Integrative Medicine Strategy to treating Long COVID Patients

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In this episode of Fountain of Vitality with LaMont Leavitt, Margaret Hampton represents the convergence of ancient healing wisdom and modern healthcare innovation. As CEO of ABC Codes and a practicing Doctor of Chinese Medicine in Boulder, Colorado, Hampton bridges the gap between 3,000-year-old pandemic treatment protocols and contemporary integrative medicine addressing conditions that conventional healthcare struggles to treat. Her clinical practice at Helios Integrated Medicine attracts patients nationwide seeking solutions for long COVID and other chronic conditions that Western medicine has declared 'UNTREATABLE.'

Hampton's journey to this unique position began in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where her godfather Tommy Thomas, a legendary Henry Ford salesman turned serial entrepreneur, introduced her to ABC Codes inventor Molina Gianini on his deathbed. Thomas had invested millions in ABC Codes, believing the standardized terminology system would revolutionize healthcare by making integrative treatments insurance-billable. His vision was that all Americans, not just wealthy cash-paying patients, could access the full spectrum of healing modalities that mainstream insurance currently excludes.

The Rocky Mountain Foundation  

Growing up in Colorado's mountains profoundly influenced Hampton's medical philosophy. Her father's cattle ranching partnership with Tommy Thomas created a childhood filled with natural beauty and connections to traditional ways of living. Thomas was an extraordinary figure who reinvented himself repeatedly, starting new ventures every time he accumulated five to ten million dollars. His Midas touch extended across multiple industries, but his final investment in ABC Codes represented his chosen legacy project.

The relationship between Hampton and Thomas went beyond typical godparent connections. He recognized in her a combination of idealism and practicality that would serve the ABC Codes mission. When his health began failing at 97, he orchestrated a meeting in New Mexico where he introduced Hampton to Molina Gianini. Both women now believe Thomas explicitly intended them to work together, using his considerable persuasive skills to ensure his goddaughter would carry forward his vision for democratizing healthcare access.

Hampton and Gianini were present at Thomas's bedside when he took his final breath, an experience that cemented their commitment to his legacy. This profound moment connected Hampton's childhood memories of sitting on his bar waiting for candy from his stoplight game to her adult role leading an organization that could transform millions of lives. The personal relationship transformed a business opportunity into a mission carrying deep emotional and ethical weight.

From Youth Minister to Chinese Medicine Doctor  

At 22, Hampton worked as a youth minister for a United Church of Christ, seemingly far removed from healthcare entrepreneurship. However, her career path, while unconventional, followed an internal logic driven by her Rocky Mountain upbringing and desire to use natural resources for healing. The grandeur of Colorado's landscape instilled in her a belief that plants and natural interventions could support human health in ways that pharmaceutical approaches alone cannot achieve.

Her formal medical training began at massage school, providing foundational understanding of body mechanics and manual therapy. She then worked at an integrative clinic where she observed Dr. Greg Shim, a brilliant acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner. One case permanently altered Hampton's career trajectory: a young girl arrived in a wheelchair, unable to walk for approximately two years despite previous medical interventions. After three to six months of acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatment, the girl walked again. Hampton witnessed the mother's tears and the family's joy, experiencing what she describes as a profoundly transformative moment.

This clinical observation demonstrated that Chinese medicine offered capabilities beyond what she had imagined possible. She pursued a master's degree in Chinese medicine in Denver, then practiced for several years before completing a doctorate in San Diego. This extensive training equipped her to understand both the theoretical frameworks and practical applications of an ancient medical system that approaches health fundamentally differently than Western bio-medicine.

The Helios Integrated Medicine Model  

Hampton's current practice at Helios Integrated Medicine in Boulder represents an idealistic integration of Eastern and Western medical approaches. The clinic employs a medical doctor specializing in integrative and functional medicine, plus a nurse practitioner with functional medicine training. These practitioners work genuinely collaboratively rather than operating in parallel silos. They share patient files, coordinate treatment strategies, and ensure comprehensive care that draws on each system's strengths.

Patients typically arrive at Helios after exhausting conventional options. They represent what Hampton calls "rope's end" cases where standard protocols have failed and mainstream physicians have no additional solutions to offer. The clinic performs extensive blood work unavailable in most conventional settings, conducting deep dives into micro-nutrient levels, viral loads including Epstein-Barr and other lingering pathogens, and toxic burden assessments. This comprehensive laboratory foundation informs treatment protocols that combine pharmaceutical interventions, supplements, dietary modifications, and Chinese medicine therapies.

