Functional medicine is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual.
Why Do We Need Functional Medicine? • Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. • The system of medicine practiced by most physicians is oriented toward acute care, the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that is of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. • Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methodology and tools for preventing and treating complex, chronic disease. • There’s a huge gap between research and the way doctors practice. The gap between emerging research in basic sciences and integration into medical practice is enormous—as long as 50 years— particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness. • Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients. How is Functional Medicine Different? Functional medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease. Hallmarks of a functional medicine approach include: • Patient-centered care. The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care, promoting health as a positive vitality, beyond just the absence of disease. • An integrative, science-based healthcare approach. Functional medicine practitioners look “upstream” to consider the complex web of interactions in the patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. The unique genetic makeup of each patient is considered, along with both internal (mind, body and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors that affect total functioning. • Integrating best medical practices. Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what are sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques. The Institute for Functional Medicine is a nonprofit educational organization Visit us at www.functionalmedicine.org or call us at 1-800-228-0622 ©2008 The Institute for Functional Medicine Functional medicine practitioners promote wellness by focusing on the fundamental underlying factors that influence every patient’s experience of health and disease.
The Functional Medicine Approach to Assessment The Institute for Functional Medicine teaches practitioners how to assess the patient’s fundamental clinical imbalances through careful history taking, physical examination, and laboratory testing. The functional medicine practitioner will consider multiple factors, including: • Environmental inputs – The air you breathe and the water you drink, the particular diet you eat, the quality of the food available to you, your level of physical exercise, and toxic exposures or traumas you have experienced all affect your health. • Mind-body elements – Psychological, spiritual, and social factors all can have a profound influence on your health. Considering these areas helps the functional medicine practitioner see your health in the context of you as a whole person, not just your physical symptoms. • Genetic makeup – Although individual genes may make you more susceptible to some diseases,your DNA is not an unchanging blueprint for your life. Emerging research shows that your genes may be influenced by everything in your environment, as well as your experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. That means it is possible to change the way genes are activated and expressed. Through assessment of these underlying causes and triggers of dysfunction, the functional medicine practitioner is able to understand how key processes are affected. These are the body’s processes that keep you alive. Some occur at the cellular level and involve how cells function, repair, and maintain themselves. All of these processes are influenced by both environmental factors and your genetic make-up; when they are disturbed or imbalanced, they lead to symptoms, which can lead to disease if effective interventions are not applied. A Comprehensive Approach to Treatment Most imbalances in functionality can be addressed; some can be completely restored to optimum function, and others can be substantially improved. • Prevention is paramount. Virtually every complex, chronic disease is preceded by long-term disturbances in functionality. • Changing how the systems function can have a major impact on the patient’s health. The functional medicine practitioner examines a wide array of available interventions and customizes a treatment plan including those with the most impact on underlying functionality. • Functional medicine expands the clinician’s tool kit. Treatments may include combinations of drugs, botanical medicines, nutritional supplements, therapeutic diets, or detoxification programs. • They may also include counseling on lifestyle, exercise, or stress-management techniques. • The patient becomes a partner. As a patient, you become an active partner with your functional medicine practitioner. This allows you to really be in charge of improving your own health and changing the outcome of disease. The Institute for Functional Medicine is a nonprofit educational organization Visit us at www.functionalmedicine.org or call us at 1-800-228-0622 ©2008 The Institute for Functional Medicine Medicare now covers a preventive physical exam initially and annually. Young adults can stay on their parents insurance, and private insurance companies are required to apply 80% of premium income to direct patient costs ( limiting profits),. There have also been federal $$ to help fund community health centers. Florida has not received any funds nor started to organize the insurance exchanges (for people to purchase private insurance as a group).
Elizabeth attended the Institute for Functional Medicine Symposium “Year of the Heart” in late May and early June. This is the “cutting edge” information on all aspects of heart and vascular disease. IFM’s president is Dr. Mark Hyman author of “The Blood Sugar Solution” and Dr.Mark Houston author of “What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Heart Disease” spoke on the connection between heart disease and metabolic syndrome and the surprising real underlying causes.
IHC is providing advanced testing and holistic treatment with this functional medicine approach to finding and treating the causes of metabolic syndrome. A key component of changing lifestyle and treating metabolic syndrome is working with a supportive community of others. Please let us know if you are interested in helping to form and join and heatlhy living group at IHC. |
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