What is Functional Medicine and how does it help you?
Functional medicine focus on the root cause of the manifestations of diseases. I found this type of medicine really shines with chronic illnesses, like symptoms have just not going anywhere after visiting more than a few specialists, taking multiple drugs, testings, physical therapies, shots, and even surgeries. Because the chances are, your doctors are missing the points or they might be able to find it if they have more time to go over your case in details but our current medical system is not made for it.
Our current medical model is great for the acute and urgent care treated by drugs and surgery. But look around you, how many people you know have “chronic health issues” like diabetes, autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome (most likely fat accumulation in the abdominal area), cancers and mental illnesses and more. Our healthcare system is trying to put people suffering from chronic illnesses into acute, urgent care “MODEL”. It is just NOT working. Patients are required to go to one specialist to another specialist but still have no answer, the medical bills accumulates, and insurance deductible get higher and higher every year. What a wasting time and money! Phycisians need more time with each patient, be able to diagnose the root cause of the complexed chronic illnesses, and possibly need more trainings like diet , nutritions, mind-body technique, lifestyle changes, meditation, and exercises but the truth is it is far from happening soon.
Do you have pets? I have a pure Golden Retriever called Maya. When I take her to her annual checkup, her vets (she had a few in the past) always ask what I have been feeding her. I had to take her to one of 24/7 urgent care the other day. The vet asked me the same question at the very beginning. Why don’t our doctor for humans never ask us what we have been eating? Too much sugar in the morning, drink too much coffee in the afternoon or eat too late at the night etc… It does not take a few minutes of their time. Have you ever thought about that?
Do you like gardening? If your flowers, vegetables or shrubs in the garden are not flourishing, do you give miracle grow to the stems and leaves changing the colors to brown? Of course not. You will suspect the amount of sunshine and water they are getting as well as check the soil condition. You are examining the “foundational elements”. For us, the foundational elements are diet, nutrition, lifestyle, sleep, stress level, exercise, genetics and health of mind”. These fundational elements are the one to be looked at first to find out the root cause of chronic issues we are facing. However, the current model are looking at signs and symptoms (branches and leaves) and giving the quick fix like drugs and surgeries.
I spend at least one hour for consultation with focusing on to ask you the right questions and trying to find the “triggered” event based on the time-line you talked about and the health questionnaire you filled out ahead of the time. We, functional medicine practitioners, are well trained for the very detailed intake and “how-to” pull out the critical health information from our conversation. There is no way this could be done in 30 minutes window. I usually go over the new patient’s case the next day to make sure I covered the important points. That’s why my patients get an email the next day. This is the functional medicine 101.
My clinic is unique in that I provide a whole mind and body approach to wellness. I have been trained from multiple Functional Medicine Training Program to learn how to treat each patients properly from the day 1 of our meeting. And I am still keep learning many interesting case studies. I am currently taking two functional medicine practitioner training programs. That’s why I can not work every single days. Some patients would like to have acupuncture treatment after the functional medicine consultation. My treatment is more than just inserting needles into the body, needles are inserted to the right places based on the thorough analysis of lifestyle (diet, stress, environmental factors) in order to develop a course of treatment that is best suited to a patient’s needs. I offer nutrition and vitamin supplement suggestions, as well as support via email whenever you seek my suggestions. I also provide additional analysis and support for various functional medicine based questionnaires (sometimes lab tests) to help address the root causes of various problems. It is all about finding and treating the root of causes by listening to you carefully and suggest you the proper testings if necessary in order to further investigate your health concerns and we will come up with the treatment plan.
Conventional vs Functional Medicine:
A patient is experiencing depression. With conventional medicine, the patient would be given anti-depressants to fix the ‘problem.’ With functional medicine, the depression is seen as a symptom, and we look at the systematic factors that could be causing the problem, such as possibly a gut issue or heavy metal toxicity, an adrenal or thyroid problem. A functional medicine approach would look at not only the symptoms but “backtracks” from the symptom to see what underlying factors may be causing the depression.)Integrative vs Functional Medicine:
Integrative medicine requires a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals leads by M.D. to address subtle energy & spiritual (mind-body) aspect of health conditions. Many hospitals started having a integrative medicine clinic includes Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, etc.
