A Tribute to Dr. Paul Jaconello, MD (1945 – 2017)

Thanks to Dr Jaconello, physicians were encouraged to go beyond a standard symptom-control approach.

One of Toronto’s Most Beloved Doctors Dies at the Age of 72

On Sunday, July 23, 2017, Dr. Paul Jaconello, one of Toronto’s most beloved doctors, died at the age of 72. For most of his patients and colleagues, his death came as a shock and surprise. He was so active in his work right to the end that nobody suspected he was seriously ill.

Dr. Jaconello lived for his work with such intense dedication that all who knew him, or had the good fortune to be treated by him, agreed that he was an exceptional physician. His colleague, Dr. Zoltan Rona, said: “Paul was thoughtful, warm, generous, a wonderful human being, and totally results-oriented.” He noted especially the great success that Dr. Jaconello had with treating children who were injured by environmental toxins.

Dr. Jaconello’s memorial service was originally planned to take place at his Toronto office on August 7. But after condolences started to roll in along with expressions of intention to attend, the service had to be moved to a larger venue – and even then there was standing room only. Hundreds of patients turned out, many of whom gave heartfelt tributes to his commitment and dedication. One patient shared a touching story about how Dr. Jaconello would typically stay in the office until well after all the staff had left and his wife had called to remind him of dinner, mainly because he wanted to get all the details of a particular patient’s history just right. His staff even reminded him, time and again, that an avocado and a coffee for lunch was just not enough to keep even this intrepid doctor’s body and soul together.

Also in attendance at the memorial gathering were numerous doctors, many of whom had been introduced by Dr. Jaconello to new and effective ways of treating illness, especially chronic illness. In fact, Dr. Zoltan Rona credits Dr. Jaconello with having introduced him decades ago to functional (orthomolecular) medicine. Thanks to Paul Jaconello, Dr. Rona and his colleagues were encouraged to go beyond the frustrating limitations of the standard symptom-control approach and discover for themselves that there was a rewarding medical life possible in which patients did not just return for prescription refills or escalating invasive treatments, but actually got better and returned to healthy lives.

Jaconello Pushed the Expansion of Integrative Medicine in Toronto

At the memorial service, Dr. Kathleen Kerr, Dr. Jozef Krop, and Dr. Zoltan Rona remembered with deep appreciation how Paul had taken them to conferences in the U.S. and the U.K. to learn of new treatment protocols. These integrative medicine strategies included:

– EDTA chelation therapy to flush out toxic metal poisoning caused by pesticides and “silver” (mercury) dental fillings. (These techniques are now taught at the American College for Advancement of Medicine.)

– Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization (EPD) treatment for serious allergic diseases, developed Dr. L. McEwen, then of University of London in the U.K.

– Most important for all was training at The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) founded and led by Dr. Jeffery Bland. Dr. Jaconello’s successor, Dr. Lief Sosa, now heading the clinic, is also a diplomate of the IFM.

Dr. Jaconello’s patients included many women who were refugees from the conventional medical approach to menopause problems. (This approach uses toxic synthetic hormone replacement therapy drugs such as Premarin, Provera, and antidepressants – all of which are known to promote cancer.) At Jaconello’s clinic, these women were introduced to bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, and subsequently were able to recover their health.

Dr. Kathleen Kerr observed that Paul Jaconello was always ahead of his time. It is, therefore, especially satisfying to note that those treatments he offered for years when they were still considered controversial (except by his patients), are now to be found on medicine’s main internet portal, PubMed.

In fact, Dr. Jaconello’s practice served for a decade as one of those whose patients were studied for the effectiveness of the chelation therapy approach. Two so-called Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) studies were financed and supervised by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and resulted in clear evidence that, for adults who had previously suffered a heart attack, “those receiving chelation had an 18% reduced risk of [reoccurrence of] cardiac events (heart attacks, stroke, angina).”

And a study on the effect of an EDTA-based chelation regimen on patients with diabetes mellitus and prior myocardial infarction in the TACT study, published in 2014, was equally informative. (See Source list at end.) And Dr. Jaconello’s own Vitality article of March 2016 on ozone therapy lists the supporting research in detail.

My Own Experience

The above is a short list of what patients were able to access at Dr. Jaconello’s Toronto and Mississauga clinics.

As for me, I benefitted from learning about the iMRS Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF), that famous “magic mat” that emits specific energy frequencies which the earth itself and healthy bodies produce, the so-called Schumann resonance. After years of serious and unrelenting back pain, I tried out the iMRS mat at Dr. Jaconello’s office during a 20 minute session, and for the first time in a long time became almost free of pain for several hours. After such a great experience, I bought an iMRS mat of my own, and took it home. It was also used by my husband to help his insomnia and for immune support.

