What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine believes in nurturing a partnership between the patient and doctor to engage one another to address the underlying cause of disease.

Functional medicine bridges the gap of a disease-orientated system to a patient-centered. This provides treatment towards the whole person while the medical practitioner spends time and listens to their patient. Functional medicine is the advancement of conventional medicine that can provide an individual orientated medical care, support and the unique advancement of one’s health and vitality.

Why Functional Medicine?

The current delivery of acute medical care dominates the care individuals receive, with the purpose of alleviating treatments such as drugs or surgery to provide immediate relief towards symptoms. Currently the acute model of medicine, is limited in treating complex, chronic diseases. Diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and mental illness. The current delivery of medicine does not take into account an individuals genetic makeup, environmental, dietary or stress into account.

Fortunately, functional medicine helps bridge the gap of providing acute care when necessary but focuses on the individual as a whole. The additional training a physician receives in functional medicine empowers the physician to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic diseases.

Applying emerging research and the integration of nutrition, diet, stress management, supplements or prescription drugs (when needed) may help to treat and prevent illness.

How is functional medicine different?