Functional Medicine can be perfomed solo focus on one-on-one with patient to evaluates lifestyle, genetic, nutritions, diet, environmental determinants to health and well-being. It is personalized medicine relies on system science often use functional medicine laboratory testings. Functional medicine is based on the premise that we look at four different areas: the underlying cause for a problem; how does that affect the body (what physiology is affected or damaged by that); what body system is affected (adrenals, thyroid, gut, brain, liver, detox pathways; and what are the symptoms. However, while conventional medicine tends to focus on fixing the symptoms, functional medicine looks at the symptoms as the “outgrowth” of the problem. Functional medicine addresses the symptoms but also works backward from them to get at the underlying causes of an issue.
When looking at any health issues you may have, functional medicine will analyze it from a big picture viewpoint. Whatever symptoms are presented, think:
- How does it relate to the different body systems (thyroid, brain, ovarian systems, etc.)? what is actually going on here?
- Why did that system get damaged? Inflammation? Emotional Stress? Food Reaction? What was the catalyst for the trigger?
- Is this patient has any SNPs (genetics) not able to methylate? What’s backing up liver or/and colon to get so toxic?
- What are these signs and symptoms – skin, nail, hair quality, eye sights, dental health, sleep qualtiy, the way to handle stress, craving and addictive behaviors – saying?
If you can see that whole picture, the symptoms on one side and the systems and why they are not functioning properly on the other, then you can start to develop a treatment plan (self-treatment, diet, mediation, lab-based treatments). Self-care and lifestyle changes are the most important factors in health, not relying solely on doctors to fix your health issue. You can certainly treat specific symptoms (who wouldn’t want to eliminate painful symptoms?), but you must find the reason why they exist. If you choose to only treat the symptoms, you’ll likely find the problem returning. Functional medicine works to find the root of the problem. You may ask “why doesn’t my regular doctor do the same way you analyze and the same tests you do at the clinic?” The answer is most of allopatic doctors do not have the experience or training for learning how to interpreting these special testings, or too busy to deal with patients come in every 15 min. or skeptical for alternative treatment even though the science is there.
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but
willinterest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
– Thomas Edison
“Functional medicine is the future of medicine seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease and views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs divided up by medical specialties. It treats the whole system, not just the symptoms.”
– Mark Hyman, M.D. Chairman of the Integrative Functional Medicine
“Functional medicine involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease. The hallmarks of a functional medicine approach include patient-centered care. The focus of functional medicine is on patient-centered care, promoting health as a positive vitality, beyond just the absence of disease. By listening to the patient and learning his or her story, the practitioner brings the patient into the discovery process and tailors treatments that address the individual’s unique needs. An integrative, science-based healthcare approach. Functional medicine practitioners look “upstream” to consider the complex web of interactions in the patient’s history, physiology, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. The unique genetic makeup of each patient is considered, along with both internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors that affect total functioning. Integrating the best medical practices. Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.”
-Jill Carnahan, M.D
“Patrick Flynn, DC, owner of the Wellness Way Clinic, has a unique illustration for current differences in health care, which he describes as the fireman-versus-carpenter approach. In his comparison, conventional medicine is the fire department – it is needed to “put out fires” that erupt in a person’s health. The fire department extinguishes fires using only an ax and a hose – these are the drugs and surgery used in conventional medicine. Although conventional medicine is an important part of healthcare, patients typically aren’t taught how to find and fix the “faulty circuitry” that started the fire in the first place. The carpenter approach, on the other hand, helps patients repair and rebuild the body – similar to how a carpenter rebuilds a home after a fire. Getting the body and all of its organ systems back to optimal functionality is the true definition of health, and it’s the basis of functional medicine. Functional medicine also looks at the interactions of nutrition, genetics, hormones, toxins, and infections.
– Your Longevity Blueprint wrote by Dr. Stephanie Gray N.P
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answer “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.
“We have bigger houses, but smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; We have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, but more problems; more medicines, but less healthiness; We’ve been all the way to the
moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We built more computers to hold more information. To produce more copies than ever, but have less communication. We have become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are times of fast food but slow digestion; Tall man but short character; Steep profits but shallow relationships. It is a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room.”
