Functional medicine is the future of conventional medicine. But what is it really, and why are medical professionals around the world adopting this philosophy to treat chronic diseases?
Functional medicine tries to identify the root of the problem, the cause of the disease. The body is seen as an integrated system and not as a collection of independent organs divided into medical specialties. It treats the entire system and not just the symptoms. This is perhaps akin to a gardener who will try to treat the root of the tree to correct problems with the trunk or leaves. It's a holistic concept.
In contrast, conventional medicine looks for the symptoms and only deals with the disease at the symptom level. Functional medicine practitioners are not interested in your current diagnosis because it is merely a symptom of the imbalances in the body that need to be found and corrected.
It is a medical evolution better suited to the needs of the 21st century, with a system-oriented approach in which patient and doctor engage in a therapeutic partnership. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus to a patient-centered approach, Functional Medicine addresses the human being as a whole and not just an isolated set of symptoms. Doctors of functional medicine spend a lot of time with their patients, listening to their stories and evaluating information about genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that can affect their long-term health and complex chronic diseases.
What is behind functional medicine?
Functional medicine is characterized by the eternal question of "why" - the search for the root cause, i.e. the root of a disease or a symptom. Why does a person with their individual set of genes, their individual life and health history and their individual living environment become ill? What lifestyle factors lead to this disease? And most importantly, how are they related to each other? What influences the well-being or the chance of healing in a positive or negative way?
Functional medicine refrains from dividing the body into individual systems but rather sees it as a large unit and recognizes the interactions between the individual systems. Functional medicine always considers the human being as a whole - health or illness, which can be translated so nicely as disease , i.e. not feeling well, are the result of many different components. Not only genetics, but also factors such as nutrition, so-called "primary foods", namely psycho-emotional factors, exercise, toxicity, and much more play a decisive role in whether we feel well or unwell, are healthy or sick, energetic or lethargic, enthusiastic or stressed about our daily tasks. An essential aspect of functional medicine is the approach of epigenetics - our daily decisions influence the expression of our genes - we decide based on our everyday decisions and actions whether our genes are activated or not and thus have a direct influence on all relevant systems.
Functional medicine is safe, but, like many aspects of your care, it is important that you work with a trusted practitioner and make sure they are willing to answer any questions that you might have regarding any diagnosis, treatment, or remedies that are proposed.