Functional Medicine

Getting to the root cause

Functional medicine doctors focus on finding the root cause of illnesses, instead of just treating the symptoms. They work holistically considering the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. It's a patient centered approach to medicine. They consider factors like diet, genetics, hormones, medications, supplements, lifestyle, detoxification, disease prevention, and lab testing. They are looking at the full history to identify the root cause, and they spend a lot of more time than the conventional Doctors.

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Functional Medicine Methods & Testing

Those trained in Functional Medicine will ask about timelines, sleep, nutrition, exercise, stressors, relationships, and emotional wellbeing, family history, lifestyle, environment, and gather a complete health history. They may suggest tweaking current medications, adding in supplements, and other therapies such as acupuncture, stress management, and exercise. A Health Coach can help you implement some of the suggested lifestyle changes. You might not even think you need Functional Medicine; however, it can help you uncover some hidden reasons for fatigue, PMS, painful periods, headaches, depression, disturbed sleep, and infertility. Functional medicine includes traditional western medicine with alternative medicines- integrative medicine.

To receive a complete picture of your health, your provider may order tests such as:

  • Hormone level testing

  • Insulin & glucose level testing

  • Thyroid panels

  • Iron panel

  • Adrenal function profiles

  • Stool tests

  • Genetic testing

  • Sleep studies

  • Autoimmune antibodies panel

  • Vitamin levels

  • Liver function tests

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What can Functional Medicine heal/cure?

Functional Medicine can uncover and treat a variety of conditions and diseases such as:

  • Adrenal disorders

  • Alzheimer’s disease and dementia

  • Arthritis

  • Asthma

  • Autoimmune diseases

  • Cancer prevention

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Diabetes

  • Digestive disorders

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Food Allergies

  • Women’s Health Disorders (PMS, Endometriosis, Menopause, PCOS)

  • Metabolic syndrome, prediabetes

  • Thyroid disorders

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Find a Trusted Functional Medicine Practitioner Here

You can work with a Functional Medicine Doctor, or a variety of other health care providers with Functional Medicine training such as Nurse Practitioners, Physician's Assistant, Acupuncturists, Dieticians, and Health Coaches.

Check out our Functional Medicine Practitioners and start your health journey to feeling better!