What is Functional Medicine?
“40% of the top five leading causes of death in the U.S. are preventable.” - Center for Disease Control
After 15 years of working in Functional Medicine, I would describe it is an art focused on identifying and addressing the modifiable causes of disease and dysfunction in the human body. My goal is to help people increase the healthy years of their life, so they can spend their days doing the things they love.
You are not necessarily doomed by your genetics. Most disease is only partially influenced by genetics. In fact, 90% of our risk for disease is driven by environmental factors such as nutrition, stress, activity levels, sleep, inflammation, toxic exposure, and other lifestyle components. In my opinion, if you are not assessing and addressing these factors, you are not going feel your best and age the way you hope.
Your annual lab testing and physical are not enough if you want to take every action you can to avoid chronic disease and increase the healthy years of your life. Without proper testing, you can go years with a nutrient deficiency and have no symptoms. Unfortunately, once you do have symptoms, a lot of damage has already taken place. That is where Functional Medicine comes in. Functional Medicine attempts to identify things like vitamin deficiencies before you already have a health issue that you are aware of.
To get a full picture of your health I employ an array of testing to identify environmental factors that are influencing your health, physiologic function, and disease risk. These tests include preventative imaging, advanced lab bio-markers, and more. You will then receive a customized supplement and lifestyle plan to address the abnormal findings and improve your health. This plan will be complementary to other treatments and medications you are receiving.
Are all diseases preventable? Of course not. However, if you are interested in a healthy life and peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to reduce your risk for chronic disease, then functional medicine can help.