In his effort to strike a balance between under-researched alternative treatments and conventional medicine, Flower Mound Pharmacy owner Dennis Song has been helping treat patients in the Flower Mound area for 20 years. “Wellness is something we don’t really look at nowadays. Conventional medicine looks at either preventing diseases, reducing risk of getting diseases,” Song said. Although Flower Mound Pharmacy provides the services of a traditional pharmacy, it also offers educational material and classes about prescription medications, supplements and alternative treatments. In seeking to educate people about the available products, Song recognizes the usefulness of both conventional and alternative medicine—he said he tries to offer the best combination of treatments for each patient. “There are extremists on both sides. Some of them don’t want to take any medicine at all, and there is a reason we have medication,” Song said. “I look at [medication] as another tool in our treatment arsenal.” Song takes himself as an example as someone who uses the benefits of modern medicine combined with supplements and nutrition. “My father had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, so I have to take medications to treat my high blood pressure,” Song said. “But I also incorporate and integrate the supplements and a healthy lifestyle.” Song says he looks at the deficiencies of conventional medications and people’s lifestyles to develop his more common treatments—especially during the cold and flu season. “I fall back on the basics: boosting your immune system with increasing levels of Vitamin D. … [There is] a lot of evidence that Vitamin D can be even more beneficial taken in high doses for short periods of time,” Song said. And for patients who may need multiple types of treatments, Flower Mound Pharmacy can combine various treatments to provide a customized, compounded supplement. “Sometimes we will even work with the physician, and say ‘Oh, by the way, your patient came in and they wanted to treat this condition,’” Song said. “So the doctor knows what the condition is, and so he or she can measure the outcome or the result.” In helping patients customize their treatment options, employees at the pharmacy will sift through information on online databases to determine the viability of alternative treatments. “There is a saying we like to say: We are drowning in information and starving for knowledge,” Song said.