For those of you who are well versed in alternative medical treatments, it may feel like a full-time job keeping yourself informed about every “next big thing.” We know how disheartening it can be to be reading up on juice cleanses and miracle vitamins that will “change your life” but they have little to no research or scientific evidence to back up their proclamations.

Functional Medicine is NOT one of those fads. It’s a revolutionary way of thinking about your medical treatment that focuses on your unique genetic makeup and gives you a proactive role in your own health.

According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, Functional Medicine is a personalized, systems-oriented model that empowers patients and practitioners to achieve the highest expression of health by working in collaboration to address the underlying causes of disease.

A hundred years ago one of the major causes of death was infectious disease, and the discovery of penicillin and other “silver bullet” drugs changed the world. Since then, modern medicine has been conditioned itself to strive for immediate heroic results; diagnose, prescribe and repeat. Although acute medical care is hugely important and effective at treating infections, trauma and other emergencies, it falls short in the care and treatment of chronic diseases which plague over 125 million Americans.

Functional medicine acknowledges that we are all genetically different, complex beings and rather then focusing exclusively on the disease, it aims to address the root of the problem and treat the whole person. Functional Medicine practitioners take time to look at a patient’s history, genetics, lifestyle, and diet in order to engage in a partnership with them to address the underlying causes of disease. This personalized and powerful new approach is based in the scientific research of genetics and system biology, and is moving the medical profession away from asking “which drug matches up with this disease.” Instead Functional Medicine looks proactively into the future health of each unique individual.

How Functional Medicine Changes the Way We Practice Medicine via the Institute of Functional Medicine:

• Functional Medicine offers a powerful new operating system and clinical model for assessment, treatment, and prevention of chronic disease to replace the outdated and ineffective acute-care models carried forward from the 20th century.
• Functional Medicine incorporates the latest in genetic science, systems biology, and understanding of how environmental and lifestyle factors influence the emergence and progression of disease.
• Functional Medicine enables physicians and other health professionals to practice proactive, predictive, personalized medicine and empowers patients to take an active role in their own health.

Here at Integrative Health and Wellness in Granger, Indiana we believe firmly in the practice of Functional Medicine.