Functional Medicine

1. There is a large need of functional medicine in the society with the increasing number of complex chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental disorders, and auto immune disorders.
2. Most of the physicians practice and follow the conventional disease-specific approach which generally involves diagnosis or treatment of illness for instant gratification.
3. The conventional methods lack proper methodology or tools for preventing and treating complex chronic diseases. These methods are negligent towards the problems caused to an individual’s health by the polluted environmental exposure, lifestyle factors, etc.
4. There is lack of adequate training provided to physicians for assessing the root causes of chronic diseases as well as other strategies such as diet, nutrition and exercise.
5. In the area of complex, chronic diseases, it is essential to integrate the emerging research into the current medical practice which needs filing up a huge gap which exists between the two.

How is Functional Medicine Different from conventional methods?

Characteristics of functional medicine approach involve:

1. Patient specific care: Based on patient centred approach, this method promotes health with a positive vitality and not merely the absence of disease. With the physician discussing the medical history and lifestyle of the patients in detail, the treatment methods are tailored to effectively address the individual’s needs.
2. Integrated and research based method: These 21^st century research based evolution makes physicians look “upstream” to become cognizant of the possible interactions keeping in mind the patient’s lifestyle, genetic and environmental factors.
3. Fusion of best medical practice: Functional medicine brings together the conventional methods of treatment along with the modern medical practices, thus infusing together the application of prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; usage of the latest and advanced lab testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.

The Functional Medicine Approach to Assessment

The Bay Clinic of Chiropractic teaches practitioners how to assess the patient’s fundamental clinical imbalances through cautious history check, physical examination, and laboratory testing. The functional medicine practitioner will consider multiple factors, including the main ones such as:

• Environmental aspects – The air you breathe, the water you drink, the particulr diet you eat, the quality of the food available to you,your level of physical exercise, and toxic exposures or traumas you have experienced all affect your health.
• Mind- Body rudiments – Psychological, spiritual,and social factors all can have a reflective influence on your health.Observing and considering these areas helps the functional medicine practitioner see your health in the context of you as a whole person, not just your physical symptoms.
• Genetic constitute – Although individual genes may make you more susceptible to some diseases, your DNA is not a static blueprint for your life.Emerging research shows that your genes may be influenced by everything in your environment, as well as your experiences,attitutes and beliefs. That means it is possible to change the way  genes are activated and expressed.

Thorough assessment of the root causes and triggers of dysfunction enable the functional medicine practitioner to get apprised of how the key processes are affected. These body processes include some which occur at cellular level and comprise of how cells function, repair and maintain themselves. These processes are related to larger biological functions, such as: