Photo credit to functionalhealthinstitute.com

A kind of alternate medicine, functional medicine includes many unproven and proven treatment techniques. Believers say that this type of method focuses on the primary cause of disease based on the interplay between the immune system, endocrine system and gastro-intestinal system as well as the environment. Treatments are catered to each individual. In other words, in this type of medicinal practice. One size does not fit all. Each patient has its own specific diagnosis and prescription according to their own particular personal symptoms.

Using The Newest Research

Unsuccessful patients of traditional medicine tend to find success in the alternative methods of functional medicine. The newest research was applied towards unsuccessful patients of traditional medicine with notable success. New methods were applied to look at the symptoms and to identify the root cause. Once the root cause has been singled out, treatment resulted in dramatic success. This led more and more people to become interested in the new approach.

How It All Began

The model of this type of medicine started from the perspective and insight of influential thought-leaders. The group placed importance on the personalized approach of curing disease based on the symptoms and the cumulative and newest research in epigenetics, genomics and nutritional science using low-risk intervention. The group used the newest approaches to address the root cause of disease. Their aim was to reverse the cause of diseases by modifying cellular and molecular systems.

How A Diagnosis Is Made

Various factors are thought to cause one illness. For instance, weight gain and water retention may be the cause of someone’s depression. Functional medicine practitioners look at every possible cause such as lifestyle choices, environmental causes and even a person’s genetic makeup. In this type of medicine, addressing the correct causes of the illness will result in the long-term cure. Traditional medicine which only aims to suppress the symptoms may not have the same long-lasting effects.

The Focus Is On The Root Cause

Unlike traditional medicine which focuses on treating the symptoms, functional medicine focuses on the root causes of diseases. This approach is based on biology and it is thought that every one of the symptoms contributes to a person’s illness.

The Medicine Of The Future

Centuries ago, Thomas Edison stated that future doctors will instruct patients to care for their bodies with diet and the prevention and causes of disease, and will give no medicine. He could not have been more accurate as the birth of functional medicine became formal. While traditional medicine treats only symptoms, functional medicine is more holistic and looks at your entire lifestyle, your genes and what you are feeling. Functional medicine may be able to find the real cause of your symptoms.

Quality Time

You get one-on-one care from your functional medicine practitioner. Gone is the time in which you have to wait for hours for a doctor you made an appointment with last year. With so much attention your practitioner puts on finding the real, underlying truth of your symptoms, you are guaranteed a thorough assessment of your entire lifestyle.

Lab Results Are Interpreted Differently

Traditional medicine only indicates if you have a “high” or a “low” result from the normal range. Functional medicine looks at your lab results more extensively. For one thing, lab results that are low or high are interpreted as whether or not you currently have a certain disease or whether you are trending towards the disease. Rather than just looking at the lab results on a single page, functional medicine checks for the presence of any sort of imbalance, deficiency, dysfunction and infection. You get amazing insights just from a single lab result.

Who Can Benefit From Functional Medicine?

Patients who have gone from one traditional doctor to another without any good results may benefit from functional medicine. If you have been receiving treatment for symptoms that are still apparent year after year, you may get great results from the holistic approach of functional medicine. Practitioners aim to find the real cause of what is bothering you and treat that, rather than just addressing the symptoms.

Functional medicine at Acupuncture Halls clinic in San Juan Capistrano gives you a thorough assessment of the root cause of all the symptoms you are currently experiencing. If you are located in San Clemente or Dana Point and looking for a reliable functional medicine practitioner, you can visit our clinic which is also near in those areas. No matter how long you have been going through the symptoms you are suffering from, you can be rest assured that we at the clinic gives you a complete and thorough assessment to arrive at a plan of treatment towards complete wellness.