Traditional medicine may not always be the answer. Medical doctors are trained to diagnose symptoms, and apply a remedy to those symptoms which usually involves some kind of drug therapy. This traditional process focuses on relieving the symptoms but not curing the cause. Treatment is often focused on the disease with the goal being the absence of the disease or symptom.

 

Functional Medicine, also known as Integrative Medicine, by contrast focuses on the root cause of the disease. It is patient-centered process, and takes into account everything that affects the patient’s health: lifestyle, diet, beliefs, enviroment, and family. The science and strength of functional medicine begins with a detailed history. The goal is to gather clues to get a better understanding of why the body has gone into a state of dis-ease. This process then can include blood, urine, salivia and stool laboratory panels designed to objectively measure the body's internal physiological pathways of tissue repair, immune function, energy production, detoxification, and metabolic signaling. This is a holistic approach towards achieving optimal health.

Today people want to seek health care that compliments their own lifestyle and values. Many people are turning to complimentary medicine because they feel listened to, cared for, and are treated as a whole person. Functional Diagnostic Medicine looks at how you are "doing" and "feeling." You won't be told It's all in your head. Functional Diagnostic Medicine is interested in you - your life, your well-being, what you eat, your work environment, your relationships and communication with others, how you relax and play, your hobbies, what medications you have taken, how well your digestive system functions, and what chemicals you've been exposed to.

Your total lifestyle helps create a picture by understanding who you really are and hearing about your life, significant clues and information can be found to really help you feel better. You can change the way you feel! Rather than naming a specific disease, Integrative Medicine looks to find the underlying causes. This functional approach takes you and your lifestyle into the practice of health care. It looks at you in the context of your life and choices. Your treatment program will reflect your needs.

Who can benefit from this approach?

Typical patients include people with:

• Digestive complaints
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Hormonal Imbalance (female and male)
• Chronic Pain
• Poor memory
• Auto-immune illness
• Metabolic Illness (diabetes, etc.)
• Arthritis
• Fbromyalgia
• Fatigue of unknown origin
• Inflammatory conditions