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Functional Medicine

Home/Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine2021-07-01T23:19:46-07:00

What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine is different than traditional medicine as instead of looking at and treating health problems as isolated diseases, the whole person is examined to find the cause of the disease and revealing underlying dysfunctions and imbalances.

Identifying and treating the underlying root causes, has a much better chance to successfully resolve a patient’s health challenge. Using scientific principles, advanced diagnostic testing, and treatments other than drugs or surgery, Functional Medicine restores balance in the body’s primary physiological processes.

Although mainstream medicine is needed for acute interventions like a heart attack, surgery, etc another approach is needed in addition for the chronic, debilitating conditions as diabetes, arthritis, etc.

To battle chronic health conditions, Functional Medicine uses two scientifically grounded principles:

  1. Add what’s lacking in the body to nudge its physiology back to a state of optimal functioning.
  2. Remove anything that impedes the body from moving toward this optimal state of physiology.

Functional medicine aims to understand underlying causes and symptoms of a chronic disease or illness. Qualified practitioners may treat the patient once they determine preventative measures, the origins of the illness and steps necessary to begin proper treatment.

Highlights of functional medicine include:

  • Patient-centered care as topmost priority to treat the patient’s health as a whole, not just the disease or condition itself.
  • Interaction of many inclusive factors such as how lifestyle practices, patient medical history and physiology of the body can determine the best way to treat symptoms.
  • Combining both traditional and alternative practices such as Advanced Laboratory tests to identify the root causes of one’s health problem, prescription drugs or supplements, changes in diet/nutritional intake, exercise and stress management techniques.
  • For treatment, Functional Medicine practitioners use a combination of natural agents (supplements, herbs, nutraceuticals and homeopathics), nutritional and lifestyle changes, spiritual/emotional counseling, and pharmaceuticals, if necessary, to stimulate a patient’s physiology back to an ideal state. Educating one about their condition, will give one a feeling of empowerment to take responsibility of their own health, ultimately leading to greater accomplishment in healing.

As an example, conventional doctors would normally prescribe pharmaceuticals like Prilosec, to treat acid reflux or heartburn. When the patient stops taking these medications, heartburn returns.In contrast, a Functional Medicine practitioner might find that a patient’s acid reflux is caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Eradicating the Helicobacter pylori may lead to the end of heartburnsymptoms, permanently. Also, it is important to note that in Functional Medicine, treatment for similar symptoms might vary tremendously for different patients. Factors that can come into play in producing the same symptoms include toxic chemicals, pathogenic bacteria, parasites, chronic viral pathogens, emotional poisons like anger, greed or envy, and structural factors such as tumors or cysts.

When you consult a Functional Medicine practitioner, the first step is always your history and to make sense of a complex story. The next set of clues comes from a comprehensive physical examination. The final set of clues comes from advanced laboratory testing. Innovative, cutting-edge lab tests help the practitioner look deeply into a patient’s physiology to discover how it has been compromised and how physiological balance can be restored. After diagnosis and treatment, a Functional Medicine patient can expect his or her symptoms to diminish in severity, with a new sense of well-being and substantial boost in health and vitality.

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