What Is Functional Medicine and How It Can Help You?
When you think of "medicine", what other words immediately come flooding your mind? Tests, drugs, prescriptions, diagnoses, scans, surgery, and other words that fall within that spectrum? If your answer is yes, it is no surprise. Why? It is no different for a large fraction of the world's populace either.
The word "medicine" as a whole has become synonymous with conventional “allopathic” medicine for many people throughout the world, so much so that its alternative offshoots do not arguably get as much spotlight. One of these is Functional Medicine.
The concept of Functional Medicine was created by Dr. Jeffrey Bland, who founded the Institute of Functional Medicine in the 1990s [1]. Since its inception, it has steadily established itself as a systems biology-based approach to medicine and with good reason. This article discusses, in detail, the concept of functional medicine and other related subjects. Read on to find out!
What is Functional Medicine, and How does it differ from Conventional Medicine?
Functional medicine is a branch of medical care that addresses and manages illnesses/diseases with a patient-centered approach to optimizing health rather than specifically treating a disease. To put it another way, functional medicine aims to evaluate and understand the patient, their history, and their lifestyles before developing a holistic treatment strategy that re-establishes an optimal internal environment which often then leads to the remission or cure of the patients symptoms and disease.
Conversely, conventional medicine is a system of medical care in which professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists (amongst others), address illnesses and diseases with drugs, modalities such as radiation, and surgeries. They do this based on a defined set of established diagnostic criteria.. It is otherwise known as Western Medicine or allopathic medicine and is incredibly useful in many situations.
The Difference Between Mainstream Medicine and Functional Medicine
How do these two differ? Firstly, conventional allopathic medicine thrives mainly on assessing signs, symptoms, and diagnoses to define treatment plans for patients and for the majority of the time is restricted to treating the most immediate complaint or result of underlying dysfunction. An example of this might be giving anti-inflammatories for suppressing an inflammatory pathway. Functional medicine, on the other hand, seeks to be more investigative. Beyond the apparent physical features of the patient, it looks into the social, psychological, and lifestyle-related factors that influence the patient's welfare and in this example would ask the question of “why is this patient inflamed?”
Functional medicine then looks at past and present key events that have occurred in a patient's life and how these have culminated in the ailment or the imbalance in the patient's body system. This allows a practitioner to define integrative, and preventative treatment plans for patients.
For example, Functional Medicine may look into eating habits, prevailing domestic and working conditions, relationship stresses, psychological states, and even genetic predispositions. It then investigates the relationship between them, comes to a conclusion, and defines an effective treatment plan. It is noteworthy that treatment plans are usually as natural as they come. There is often no need for pharmaceutics although medical doctors also practicing functional medicine may integrate pharmaceuticals and non MD’s may work closely with medical colleagues for pharmaceuticals where necessary.
Each treatment regimen is as unique as each patient and the culmination of the factors that cause their conditions. It, therefore, follows that functional medicine is characterized by personalized treatment plans.
Functional medicine employs a mix of conventional and specialized tests that investigate function in concerned patients. This is to the end that, as far as possible, they address underlying issues rather than dampen or block symptoms. It is noteworthy that part of the Functional Medicine treatment regimen is the use of supplements. Supplements are formulated for dysfunctions that may be difficult to address by lifestyle or dietary plans alone and are only used as an addition to a specifically tailored dietary interventions.
Who is a Functional Medicine Practitioner?
A functional medicine practitioner is a practitioner that practices Functional Medicine. A functional medicine practitioner will have often undergone training at the Institute of Functional Medicine - the institute credited as the origin of functional medicine. Some practitioners combine the principles of Functional Medicine with the practice of orthodox medicine.
Depending on the type of Functional Medicine practitioners specialize in, certifications vary. Some certifications practitioners are known by include:
D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine)
N.D (Doctor of Naturopathy)
N.P. (Nurse Practitioner)
D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic)
R.D (Registered Dietician), and
M.D. (Medical Doctor)
D.P.T (Doctor of Physical Therapy)/ Physiotherapists
Registered Nutritionist
What Kind of Health Issues Does Functional Medicine Work With?
Functional medicine finds the most use in treating and managing chronic disorders. This means that anyone managing a chronic condition is fit to embrace functional medicine for treatment. Some notable conditions in which Functional Medicine is applicable include:
Autoimmune diseases, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Diabetes.
Adrenal Disorder.
Cardiovascular Disease.
Digestive disorders.
Asthma.
Arthritis.
Cancer Prevention.
Thyroid abnormalities - such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Metabolic Syndrome.
Allergies - Environmental and Food-related.
Fibromyalgia.
These conditions often find their roots in one or two of the digestive, musculoskeletal, hormonal, mental, cardiovascular, immunological, or even integumentary (skin) systems.
In addition, Functional Medicine is relevant to those who would like to be proactive concerning their health. This would help them lower the risks of developing chronic conditions that may run in their families.
Does Functional Medicine Work?
Put simply, Functional Medicine does work. However, it does not have a 100% success rate - just like many other modalities. The effectiveness of Functional Medicine treatment is dependent on factors such as:
The comprehensiveness of patient information: Functional medicine is a patient-centered approach. Available patient information before treatment, therefore, significantly affects the results of the treatment. The more comprehensive the patient history is, the better-crafted treatment regimens are.
The willingness of the patient to change: The degree to which the patient is willing to adhere to treatment plans - basic or advanced - is another factor that influences treatment outcome.
Relationship between patient and practitioner: There must be the right fit between the practitioner and the client. In other words, both sides must have the right degree of trust and sense of responsibility.
The patients’ condition: How we define “work” is important. Though not all conditions are amenable to cure or full resolution, most patients find that their health, well-being and quality of life have great scope for improvement.
In conclusion, functional medicine's patient-centered approach seeks to answer the question "why", in addition to "what" and "how". This makes all the difference for many clients in their pursuit of good health and causes better patient outcomes [2]. It also lessens the strain from spiking treatment costs for chronic diseases.
Our Functional Medicine Practitioner, Josephine Ng has more than a decade's worth of experience in treating a wide array of chronic disorders, and the qualifications to go with it too! She is a registered Nutritional Therapist, a certified DNALife Practitioner, and a member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine. Her competence, combined with her top-notch work ethic, will surely give you a worthwhile session.
Do you need a session? Book one with us now, our staff our happy to explain the process to you and your options of appointment types.
References
Bland JS. The Natural Roots of Functional Medicine. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2018 Feb;17(1):12-17. PMID: 30962772; PMCID: PMC6380987.
Beidelschies M, Alejandro-Rodriguez M, Ji X, Lapin B, Hanaway P, Rothberg MB. Association of the Functional Medicine Model of Care With Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality-of-Life Outcomes. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Oct 2;2(10):e1914017. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14017. PMID: 31651966; PMCID: PMC6822085.