What is Functional Medicine
Interested in being a leader in functional medicine applications? How about a leader in you own health and vitality? This educational forum will allow patients to interact with doctors and doctors to interact with eachohter to better serve humankind.
Functional Medicine Approach
Functional Medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.
As the graphic illustrates, a diagnosis can be the result of more than one cause. For example, depression can be caused by many different factors, including inflammation. Likewise, a cause such as inflammation may lead to a number of different diagnoses, including depression. The precise manifestation of each cause depends on the individual’s genes, environment, and lifestyle, and only treatments that address the right cause will have lasting benefit beyond symptom suppression.
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Why Functional Medicine Matters
In the United States, 49.9% of the adults have at least one chronic health condition (1).
1. Ward et al. Prev Chronic Dis. 2014;11:130389
In the United States, 24.6% of the adults have two or more chronic health conditions (2).
2. Wang et al. Lancet. 2016;388 (10053):1459-544.
What is Functional Medicine?
The Functional Medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.
By addressing root cause, rather than symptoms, practitioners become oriented to identifying the complexity of disease. They may find one condition has many different causes and, likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions. As a result, Functional Medicine treatment targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual.
Frequently Asked Questions
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE
So what makes functional medicine different? It comes down to 3 core principles.
1. Functional medicine focuses on the root cause of a condition or symptom.
For example, you don’t have high blood pressure because you are deficient in a medication to lower blood pressure. Rather, you have reasons for high blood pressure – likely diet, inactivity, inflammation, stress, hormone imbalances, genetics and more. Functional medicine asks: Why do you have high blood pressure? Then prescribes a personalized plan to address the root cause so you can reverse or improve that blood pressure.
2. Functional medicine uses advanced diagnostic testing.
This is because the functional approach seeks to understand how your body is functioning as a system. To use the example above, a functional doctor would test everything from genetics to hormones to nutrients to inflammation and more as part of a workup for high blood pressure.
3. Functional medicine prescribes a holistic, personalized plan.
This plan will include specific nutrition protocols, lifestyle changes, positive stress reduction practices (like meditation), exercise recommendations, professional-grade supplements, prescription medications where necessary and referrals to specialists where indicated.
So, Dr. Eason may prescribe a blood pressure medication if your numbers are too high, but he may also prescribe nutrition and lifestyle changes to help reverse your high blood pressure, with the goal of helping you ultimately get off of the medication and help you live your healthiest life.
Functional medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease. Hallmarks of a functional medicine approach include:
Patient-centered care. The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care, promoting health as a positive vitality, beyond just the absence of disease. By listening to the patient and learning his or her story, the practitioner brings the patient into the discovery process and tailors treatments that address the individual’s unique needs.
An integrative, science-based healthcare approach. Functional medicine practitioners look “upstream” to consider the complex web of interactions in the patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. The unique genetic makeup of each patient is considered, along with both internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors that affect total functioning.
Integrating best medical practices. Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 90% of our health is “socially determined” – meaning determined by what we eat, how we move, how we manage stress, our relationships and our environment. The WHO has also shown that only 10% of our health is determined by interactions with the medical system – that’s doctors, prescription drugs, procedures, hospitals.
Unfortunately our conventional medical system only looks at the 10%, and typically ignores the rest. This is not working. As a population we are getting sicker, costs are going up. In fact, 90% of health care costs today in the US are due to chronic lifestyle driven disease, according to the CDC.
We need a form of medicine that looks at 100 percent of a person, and that is functional medicine.
The true answer is all of them, because by definition functional medicine looks at the body as an interconnected ecosystem and considers the mental emotional and physical as well as all physiological systems.
These are common areas functional medicine addresses:
- Gastrointestinal
- Autoimmune and inflammatory
- Hormones (and fertility)
- Cardio-metabolic (includes body composition and weight)
- Mental health
- Optimization and prevention
- Blood Sugar Dysregulation
- Thyroid Disorders
Yes. At Brain Connexion Associates, the protocols recommended are evidence-based, and the diagnostic tests used are clinical-grade tests, meaning exclusively ordered by licensed doctors and nurses.
Here are three example protocols we use routinely, all of which have a strong evidence base. At Brain Connexion Associates, our protocols have been documented and our doctors follow standardized guidelines for patient care. This standardization is specific to the Brain connexion system.
1. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
Our protocol is based on an herbal-antimicrobial studied at Johns Hopkins to be more effective than antibiotics. We also may use a particular diet, called the FODMAP diet, which has been studied to alter gut microbiota and improve SIBO symptoms.
2. Reducing anxiety and the need for anti-anxiety medications Our protocol includes proven mindfulness-based stress reduction, supplements, and lowering inflammation, all of which can improve or even resolve chronic anxiety and in some cases depression. We also do genetic tests which inform personalized protocols.
3. Healing the gut microbiome and reducing dysbiosis
Repairing the gut can help to resolve many conditions, so in some cases we use a protocol that includes supplements that can improve the lining of the intestine, promotes a heathy microflora, and boosts mucus secretion in combination with proven gut healing foods.
No, functional medicine is not defined by any of these things.
Functional medicine builds on conventional medicine, focuses on advanced diagnostic testing, includes prescription drugs, leverages nutrition and supplements alongside primary care, embraces specialty care when needed, and requires training in conventional medicine to practice.
While we appreciate and respect integrative and naturopathic providers, it is important to understand there is a distinction.
Integrating best medical practices. Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.
That being said, a single approach for one person may differ from another as each individual has different genetics and a different system altogether. This is why treatment may look different. Why? It is completely individualized to you.
We employ a variety of labs to determine the root cause of a person’s health issues. The number of labs recommended will depend on your individual situation, including the number of issues you struggle with and the length of time you have been experiencing them. Depending on the type of test, the samples required are saliva, urine and stool. Most tests are completed by the client through easy test kits that are self-administered in the comfort of your own home. Blood serum will be either done within the office or at a second laboratory location.
Treatment includes a variety of things including prescription, nutraceuticals, lifestyle and environmental enhancement implementation and more.
While retesting isn’t required, it is recommended that a client retest at the 6 month mark to measure improvement and adjust protocols, if needed. Once a client has achieved their desired health results, we recommend annual testing to ensure your body systems continue to function at their best.
Yes. At Brain Connexion Associates, because we are primary care doctors we can refer you to a cardiologist or a psychiatrist. We can also refer you to an acupuncturist or a yoga teacher. Our referral lists in each of our cities are robust across all specialities.