Sam Judah Sugar, MD, FACP
Physician and Director of MedCheck and Sleep Health Programs,
Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa
- Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine
- Associate Professor of Medicine, Rush University College of Medicine
- Faculty Member, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Fellow of the American College of Physicians
- American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award
- Voted "Outstanding Internist in Chicago Area" by Chicago Business Magazine
For Dr. Sugar, coming to the Pritikin Longevity Center in 2005 was a "dream come true, a chance to help patients in ways I never could have accomplished in my 30 years of private practice. In the ’real world‘ of medical care, we doctors have little time to listen – about seven minutes. At Pritikin, we spend a long time listening and educating, and the payoff is priceless."
At Pritikin, Dr. Sugar also directs the Sleep Health Program. "Sleep disorders and obesity go hand-in-hand," he explains. "Often, when you take care of sleep problems, losing weight gets much easier."
Dr. Sugar also directs the MedCheck Program, which helps people reduce their dependency on pills. MedCheck is part of a nascent culture in America termed "medical minimalism." "Don’t get me wrong," clarifies Dr. Sugar. "When carefully prescribed and monitored, medications are great. But for too long, both patients and doctors have fallen prey to the medical mystique of a pill for every ill. We need a whole new mind-set that says: ‘I’m not taking anything more than what I absolutely need. And I’m certainly not taking anything with side effects that make me feel bad."
