What is functional medicine? Why is it important? Do you need it?
Functional Medicine is Cutting Edge Health Care
Functional Medicine is an evolutionary approach to healthcare. Which addresses the needs of modern life. Finally, we are shifting away from the traditional disease-centered focus in medicine. Instead, we are embracing the patient-centered approach to healthcare. Functional Medicine looks at the whole person. Instead of just a set of symptoms.
Functional Medicine doctors spend a lot of time with their patients. They listen to your complete health history and look at the links between your genes, the environment, and your lifestyle.
Why Do You Need Functional Medicine?
We are seeing a huge increase in the number of people who are suffering from chronic diseases. Such as diabetes, cancer, mental illness, autoimmune disorders, and high blood pressure.
Most doctors focus on acute care, including the diagnosis and treatment of trauma or illness that only needs short-term. Such as a broken leg or the flu.
Unfortunately, the acute-care approach to medicine lacks the proper methods and tools for preventing and treating truly complex and chronic diseases.
Most doctors are not properly trained to find the underlying causes of disease. Unfortunately, they don’t use nutrition, diet, and exercise to treat and prevent these illnesses.
How is Functional Medicine Different?
The focus of Functional Medicine is on patient-centered care. It promotes health as a positive vitality and not just the absence of disease.
Functional Medicine Doctors look “upstream”. They consider the complex web of interactions in your health history, biochemistry, and lifestyle that can lead to illness. Your unique genetics need to be taken into consideration. Along with both internal (mind, body, and spirit) and external (physical and social environment) factors. All of this affect how your body functions as a whole.
Functional Medicine brings together traditional Western medical along with “alternative” or “holistic” medicine. We can do this by focusing on prevention, the latest laboratory testing, and prescribed physician-grade treatments. Such as medicines, supplements, diets, detoxification programs, and stress-management techniques.
Why Is Functional Medicine So Important?
Above all, Functional Medicine looks at the whole person, not just a set of symptoms. Holistic doctors spend more time with their patients. Listening to their histories and looking at the links between environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors which influence health.
Functional Medicine Doctors promote wellness by focusing on the fundamental underlying factors that influence every patient’s unique experience of health and disease.
Looking At Underlying Factors
- Environmental Factors. The air you breathe, the water you drink, your diet, and the quality of the food. As well as your level of physical activity, toxic exposures, and traumas you have experienced all affect your health.
- Mind-Body Connections. Emotional, spiritual, and social factors all can have a profound influence on your health. This helps your Holistic Doctor see you and your health in the context of you as a whole person. Compared to other doctors who just look at your physical symptoms.
- Genetic Makeup. Although individual genes may make you more susceptible to some diseases, your DNA is not an unchanging blueprint for your life. New research shows that your genes may be influenced by everything in your environment. As well as your experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. That means it is possible to change the way genes are activated and expressed.
By understanding each of these factors that are unique to you, a Functional Medicine doctor is able to identify which processes are affected. Some problems occur at the cellular level and involve how cells function, repair, and maintain themselves. Other problems are related to how your body processes and uses nutrients. Some of these processes include:
- how your body removes toxins
- the regulation of hormones and neurotransmitters
- immune system function
- inflammatory responses
- digestion and absorption of nutrients
- the health of the digestive tract and elimination
- structural integrity
- emotional and spiritual balance
- how well do you produce energy
Any of these body functions can become out of balance or disrupted. This can cause or enhance symptoms and disease.
A Complete Approach to Health
The good news is that most imbalances can be restored to improve your health.
- Prevention is paramount! Almost every complex and chronic disease starts as a long-term problem that can be identified and effectively treated.
- Changing how the different systems function can have a major impact on your health. A Functional Medicine Doctor looks at a wide variety of possible interventions. This allows for a customized and individualized treatment plan. With not only short-term but also long-term goals to restore your health.
- Functional Medicine expands the clinician’s tool kit. Treatments may include combinations of medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, or detoxification programs. They may also include health coaching that focuses on lifestyle, exercise, or stress management. You become a partner to restore your health.
As a patient, you become an active partner with your Functional Medicine Doctor. This partnership allows you to be in charge of improving your own health. In addition to changing the outcome of disease now and in the future.
Ready to Meet With A Functional Medicine Doctor in the Chicago Area?
Functional Medicine works by looking at all the factors that make you… you! At Anchored In Health we believe that in order to truly help you live a healthy life we need to spend time looking at all the underlying factors that can affect your health. If you are ready to take control of your health follow these steps to meet with our functional medicine doctor in Orland Park, IL.
- Reach out or book an appointment at Anchored in Health.
- Start meeting with a functional medicine doctor.
- Regain control of your health and your life.
Services We Offer For Your Health In The Chicago Area
Our Orland Park, IL-based office provides several services to promote health and well-being. We also offer SHAPE ReClaimed to address weight gain, detoxification, chronic disease, give you an immune system boost, and more. Additionally, we provide acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic care. Learn more today!