After practicing family medicine for 32 years, Dr. John Chissell now has the freedom to follow another passion. "You could call my specialty optimal health education," he says. And when he isn't serving as visiting professor at Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C., he is taking his message to convention halls, professional societies, corporate workshops, state health departments, churches, schools, and to the people he encounters, one by one.

Dr. Chissell's own "wake-up call" came in 1969 as he was returning from an especially hectic business trip. He found his blood pressure measuring a dangerous 180/140. He stabilized his condition with medication but was also inspired to take a step back and reevaluate how he would protect his health in the future—naturally and without relying on drugs.

His exploration of preventive remedies for better health led him to embrace a "nutritionally-dense, calorie-light," vegan diet, which has helped control his blood pressure without medication for the past 25 years. In sharing his prescription for better living, he empowers his patients to take charge of their own health care. Many have overcome hypertension, arthritis, obesity, and other serious conditions by switching to this powerful diet and making other lifestyle changes.

The doctor says he is encouraged by the public's growing interest in preventive approaches toward wellness, rather than in the treatment of illness alone. Dr. Chissell reaches a large audience hosting his one-hour talk show called HEALTHLINE 2000 on WEAA 88.9 Radio in Baltimore on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. He has also written a book entitled Pyramids of Power: An Ancient African-Centered Approach to Optimal Health, inspired by his journey through Egypt in late 1986. Based upon African history and philosophy, the book is a comprehensive, reader-friendly guide to attaining mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, and socio-economic well-being.

"My daily goal and challenge is to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically toward optimal health, and share it with those who need my services," says Dr. Chissell. And what about those roadblocks we sometimes face in today's modern, quick-fix world? "Any delays allow me to be better prepared to share what I am learning," he says with a smile. Dr. Chissell can be reached at Positive Perceptions Group in Baltimore, Md., at 410-448-0116.