Functional Medicine is an evolution in healthcare that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting traditional disease-centered focuses of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, Functional Medicine addresses the WHOLE person—not just an isolated set of symptoms.
WHY Do We Need Functional Medicine?
Overall, our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases, such as:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Mental illness
- Dementia
- Autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis
- Troublesome conditions like irritable bowel syndrome
However, the treatment that patients receive for these and other chronic conditions is often inadequate. This is due, in part, to the following:
- Focus on Acute Care. The system of medicine practiced by most physicians seems oriented toward acute care. Specifically, this refers to the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. The acute-care approach to medicine also lacks the proper methods and tools to prevent and treat complex, chronic diseases.
- A Gap Between Research and Practice. The way many doctors practice isn’t up-to-date with new research. Essentially, the gap between emerging research in the basic sciences and its use in medical practice is enormous—a few decades or more—particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness.
- Shortfalls in Training. Most physicians do not train to assess underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients. Rather, traditional medicine focuses on managing identified symptoms of an illness.
How is Functional Medicine DIFFERENT?
Functional Medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic diseases. Henceforth, Functional Medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic diseases. Hallmarks of such an approach include:
- Patient-Centered Care. Because the focus of Functional Medicine is on patient-centered care, it promotes health as a positive vitality rather than just the proof of an absence of disease.
- An Integrative, Science-Based Healthcare Approach. Because Functional Medicine practitioners look “upstream”, they end up considering the complex web of interactions in a patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle. Accordingly, they acknowledge and analyze each and every patient’s unique genetic makeup. Likewise, they consider are internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors affecting total functioning.
- A Combination of Best Medical Practices. Functional Medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with “alternative” or “integrative” medicine. Interestingly, this creates a focus on:
- Prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise;
- Use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and
- Prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management.
To learn more about MY personal philosophy when it comes to Functional Medicine, just read my Philosophy page!
