What is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine is a patient-centered holistic approach that focuses on the symptoms and underlying root causes to restore a person's overall health. It looks at physical, mental, emotional, and sometimes even spiritual health. We look at every potential reason contributing to your overall health, such as diet, hormonal changes, genetics, prescription, over-the-counter medications, and other lifestyle routines considered in Functional Medicine. It is suggested that Functional Medicine may benefit people with chronic illnesses that aren't easily managed by conventional medical techniques.

Did You Know?

The foundations of Functional Medicine are identification and treatment of the root causes of chronic disease that are categorized into seven clinical imbalances in a body such as:

1. Assimilation: digestion, absorption, microbiota, respiration

2. Defense and repair: immune system, inflammation, infection, microbiota

3. Energy: energy regulation, mitochondrial function

4. Biotransformation and elimination: toxicity, detoxification

5. Transport: cardiovascular and lymphatic systems

6. Communication: hormones, neurotransmitters, immune messengers

7. Structural integrity: from subcellular membranes to musculoskeletal integrity.

What We Do?

A single imbalance may result in multiple disorders, whereas the combined effect of various imbalances could lead to a disease in your body. For instance, obesity can lead to hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease, whereas an unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, and genetic factors can lead to obesity. This is where Functional Medicine can help, and we look at the patient's complete health history and symptoms to identify the root cause of the problem. We usually spend a reasonable amount of time understanding and collecting all the necessary information about complete health. We want to know everything, such as your eating habits, sleeping patterns, exercise routines, stress factors, relationships, and emotional health. After that, perform physical examination and order lab tests. After thoroughly assessing the patient's overall health, we create a treatment plan based on our analysis, including prescriptions, supplements, or other therapies. We track progress and make any necessary changes to how the patient responds to the treatment. The changes may be ongoing as each individual responds to the treatment depending on their conditions.

Functional Medicine may help in the following conditions:

· Adrenal disorders

· Alzheimer's disease and dementia

· Arthritis

· Asthma

· Autoimmune diseases

· Cancer prevention

· Cardiovascular disease

· Diabetes

· Digestive disorders

· Fibromyalgia

· Environmental and food allergies

· Women's health disorders (PMS, menopause, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

· Metabolic syndrome, prediabetes, and insulin resistance

· Thyroid disorders

Remember, healing does not happen overnight, and it takes some time! Functional Medicine is a combination of therapeutic procedures and even medications. It is the most natural way to treat a person and often blends both worlds, thinking about your best interests to provide the best treatment. Don't forget that health is a state of immense vitality and not just the absence of a disease or an ailment!

To learn more about Functional Medicine, you may contact Body Love Cafe at 925.788.6300.