Exploring Functional Medicine in Davis
After a three decade survey in numerous modalities of holistic medicine I am excited to be delving into my practice of what I believe to be the future of medicine: The Functional Medicine Model! This astoundingly comprehensive and unified healing approach has the signature strength of spanning most health professions and bringing practitioners together in coordinated care. What a revelation!
I'm eager to continue to disseminate information, explore various health topics and share updates on my new Functional Medicine practice in Davis, but I realized that in my fervor to do so, I have left out the fundamentals of what this medicine has to offer. So please read on if you or people you know are interested in unpacking exactly what is Functional Medicine and the rich philosophy behind it. I’ll be following up this article with a more literal look at what to expect in the nuts and bolts of treatment.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine Explores Root Cause
Functional medicine pushes past solely symptom-based treatment in order to inquire into the story of how disease occurred. This focus on “root cause” activates practitioner and patient, through exploring an in-depth health history, to lay out a timeline to investigate potential triggers and facilitators of illness.
Analyzing the continuum of function-dysfunction-disease in a personalized, patient-centered manor, is a core diagnostic method in Functional Medicine. The defining philosophy is that disease is usually preceded by a period of declining function.
There is growing evidence on the importance of identifying behaviors and environmental influences as the potential root cause of disease. These factors may include: Nutrition, physical fitness, sleep quality, stress level, personal relationships, environmental toxins, allergens and infections.
Functional Medicine Utilizes Systems Biology
The Functional Medicine model employs a systems-based approach. This is a way of understanding the bigger picture by putting all of the pieces together. In this understanding, all systems of the body interact dynamically with each other and with the environment. Dysfunction may manifest outside or “downstream” of where the imbalance originated. Functional Medicine aims to modulate upstream deficiencies and imbalances in order to mitigate downstream conditions and symptomatology.
Functional Medicine Combines State of the Art Technology with Holistic Treatment Methods
A cornerstone tool is the utilization of evidence-based medicine through advanced diagnostic laboratory testing. Targeted treatments are generated through this precise method exploring the six systems of Functional Medicine:
Assimilation: Digestion, Absorption, Microbiota, GI, Respiration
Defense and Repair: Immune, Inflammation, Infection, Microbiota
Energy: Energy Regulation, Mitochondrial Function
Biotransformation and Elimination: Detoxification
Transport: Cardiovascular and Lymphatic Circulation
Communication: Endocrine, Neurotransmitters, Immune Messengers
Structural Integrity: Musculoskeletal Integrity
Testing available is almost infinite but common tests include:
Stress and sex hormones
Organic acids analyzing nutrient cofactors and metabolites
Comprehensive GI function and microbiome
Treatment interventions embrace the rapidly expanding evidence base of the therapeutic benefits of lifestyle modifications. This motivates the involvement of both practitioner and patient to work together analyzing timeline and test results to create a sustainable protocol of changes to lifestyle. These may include adjustments to diet and nutrition, activity and exercise, stress management, sleep hygiene, personal relationships and the use of supplemental and botanical medicines. Often the behaviors and environments that led to dysfunction and disease are the ones that need to be addressed and modified.
Additionally, multiple modalities are incorporated into personalized, patient-centered treatments including: Acupuncture, manual therapy, and mind-body therapies.
Functional Medicine Seeks to Modulate Gene Expression
Many diseases are not genetically determined. Yet for the ones that are, it is the genetic expression rather than the inheritance that determines the emergence of disease. If expression is altered by behavior, we are given a method to control our health outcomes. Evaluating ourselves in the context of our lives gives us the power to do this.
Understanding the Patient in Context to Create Patient-Centered Protocols
This model seeks to delve deeper into the concept of “environment” in order to explore not only the impact of an unhealthy physical environment but other social determinants of health including trauma, prejudice and bias. This approach asks each practitioner to examine their own implicit bias and be willing to thoroughly explore a patient’s history. The therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient is foundational in the success of treatment and provides its own form of medicine, especially in the context of trauma and injustice.
The Future of Medicine
Functional medicine has been evolving for the last three decades and is gaining popularity at a time when we need it the most. Chronic disease has become a global pandemic and the conventional medical model alone lacks the breadth to address this new array of diseases and dysfunctions. My read into this elegant philosophy is that ultimately we possess our own medicine. With the right guidance, one is able to widen their aperture of corporeal/ psycho-social awareness and deepen knowledge in order to ultimately regain health.