The clinic operates on a cash-only basis, a limitation that troubles Hampton deeply despite its financial advantages. Boulder's affluent population can generally afford out-of-pocket healthcare costs, but this model excludes the vast majority of Americans who depend on insurance coverage. The cash-only structure exists because ABC Codes have not yet achieved status as a standard insurance billing code set. Until that changes, integrative medicine remains effectively available only to wealthy patients who can pay thousands of dollars for comprehensive care.

Long COVID Treatment Success  

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented opportunities for integrative medicine to demonstrate its value. Research indicates that 20-30% of people infected with COVID develop lingering symptoms, a massive patient population experiencing brain fog, crippling fatigue, neuro-inflammation affecting ears and eyes, and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Conventional medicine, designed around acute care and pharmaceutical interventions, struggles with these complex, multi-system presentations that don't fit standard diagnostic categories.

Hampton and her colleagues recognized early in the pandemic that their integrated approach could address long COVID effectively. Chinese medicine's 3,000-year history includes extensive pandemic experience, providing treatment frameworks for complex infectious disease aftermath that Western medicine is only beginning to understand. The clinic combines this ancient wisdom with cutting-edge functional medicine testing, creating protocols that address root causes rather than merely suppressing symptoms.

One particularly challenging long COVID manifestation involves POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, where the autonomic nervous system loses its ability to regulate properly. Patients experience heart rates exceeding 100 beats per minute when standing and dropping below 60 when lying down, with no middle ground. Conventional medicine often fails to provide effective interventions, while Hampton reports significant success using Chinese herbs and acupuncture to restore autonomic balance. This syndrome exemplifies conditions where integrative approaches excel while standard care "scratches its head," as Hampton describes the conventional response.

Helios's long COVID treatment success has attracted patients from across the United States, people desperate enough to travel to Colorado and pay cash for care their local healthcare systems cannot provide. This nationwide patient flow validates the clinic's approach while simultaneously highlighting the tragedy that most Americans cannot access these interventions. The treatments work, the patient demand exists, but insurance barriers prevent widespread implementation.

Immediate Long COVID Interventions  

While advocating for insurance coverage of integrative treatments, Hampton offers practical recommendations that people can implement immediately. She emphasizes whole foods-based diets, including well-raised meat and vegetables, avoiding the processed foods that dominate American diets and contribute to chronic inflammation. This foundational dietary approach supports all other interventions by reducing the inflammatory burden and providing nutrients necessary for healing.

Long COVID frequently damages mitochondrial function, the cellular energy production systems that power all bodily processes. Hampton recommends broad-spectrum magnesium supplements containing magnesium threonate, glycinate, and malate, forms that support cellular energy production and nervous system function. She has found particular success with PQQ, pyrroloquinoline quinone, describing it as "gasoline for your mitochondria." This compound supports mitochondrial biogenesis, literally helping the body create new energy-producing capacity.

Chinese herbs offer additional targeted interventions. Salvia root addresses the blood clotting issues common in long COVID while simultaneously supporting new red blood cell production. This dual action helps clear inflammatory debris while restoring oxygen-carrying capacity, addressing two separate pathological processes with a single natural intervention. High-quality omega-3 fish oils from well-raised sources reduce inflammation throughout the body while supporting immune function and healthy blood circulation.

These recommendations provide starting points for people unable to access comprehensive integrative care. While not substitutes for full clinical protocols, they address key pathological mechanisms driving long COVID symptoms. Hampton offers these suggestions freely, recognizing that until ABC Codes achieve standard status, most Americans cannot afford the complete care available at clinics like Helios.

The ABC Codes Mission  

ABC Codes represent a comprehensive terminology system describing integrative and complementary healthcare services, products, and providers. The coding system enables billing, research, and documentation for treatments that CPT codes, the standard medical billing language, cannot adequately describe. Without standardized codes, insurance companies have no mechanism for reimbursing acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling, massage therapy, and countless other interventions that millions of Americans use and that research increasingly validates.

The absence of ABC Codes as an insurance standard creates a two-tiered healthcare system where wealthy patients access comprehensive integrative care while everyone else remains limited to whatever conventional medicine offers. This inequality particularly affects chronic disease management, where integrative approaches often outperform pharmaceutical protocols that merely suppress symptoms without addressing root causes. Hampton's passion for ABC Codes stems directly from witnessing this disparity in her clinical practice.

