Functional Medicine 101
In elementary school you were sent home a permission slip for your parents to sign that allowed you to go to the “special health” class where girls and boys were separated. I can remember feeling nervous and joking with my friends about what we thought we were going to learn. The reality was I was completely clueless and my Mom told me that I was going to learn about “womanhood”. The smell of the projector light and poorly illustrated diagrams were less than desirable information, and I took home an embarrassing pamphlet that I hid from the boys at school only to feel confused about the information that was presented.
Similarly, the extent of physical education was once a year performing the “President’s Physical Fitness Test” to see if you meet the minimum requirements. And that my friends is the definition of most traditional medicine - minimum requirements.
Functional medicine takes a different approach. It is an evidence based, holistic approach to medical care. The principles are therapeutic partnerships, the systems biology view of medicine, and identifying the root cause of disease. According to The Institute for Functional Medicine not only does functional medicine address the root cause of chronic disease, but it also promotes well-being.
“Functional medicine asks how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual.” It goes on to say, “Functional medicine directly addresses modulators of gene expression, an individual’s environment, and other underlying causes of disease through a systems-oriented approach.”
I believe that our health is a product of our health literacy, understanding of our bodies basic needs, and the effects of our physical and mental environment. We have mistakenly been mislead to believe that simple things like sleep, quality food, physical exercise are luxuries and not worthy of our time or attention. We have adopted mainstream ideas there is a pill for every ill, and that healthcare is on demand. All of which is orchestrated by big pharma and what insurance companies will cover. Preventative care, in the traditional model, usually looks like a yearly physical and specialty testing such as mammograms and colonoscopies when you reach a certain age, or a check up to refill a prescription. But where are YOU in this model? Often times lost until, god forbid, sickness or unexplained symptoms appear. Shouldn’t it be called sick-care instead of health-care?
Functional medicine on the other hand not only takes a look at the who, what, when, and where, but also the how and why the body may be out of alignment. I’ll give you an example. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was offered surgery, chemo, radiation, and hormone therapy to treat my disease. Throughout my treatment blood was drawn, and vital levels that were depleted by the treatments were corrected with prescription medications, as needed. This was a necessary part of defeating my disease. But halfway through my chemo I started to ask what else I could I be doing to restore health back to my body? After much discussion, a dietitian was assigned to me. I was given a list of whole foods to “avoid” as to not interact with my chemo, and I was told to eat a “healthy diet”. But healthy is subjective, isn’t it? I also started to ask myself how can chemo and prescription medication trump whole foods and depleted vitamin and minerals? The answer is they can’t, and all must be address at the same time. I found myself with a frozen shoulder post radiation, and a fractured leg from side effects of the hormone therapy. Why? Because the doctors were only addressing my symptoms not my system!
Our body is a magnificent operating system that depends on each and every working part down to the cellular level. In functional medicine by addressing lifestyle, nutritional imbalances, and other inflammatory contributors you can get closer to the source aka the root of a disease. Treatment plans and preventative care are customized and client centered. Once I engaged with a functional medical doctor, I was able to start restoring health back into my body through supplementation, sleep management, stress reduction, targeted eating, hormone imbalances, mental health, physical activity, and reducing my toxic load. The result was faster healing from surgeries and treatments, and an overall sense of well-being. I can honestly say I feel the best I have in my entire life, even after cancer!
For more information about Functional Medicine visit www.ifm.org