Functional medicine involves testing for the root causes of disease and designing a treatment plan to address the root cause of the disorder, not just the symptoms. Functional medicine doctors view and trea the body as a whole system.
The use of the word "functional" is key to understanding the functional and integrative medical approach. Functional lab tests help determine how the body or organ is really working, or functioning, as opposed to other medical tests which measure pathological breakdown and disease.
A sub-optimal functional test may indicate a need for correction even though traditional testing may show everything is within the normal range. This is a subtle but important difference as many sub-optimal health conditions will cause symptoms that get us to the doctor, but then no reason can be found for what is causing our health problem.
Functional medicine searches for the underlying imbalance, or root cause, which can contribute to illness or chronic disease. If you have an imbalance, it can affect your body in many ways. Functional changes occur long before disease is manifested, so functional testing becomes an early warning test for disease which is ideal for prevention-oriented physicians and patients concerned about finding the root cause of their problem.
Functional medicine, now also known as Precision Medicine, relies on laboratory diagnostic testing to determine the unique nutritional, toxicological, metabolic, immune, allergic, hormonal, neurotransmitter, infectious and genetic status of each patient, which allows the physician to select appropriate therapies for the individual. The functional medical physicians use many tests to determine how the body or organ is currently functioning, or working, as compared with normal, healthy functioning, and are skilled in the interpretation of these tests.
Our model of Functional Medicine involves special lab diagnostic testing, called Functional Testing. These lab tests are often covered by insurance and help to identify and correct imbalances in the brain and body chemistry. Imbalances such as these may be early symptoms of disease or barriers to good health. Additional factors such as genetic make-up through genetic testing helps to provide accurate, individual information that will change the future of healthcare to personalized medicine.
Functional Medicine Specialty Lab Testing and Genetic Testing may uncover factors which contribute to illness such as:
Expert Interpretation of Lab Results
Our physicians have years of experience in interpreting these complex tests. Based on findings, a customized treatment plan is created for each patient to correct their imbalances and restore fundamental health.
Consider Functional Medicine as a Science-based Evaluation for the Following Conditions:
Functional Medicine Treatment to Address the Underlying Causes
Finding and correcting the root molecular cause of your illness or imbalance can only improve your outcome.
As an example, we offer amino acid precursor therapies which may help restore the imbalanced neurotransmitters that may have caused or exacerbated conditions such as ADHD, or Addiction to alcohol or substances in the first place. Functional laboratory testing may determine what your specific nutritional and metabolic imbalances and toxicities are, so that your unique "body" or physical causes can be pinpointed and corrected. These amino acid and nutritional therapies can be delivered through nutritional supplements, intravenously and transdermally (through the skin).
Degenerative neurologic diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and early Dementia are often an expression of neurotoxicity. This can come from mercury, pesticides, mold, or other toxins. Clearing out the toxic load through a sound program of detoxification is always worthy of consideration.
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