What Is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is a philosophy and method of addressing dis-ease with attention and dedication toward identifying and resolving the root cause. While Functional Medicine does address symptoms and strives to reduce the discomfort they create, this is not the ultimate objective. A Functional approach looks beyond the symptoms to identify and resolve their root cause, because only this can prevent recurrence and escalation in the future. Root cause resolution is both the goal of Functional Medicine and the hallmark of this approach. Functional Medicine is a powerful and highly effective response to most chronic diseases which are at epidemic levels across the United States and have been for over a decade. A Functional lens is also effective in situations where symptoms are persistent yet have no formal diagnosis.
It all begins in the roots.
How does Functional Medicine differ from other types of Medicine?
Functional Medicine is one of many types of philosophies and practices considered "alternative" to standard Western Medicine. Western Medicine is essentially a practice of matching a list of symptoms with a formal name (a diagnosis) and matching that diagnosis with a pharmaceutical to relieve symptoms.
Functional Medicine is very similar to Integrative Medicine and other holistic approaches in that it assesses, honors, and treats the “whole person” - not just their symptoms. Integrative and Functional Medicines both incorporate many other types of alternative therapies (such as massage, acupuncture, chi gong, etc.) either through direct practice, recommendation or encouraging client exploration and experimentation.
The primary difference between Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine is, again, Functional Medicine’s hallmark focus on long-term root cause resolution, but there are addiitonal differences as well. Functional Medicine commonly uses an extensive client history and timeline composition. This process is necessary to collect as many clues as possible to support the identification of probable root cause(s). Chronic diseases have often been brewing for many years or even decades and often the most telling early clues go unnoticed. Looking at those early symptoms and the context within which they arose is how we “connect he dots” of a persons unique journey. After this, a process of experimentation, exploration, and perhaps testing to gather additional evidence can begin, while tracking symptoms and other relevant metrics for improvement or flares, both of which yield more valuable clues about the root causes. The Functional Medicine process is both a creative and methodical endeavor for a collaborative practitioner-client team.
The Pros and Cons of Functional Medicine
First, the pros…
The power of Functional Medicine is most influential in the area of chronic disease. In many cases, focusing on root cause resolution can lead to long term remission and profoundly change the current status and predicted trajectory of a person's health and life path. Chronic illnesses often compound over time, meaning that when you have one and do address it with lifestyle changes, the chances of living into another one, two, or three diagnoses over subsequent years is quite high. Therefore, when a person lives their way out of their first one or two chronic diseases, their risk for subsequent diagnoses (as well as significant adverse health events) is drastically reduced. The likelihood of enjoying many additional years characterized by minimal medication, and enhanced comfort, joy, and wellbeing grows exponentially.
Now the cons…
Functional Medicine is no quick fix. It is a process that requires a high degree of engagement from the client. The process will demand your creativity and dedication in various forms of active participation over time. In this approach, “the way out is through.” People who are ready to change find the payoff well worth the effort required. Direct engagement in one’s own healing can be a tranformative experience of growth.
What conditions is Functional Medicine good for?
A wide variety! All types of lifestyle driven diseases are easiest to correct when addressed as early as possible. If you don’t have any of diagnostic labels below, but have some early stage signals or your doctor is saying you’re “at risk” - that’s the perfect time to get proactive!
Acid Reflux
Hyertension
Digestive Issues
Cardiac Disease
Diabetes
Metabolic Syndrome / weight gain
certain types of Cancer
Thyroid Dysregulation
Auto-immune disorders