What is "FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE"?
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE is based on a large volume of basic scientific research published from established academic medical centers within recent years. It deals with the interconnectedness of the entire body, personalized primary prevention, and underlying biochemical, genetic and environmental causes for serious chronic disease, instead of just relieving symptoms while ignoring the underlying causes. It is patient-centered rather than disease-centered. It focuses on biochemical individuality, on the dynamic balance of internal and external factors with interactions among all body functions, and promoting organ reserve to enhance “health span”, not just lifespan.
In scientific medical terminology, the fundamental PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES include:
1) Biochemical communication both inside and outside the cell;
2) Bioenergetics (transformation of food into energy);
3) Replication, repair, and maintenance of structural integrity from the cellular to the whole body level;
4) Elimination of waste;
5) Biological protection and defense;
6) Transport and circulation.
Complex BIOLOGICAL MALFUNCTIONS arise from core clinical imbalances of these processes, resulting from each individual's unique combination of life history, environment, genes, and nutrition and other lifestyle factors. These imbalances may include various combinations of:
1) Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances;
2) Oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondropathy (impaired energy generation);
3) Detoxification and biotransformational imbalances;
4) Immune imbalances;
5) Inflammatory imbalances;
6) Digestive, absorptive, and microbial imbalances;
7) Structural imbalances (from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system).
Because of every individual's biochemical uniqueness, similar symptoms may have different causes in different people, and similar malfunctions may have different symptoms in different people. There is no "standard Cookbook" assessment or treatment for this, because every patient is unique and the entire body is involved.
Successful treatment requires time, persistence and close cooperation between doctor and patient to get it right.
I have had hundreds of hours of advanced scientific medical training and study on applying these principles over the last several years. I practice conservatively and do not engage in any unproven or unscientific medical practices or invasive procedures.
(More information may be obtained from THE INSTITUTE FOR FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE, http://www.functionalmedicine.org/.)
