Functional Medicine : The evolutionary change in the practice of medicine

Functional medicine is a technologically advanced method aimed at identifying and addressing the root cause of the disease. This systems oriented approach engages both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic alliance. A functional medicine doctor in Denver upholds and supports the health and vitality of each individual by spending time with their patients, listening to their history and studying interactions among genetic, environmental and lifestyle, all of which contribute to long term health and complex chronic diseases.

Below are a few things to further help you understand what functional medicine is

• It offers a new model for assessment, treatment and prevention of chronic diseases as compared to the old 20th century ineffective model of acute care.

• Functional Medicine enables physicians and practitioners to practice predictive, personalized and proactive medicine leading to empowered patients and leading to them taking a more proactive role towards their health.

• Functional Medicine employs the latest in genetic science, systems biology and the understanding of how environmental and lifestyle factors influence the emergence and progression of a disease.

Functional Medicine helps empower patient and practitioner alike to collaborate and address the underlying cause of the disease and achieving the highest expression of health in the process.

The 6 core principles of Functional Medicine

• Extending and enhancing health

Focus on organ reserves and quality of life to not just extend the life span, but enhance the health span of the patient.

• Patient Centered Approach

Emphasising on evidence that upholds a patient centered treatment rather than a disease centered one.

• Dynamic Balance

Find, maintain and perfect the balance between mind, body and spirit.

• Interconnections

Close and intimate interconnection of internal physiological factors.

• Biochemical Individuality

A detailed understanding of biochemical individuality of each human being based on the concepts of genetics and environmental uniqueness.

• Positive Exuberance

Identification of health as a positive exuberance, not merely the absence of diseases and emphasizing those factors for a vigorous psychology. The power of a therapeutic alliance comes from the intention that patients who are active participants in their therapeutic plan feel the control they get in their overall well being and are more likely to make the necessary lifestyle changes that will help them to live a longer healthier life. Functional medicine is a very intricately detailed approach towards health and happiness. Hence it is key one gets to know the elements that make up this medical advancement. Let’s have a look at them

• Functional Medicine Matrix

1. Antecedents Triggers Mediators(ATM) of disease in question
2. Core clinical imbalances
3. Modifiable lifestyle factors

• Process of care

1. Timeline of dysfunction to ATM
2. GOTOIT System that helps describe the sequence and care
3. Therapeutic alliance

• Comprehensive tool kit

1. Questionnaires and surveys
2. Forms
3. Functional Nutrition tools

The GOTOIT System

It is a logical process of acquiring the patient’s entire history and ensuring the treatment goes according to the that history exactly. G - Gather information O - Organize information T - Relay the complete story back to the patient O - Order and prioritize I - Initiate treatment T - Track outcomes Functional medicine, often described as a clinical application of systems biology, is a different approach to health care that intricately conceptualizes health and illness as a part of a conglomerate in which all elements of the human body interact with the environment producing patterns and effects that change over a period of time. It magnifies the kind of systemic approach of personalised medicine that is a must to transform clinical practice. Functional medicine’s model of comprehensive care and prevention of complex and chronic illnesses is a combination of both science and art that makes it the perfect evolution of 20th century medicine and clinical practice. In conclusion, Functional Medicine is an evolutionary science aimed at not only extending human life but the quality of life as well by helping practitioners identify and alleviate physiological and chemical problems in the human body.