Includes…

• Comprehensive learning of the mechanisms and pathways of chronic conditions
• Most updated Functional labs which is different from Western medicine
• Evidence-based treatment protocol
• treating geriatric, metabolic, cardiovascular, women’s health, pediatric as well

A Root Cause Approach to Chronic Diseases

Recently published studies have reported that several internal and external factors are associated with the development of metabolic, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and chronic diseases.

What Is The Difference Between Functional Medicine And Conventional Medicine?

Different Doctors For Different Needs

There is still the idea in the West that there is a great divide between conventional medicine and traditional or functional medicine. However, as cancer treatment centers integrate traditional methods of healing and doctors increasingly refer outpatients to those in the functional medicine field, it is becoming increasingly clear that the two paradigms are not mutually exclusive.

For trauma-related injury and life-threatening conditions (like a sudden heart attack or stroke), there is no place better than a hospital to rapidly stabilize a patient.

This conventional approach to medicine is also indispensable when differentiating a life-threatening condition from symptoms that are benign – which matters when you want to know if you are having a migraine or are experiencing the onset of a potentially fatal case of meningitis.

In other areas of health – like preventative medicine, long-term care, chronic conditions, and inflammatory diseases – the conventional medicine structure can be inadequate.

Many patients do not fit into the standard mold of a diagnosis. These patients can find themselves in a medical ’no man’s land’ where they are not given adequate treatment – sometimes it is even insinuated that it is ‘all in their head.’

There are many reasons a person may not be a good fit for an exclusively conventional approach. A person may not be able to take standard medication due to severe reactions. Some patients want to have a longer appointment with a doctor to learn how to prevent something like heart disease.

Some patients have exhausted the conventional healthcare system and wound up no better than when they started. Others do not want to take standard pharmaceuticals if they can help it.

Differences in Ideology

The conventional medicine practitioner’s appointments are generally brief and intended to classify symptoms into a diagnosis.

They would then prescribe treatment, usually pharmaceutical medication or surgery. Symptoms are targeted and then suppressed.

Because so much of the focus in conventional medicine is to name your symptoms and to match drugs or surgery based on that diagnosis – significant improvement for those with chronic disease is less frequent because the cause is so rarely addressed.

Functional medicine seeks to treat the entire person by filling the gap that is sometimes left between conventional medicine and the patient.

The primary focus in functional medicine is what is causing your symptoms; the second focus is to restore overall health. By finding out why you got sick, the functional medicine doctor seeks to rebalance the body and address the initial strain that caused your symptoms to manifest in the first place.

The initial strain may be in the form of digestive dysfunction, hormone imbalance, virus, food allergy, bacterial infection, fungal infection, or toxin accumulation.

Restoring your overall health is crucial to reducing or eliminating your symptoms so you can enjoy the highest quality of life.

Functional medicine examinations look at core clinical imbalances that impair normal function. These imbalances primarily arise from a poor diet lacking in nutrients, lack of exercise, trauma, and psychosocial concerns as well as toxins in the environment and

WHAT illness do you have vs. WHY you got sick

Perhaps the overriding difference between the conventional and the functional medicine approach is a matter of premise. Conventional medicine is primarily concerned with the ‘what.’ What is it? What are your symptoms called (your diagnosis)? What medications will it take to suppress your symptoms? What type of surgery do you need?

Functional medicine is focused on the ‘why.’ Why are you still sick? Why hasn’t your body recovered? Why did you develop this chronic illness in the first place? Determining the cause of your symptoms is the first step in getting you back to health.

What a Functional Medicine Appointment Looks Like

A functional medicine appointment is generally much longer (lasting at least an hour) than an appointment at your primary care physician. During the appointment patient history, family history, previous testing, current medications and supplements are all reviewed.

The patient has the opportunity to go into detail about their symptoms. The goal of the appointment is to assess imbalances in the body using diagnostic testing to determine the best direction forward.

Various treatments can include lifestyle changes, dietary regimens, and nutritional medicines designed to target deficiencies or imbalances determined using diagnostic testing. These treatments are extremely effective, supported by research, and generally very gentle on the body.

Not all functional medicine practitioners are the same. There are those who claim to treat the ‘whole person’ that simply swap pharmaceuticals for supplements. Using supplements and diet to treat only symptoms is still a superficial treatment. Be wary of those who proclaim that they know the ‘only thing’ you need to heal from your chronic condition. A uniform treatment plan for a condition that pays no attention to the health status of the patient is bound to be ineffective.

The Inadequacy of Generic Treatments

The power of functional medicine comes from the reasons for using a specific natural therapy and how it is personalized to suit the individual.

Let’s use high blood pressure (hypertension) as an example. There is some good research suggesting CoQ10 and magnesium can beneficially lower blood pressure, so some practitioners may use these supplements to treat hypertension.

This kind of nutrient supplementation may or may not work in an individual patient – it all depends on what is causing the high blood pressure. If it is a magnesium or CoQ10 deficiency, then it may help – but in many cases of hypertension, that is not the case.

If the person has an underlying liver or adrenal issue, magnesium or CoQ10 will not work in reducing the high blood pressure – and may delay the patient in getting the right type of care.

When expertly prescribed, natural therapies work because they can restore optimal function and balance in the body.

The functional medicine physician will take a unique approach when rooting out the cause of a particular concern.

• Biochemical individuality
• Patient-centered medicine
• Dynamic balance of internal and external factors
• Web-like interconnections of physiological factors
• Health as a positive vitality, not merely the absence of disease
• Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance health span
• Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances
• Oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondropathy
• Detoxification and biotransformational imbalances
• Immune imbalances
• Inflammatory imbalances
• Digestive, absorptive, and microbiological imbalances
• Structural imbalances from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system

The Path to Health

Most likely, your path to full health will be achieved with a blend of conventional and functional medicine.

You need to achieve your optimal health using whatever tools are available. Be your own advocate, and never be satisfied with partial explanations. Your symptoms should never be dismissed and written off as unimportant. You deserve to be taken seriously, and your health made a priority by your doctor.

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