Hopkins Milan L MD

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Featuring Dr. Milan Hopkins - An Established, Licensed Physician since 1973.
Are you concerned about your health and looking for an old-fashioned doctor who will take the time to listen? One who is up-to-the-minute on new medical developments and understands your needs? This is Dr. Milan Hopkins in Upper Lake.
You’ll find a caring non-judgmental doctor accepting Medi-Cal, Medi-Care, Tribal Healthcare & other types of insurance.

I love being a general practitioner for the challenge of finding a diagnosis and an answer for every problem. The easy ones are where there turns out to be no problem, where my task is merely to determine that there is no major diagnosis, and to reassure my patient. Then there is the situation of a seriously ill patient with no apparent diagnosis after extensive examinations and tests; at the very least, I need to know what specialty will have the best possibility of achieving a useful diagnosis and treatment. Many patients have chronic illnesses for which there is no cure, in which case I need to devise a treatment which will ease the symptoms or prevent the illness from worsening. Many times, a diagnosis amounts to nothing more than finding a Latin or Greek description of the major symptoms: it really doesn't reflect any understanding. More important is understanding the pathology, the way that the disease alters the normal function. If a proximate cause can be found for the illness, then removing the cause may end the illness: this is the ideal solution, because removing the cause will not produce side effects or adverse reactions. If I can establish a chain of causation, a series of changes causing each other, then I try to apply a treatment as high up in the chain as possible, because it will be more effective, it will relieve more of the symptoms, and it frequently will have fewer side effects or adverse reactions.
To take a very common and serious example of these rather vague and general principles, I have many patients with Type II, or "adult onset" diabetes. Diabetes has been termed "the rich man's disease" because there have been epidemics of it every time a subsistence economy has developed food surpluses. As a result of natural selection, persons who come from a longtime agricultural society are relatively resistant to it. Frequently. the illness results from weight gain and inactivity, which results in insulin resistance, with the final consequence that the blood sugar rises. The blood sugar can be controlled with insulin, but this results in more weight gain, increased appetite, and the danger of low blood sugar. There are drugs which can increase insulin production, but they also can have dangerous adverse reactions. Drugs which reverse the insulin resistance are preferable, but the best way to treat this illness is with exercise and weight loss, which can eliminate the disease with no adverse effects at ail: a return to the conditions under which the pre-agricultural population lived. In this way, not only the diabetes, but also the heart attacks, strokes, infections, nerve damage and limb loss which it can cause, are eliminated. Of course, there is nothing easy about exercise and weight loss; there is no pill which will accomplish these. My job is, first, to convince my patient that this is the best course of action, and then to make it as easy as possible with good advice, encouragement and monitoring on diet, herbal supplements, nutrition and fitness counseling.
If an emotional problem, such as depression, is causing overeating and loss of energy, treating the depression may be needed to help the patient control weight. There are medicines for depression, but we were taught in medical school that depression is caused by anger. Art can provide a means of expressing anger, so I always encourage my depressed patients to practice the fine arts, and I have watched many of them recover from severe depression in this way, and then regain the ability to exercise more control over their other health problems.
As you can see, each patient needs to be seen as an evolutionary being, as the member of a society, as an individual, as an organism and as the participant in a disease process. Then, the points of possible intervention can be identified and the range of treatment options can be scanned for the most effective and least hazardous course of action.
Many of these principles derive from the ancient art of medicine, which has been practiced for thousands of years. Today, physicians begin their education by studying science and "liberal arts", which includes not only the fine arts, but also language and social studies. Some doctors seem to be convinced that they are practicing science, and, in fact, medicine must be grounded in and informed by science. But, at its roots, medicine is an art, and must be followed, not only with the mind, but with the spirit, intuition and heart.
I once saw a quote attributed to Hippocrates to the effect that "Much disease can be prevented by the proper amount of food and exercise". Despite the intervening millenia, this observation is no less pertinent to us than to Hippocrates' patients.
For those of you who have known me during the last 34 years in Lake County, greetings. For those who have not, I would like to introduce myself and my medical practice. My name is Milan Lewis Hopkins, M.D. I am a General Practitioner, which to me means that everything is in my specialty. Having been the only doctor in Upper Lake since 1973, I have seen a wide variety of medical problems. My first job is to listen and observe. Sometimes just the appearance, mannerisms or complaint is enough to lead me to understand what a patient needs. Sometimes medicine is called for, but often the main service I can provide is to give the patient an understanding of why they don't feel well.
I have always had lots of patients who don't want some specific treatments: no pills, no needles, no tests, no extra expenses. There are always alternatives, and I need to let my patients know what they are. Consequently, I may counsel for emotional, psychiatric or spiritual problems; I may recommend herbs, diet, exercise, massage, art therapy, physical therapy, meditation or treatment programs; I may refer the patient to a specialist or other person who has special abilities which can benefit the particular patient.
The nature of my practice has undergone many changes over the years. The passage of Proposition 215 added cannabis to the list of herbs which can be used for medical treatment; it has a longer history of therapeutic use than most, and every year, studies demonstrate more healing effects: anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anti¬spasmodic, analgesic. I find that it is effective treatment for a wide variety of illnesses, which previously have needed treatment with a multitude of drugs. It is one of the safest herbs available.
I have always felt that health care should be available to everyone. I worked for twenty years as a volunteer in the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinics, and acquired extensive training and experience in the field of addiction and recovery. For patients who cannot pay, I open on the first Sunday of each month as a free clinic, and see free clinic patients during my regular office hours. I am happy to accept any insurance program which will pay me. 1 see emergencies and walk-ins every workday, which is Monday through Friday. Sometimes we get busy, but my office staff is good at making sure everyone gets seen in a timely manner, and is treated kindly.
In addition to keeping my patients alive, healthy and happy, I now concern myself with making them more attractive as well. by means of a Cutera phototherapy machine for cosmetic skin treatments. It uses lasers and flash lamps to: tighten skin; reduce wrinkles and porosity; remove unwanted pigment; permanently reduce hair; reduce the visibility of scars; eliminate "broken" veins and visible arteries.
I enjoy every day in my office: the challenge of understanding, of making the right diagnosis, of finding an answer; the satisfaction of helping someone who has been to all the specialists without getting any relief; the gratitude from a person who has overcome an illness.
I tell my patients that faith-healing is the only kind of healing there is: I've watched apparently healthy people lose the will to live and just die. Of the patients I've seen beat mortal illness, it has usually come down to the patient's own faith in the ability to heal, and to accept change. I never, or seldom, know exactly what it is that each patient needs to heal; but, given a chance, people can usually tell me enough to give me a clue. Many patients are not aware of their own resources, or how their decisions affect their health. My job is to provide each patient with the essential information, and guide the recovery with an understanding of the disease process and the healing process. Health and happiness to all.
Milan L. Hopkins, M.D.