Have you ever heard the term “functional medicine” and wondered what in the world it is? Most people are very familiar with Western medicine and its pharma-heavy approach. Western medicine works well for treating unwanted symptoms and managing illnesses. However, it doesn’t always get to the root of the problem.
Functional medicine, on the other hand, is all about finding and addressing the underlying cause of each health issue. It’s a powerful alternative for diagnosing and treating many common illnesses and diseases. It works with the body’s innate healing mechanisms instead of turning them off by masking the symptoms.
Here’s what you should know about this root-cause approach to health and healing and how it can improve your life.
What Is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is a holistic (whole body) approach to healthcare. Rather than simply managing disease symptoms, functional medicine focuses on root causes. It views the body as a whole system with many different parts that interact with and affect each other. Anytime the body develops an issue, a functional medicine practitioner looks into all of the body’s systems. Their goal is to find out where the problem originates. They treat the situation like a puzzle that must be solved to deliver a positive, long-lasting outcome.
A functional medicine practitioner never looks at a symptom as a standalone anomaly. Instead, they take the time to investigate every potential underlying cause. This may include diet, environment, genetics, and medical history. Once they identify the underlying cause, they consider potential treatment options. These should address the underlying issue instead of just minimizing symptoms.
How Does Functional Medicine Work?
Functional medicine works by analyzing symptoms, identifying potential causes, and offering treatment. It relies heavily on supporting the body’s innate healing response. Functional medicine practitioners often recommend vitamins, minerals, supplements, and herbal remedies. They may recommend these separately or in combination with each other to help patients heal.
What Can Functional Medicine Treat?
You can treat many chronic health conditions using a holistic functional medicine approach, including:
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Autoimmune diseases
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Food allergies
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Arthritis
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Digestive disorders
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Diabetes
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Adrenal disorders
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Prediabetes
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Thyroid disorders
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Insulin resistance
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Cardiovascular disease
This is just a small sampling of the many different health conditions functional medicine can treat. It can also improve women’s health disorders such as menopause and premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
The Basic Concepts of Functional Medicine
There’s no cookie-cutter approach to holistic health because everyone’s body is different. Therefore, each patient deserves a custom-designed treatment plan. Their unique plan should address their body’s specific needs. Before seeing a functional medicine practitioner, it’s important to learn as much as you can about this unique category of healthcare. Familiarize yourself with these five basic functional medicine concepts prior to your first appointment.
Biochemical Individuality
The term “biochemical individuality” refers to the fact that everyone is unique from a molecular standpoint. Functional medicine emphasizes biochemical individuality when treating the underlying cause of illness. Practitioners must gain a deeper understanding of how a person’s genetics and environment impact their health.
Individualized Care Plans
Individualized treatment plans are crucial from a functional medicine standpoint. Have you noticed how standard Western medicine often uses a one-size-fits-all treatment approach? You tell a doctor your list of symptoms, then they prescribe the medications they think will best treat those symptoms. However, this approach doesn’t get to the root of the problem. Therefore, it can only mask the symptoms instead of healing the underlying imbalance or source of disease.
A functional medicine practitioner knows how to analyze each person’s unique health conditions and tries to find the true source. Then, they develop a treatment plan designed to restore health, functionality, and balance. This plan looks different for each patient because it’s completely personalized. A typical functional medicine treatment plan may include nutrition recommendations, conventional medicine, lifestyle changes, and integrative therapies.
Support the Body’s Innate Healing Ability
The human body is remarkable and has the innate ability to heal itself when given the right conditions. Unfortunately, many people’s bodies can become imbalanced due to a wide variety of factors. These may include consumption of nutrient-deficient foods, exposure to chemicals and other pollutants, and genetics. The primary role of functional medicine is to give the body the right conditions to heal itself.
Imagine your body is like a car that’s leaking oil. Western medicine might seek to fix the problem by installing a bucket beneath the leak to catch the oil before it spills onto your driveway. However, simply catching the oil doesn’t fix the root problem. Eventually, your car will still run out of oil and stop running properly. Instead of simply trying to catch the leaking oil, functional medicine seeks to identify and repair the source of the leak.
