Winding Brook Direct Primary Care, PLLC

03/05/2026

Woo! What a busy couple of weeks here at Winding Brook! One of my “hats” is doing AI work related to healthcare and going to engineering school for AI. Last week, I (Jon) went to a conference at MIT about the impact of AI in healthcare over the next 5-10 years. Quite fascinating to say the least. Okay! This post is for the gentlemen:

🧠 Testosterone & Men’s Health

Studies suggest that roughly 1 in 4 men have testosterone levels below normal but most don’t know it, and many don’t have symptoms yet. Among men with obesity, the numbers are even more striking: about 30% have low testosterone, compared to only 6% of men at a healthy weight.*

Testosterone isn’t just about s*x drive. It plays a major role in energy, mood, muscle mass, bone density, mental clarity, and cardiovascular health.

Common signs that your testosterone may be low:

📉 Fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
📉 Difficulty building or maintaining muscle
📉 Increased body fat, especially around the abdomen
📉 Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
📉 Low mood, irritability, or reduced motivation
📉 Decreased libido or s*xual function
📉 Poor sleep quality

These symptoms overlap with a lot of other conditions such as thyroid issues, sleep apnea, depression, metabolic syndrome so it’s important to get a proper workup rather than assume.

A good evaluation includes:

✅ Total and free testosterone (drawn in the morning)
✅ LH and FSH to understand WHY levels are low
✅ A full metabolic picture — because low T rarely exists in isolation

Lifestyle factors matter too. Poor sleep, excess body fat, chronic stress, and a sedentary lifestyle all suppress testosterone naturally.

In many men, addressing those root causes moves the needle significantly before any medication is needed.

If something feels off, it’s worth the conversation. Men’s health deserves the same attention we give everything else. 💪

*Feldman HA, et al. (2002). Age trends in the level of serum testosterone and other hormones in middle-aged men: longitudinal results from the Massachusetts male aging study. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. |


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02/12/2026

James Van Der Beek’s death at 48 is a painful reminder that colore**al cancer can affect people younger than we expect.

Screening saves lives and in many cases can prevent colon cancer by removing precancerous polyps via colonoscopy.

✅ Average-risk adults should start screening at age 45.

✅ Colonoscopy remains the gold standard, as it allows us to detect and remove precancerous polyps in the same procedure.

✅ There are also effective non-invasive options, including stool-based testing (such as Cologuard or FIT) and newer blood-based screening tests like Shield.

✅ If you have a family history, inflammatory bowel disease, iron-deficiency anemia, re**al bleeding, or other concerning symptoms, you may need screening earlier.

The best screening test is the one that gets done.

Are you and your loved ones up to date on their colon cancer screening?

**alCancerAwareness

02/08/2026

Have a wonderful Sunday! Let's go Patriots!

02/07/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out Thursday evening — we had a wonderful turnout!

And thank you Nolan's Brick Oven Bistro for the beautiful setup and great food.

It meant a lot to meet so many thoughtful, curious, and engaged members of this community. Conversations like that remind me why I chose to practice medicine differently.

Direct Primary Care isn’t just a model — it’s a commitment to accessibility, time, and relationships.

We discussed some exciting ideas for the future… stay tuned. 😊

If you couldn’t make it but would like to learn more, feel free to message us directly or schedule a time to stop by the clinic and meet us.

📍 55 Mill Street, Suite 101
Wolfeboro, NH

📞 603-697-7047
📧 info@windingbrookdpc.com

02/05/2026

Hope to see you at Nolan's between 6-8pm! Stop by and say "hello"! I'll be giving a brief presentation on what Direct Primary Care is and what Winding Brook has planned in the near future. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and simply chat!

01/30/2026

This is Sarah who is 42 years old (*fictional character*)

She’s exhausted all the time. Not “I stayed up too late scrolling” tired. The kind of tired where showering feels like a workout.

She’s gained weight despite eating carefully. Her sleep is broken. Her heart sometimes races for no reason. Her brain feels foggy and she doesn’t feel as sharp as she did.

She just feels… off.

After months of debating with herself (“Am I just being dramatic?”), she finally books a doctor’s appointment which isn’t for another 3 weeks.

Three weeks later, she checks into the appointment 10 minutes early. The appointment starts 30 minutes late.

The clinician enters the room like a hurricane, clearly in a rush.

“Hi, what brings you in today?”

Sarah begins:
“I’ve just been feeling really fatigued for months and—”

She’s interrupted.

“How many hours are you sleeping? Are you feeling anxious? Are you under stress?”

Caught a little off guard, she tries to explain that this feels different. That she knows her body. That something isn’t right.

“Well, your labs from your most recent annual appointment look normal. You’re probably just stressed. Try to exercise more and lose some weight. We can schedule a follow up in three months.”

Sarah leaves feeling embarrassed, ashamed for even bringing it up, and like she’s wasted everyone’s time.

