What Is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine

Functional medicine is personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for serious chronic disease. It is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in the following principles:

• Biochemical individuality describes the importance of individual variations in metabolic function that derive from genetic and environmental differences among individuals.
• Patient-centered medicine emphasizes "patient care" rather than "disease care," following Sir William Osler’s admonition that "It is more important to know what patient has the disease than to know what disease the patient has."
• Web-like interconnections of physiological factors – an abundance of research now supports the view that the human body functions as an orchestrated network of interconnected systems, rather than individual systems functioning autonomously and without effect on each other. For example, we now know that immunological dysfunctions can promote cardiovascular disease; that dietary imbalances can cause hormonal disturbances, and that environmental exposures can precipitate neurologic syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease.
• Health as a positive vitality – not merely the absence of disease.

Functional medicine is anchored by an examination of the core clinical imbalances that underlie various disease conditions. Those imbalances arise as environmental inputs such as diet; nutrients (including air and water), exercise, and trauma are processed by one’s body, mind, and spirit through a unique set of genetic predispositions, attitudes, and beliefs. The fundamental physiological processes include communication, both outside and inside the cell; bioenergetics, or the transformation of food into energy; replication, repair, and maintenance of structural integrity, from the cellular to the whole body level; elimination of waste; protection and defense; and transport and circulation. The core clinical imbalances that arise from malfunctions within this complex system include:

• Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances
• Detoxification and chemical imbalances
• Immune imbalances
• Digestive, absorptive, and nutritional biochemical imbalances
• Structural imbalances from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system

Imbalances such as these are the precursors to the signs and symptoms by which we detect and label (diagnose) organ system disease. Improving balance – in the patient’s environmental inputs and in the body’s fundamental physiological processes – is the precursor to restoring health and it involves much more than treating the symptoms. Functional medicine is dedicated to improving the management of complex, chronic disease by intervening at multiple levels to address these core clinical imbalances and to restore each patient’s functionality and health. Functional medicine is not a unique and separate body of knowledge. It is grounded in scientific principles and information widely available in medicine today, combining research from various disciplines into highly detailed yet clinically relevant models of disease pathogenesis and effective clinical management.

Functional medicine emphasizes a definable and teachable process of integrating multiple knowledge bases within a pragmatic intellectual matrix that focuses on functionality at many levels, rather than a single treatment for a single diagnosis. Functional medicine uses the patient’s story as a key tool for integrating diagnosis, signs and symptoms, and evidence of clinical imbalances into a comprehensive approach to improve both the patient’s environmental inputs and his or her physiological function. It is a clinician’s discipline, and it directly addresses the need to transform the practice of primary care.

Nutritional Biochemistry is the study of nutrition as a science to determine how different nutrients affect the function of biological processes. It is a scientific system for balancing the hormone and nutrient levels of the body through the use of:

• Hormone and Nutrient Testing to determine a patient’s levels at the beginning of treatment.
• Isotonic Nutraceuticals have a higher grade of purity than typical over the counter nutrient solutions and the most effective means of delivering the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients the body needs daily. They do not require digestion so the nutrients can be absorbed quickly by the small intestine.
• Dietary Supplements are used to maintain nutrient levels allowing for optimal function of the body.
• Bioidentical Hormones are hormones that are genetically engineered from hormones already present in a patient’s body to be an identical genetic match. These hormones are safer than Synthetic Hormones because they are not derived from animal or completely synthetic sources.
• Pellet Therapy is a sustainable delivery method for bioidentical hormones and is an ideal way to help balance body chemistry and restore health and vitality in menopausal women and andropausal men. Instead of taking a daily pill, creams or shots, patients meet with their physician every three to six months for a simple insertion. The pellets react to the needs of the body secreting more hormones when needed

By implementing these programs and treatments the body can be brought back into hormone balance and can functional at its optimal levels allowing the patient to live a healthy, happy, vibrant and youthful life. In addition to hormone therapy and dietary supplements patients are also taught healthy lifestyle habits such as smart shopping and cooking classes. (More information click here)