Today, people are turning to complimentary medicine because they feel listened to, cared for and are treated as a whole person.

A Functional Medicine (FM) approach is uniquely holistic, rather than specialized.  It approaches the body as web-like rather than the compartmentalizing of the body in the traditional medicine approach.  Traditional specialists view you from their smaller focus. For instance, we have liver doctors, heart doctors, mind doctors, etc.  In FM all systems are known to be linked and patterns between organ systems are explored. 

Rather than naming a specific disease based on symptom indentification, Functional Medicine looks to find the underlying causes of the symptoms and addressing them at the cellular level. 

FM is also for people who are interested in true preventive health care.  In an FM approach the absense of disease is NOT health.  FM is concerned with finding out how you function -- on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. 

Optimal wellness is the ultimate goal.

In practice, functional medicine is a science-based field of health care that is patient centered as opposed to disease-oriented. A functional medicine approach looks to optimize the “function” of all the systems of the body, individually and in coordination, and it relies heavily on an understanding of:

• Nutritional status
• Environmental toxicity
• Biochemical individuality

It is possible that in the near future, we will understand most chronic illnesses as problems brought on by nutritional deficiencies.

All of the body’s cells stay healthier if they are provided with adequate nutrition and have their metabolic wastes removed. Even the failure of elimination of metabolic wastes can be understood as a nutritional deficiency. If the body’s excretory systems (the kidneys, skin, liver and gastrointestinal tract) have all the nutrition they need and no genetic disease, they will rid the body of toxins, both those the cells make and the ones that the body is exposed to from the environment within limits.

One of the most impressive advances in the treatment of chronic illness has come from the recent development of highly complex and comprehensive analyses of the nutritional state of the body. The immune, inflammatory, detoxification, antioxidant and energy production systems as well as the digestion/elimination, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, genitourinary and neuroendocrine systems can now be analyzed with respect to the adequacy of the nutrient precursors that make these systems work.

The pattern of abnormalities determines the system(s) that are not functioning well. These patterns and the severity of the deficiencies lead to recommendations by qualified pracitioners indicating the type and amount of nutritional supplementation needed to restore the system(s) and body as a whole to proper function.  (see Functional Intracellular Analysis (FIA) at http://www.mywellnessevolution.com/laboratory-testing.php for a lab test that identifies nutrient deficiencies in the cells)

Functional medicine is based on sound scientific principles, current medical research, and important discoveries in nutrition and orthomolecular medicine. This integrative approach is realized by our team of experienced practitioners who are dedicated to providing the very best care and attention to each patient and his/her unique health needs.

We believe that "ideal" medicine produces the maximum healing response with minimum physical interventions that can be harmful.  If you are experiencing undesirable side effects from conventional prescription medications or want a more natural approach to your health care in general, we can help.

For more information about a Functional Medicine approach to your wellness or any of our other services,   

please contact us by calling 440-995-0303 or Click here to schedule an appointment.