Recognize the Role of Genetics and Environment in Health
Your genes can have a huge influence on your health, but they don’t function like a crystal ball. They can’t foretell your future and they don’t have to become your destiny. In fact, science now shows that certain lifestyle and environmental factors have the power to turn certain genes on and off! Lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, exercise, and diet can make your body less susceptible to the negative impact of undesirable genes.
What if you have a family history of heart disease? Well, you may be able to turn those undesirable genes “off” by exercising, eating well, and managing your stress levels. A functional medicine practitioner can recommend lifestyle habits that will help you achieve optimal health.
Rely Heavily on Science to Improve Health
Functional medicine relies heavily on science to improve health. It requires the intensive collection and analysis of scientific data. This data helps the practitioner determine why a patient suffers from certain symptoms. The practitioner also collects the patient’s biochemical, genetic, and medical history information. They typically also analyze the patient’s physiology, lifestyle factors, and environment. With this information, the functional medicine practitioner develops a science-based patient treatment plan.
Functional Medicine Benefits
Many people turn to functional medicine after standard Western medicine fails them. Or they may consult a functional medicine practitioner because they don’t want to keep taking costly medications. If you’re wondering whether functional medicine is the right approach for you, here are some of the top benefits it offers:
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Personalized treatment plans (no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment)
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Quality doctor-patient relationship
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Healing the whole body instead of masking symptoms
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Supporting overall wellness
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Science-based treatments
Functional medicine seeks to provide each patient with a roadmap to optimal overall health. This roadmap is highly customized and individual to each person.
Related Reading: Functional vs Integrative Medicine>>
Functional vs Conventional Medicine: What Are the Key Differences?
Now that you know some of the basic tenets of functional medicine, you may be wondering how exactly it differs from conventional medicine. Sometimes, it helps to see a side-by-side comparison of how each type works so you can choose which is preferable for you. Here are some of the key differences between functional vs. conventional medicine.
Patient-Doctor Relationship
It’s common for conventional doctors to have passive involvement in their patients’ treatments. They may briefly meet with the patient and run some tests, then prescribe medications for the patient to take. The patient must then comply with orders and take the medications as directed. However, they don’t typically receive any other instructions for things they can do to optimize their health. They usually don’t receive instructions to help them eventually get off their medications, either.
Functional medicine takes a much more patient-centric approach to treatment. The practitioner invites the patient to take a very active role in their own health. They often recommend lifestyle changes to help achieve optimal outcomes. Through education and empowerment, functional medicine practitioners become valuable resources. They guide patients on their proactive health journeys instead of telling them to take medications for the rest of their lives.
Treatment Strategies
Conventional medicine typically suppresses symptoms with medications. In some cases, patients may need even more prescriptions to help manage the side effects of the first prescriptions! This snowballing effect isn’t uncommon in conventional medicine. It can lead to skyrocketing medication costs and patient frustration.
Functional medicine, on the other hand, seeks to treat the center of the issue. For example, if you receive a diabetes diagnosis, a conventional doctor might immediately put you on insulin. This can help keep the symptoms at bay, but if you stop taking your medication, the symptoms will immediately return. That’s hardly fixing the problem!
A functional medicine practitioner will dig deeper to see why you developed diabetes in the first place. They might recommend changing your diet, losing weight, or taking certain supplements. They may prescribe insulin at first, but their ultimate goal is to help you eventually get off insulin. They want to help you get your body to a healthier, balanced state so it can function properly without prescription medications.
Find Greater Health and Healing With Functional Medicine Near You
Functional medicine practitioners are a lot like lifelong wellness guides. We can help support your long-term health goals instead of offering short-term quick fixes that won’t deliver lasting results. If you’re ready to finally figure out the underlying cause of your symptoms, contact Smart Medicine today! We offer science-backed treatments that can help you obtain optimal health. Call us at (415) 598-7633 to schedule your obligation-free functional medicine consultation.
