Menopause, Bio Identical Hormones, Sexual Health, Lack of Libido, Erection Problems, Gender Issues, Prostate Cancer, Psychiatry, Cancer

‘By optimal health we mean the best possible health to which you can realistically aspire and which we can help you achieve. Our interest is in your good health for as long as possible’.

Dr Michael Perring, Medical Director

“Our philosophy is to provide person centred care.  We believe in the importance of listening to our clients with close attention.  

It is not only their medical history but also their hopes, concerns, personal history  and lifestyle that give us a benchmark from which we can work to achieve optimal health and well-being”

Psychiatry/Psychotherapy

While 'person centred' practice in psychotherapy puts the individual at the centre of decision making, psychiatric training tempers the softer skills of listening with an ability to step in where necessary and prescribe medication and acute care. more>

Dr Michael Perring, Medical Director, a leading expert in the field, is a regular contributor at specialist symposiums and conferences, world-wide. more>

Welcome to Optimal Health
Our Philosophy

Walking is as Good as Running for the Heart A brisk walk will lower the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes and do so (slightly) more than the same amount of energy expended on running, according to a new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

If the energy expended in the two activities is the same the health benefits are identical and walking for an hour is about the equivalent of running for half an hour. And, within limits, the more the distance we walk, or run, the better it is for our health.

P. Williams et al, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 2013

The official guidelines for weekly exercise recommend two and a half hours of moderate activity, and it will ’count’ if the exercise is taken in ten minute bursts.

Research has suggested running can cause injuries to joints and muscles but it’s been shown recently that this may be outweighed by long term benefits to joint function and delay to the onset of arthritis.

Golf and gardening ‘count’ to!  April, 2013

The British Society of Sexual Medicine has recently released new agreed Guidelines on the Role of Androgens to which Dr Perring is a subscriber, and which spells out their importance in male health, the criteria for their replacement and the benefits that result from the adjustment of androgens to their correct level.

Declining levels of testosterone puts men at higher risk of heart disease.  Dr Mark Porter in The Times quotes research to say declining levels of testosterone puts men at higher risk of heart disease.  More>

Testosterone Replacement may prevent Early Memory Problems.  From a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.  More>

Are Bio-identical hormones safer than those that are not?  An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has reported a further study that links increased risk of breast cancer with a regime of HRT that combines an estrogen with a progestin.  More>

Premature Ejaculation (PE) is in the news again. Dr Mark Porter reports in the Times that apparently the problem of PE is so common that two High Street chemists have thought it worthwhile to promote new products to treat it. More>


Our Areas of expertise

Men’s Health

Male Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Screening for Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer. more>

Women’s Health

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Information and advice on traditional and non-traditional HRT.   more>

Psychosexual Services

Sexual relationships, gender issues and maintenance of sexual function. more>

Healthy Ageing

Achievable lifestyle changes that can make a marked improvement to your health. Essential information for ageing well.  more>

See Dr
Perring’s
lecture at the
Royal Society
of Medicine
on February
2012
copyright optimal health 2012

Dr Michael Perring traces the evolution of sex therapy over the decades and celebrates a new interdisciplinarity in the field.

In the 1970s I remember uncertainty about how we, as sex therapists, should identify ourselves and the clinics we ran. The label over my clinic door said ‘Sexual Dysfunction Clinic’ and only much later ‘Psychosexual Counselling’.



How sex therapy has changed from the 1970s to the present:
a personal view
Dr Perring’s
article  
From the June
2015 edition of
The
Psychotherapist

Retirement from Medical Practice - update to past patients and clients

I am happily retired from clinical practice as a medical doctor but continue as a relationally focused psychotherapist with a practice in London and West Sussex and medical appraiser for the Independent Doctors Federation (for which I retain my medical licence).

After 25 years as a private doctor working on Harley Street I remain available by arrangement to patients previously under my care as an advisor on specialists and GP’s in the area.

To contact me personally please phone me on 07710 392694 or email me at mikeperring@optimalhealth.org.uk



Dr Michael Perring                                                      1st July 2018
IN THE NEWS…..IN THE NEWS…..IN THE NEWS…..