Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine Provides a Real Boost to Health
Functional medicine is for those ready to treat the health condition that ail them rather than focusing solely on treating the symptoms of that condition.
Why Try Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine can be the Answer to “Incurable” Maladies
Functional medicine seeks to break down the notion that medicine is only about treating symptoms. This approach seeks to find the root cause of health ailments and treat that root cause, not just focus on the troubling and unwanted symptoms of that cause.
Though a relatively new approach to medicine, functional medicine meets a dire need in America. It provides real solutions (instead of relying on the “treat the symptoms” model that so much of medicine has revolved around).
Quoting the Institute of Functional Medicine
“Functional medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness. A diagnosis can be the result of more than one cause. For example, depression can be caused by many factors, including inflammation. Likewise, a cause such as inflammation may lead to several different diagnoses, including depression. The precise manifestation of each cause depends on the individual’s genes, environment, and lifestyle, and only treatments that address the right cause will have lasting benefits beyond symptom suppression.”
When patients embark on their healing journey in functional medicine, they may find themselves treating far more conditions than they even thought they had. While this can be disconcerting at first, patients should take heart because it means they are improving their overall health, and it means they are addressing health as a whole rather than trying to itemize health issues and focus on one issue alone.
Unwanted Health Conditions do not Exist in a Vacuum
The theory behind functional medicine is that health conditions do not exist in a vacuum, meaning one area of a person’s body is not unhealthy without being affected (and in turn affecting) other areas of the body. Functional medicine seeks to find the root causes of a person’s health disorders and construct positive, proactive treatment programs to address those causes.
What is the Result of Functional Medicine?
When Done Over Time, Functional Medicine can Result in Broader Healing, Improved Quality of Life, and Increased Vitality
What Types of Treatments are Considered Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine treatments vary depending on what the patient needs. Some examples of functional medicine include:
- Naturopathy
- Acupuncture
- Massage therapy
- Osteopathic medicine
- Chiropractic medicine
- Body movement therapies
- Taichi, yoga, and other movement-based therapies
Diagnosis Process with Functional Medicine
Functional medicine focuses intently on the patient’s lifestyle, genetics, and environment. Functional medicine experts gather data in these three areas to help diagnose and understand the root cause of a patient’s illness.
Who is a Candidate for Functional Medicine?
Every patient is a candidate for functional medicine, as functional medicine operates as an approach to treatment rather than a specific treatment for a certain disorder.
How Long Does Functional Medicine Take?
Functional medicine can vary in duration because the goal is to fully heal the patient from the root cause of their ailment. Functional medicine is often a long-term treatment approach because it ignores the often-sought short-term relief of symptoms. Instead, it seeks long-term results by treating ingrained, often stubborn illnesses, poor health habits, and genetic and epigenetic predispositions.
See if Functional Medicine is Right for You
A growing field and one where new findings and benefits are being discovered every day, functional medicine is sought by millions of Americans each year for its commitment to helping patients get to the root cause of what ails them. To see if functional medicine is a good fit for you, contact Foundations Health and Physical Medicine.