FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE – Medicine will never be the same again!
Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease. It is an evolution in the practice of medicine as it is a patient-centered approach, it views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs.
Functional Medicine practitioners identify factors responsible for any complication unique to the patient’s individual health condition through advanced laboratory testing.
To provide band-aid solutions for the symptoms through drugs or surgery can only be a temporary therapy. Instead, the fundamental imbalances in the body’s physiological processes such as nutritional deficiencies, toxins, hormone imbalances, inflammation, that cause the disease should be recognized and this is how this branch of medicine works.
Functional Medicine becomes most essential as it plays a key role in proactively predicting, preventing, and treating most chronic diseases.
Functional Medicine takes into account the unique genetic makeup of each individual or factors such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of today’s lifestyle that have a direct influence on the rise in chronic disease.
Chronic disease cannot be managed successfully until the root cause of the disease is identified and repaired. Also, biochemical mechanisms and environmental factors influence an individual’s disposition to chronic diseases. This information is used by functional medicine practitioners to formulate customized treatments to restore balance and get a cure by alleviating symptoms, preventing the progress of, or improving the management of chronic medical conditions.
It is also evident that lifestyle interventions and dietary changes can not only reverse the symptoms but also can proactively prevent illness. This is one of the approaches of Functional & Integrative medicine.
Functional Medicine uses a system-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic relationship.