Functional Medicine practice is patient-centred, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together and address the underlying causes of the disease. It involves understanding patient’s genetic, biochemical, epigenetic, lifestyle factors and analyse that information to personalize treatment plan for improved outcomes. Unlike conventional medicine Functional Medicine involves addressing root cause and understanding the complexity of the disease rather than just treat the symptoms. It involves approaching patient’s health with holistic concept, realizing the fact that one condition can have many different causes and likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions.
What is Functional Medicine
Acute medical conditions (Acute meaning – sudden in onset) are mostly easy to diagnose and treat but some chronic medical conditions (chronic meaning – long lasting) are difficult to diagnose and treat appropriately. Emergence of chronic disease isn’t sudden, it is the result of long term unrecognised and uncorrected abnormalities like nutritional deficiencies, toxicity, infections and more. Root Cause Analysis helps detect the key areas of distress that resulted in the emergence of the disease.
Sometimes only the symptoms of the chronic medical conditions are treated but the root cause is not addresses thus perpetuating chronic condition without any cure. For example, pain from an acute injury or muscle cramp can be diagnosed and treated without difficulty but if an individual is suffering from pain long term, then the root cause of the pain is sometimes missed and pain goes on unless the root cause is diagnosed and treated. Functional medicine approach is to find the root cause recognizing that each patient’s health status is unique and is affected by genetic, environmental, and psychological factors. This approach is science-based using the fusion approach of traditional and conventional medicine. Since an individual’s wellbeing needs active involvement by the patient Functional medicine approach involves empowerment and collaboration of the physician with the patient to achieve their health goals.