Functional Medicine is ‘Root Cause’ Medicine:
Functional Medicine is not well known or well understood – even by doctors (perhaps especially by doctors!) Functional Medicine is grounded in the search for Root Causes, then re-balancing the body more naturally, and safer. It’s a fast-emerging field because patients are ready for solutions and healing, instead of band-aides and complications.
The SaferCures community is passionate about reaching people who may not know they have new options for diagnosing and treating most illnesses!
Basic Premise
Your body is designed to heal and recover from a wide variety of debilitating, chronic, or life-threatening illnesses – even late stage cancers and ‘incurable’ diseases – when you provide exactly what it needs to do its healing job.
Functional Medicine Root Causes
“FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE is the future of conventional medicine–available now. It seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease, and views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs divided up by medical specialties.”
Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D. on Functional Medicine
“Functional Medicine is the science of creating health. We treat the whole system, not just the symptoms. We focus on your whole organism, not just the organs.
It’s the medicine of ‘why?’
“We use a systems approach to identify and treat the underlying causes of disease. We treat patients with many different conditions. In fact, we treat people with a whole list of symptoms, which is why we call ourselves holistic doctors.
“Functional medicine is the future of medicine. And by shifting the conventional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, we’re rethinking disease, rethinking medicine, and helping people achieve vibrant health.”
How does Functional Medicine Differ from Conventional Medicine?
“In Functional Medicine we deal with some of the most difficult patients. And we do it with pleasure because we know we can help these people. Patients we couldn’t help before, suddenly become exciting to see, because we know we have a new roadmap and new way of thinking to fix their problem.”
Case Example: Little Girl with Psoriasis
Dr. Hyman tells the story of one little girl – and the power of Root Cause medicine:
“A little girl came in a while back who had psoriasis from head to toe. She was four years old.
“She’d had problems since she was six months old. She was treated with TNF alpha blockers, Imuran, steroids, multiple medications to suppress her immune system. In fact, she ended up in the ICU with MERSA needing a month of IV antibiotics just to prevent her from dying from the treatment that was supposed to treat her psoriasis.
“The patient was fed up, the parents were fed up, and she came to see me in my office. And we asked a very simple question, which is not “What drug should I give you to suppress your immune system?” but, “Why is your immune system so aggravated in the first place? What is the cause of the inflammation?”
Inflammation Triggers
“We know in Functional Medicine there are a few triggers for inflammation. It’s allergens, it’s microbes, its toxins, it could be poor diet, stress – very few things we have to think about.
“So we went through the list. We figured in her case it was most likely what she was eating. And we know through the literature that gluten can trigger psoriasis. We know that yeast and gut dysbiosis and leaky gut can trigger psoriasis. So we focused on those things.
“We got her off the foods that were likely to be a trigger: gluten and dairy, and a few other things. We gave her an anti-fungal to clear out the yeast from the months of antibiotics that she’d had. Then we gave her some simple nutrients like zinc and fish oil and vitamin D – to help repair her leaky gut and help her immune system function.
We can see miracles.
“And three weeks later her father called me up after I saw her, and said she was completely clear from head-to-toe – first time since she was six months old – and she was four years old. Simply by getting rid of the bad stuff and putting in the good stuff and letting the body heal.
“And so that’s the power of functional medicine, by treating the root cause.
Medicine by cause, not by symptom.
Source of Dr. Hyman’s video quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvgKeMYGA
Let Food Be Thy Medicine
“Many health related conditions and concerns stem from imbalances and nutritional deficiencies that need to be corrected in order for healing to occur. And therefore, along with diet, nutrients and supplements may be prescribed to accelerate the healing process.
“The main treatment we use is diet change, including adding foods that help reverse disease and eliminating foods that create disease and inflammation in the body. Laboratory testing often uncovers hidden food sensitivities that can be very complicated and hard to manage without the help of a nutritionist.”
Addressing the Root Cause
“Functional Medicine uses whatever treatment addresses the root causes of disease and helps to restore balance in health including medicine and surgery if needed – or alternative or integrative therapies.
“Testing is frequently done to assess nutritional status, including amino acids, fatty acids, oxidative stress, your vitamin levels, mitochondrial function, which is your energy system, your digestive function, food allergies, even heavy metals.” – Dr. Mark Hyman
Source of Dr. Hyman’s video quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z6PQukqqgA
Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?
The system of medicine practiced by most physicians is appropriate in acute care, the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that is of short duration and in need of urgent care, such as appendicitis or a broken leg. Physicians apply specific, prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery that aim to treat the immediate problem or symptom.
Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methodology and tools for preventing and treating complex, chronic disease. In most cases it does not take into account the unique genetic makeup of each individual or factors such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of today’s lifestyle that have a direct influence on the rise in chronic disease in modern Western society.
Huge Gap – Science and Medicine
There’s a huge gap between research and the way doctors practice. The gap between emerging research in basic sciences and integration into medical practice is enormous—as long as 50 years—particularly in the area of complex, chronic illness.
Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex, chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, diet, and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients.
Source: https://drhyman.com/about-functional-medicine/
How is Functional Medicine Different?
Functional medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease. Hallmarks of a functional medicine approach include:
- Patient-centered care
The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care, promoting health as a positive vitality, beyond just the absence of disease. By listening to the patient and learning his or her story, the practitioner brings the patient into the discovery process and tailors treatments that address the individual’s unique needs.
- An integrative, science-based healthcare approach
Functional medicine practitioners look “upstream” to consider the complex web of interactions in the patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. The unique genetic makeup of each patient is considered, along with both internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors that affect total functioning.
- Integrating best medical practices
Functional Medicine integrates conventional Western medical practices with “alternative” or “integrative” medicine. It focuses on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise. It uses the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques. Functional doctors prescribe combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques, among many other more natural treatments.
Source: https://drhyman.com/about-functional-medicine/