The beautiful quote from the Dalai Lama. This quote is cemented in my brain. This is exactly I what was trained to treat patients from my various post-graduate functional medicine training. Not to focus on individual symptoms, but to treat each patient as the whole person; to always look at the whole picture first. Look at the forest first before you see the trees. Taking medications for individual symptoms is like putting the band-aid on the wound. This approach might work for some people, but not for those patients to come with long lists of signs and symptoms of chronic issues.
Take a look at the case for Tinnitus started experiencing after the thyroidectomy. How many doctor visits, medications, and symptoms she ended up having after the consequences of nodules removal. I had a patient exactly like this women. She is so much better now but if she was able to see FM practitioner first, the outcome will be very different. I ask you to fill out a lot of questionnaires upon your first visit; my tool to figure out the root of your problem. I become a “medical detective,” so to speak. I can see the smoke (symptoms), but where is the fire (underlying cause)? How and when did it start? The wrong treatment is like pouring gasoline onto the fire. It will make more inflammation in the place already inflamed.
I am happy to help you to suggest supplements and tests that may benefit you, but I would rather treat you with recommendations of diet and lifestyle changes, and of course, acupuncture! ~ Tamie
JAMA‘s article about “Association of the Functional Medicine Model of Care with Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes” – It is uplifting outcome.
Acupuncture is a powerful tool. It was invented more than 2,000 years ago in China and the Japanese modified the style of acupuncture by using thinner needles, no manipulations, treating patients in a more gentle manner. Most of the people were treated for their pain due to physical labor. Now we live in the 21st century, many of my patients came with MRI, EKG report, many lab test results, and a box full of medications and supplements. My patients were already received multiple cortisone shots, taking medications for PPI, Synthroid (thyroid medication), high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, painkiller, medications for various autoimmune diseases. Oh, do not forget many vaccinations they got and amalgam fillings in the tooth! Things are not the same as 2,000 years ago when acupuncture was invented.
Functional medicine to treat the root causes of illnesses is not only helpful but essential for quick recovery. Think about the iceberg in Alaska. We are only able to see the top part of the iceberg (symptoms) but not underneath it. Most often our illness is like an iceberg but we totally ignore what’s under (possible hidden causes), which might be firing inflammation 24/7 to flare up symptoms you see and feel. We call chronic illness, chronic stress, etc… Autoimmune disease is a good example of that.
Blood Test – I will explain your blood test either run by your physician, specialists or ordered by myself. Even simple CBC, Metabolic CMP with Lipid Panel tell a lot of imbalances in your body but most physicians or nurses either ignore it or just focus on what’s in “out of the reference range”. Most importantly, I can pinpoint which “markers” should be run based on my findings. You can go back to your physician to get tested or I can run for you (out of the pocket).
Special Lab Testing – I use the cutting-edge lab testings. These testing are far better than the testings covered by insurance. For example, the stool testing from Diagnostic Solutions Lab (GI-MAP), hormonal balancing test from Analytical Precision (DUTCH COMPLETE), organic acid test, etc… I am capable to interpret the test result and explain to you with the simple English. Please take a look at this page (Lab Testing) to see what I can offer.
Dietary & Nutrition Advice – What you put into your mouth every day is affecting you both physically and mentally. Please check this page for more information.
Vitamin and Supplemental Support – Do you know the most medical schools in the US and Canada offer only 6 hours or less of “non-medical class” includes nutrition, diet and exercise training during the entire medical school curriculum? Practitioners like a chiropractor, naturopathic doctor, some acupuncturists more than your medical doctor knows about. It is crazy but the truth. I am able to prescribe both Western and Chinese herbal supplements. The labels on vitamins and supplements can be confusing and difficult to understand. I encourage my patients to bring in any vitamins and supplements they have been taking, and I am more than happy to read the labels and explain them to you. The wrong vitamins and supplements (as well as shampoo and cosmetic goods) you use every single day can cause harm in the long run. I promote taking whole food-based supplements and offer a wide range in the clinic.
Exercise Advice: Proper exercise (movement and stretches) enhance your health tremendously, especially after the injury and surgeries. I can recommend good exercises to promote better health.
And much much more!