Posted 08\/07\/2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Functional medicine is personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for serious chronic disease. It is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in the following principles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biochemical individuality<\/strong> describes the importance of individual variations in metabolic function that derive from genetic and environmental differences among individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patient-centered<\/strong> medicine emphasizes “patient care” rather than “disease care,” following Sir William Osler\u2019s admonition that “It is more important to know what patient has the disease than to know what disease the patient has.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dynamic balance<\/strong> of internal and external factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Web-like interconnections<\/strong> of physiological factors \u2013 an abundance of research now supports the view that the human body functions as an orchestrated network of interconnected systems, rather than individual systems functioning autonomously and without effect on each other. For example, we now know that immunological dysfunctions can promote cardiovascular disease, that dietary imbalances can cause hormonal disturbances, and that environmental exposures can precipitate neurologic syndromes such as Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Health as a positive vitality<\/strong> \u2013 not merely the absence of disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Promotion of organ reserve<\/strong> as the means to enhance health span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Functional medicine is anchored by an examination of the core clinical imbalances that underlie various disease conditions. Those imbalances arise as environmental inputs such as diet, nutrients (including air and water), exercise, and trauma are processed by one\u2019s body, mind, and spirit through a unique set of genetic predispositions, attitudes, and beliefs. The fundamental physiological processes include communication, both outside and inside the cell; bioenergetics, or the transformation of food into energy; replication, repair, and maintenance of structural integrity, from the cellular to the whole body level; elimination of waste; protection and defense; and transport and circulation. The core clinical imbalances that arise from malfunctions within this complex system include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondropathy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Detoxification and biotransformational imbalances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Immune imbalances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Inflammatory imbalances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Digestive, absorptive, and microbiological imbalances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Structural imbalances<\/strong> from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imbalances such as these are the precursors to the signs and symptoms by which we detect and label (diagnose) organ system disease. Improving balance \u2013 in the patient\u2019s environmental inputs and in the body\u2019s fundamental physiological processes \u2013 is the precursor to restoring health and it involves much more than treating the symptoms. Functional medicine is dedicated to improving the management of complex, chronic disease by intervening at multiple levels to address these core clinical imbalances and to restore each patient\u2019s functionality and health. Functional medicine is not a unique and separate body of knowledge. It is grounded in scientific principles and information widely available in medicine today, combining research from various disciplines into highly detailed yet clinically relevant models of disease pathogenesis and effective clinical management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Functional medicine emphasizes a definable and teachable process of integrating multiple knowledge bases within a pragmatic intellectual matrix that focuses on functionality at many levels, rather than a single treatment for a single diagnosis. Functional medicine uses the patient\u2019s story as a key tool for integrating diagnosis, signs and symptoms, and evidence of clinical imbalances into a comprehensive approach to improve both the patient\u2019s environmental inputs and his or her physiological function. It is a clinician\u2019s discipline, and it directly addresses the need to transform the practice of primary care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Institute of Functional Medicine-<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Be well, Functional medicine is personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for serious chronic disease. It is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in the following principles:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,45,2333,130,2331,3],"tags":[1059],"class_list":["post-1707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-f","category-functional-medicine","category-integrative-medicine","category-internal-medicine","category-knowledge-base","tag-functional-medicine"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"