What is Functional Medicine?
A simple example of Traditional Medicine vs. Functional Medicine:
Joe has been having some stomach issues lately. Seems every time he eats his stomach starts to grumble and it doesn’t take long before he is burping and experiencing acid reflux. After much nagging by Joan, Joe’s wife, he visits his primary care doctor. His doctor listens briefly to his symptoms – tells him to watch his red meat intake and prescribes a medication to help with his reflux. – Traditional medicine.
Bob has also been having some stomach issues lately. Same scenario. He has tried some over-the-counter meds but nothing seems to work. His wife, Brenda – nags him too. She has heard of a new doctor in town and urges Bob to call for an appointment. Bob does. In walks the doctor, and instead of standing in the corner of the room nodding, this doctor sits down, reviews Bob’s medical history, talks and listens to Bob’s concerns and symptoms, and explains the importance of getting to the root cause of Bob’s stomach issues. – Functional Medicine.
Functional Medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root cause of disease for each individual. Functional medicine is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying cause of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.
By addressing root causes, rather than symptoms, practitioners direct each patient to become aware of the complexity of the particular disease state. There may be one condition with multiple causes or one cause may result in multiple disease states or conditions. As a result, functional medicine treatment targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual.
What this means for you as a patient is that careful attention will be paid not just to the bothersome symptoms that brought you into the practice but to an understanding of the root cause of those symptoms. At Synergee, the mission of our team is to revolutionize traditional wellness by integrating a medical approach with education, guidance, and inspiration to promote healthy lifestyle transformation. We accomplished this with a “food first” approach to lifestyle transformation. It doesn’t matter where you are in that process if you have been a lifelong seeker of health and wellness or if you are just getting started on your journey, we meet you where you are and help you develop an individualized plan of care that you can start implementing right away. The result is a proactive and preventative approach to health and wellness…. and many healthy, happy, and energetic patients!
