Functional Medicine - Medicine of the Future

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." Thomas A. Edison

Why is Functional Medicine called the “Future of Medicine?”

Functional Medicine approach is designed to significantly improve health. While the specific disease a person may have is not ignored, the focus of therapy is to improve health through optimizing biological, biochemistry and psychological function.  

This is a highly individualized process. Two people with the same diagnosis may require different diagnostic tests and therapeutic interventions to promote health and well-being.  

When successful, many of the symptoms that are the primary concern of the individual will diminish in severity and the individual will begin to experience a renewed sense of well being and a significant increase in health and vitality. 

The goal of Functional Medicine is to optimize health by improving the balance of energetic, biomechanical (structural), biochemical and emotional / psychological function of the individual through changes in lifestyle, environment and nutrition. 

Health is not seen as merely the absence of disease, but rather as an expression of vitality and well being. An ever increasing number of healthcare professionals are becoming aware of the shortcomings and failures of allopathic medicine. 

Functional Medicine is slowly coming of age and is the true Medicine of the Future. 

Allopathic Medicine 

Over the past decades traditional western allopathic medicine has come up with extraordinary number of pharmaceutical drugs in order to fight an extraordinary number of diseases. It seemed in the past, and it still appears that way today, that if we only could come up with the right chemical compound we could eventually conquer and eliminate any disease under the sun. This quest for the "Silver Bullet" continues.  

Chronic Illness 

Somehow, we seem to have missed the mark. With the amount of medication consumed in the United States, one would assume that we are the healthiest people on the planet. However, we have more chronic diseases than ever. Even though our life span has been increased, our quality of life has not.  

Healthy aging eludes many of us

Diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders, allergies, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression abound. 

With the advent of antibiotics we were convinced that we finally had won our battle against the bacteria. Initially it seemed that way. Now we realize that by administering antibiotics freely and generously we have created "superbugs" that are antibiotic-resistant.  

Other unfortunate side effects of antibiotic therapy have emerged: immune system suppression and destruction of the normal, "friendly" bacterial flora in our intestines, which is essential for our well-being. 

As a consequence, we attempt to create ever more powerful and toxic drugs which are quite dangerous for human use.  

The Problem with Drugs

We are made to believe that 

Pain is due to Aspirin, Motrin or Vicodin deficiency  

High blood pressure due to a deficiency of blood pressure medication  

High cholesterol due to Lipitor deficiency  

Depression is due to Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc. deficiency  

Countless kids are on Ritalin and Prozac. Countless adults are on Prozac and all kinds of other anti-depressants. It is as if ADD is due to Ritalin deficiency in our diet, as if depression is due to Prozac deficiency in breakfast, lunch and dinner. If we just added some Ritalin and Prozac to our morning cereal, all our problems would eventually simply go away.  

On TV, pharmaceutical companies spend megabucks to promote NEW prescription drugs to the general public. Possible dangerous side effects are mentioned briefly at the end of the commercials.  

They are spoken so quickly that it is nearly impossible to understand anything. 

Names Don't Explain Anything

We have fancy names for symptoms: Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Auto Immune Disorders, Immune Suppression Disorders, Acid Reflux Syndrome, Colitis, Arthritis, Crohn's Disease, hypertension ...  

We are made to believe that giving a disease process a name explains everything. Many of these names only hide our ignorance as to the cause, and our helplessness.  

The word arthritis simply means inflammation of one or several joints. It does not address the question of why you have this inflammation. Taking anti-inflammatory medications only covers up the symptoms temporarily. Often it does that only partially or not at all. Side effects are the norm with prolonged use.

High blood pressure (hypertension) is another example of this.  

The name only describes the fact. Why do you have high blood pressure? What malfunction of the human body might be responsible to create that condition? We should ask that question, not simply cover up the symptom of hypertension with pharmaceutical medications.

Do you notice whenever you stop your medication your blood pressure goes up again.  

Medication is not a cure. Side effects are the norm with prolonged use. 

What about these potential side effects? Read the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference).  

Some of these side effects are truly frightening.  

Spend an hour in your local pharmacy or drugstore. Watch the line of human misery receive their prescription drugs. People look sick, are sick and hope that these pills will finally do the trick.  

Somewhere we know that they won't. 

Look at the weight loss carnival.

Americans are becoming more and more obese, increasingly so at a younger age. Countless drug and "health food" companies, and MLM's, want to make us believe that if we only took this pill or that dietary supplement our excess pounds would simply disappear, no lifestyle and dietary changes required!  

If these weight loss medications, pills, supplements actually worked, we would be amongst the  skinniest nation in the world. 

Except it does not really ever work that way.  

And, if it seems to work initially we find out later that the cost to our health may be high. 

There are No Magic Pills

Who we are is the sum total of out genetic strengths and weaknesses, our upbringing, our education, our environment, the quality of our food, the quality of our water, the quality of the air we breathe, the quality of our thoughts, our emotions, our relationships to one another, our capacity to give and receive love and affection, the amount of bad impressions we take in, the amount of ever increasing violence we are exposed to, the functioning of our nervous system, our organs and our organ systems...  

All this, and more, forms this interdependent web that makes for our existence. To look at one symptom such as hypertension and pretend that it can simply be remedied by some pharmaceutical intervention does not make sense. And of course, it does not work, in the true sense of the word. Hypertension is an expression of various internal and/or external stressors that cause a malfunction of the body as a whole. 

The only Question 

So the only relevant question to ask: What causes the symptom? What causes the body to malfunction? This is of course is the most difficult question to answer. 

Functional Medicine is concerned with the functioning of the entire human being in the context of his or her life. Genetics and lifestyle are part of the equation. Illness and disease are not seen as independent realities that are explainable by being given a name and treated as such. Illness is rather viewed as an expression of some underlying imbalance and breakdown of normal function.

Illness and Premature Aging - a Call for Change!

Biological aging is related to a noticeable decline in normal function.  

Function of the digestive system declines with age, so do many other glandular and hormonal functions.  

Aging can be accelerated by various life style choices: 

Heavy smokers seem to age faster. They have a higher risk of age-related diseases such as  

cancer and heart disease.  

People who consume excessive amounts of alcohol also seem to age faster. They have increased risk of liver and cardiovascular problems.  

Those who consume poor quality diets that are excessive in carbohydrates (calories) and low in protein and other essential nutrients tend to age faster. They tend to suffer from obesity, diabetes, digestive stress, heart problems and frequent illness in general. 

Drug addicts age faster. You see this in their complexion, their posture, the evidence of their mental decline. 

Lack of physical activity appears to accelerate aging 

Chronic stress accelerates aging 

Environmental toxins in air and water accelerate aging.  

The opposite is true, as well. We can slow our biological aging through changes in lifestyle, environment, and nutrition.  

It is estimated that more than 75 percent of our health and life expectancy after age 40 can be positively influenced by making the appropriate changes!