family medicine because of the diversity it offered, Dr. Lopez began her medical career conventionally enough. But it didn’t take long for her journey to diverge.

“I began practicing in Irving and, because I speak Spanish, many of my patients were Hispanic,” she said. “So many of them were diabetic that I found myself spending more and more time educating them about healthy eating and weight loss.”

What Dr. Lopez saw was a vicious cycle where the medicine these patients were given actually caused them to gain weight. The excess weight, in turn, exacerbated their diabetes. “Once I taught them to eat right, though, they were able to take less medicine and taking less medicine allowed them to get better,” Dr. Lopez said. “The more success I had treating these patients and watching them improve, the more determined I was to look for and treat the root cause of a patient’s problems, not merely treat their symptoms with medication that, in many cases, was making them sicker.”

There arose a problem, however. While insurance companies happily paid for the medication these patients were taking, they didn’t want to reimburse for the time Dr. Lopez was spending on patient education, so they could actually get better. “I was working for a large medical system at the time, and they repeatedly asked me to spend less time with my patients, to give them prescriptions, not the education I knew they needed,” she said.

In frustration, Dr. Lopez left the hospital system and accepted a position managing one of the busiest weight-loss clinics in the country. “It was such an eye-opener for me to watch my patients become better wives, mothers, sisters, friends, and employees once they were able to lose the weight that negatively affected every aspect of their lives,” Dr. Lopez said. “I became a doctor to help people, and now I was actually able to do so.”

In 2012, Dr. Lopez did one of the scariest things she’s ever done. She left that secure position at the weight-loss clinic and opened her own private practice where she could educate patients, empowering them to take their wellness into their own hands. In order to free herself up to do whatever was in the best interests of the patient, she set up a cash-pay practice where she wouldn’t have to dance to the tune of the insurance companies.

Dr. Lopez began her practice focused solely on weight loss. Then, something happened in her own health that caused her to expand her services. “I went through menopause and suddenly I was moody, grumpy, couldn’t sleep, and was tired all the time,” she said. She began researching bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), underwent continuing education, and began offering BHRT to male and
female patients.

“Whether you’re in your 20s or 60s, whether you’re a man or a woman, factors such as stress, medications, sleep habits, diet, and daily routine can cause your hormones to become imbalanced,” Dr. Lopez said. Fortunately, BHRT given through injection, creams, or sublingual troche can replenish and optimize your hormones so you can feel like yourself again. “Often, I treat a wife and, once her husband sees her results, he’ll make an appointment for himself,” Dr. Lopez said.

Dr. Lopez also sees teens who struggle with anxiety. “All the systems of the body work together,” she said. “When a teen isn’t eating properly, isn’t getting enough sleep, and is living on energy drinks, it can manifest in anxiety.” Dr. Lopez talks to them about the importance of proper sleep and proper sleep hygiene. She teaches them breathing exercises and talks to them about eating foods that promote a healthy gut.

In fact, she spends a lot of time counseling adult patients about their gut as well. “When your gut is functioning the way it should, there’s a good balance of bacteria that positively contribute to all the systems of the body, clearing toxins, combatting disease, boosting your mood, and helping you draw energy from the foods you eat,” Dr. Lopez said. “When the systems of the body aren’t working in harmony, it can present as diabetes, hypothyroidism, depression, hypertension, or any number of medical conditions. It’s time to talk about making some changes — whether it’s weight loss, eating better, sleeping better, or processing stress better — so we can address your issue from the inside out. It’s important for me to take time to evaluate the whole person, their lifestyle, their diet, their stressors, their medical history, not just mask a symptom here and there.”

When not on the job, Dr. Lopez is a wife and mother of five young adults. She’s a big exercise buff and enthusiastic Orangetheory member. “I try to be outside a bit each day and to block out some time for God,” she said. “When I’m not seeing patients, I’m often listening to podcasts or reading books on health or traveling to medical conferences. I love what I do, and it’s just as fascinating to me now as it was when I began practicing.”

And she wants to be sure to add: “We’ve added a young, eager, and brilliant nurse practitioner, Rachel Cullers, to meet the demands of our growing practice. Helping our patients lose weight, balance hormones, optimize thyroid, and improve gut dysbiosis takes a team and we have a great team to help our patients live their best lives. We also offer modalities such as cryotherapy, infrared sauna, Power Plate, Slim and Energy shots, and Normatec to those patients who want to look better, feel better, or play better.” Meet this dynamic leading woman at LifesMedicine.com.