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Functional Medicine

 

 

Functional Medicine: As health care providers, we find ourselves in the middle of an epidemic of chronic disease that is driving up the cost of health care enormously. chronic disease

 

Conventional medical practice continues to apply Twentieth century acute care methods (medications and surgery/radiology) in a futile attempt to address this modern chronic plague. Functional medicine is an emerging medical paradigm that integrates systems biology science with lifestyle medicine and individualized patient care to create a dynamic and effective modern approach to chronic/degenerative/autoimmune illnesses. This is called the Functional Medicine Chronic Care Model…and it really works.

 

This is a medicine form that deals with primary prevention and uncovering the biochemical roots of disease. This science-based approach is patient centered. One of its basic principles is biochemical individuality – the importance of individual variations based on the genetic and environmental differences among individual patients. Functional Medicine

 

Their research supports their view that the human body is not just a collection of systems, but an network of interconnected systems. For example, immune dysfunction can influence gastrointestinal health as well as muscle and joint health. Every system relies upon the health of every other system. Physicians who practice Functional Medicine are both MDs and DOs as well as Naturopathic Physicians (NDs – see below).

The Guiding Principles of Functional Medicine

The guiding principles of functional medicine are:

  • An understanding of the biochemical individuality of each human being, based on the concepts of genetic and environmental uniqueness;
  • Awareness of the evidence that supports a patient-centered rather than a disease-centered approach to treatment;
  • The search for a dynamic balance among the internal and external factors in a patient’s body, mind, and spirit;
  • Familiarity with the web-like interconnections of internal physiological factors;
  • Identification of health as a positive vitality—not merely the absence of disease—emphasizing those factors that encourage the enhancement of a vigorous physiology;
  • Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance the health span, not just the life span, of each patient.

For more information, please visit www.functionalmedicine.org.