Functional Medicine and Integrative Care
What Is Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine practitioners vow to address causes, not symptoms, while viewing the body is an interconnected system. Lifestyle medicine, corrective nutrition and naturopathy are subcategories of functional medicine — a discipline that values the marvel of human creation and is committed to:
- Placing your well-being above anything and everything else
- Understanding the needs of you, as a whole person
- Inspiring and empowering both patients and health coaches through education, innovation and collaboration
- Placing non-narcotic dietary and lifestyle factors as primary determinants of optimal health and well-being
- Integrating allopathic and natural medicine systems
What to expect
Sessions generally begin with an extensive questionnaire designed to understand the mental, emotional, and spiritual influences in the lives of each patient. In addition to your health history, here are some of the topics a naturopath may inquire about:
- Your stress / anxiety / insomnia issues
- Fatigue, irritability , brain fog, inability to focus
- Stomach problems, bloating, and other digestive irregularities
- High blood pressure and /or high cholesterol
- Vitamin / mineral deficiencies
- Joint pain / inflammation / fibromyalgia
- Skin / hail / nail health
- Weight gain / loss, and more
The symptoms of each patient are further juxtaposed against family history, environment, lifestyle, traumas, and emotional state. Tests are ordered as needed, and the patient may expect to walk away with a list of recommendations that include diet, meditation, exercise, herbs, acupuncture, massages, compresses, health psychology, phototherapy, biofeedback, and more.
Integrative physicians add symptom mitigating prescriptions — from blockers and inhibitors to agonists, analgesics, and vasodilators.
Takeaway
It is easy to see why functional medicine’s popularity continues to grow. People report benefits. Personalized effective care answers the question, “Why are you ill?” Non-narcotic options offer gentle relief and mitigate the risk of addiction. They address causes, not symptoms and the sustainability of this approach is attractive to forward looking thinkers. This is not to say that symptom addressing medicines don’t have their place. Functional medicine simply highlights a need and answers to the demand for integration.
Related: Tenets of True Healing and What to Expect From Working With a Naturopath
Legal Disclaimer:
The statements on these pages are not evaluated by the FDA and are for informational purposes only. Nothing on this page intends to treat, diagnose or prevent disease. Dr. Sodt is a nationally registered health educator with a doctorate in Natural Medicine; she is not an MD. Consult your physician before taking supplements or changing your diet.