She gets her appointment card on her way out, goes out to her car, and sits quietly.

“Maybe it is just me... No. Something isn’t right, I just know it...”

This is not rare. This is routine in modern healthcare in the United States. I don’t think it’s because doctors don’t care. Many do deeply. It’s because our healthcare system built around short visits, productivity quotas, insurance billing requirements, fragmented care. When time disappears, time and quality follows.

This is why some doctors, including myself, are leaving the conventional healthcare model. I don’t want treat people like they’re a widget on an assembly line.

My patients are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, someone’s children, neighbors, friends, members of this community in and around Wolfeboro. Residents of New Hampshire.

I want to see patients on my terms with longer, thoughtful visits, direct access to me, returning to the time where the physician was the "town doc" that everyone knew, who did house calls. I want to give my patients the time they deserve and the expert level of care that a board-certified internal medicine physician can bring (board certified in obesity/weight loss too!).

This is Direct Primary Care.

01/21/2026

Hey folks! If you are a patient member here and have an appointment early next week, keep on eye on the weather Sunday night into Monday! If you need to be rescheduled, we will see you Tuesday or Wednesday.

❄️ ⛄️⛷️ 🏂

01/19/2026

🧠 What Is Doomscrolling?
• Doomscrolling is the habit of continuously consuming distressing news or negative content online even when it makes us feel worse instead of more informed.

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🚨 Why It Matters to Your Mental Health
• Studies link doomscrolling with higher anxiety and psychological distress.
• Heavy negative news exposure has been associated with depression and PTSD-like symptoms during stressful periods.
• It may trigger or worsen stress, sadness, overwhelm, fear, and mood disturbance in daily life.

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🧠 How It Affects Your Brain & Body
• Spending long hours on negative content can fuel the brain’s threat circuits, increasing stress hormones like cortisol and heightening anxiety.
• Can interfere with sleep quality and overall emotional recovery.

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🌱 Tips to Protect Your Well-Being
• Set specific times for checking news or social media rather than scrolling endlessly.
• Use screen-time limits or app timers to help break compulsion loops.
• Replace doomscrolling with healthy activities like exercise, hobbies, or offline social interaction.
• Consider ‘news fasts’ when you feel overwhelmed.

12/29/2025

🦠 Cold, Flu, COVID, RSV — What You Should Know This Season

It’s that time of year again: holidays, family gatherings, cold weather (or icy, mixed weather like today!) … and unfortunately, respiratory viruses.

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Here in New Hampshire, influenza, COVID, and RSV are all circulating. You can see real-time local activity here:

👉 NH Public Health Association
https://www.nhpha.org/blog/bdj71yqichervebw1mwstcdemsmgfj

👉 CDC Community Snapshot
https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/index.html

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A quick personal note

As a doc (Dr. Jon P***k here speaking, by the way), I’ve seen firsthand how serious these infections can become. One case from residency still stays with me: a healthy woman in her early-mid 20s on life support from influenza A. Young, no chronic illness — but critically ill.

A lot of the time, respiratory viruses are mild… until they’re not.

Risk is higher for adults 65+ and for people with heart, lung, kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, or weakened immune systems — but severe illness can happen even in younger, healthy adults.

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So what can you do?
1️⃣ Talk to a professional

Everyone’s health situation is different. Talk with your P*P or healthcare provider about your risks and options. AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are impressive — but they’re not a substitute for personalized medical care.
Not yet anyway.

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2️⃣ Vaccinations

Vaccines to consider:
• Flu
• COVID
• RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)
• Pneumococcal (a nasty, bacterial cause of pneumonia)

Vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death. In some cases, they may also reduce transmission — but this is not guaranteed.

Yes, some people can feel “off” or even sick for a day or two after receiving the flu vaccine.

It’s not because you were given the virus. It’s because your immune system is mobilizing — activating immune cells and generating memory so it can recognize and fight the flu in the future.

Unfortunately, influenza viruses evolve rapidly and change from year to year, which is why vaccines are periodically updated.

Vaccines do carry rare but potentially serious risks — talk with your provider about what’s right for you.

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3️⃣ Testing & medications

People often wonder why their P*P or urgent care didn’t run a huge panel of tests to find exactly which virus is responsible.

There is a respiratory viral panel that checks for influenza A & B, COVID, RSV, parainfluenza viruses, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus/enterovirus, adenovirus, non-COVID coronaviruses — and sometimes more.

For transparency: a full viral panel can cost roughly $800–$1,200.

Here’s why comprehensive testing often isn’t done outpatient:
• Flu → treat with Tamiflu or Xofluza (early)
• COVID → treat with Paxlovid (early)
• Most other viruses → rest, fluids, OTC symptom relief

That’s why targeted flu and COVID testing (pharmacy, P*P, urgent care) is often all that’s needed, with close monitoring for worsening symptoms.

