Functional Medicine is a medical approach that takes the patient-centered and systems network biology perspective to health care. It uses a comprehensive, integrative and individualized approach to understand the root cause of disease based on each individual’s unique genetics, environment, diet and lifestyle. It defines function at multiple organizational levels ranging from social and spiritual to organ system, tissue, cellular, and sub-cellular.
Who is the father of Functional Medicine?
It enables practitioners to use new assessment tools that have been developed in every specialty area of medicine to move closer to predictive diagnostics in order to treat the root cause rather than just the symptoms. 417 INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE has led to a shift from the definition of functional somatic syndromes as one-size fits all diseases to an understanding of how each individual person got sick in their own way.
During an initial appointment, a functional practitioner will usually do an extensive intake of a patient. This includes a comprehensive, in-depth discussion of a patient’s diet, lifestyle and personal history. It also often includes stool, urine, breath and saliva testing to determine what is going on at the cellular level. Many functional practitioners work in conjunction with nutritionists, naturopathic doctors and mental health counselors to give patients a comprehensive team approach.
This holistic approach makes it very suitable to treat stealth pathogens, which tend to be multi-organ based and can have primary symptoms that ebb and flow. For example, a stealth pathogen might start out as fatigue and then a few days later primarily cause depression.
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417 Integrative Medicine
1335 E Republic Rd D, Springfield, MO 65804, United States
Phone: +14173633900