What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine is an evolution of the practice of medicine that better addresses the needs of 21st century healthcare. It addresses the underlying cause of disease using a systems-based approach that allows the patient and practitioner to engage in a therapeutic partnership.

The power of establishing this partnership is that my patients are able to make sustained lifestyle changes and improve their health.

Functional medicine shifts the traditional disease-centered focus of medical care to a more patient-centered approach. It addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. We take a deep dive into your history and explore the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that influence long-term health.

The approach is to look “upstream”, where disease begins. Instead of resorting to “quick fix” prescription pharmaceutical therapies that will mask symptoms and disease progression. The goal is to uncover the root cause of your symptoms and ultimate reverse/prevent disease.

We harness the power of food as medicine, lifestyle modifications, and natural supplements to meet you where you are and empower you to achieve your health goals. Your biology IS your biography!

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 mot physicians is oriented towards acute care. This means diagnoses or treatments that are critical 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 using food as medicine, nutrition, diet, natural supplements and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients.

The 6 core principles functional medicine:

Familiarity with the web-like interconnections of internal physiological factors
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

Search for a dynamic balance among the internal and external body, mind, and spirit
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