Tommy Thomas understood that ABC Codes could democratize healthcare access, making proven treatments available to all Americans regardless of income. His angel investment represented more than financial speculation; it embodied a vision where healing modalities from diverse traditions could work together through a standardized billing framework. His deathbed introduction of Hampton to Gianini ensured that younger generations would carry this mission forward, combining Hampton's clinical expertise with Gianini's coding system expertise.

FindACode.com has played an instrumental role in ABC Codes accessibility by providing lookup tools that practitioners and patients can use to identify appropriate codes. This database makes the coding system usable in regions where insurance companies currently accept ABC Codes, demonstrating proof of concept for broader implementation. Hampton credits FindACode with supporting the groundwork necessary for eventual national standardization.

The RFK Jr. Healthcare Revolution  

Hampton views the current political moment as potentially transformative for integrative medicine access. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s appointment as Health and Human Services Secretary represents unprecedented opportunity for alternative medicine recognition at the federal level. Kennedy has explicitly prioritized chronic disease treatment and integrative approaches, aligning perfectly with the ABC Codes mission. His Make America Healthy Again movement spans political parties, reflecting widespread public demand for healthcare options beyond pharmaceutical interventions.

The MAHA community's bipartisan nature demonstrates that healthcare transformation transcends traditional political divisions. Americans across the political spectrum recognize that the current system fails to address chronic disease effectively, leaving millions suffering from conditions that integrative medicine successfully treats. Conventional doctors face bottlenecks created by inadequate time, limited diagnostic tools, and CPT codes that restrict what they can offer patients even when they want to provide more comprehensive care.

Hampton believes Kennedy might be the political figure who finally makes ABC Codes a national standard, opening insurance reimbursement for the full spectrum of healing modalities. This policy change would transform healthcare access overnight, enabling millions of Americans to visit integrative practitioners, receive acupuncture, use herbal medicine, and access nutritional counseling without paying prohibitive out-of-pocket costs. The clinical infrastructure already exists; only the billing framework prevents widespread implementation.

Empowering Patient Autonomy  

Hampton's ultimate goal as a practitioner involves empowering patients with tools for autonomous health management rather than creating dependence on medical authority. She teaches patients to eat better, exercise appropriately, spend time outdoors in sunlight, and enjoy the abundance that health provides. This philosophy recognizes that doctors cannot bestow health upon passive recipients; individuals must actively participate in their own wellness through daily choices and lifestyle practices.

This empowerment model challenges the conventional healthcare paradigm where white coats represent authority figures who diagnose problems and prescribe solutions that patients passively receive. Hampton wants to "hand the power back to the people," acknowledging that individuals inhabit their own bodies and possess intimate knowledge about their health that no external authority can fully access. Doctors serve as guides and educators, but patients remain "in the driver's seat" making decisions that shape their health trajectories.

The Rocky Mountain influence reappears in this philosophy. Growing up surrounded by natural grandeur and spending extensive time outdoors created in Hampton an understanding that health emerges from alignment with natural rhythms and resources rather than solely through medical interventions. Plants, sunshine, movement, whole foods, and community connection provide health foundations that pharmaceuticals alone cannot replace. Integrative medicine recognizes these fundamental truths that conventional care often overlooks in its focus on disease treatment rather than health creation.

Taking Action on Healthcare Access  

Margaret Hampton's work with ABC Codes and her clinical practice at Helios Integrated Medicine demonstrate that integrative approaches successfully treat conditions conventional medicine cannot address. Long COVID represents just one example where ancient wisdom and modern functional medicine combine to restore health in patients whom standard care abandoned. The treatments work, the practitioners exist, and patient demand is overwhelming. Only insurance barriers prevent widespread access to care that could transform millions of lives.

The current political moment offers unprecedented opportunity for healthcare transformation. RFK Jr.'s HHS leadership could establish ABC Codes as a national standard, ending the two-tiered system where only wealthy Americans access comprehensive integrative care. This policy change would honor Tommy Thomas's vision and legacy, fulfilling his deathbed wish that the codes he invested in would change the world by democratizing healthcare access across socioeconomic boundaries.

Healthcare professionals and patients can support this mission by advocating for ABC Codes standardization, using FindACode.com resources to implement codes where currently accepted, and demanding that insurance companies recognize the full spectrum of healing modalities that research validates and that millions of Americans already use. The insights shared on Fountain of Vitality reveal that healthcare access should not depend on wealth, and that ancient healing wisdom combined with modern functional medicine offers solutions that conventional approaches alone cannot provide.

Visit Fountain of Vitality for more insights into integrative medicine, healthcare policy, and the movement to democratize access to comprehensive healing modalities beyond conventional pharmaceutical approaches.

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