What Is Functional Medicine?

In recent time the term “functional medicine” has become more and more popular as people start to dig deeper into their own personal health. Some supporters such as Dr. Oz, Dr. Frank Lipman, and Dr. Mark Hyman have helped it gain momentum.

To learn more I looked to Mind Body Green for more information. You can find the full article here: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6014/The-5-Principles-of-Functional-Medicine.html

In his article William Cole, IFMCP, starts by looking at the more widely popular traditional medicine: “Traditionally a medical doctor uses drugs or hormones as therapeutic tools to deal with dysfunction or disease. For various conditions including low thyroid, diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and so on, the standard model of care is generally all the same. Your general practitioner could decide to treat you, or could elect to refer you to a specialist. A GP and specialist have access to the same basic tool: medication. The training in the standard model of care is to diagnose a disease and match that disease with a corresponding drug. The standard model of care works well for acute diseases, trauma, infection, and emergencies. Sadly, it fails miserably in the care of the chronic diseases that affect over 125 million Americans.” 

“Here lies the clear distinction and definition of Functional Medicine. Instead of asking, “What drug matches up with this disease?” Functional Medicine asks the vital questions that very few conventional doctors ask: “Why do you have this problem in the first place?” and “Why has function been lost?” and “What can we do to restore function?” In other words, Functional Medicine looks to find the root cause or mechanism involved with any loss of function, which ultimately reveals why a set of symptoms is there in the first place, or why the patient has a particular disease label.”

Here are the 5 principals of functional medicine according to William Cole, IFMCP:

1) Functional Medicine views us all as being different; genetically and biochemically unique. This personalized health care treats the individual, not the disease. It supports the normal healing mechanisms of the body, naturally, rather than attacking disease directly.

2) Functional Medicine is deeply science-based. The latest research shows us that what happens within us is connected in a complicated network or web of relationships. Understanding those relationships allows us to see deep into the functioning of the body.

3) Your body is intelligent and has the capacity for self-regulation, which expresses itself through a dynamic balance of all your body systems.

4) Your body has the ability to heal and prevent nearly all the diseases of aging.

5) Health is not just the absence of disease, but a state of immense vitality.