(In addition, I decided to do some serious research on what had caused my back pain in the first place. What I ultimately discovered was that the Smart Meter that had been installed without our knowledge on our house was emitting radiation hundreds of times more powerful than considered safe by international standards.  And my back pain had been further exacerbated by three cell phone towers located in close proximity to our house, which were emitting strong electromagnetic fields. Another contributing factor was the electrical wiring in our house – it is actually legal in Canada but forbidden as harmful in Europe.)

(To find out how to EMF-proof your home, see the following articles posted in Vitality’s archives:

• “Invisible Threat” by Frank Clegg; February 2014
• “The Damaging Effects of Electropollution” by me, April 2011
• “Why Our World is Electropolluted” by me, March 2012
• “Creating a Healthy Home” by me, April 2012)

Dr. Jaconello Drew Fire from CPSO

Of course, being so patient-centred and results-oriented, Dr. Jaconello attracted criticism from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario who control the licensing of physicians. The CPSO tends to experience what I would call “regulatory indigestion” whenever a member doctor strays into new territory (no matter how well researched and published) to help patients when the conventional approach does not work. Several attempts were made by the CPSO to “discipline” Jaconello but were unsuccessful; the scientific evidence was too supportive of his work, as were his results with patients. None of this stopped him. His patients came first. Always.

Dr. Jaconello is deeply missed. His life was a shining example of what it means to be a real doctor – the word coming from the Latin “docere” which means “to teach.” He taught that health and medicine are life-long learning pursuits, and the world is a better place because of him.

Current Status of the Jaconello Centre

Statement from the Jaconello Centre:

“It is his devoted staff, headed by the new clinic director and long time friends of Dr. Jaconello, along with advocates of Integrative and Functional medicine, who have decided to keep the legacy of Dr. Jaconello alive and keep the clinic running as a mainstay in Toronto. The Jaconello Centre will not only continue, but has been expanding with new practitioners coming on board, making a large team of one MD, one NP, two NDs, one homeopath, an environmental counsellor, a nutritionist, and a health coach. They are all well versed in Functional Medicine and Integrative medicine, and are attending conferences and training sessions online and in person throughout North America and even Europe.

This will allow the Jaconello Centre to continue to deliver its regular services while adding to well established, proven treatments and modalities, new cutting edge technologies and devices to help patients suffering from autoimmune disease, cancers, and other ailments of modern living. The clinic will be also opening an Anti-aging division shortly.”

For more information, contact: Jaconello Wellness Centre for Integrative and Anti-Aging Medicine, 615 Yonge Street, 6th floor, Toronto, Ont. Telephone: (416) 463-2911

Fax: 1-888-676-2476  Visit: https://www.jaconello.com

References

• P. Jaconello MD, “Disease-Fighting and Anti-aging Power of Ozone Therapy”, Vitality, March 2016: https://vitalitymagazine.com/article/ozone-therapy/
• Elvis, A.M & Ekta, J.S., Ozone Therapy: A Clinical Review, Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine, Jan-June, 2011
• Lamas, G.A. et al. Effect of disodium EDTA chelation regimen on cardiovascular events in patients with previous myocardial infarction: the TACT randomized trial, Journal of the American Medical Association, March 27, 2013.
• Lamas, G.A. et al, EDTA chelation therapy alone and in combination with oral high-dose multivitamins and minerals for coronary disease: The factorial group results of the TACT therapy. American Heart Journal, July 2014
• Escolar E et al. The effect of an EDTA-based chelation regimen on patients with diabetes mellitus and prior myocardial infarction in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), Circ. Cardiovascular Qual. Outcomes Jan 2014 (“…marked reduction in cardiovascular events…”)
• M. E. Sears, Chelation: Harnessing and Enhancing Heavy Metal Detoxification – A Clinical Review, The Scientific World Journal, April 18, 2013. NOTE This is a free access article and provides the most concise overview of chelation therapy; highly recommended.
• Three Pillars of Heavy Metal Detoxification by Dr. J. Mercola on mercola.com, June 19, 2016
• https://www.functionalmedicine.org
• https://www.iamot.org
• chelation.me provides history of chelation therapy  and https://www.glyconutritionforlife.org gives access to the American Board of Chelation Therapy aka American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology
• Regarding EPD therapy (Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization) see the Wikipedia entry and the UK-based information provided by Dr. Myhill https://drmyhill.co.uk