Functional MedicineWhat is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is the field of health care that employs assessment and early intervention to improve physiological, emotional/cognitive, and physical function. This health care approach focuses attention on biochemical individuality, metabolic balance, ecological context and unique personal experience in the dynamics of health. The following are some basic tenets of functional medicine:
1) Uniqueness of client
Unlike conventional medicine, functional medicine emphasizes the physiological uniqueness of each client. To paraphrase a famous literary quote, proponents of functional medicine believe that each client's physiological system marches to the beat of a different drummer. Thus, effective treatment should be custom-tailored specifically to meet each client's unique needs. Functional test support this fundamental principle by analyzing subtle differences in an individual's molecular biochemistry, hormonal secretion patterns, cellular environment, immune responses, etc, allowing for focused, precise, and individualized therapy.
2) Minor symptoms should not be ignored
Even slight imbalances in the body can set the stage for more serious diseases down the road. This often happens by virtue of a "ripple effect," whereby a "minor" imbalance sets into motion a cascade of biological triggers that eventually leads to sub-optimal health, chronic illness, and degenerative disease. For this reason, a "let's-wait-and-see-if-this-develops-into anything-serious" attitude is not an acceptable approach in functional medicine. Functional testing can reveal the most subtle imbalances within the body, allowing for timely intervention to prevent more profound health problems in the future.
3) Holistic Approach
The body is best examined and treated as an integrated whole, not simply an isolated set of parts. To develop an accurate and effective treatment plan, a clinician must consider ALL the possible long-reaching effects of various therapies/treatments on the entire body. Moreover, by assisting and augmenting the body's natural mechanisms of healing, the practitioner works with the dynamic process of homeostasis (balance), rather than against it. By promoting the maximum functioning of all of the body's most important functional parameters and guiding the client toward restoring inner balance and establishing optimal health. This powerful strategy offers a much more effective way of achieving long-range results than that afforded by temporary damage control.
What is a Functional Assessment?
Evaluating organ "function" versus organ "pathology" is one of the principles of functional medicine. Functional Medicine practictioners utilize testing that allow practitioners to understand a client's functional status.
These tests use samples of stool, urine, saliva, blood, and hair. Our results focus on how well the body is doing its job in six important areas: digestion (gastrointestinal), nutrition, detoxification/oxidative stress, immunology/allergy, production and regulation of hormones (endocrinology), and heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular).
Functional medicine test are designed to uncover the root causes of symptoms, allowing the practitioner to recommend intervention strategies that will solve the chronic problem. Many of our tests use special substances and protocols to "challenge" organs, giving the practitioner an opportunity to evaluate the function of an organ system while it is stressed, thereby providing information that often is missed using conventional laboratory testing. The unique combination of the individual results provides an integrated analysis that promotes a deeper, more fundamental understanding of many health conditions.
Dr. Hoover specialized in Functional Medicine at Essential2Health, Natural Health Center. If you are interested in getting to the root cause of health problems, give us a call and schedule your free consultation with Dr. Hoover.
Contact us today at 883-0115 and;
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