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4️⃣ Nasal sprays? (emerging evidence)

This is not settled science — but it’s interesting:

• One small study suggested azelastine nasal spray may reduce COVID transmission
• Another small study suggested hypertonic saline nasal spray reduced common cold transmission

The proposed mechanism: preventing viral attachment in the nasal passages.

🛶 So basically, the virus is a boat. The cells in the nose are a dock. The nasal spray prevents the mooring line from attaching to the bollard (my attempt at lakeside humor).

More research is needed, but these are low-risk interventions worth discussing.

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5️⃣ Supplements — important cautions

Not everyone wants or needs medications for mild viral infections. I often get asked about vitamins, herbs, and “natural” options. Here’s my take.

“Natural” does NOT mean risk-free.

Supplements are not regulated like prescription medications. Some have been found contaminated with drugs, heavy metals, fungi — even sawdust.

If you use supplements:
✔ Look for third-party testing
✔ Look for GMP-certified manufacturing
❌ Avoid “proprietary blends” with hidden doses (your bu****it detector should be going off)

Treat supplements like medications:
• They can interact with prescriptions
• Be cautious with blood thinners, BP meds, diabetes meds, thyroid meds, or immunosuppressants
• Always discuss supplements if pregnant or breastfeeding
• More is not better — overdosing is possible

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6️⃣ Supplements with some evidence for mild viral illness

(Supportive — not cures)

Vitamin D
• Supports immune function (it does more than help your bones)
• May reduce respiratory infections, especially if deficient
• Best for prevention
Typical dose: 1,000–2,000 IU daily

Zinc lozenges
• May shorten cold duration if started within 24 hours
• Lozenges work better than pills
⚠️ Avoid zinc nasal sprays (risk of permanent smell loss)

Vitamin C
• Regular use may slightly shorten illness
• Limited benefit if started after symptoms begin

Elderberry
• Small studies suggest reduced flu symptom duration
⚠️ Use commercial products only — raw elderberry is toxic

Echinacea
• Mixed evidence
⚠️ Possible allergic reactions; caution in autoimmune disease

Garlic
• Mild immune support
⚠️ Can increase the risk of bleeding at high doses

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🔹 Summary
Respiratory viruses like influenza, COVID, and RSV are common — but they can become severe quickly.

• Vaccination is the most effective way to reduce severe illness and death
• Early testing for flu and COVID can guide antiviral treatment
• Supportive care remains the mainstay for most viral infections
• Supplements may help some people, but quality, dosing, and interactions matter

🚨 Seek urgent medical care for:
• Worsening shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Confusion
• Persistent high fever
• Inability to keep fluids down

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📌 Disclaimer
This post is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Supplements, medications, and vaccines may carry risks and interactions. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting new treatments.

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🔹 Want this kind of comprehensive discussion from your doctor?
Call or email to set up a “Meet and Greet” and see if Direct Primary Care is right for you.

📞 603-697-7047
📧 info@windingbrookdpc.com

🌐 https://www.windingbrookdpc.com/

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🔹 If you found this helpful, please like and share so others can see it.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁 ☃️ 🎅🏼 🤶

12/01/2025

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eli-lilly-cuts-zepbound-price-widen-access-obesity-drug-2025-12-01/

Lilly just lowered their prices for Tirzepatide.

Orforglipron, CagriSema, Eloralintide are a few medications discussed recently at Obesity Week in Atlanta that are in the pipeline for obesity and weight loss treatment (not to mention Retatrutide).

Medications are just one of many tools used to treat weight loss. Obesity is a disease and is not simply a one size fits all approach to treat.

As an obesity & weight loss specialist, I am happy to discuss more here at Winding Brook DPC!

Eli Lilly said on Monday it has lowered the price of single-dose vials of its popular obesity drug Zepbound to make the treatment more affordable for U.S. patients, as demand for weight-loss therapies surge.

12/01/2025

❄️ Snow Shoveling & Heart Attacks ❄️

If you live in the New Hampshire / New England area, it's looking like we are going to see our first snowstorm tomorrow.

Here's what you should know 🫀

Shoveling snow isn’t just tiring. It can be potentially dangerous for your heart.

Cold temperatures cause blood vessels to constrict, which raises blood pressure. This, in turn, makes your heart work harder. Combine that with heavy lifting and exertion, and the risk of heart attack increases, especially for those with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or who are not used to strenuous activity.

🚨 Warning signs during shoveling include:
• Chest pressure or pain
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness or nausea
• Pain in the arm, neck, or jaw

✅ Stay safer this winter:
• Push snow instead of lifting
• Take frequent breaks
• Dress warmly
• Avoid heavy shoveling right after waking
• Consider a snow blower if possible

Your health matters more than a clean driveway. If symptoms occur, call 911 immediately.

Be safe out there! ⛄

- Winding Brook DPC