Functional Medicine

Our society is experiencing an increase in the number of people who suffer from disease. Autoimmune disorders are on the rise. We can no longer practice a system of medicine oriented toward acute care. The acute care approach lacks the needed methodology and tools for preventing and treating complex  chronic disease. The training in the standard model of care is to diagnose a disease and match that disease with a corresponding drug. This approach fails miserably in the care of chronic diseases that affect over 125 million Americans.

Functional medicine is the future of medicine. It seeks to identify and address the root cause of disease. It sees the human body as one intricate system rather than viewing the body as a collection of independent organs. Functional medicine treats the whole body not just the symptoms. Functional medicine engages both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. It considers the unique makeup of each individual and factors in environmental exposures to toxins and understands the lifestyle choices that have a direct influence on the body.  With the use of functional medicine chronic conditions such as allergic reactions, digestive disorders, hormonal, metabolic and neurological problems are being addressed properly and  solutions are created for those that suffer with such conditions

5 Principles That Define Functional Medicine 

1. Functional Medicine views us all as being different; genetically and biochemically unique. This personalized health care treats the individual, not the disease. It supports the normal healing mechanisms of the body, naturally, rather than attacking disease directly.
2. Functional Medicine is deeply science based. The latest research shows us that what happens within us is connected in a complicated network or web of relationships. Understanding those relationships allows us to see deep into the functioning of the body.
3. Your body is intelligent and has the capacity for self-regulation, which expresses itself through a dynamic balance of all your body systems.
4. Your body has the ability to heal and prevent nearly all the diseases of aging.
5. Health is not just the absence of disease, but a state of immense vitality.

Here lies the clear distinction and definition of Functional Medicine. Instead of asking, “What drug matches up with this disease?” Functional Medicine asks the vital questions that very few conventional doctors ask: “Why do you have this problem in the first place?” and “Why has function been lost?” and “What can we do to restore function?” In other words, Functional Medicine looks to find the root cause or mechanism involved with any loss of function, which ultimately reveals why a set of symptoms is there in the first place, or why the patient has a particular disease label.