Dr. Albert Mensah’s Bio:

Dr. Albert Mensah is the co-founder of Mensah Medical in Lisle, IL, a clinic that specializes in the treatment of biochemical imbalances, and the cognitive (and physical) disorders caused by those imbalances. As a physician in this specialized field since 2005, Dr. Mensah has treated over 30,000 patients using all-natural, non-pharmaceutical, targeted nutrient therapy. His practice focuses on the management and treatment of cognitive disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, behavior/learning disorders, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndromes, childhood and adult schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease, as well as family medicine.  

More recently, Dr. Mensah co-founded the Mensah Research Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to conducting, supporting, and presenting research that provides scientific evidence of the efficacy of targeted nutrient therapy and other natural approaches to improving brain function, and to enhancing and optimizing mind/body health and balance.   Dr. Mensah regularly presents at conferences around the world, participates in physician training programs, and consults with other health care professionals.  Dr. Mensah received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) and his medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences-Chicago Medical School.  

What life events or challenges that you have experienced (could be minor, could be major) whether you have experienced them directly or via someone close to you, have had any type of impact on your desire to pursue a career in medicine?

I actually never wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be an Astronaut!  My father had other ideas, however.  He wanted me to be someone of service like a doctor, teacher, or priest.  So I chose medicine.

When and why did you decide to focus on practicing lifestyle/integrative/functional medicine, and how was your decision shaped by the experiences above?

After medical school, I was offered a dream job that would give me everything I wanted professionally.  I could practice medicine and get involved in other business endeavors that I was interested in as well as make a tremendous amount of money.  Just as I was about to sign the contract to accept the position, I received a call from a very trusted colleague, Judith Bowman, MD, who urged me not to do it and to travel with her to visit the Pfeiffer Treatment Center.  When I heard that they were using natural methods to treat people with mental health challenges and autism, I suspected fraud.  When I had the opportunity to spend time there and actually see what they were doing, I realized that this was the greatest breakthrough in healthcare that nobody ever heard of!  I feel that it was Divine Intervention and there I met my mentor, Dr. William Walsh, and the rest is history. 

Describe the connection between the body/metabolism and the brain/mental health.

I see there being three equal parts, the body, the brain, and the mind.  The body takes in and delivers what is necessary for the brain to function; the mind is a reflection of that brain.  Interestingly, emotional trauma affects brain function, which in turn, causes the body to become sick.  Essentially, all three are interconnected and must be evaluated as such.

With lifestyle/integrative/functional medicine being such a vast field, what specific approach(s) do you employ to impact mental health?

Our focus is on listening to the patient for an extended time.  We want to hear what is happening and how things are affecting their lives.  Then, we perform extensive tests of all kinds before we actually start a treatment plan so we have objective evidence to make our decisions.  This is just not happening in traditional psychiatry.  When all of the clinical decision-making is complete and the patient starts a program of care, magic can happen.