Does Functional Medicine Work?

The human body is a fascinating and miraculous machine. Not only does it have the ability to regulate its own heartbeat, body temperature, oxygen needs, metabolism, and organ function from the minute you are born until the day you die, it has an amazing capacity to heal itself. Since your body is constantly trying to stay in a state of homeostasis, or balance between its systems, it makes millions of minute corrections throughout the day. When that balance is threatened by poor diet, a lack of sleep, toxic environments and bad relationships, each of the other systems works together to bring your body back into harmony. However, our bad habits often prevent our bodies from ever reaching their proper balance. Much of our current health care system focuses on the disease, injury, medical condition or illness rather than the underlying cause. Traditionally, physicians examine a patient for a set of symptoms that fit a certain diagnosis. At that point, they can prescribe medication and chart a treatment course for that particular diagnosis, often to the detriment of the body’s ability to heal itself. Functional medicine practitioners have a different philosophy when it comes to patient care. Instead of searching for symptoms that fit a diagnosis, we spend time with our patients while looking for environmental, genetic or even lifestyle factors that may be affecting their health. With our understanding of how the body’s systems work together, we can look for underlying causes that may be contributing to these symptoms. Then, instead of masking a patient’s pain or offering medication that addresses the most bothersome of their symptoms, we create a customized plan to address any deficiencies and meet your individual body’s needs. Since no two patients are alike, no two treatment plans in functional medicine will be alike.