What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is a departure from traditional medicine. Our society is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.
Medicine is oriented towards acute care. It’s great when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of a trauma or an illness of short duration, such as a broken leg or appendicitis, because doctors can apply specific treatments such as drugs or surgery that treat the problem almost immediately.
Unfortunately, this approach lacks the methodology and tools to prevent and treat complex disease. That’s where functional medicine comes in. Rather than focusing solely on treating diseases, functional medicine focuses on the whole person and aims to restore overall health. Most doctors are not adequately trained to apply strategies such as diet, exercise, stress transformation and other lifestyle factors to help their patients take control of their health, despite the benefits.
How is Functional Medicine Different?
Functional medicine takes an integrative, science-based approach to health care. This means practitioners look “upstream” to figure out what’s causing an illness, instead of just treating the symptoms in front of them. This includes external factors (such as physical health and environment) as well as internal factors (internal health and state of mind) that affect the way you function.
It combines the best parts of traditional and holistic practices to develop treatment plans that address the unique needs of each patient. This includes diagnostic tools such as laboratory testing, as well as things that might sometimes be considered “alternative,” like supplements, detoxification programs, stress-management techniques, and therapeutic use of diet and exercise.
Core Services
- Chronic disease management
- Comprehensive, annual physicals
- Custom wellness plans
- Flu shots
- Health Maintenance
- Laboratory services
- Men’s and women’s health
- Nutrition and fitness assessments
- Patient education
- Preventive and wellness care
- Specialist care coordination
- Travel medicine and vaccinations
- Urgent/acute care (same-day appointments)