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Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine is an integrative science-based approach to health care that is patient-centered, and that assesses and corrects the core clinical imbalances that underlie various disease conditions in order to restore each patient's functionality and health. Functional medicine is completely grounded in the scientific principles and information widely available in medicine today, using research from various disciplines to develop detailed and clinically relevant models of disease pathogenesis and effective clinical management.
The following is taken from www.functionalmedicine.org. Below you will find links to other sites with information about functional medicine.
Functional medicine is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in the following principles:
Biochemical individuality describes the importance of individual variations in metabolic function that derive from genetic and environmental differences among individuals.
Patient-centered medicine emphasizes "patient care" rather than "disease care," following Sir William Osler’s admonition that "It is more important to know what patient has the disease than to know what disease the patient has."
Dynamic balance of internal and external factors.
Web-like interconnections of physiological factors – 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 neurological syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease.
Health as a positive vitality not merely the absence of disease.
Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance health span.
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’s 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:
Hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances
Oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondropathy
Detoxification and biotransformational imbalances
Immune imbalances
Inflammatory imbalances
Digestive, absorptive, and microbiological imbalances
Structural imbalances from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system
Imbalances such as these are the precursors to the signs and symptoms by which we detect and label (diagnose) organ system disease. Improving balance – in the patient’s environmental inputs and in the body’s fundamental physiological processes – 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’s 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.
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’s 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’s environmental inputs and his or her physiological function. It is a clinician’s discipline, and it directly addresses the need to transform the practice of primary care.
Here is a list of websites for more information on functional medicine and laboratory testing to further your re-search:
Our Mission at Orthomolecular Nutrition and Wellness Center incorporates the science of healing that addresses the whole person - body, mind, and spirit. In practice this means that every person is seen as a unique individual, rather than an example of a particular disease. Disease is understood to be the result of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance. Healing therefore takes place naturally when these aspects of life are brought into proper balance. Our role to you as your practitioner is as guide, educator, mentor and role model, helping the patient not only with Functional Medicine practices, but also Naturopathic therapies to promote the individuals natural healing processes. All appropriate methods may be used from medication to meditation.
The future of health care will be changing. It may take time to get the big pharmaceutical giant to move over but we are chipping away at it.
The more we learn about the more natural approach the more we want to learn. Some of the cures out there promoted by conventional medicine can actually make you worse, or affect different parts of the body in a negative way. What good is it if it cures your specific ailment only to give you a different one? Believe it or not that is the dilemma we face today.
The natural approach can't help but grow as more people are interested in their health care and loosing faith in the traditional pharmaceutical run medicine. Natural methods are catching on. We here at the Orthomolecular Nutrition and Wellness Center are very much involved in every aspect of a natural course of healing that is good for the body as a whole.
There is an underlying cause for each of your symptoms but it takes time and effort on our part and yours to find out what that may be. Each and every patient is unique, and I believe it's worth the testing and interviewing and all the other tools used, to get to know that uniqueness that is you.
Functional and Comprehensive Analysis Tools
Functional Blood Analysis / blood work.....looking for biochemical health balance, nutritional levels, inflammatory markers, immune system strength
Hormonal Analysis / blood testing.....most accurate, evaluate hormonal levels to enable bio-identical natural hormone balancing
Bio-terrain Analysis / urine and saliva testing to determine energy production, mineral, pH, digestive imbalances, oxidative stress
Adrenal Stress Testing / information on the prevalence of adrenal problems and their relation to fatigue, energy, weight, and hormonal imbalance
Metabolic Assessment Questionnaire / Diet Assessment
Neurotransmitter Analysis/ Insomnia, Weight loss, Depression
Gastrointestinal Analysis / parasitic infection recognition, digestion analysis
Allergy Testing / IgG, IgE antibody testing
Yeast (Candida) Analysis /.information, yeast eradication protocol
Toxic Metal and Chemical Analysis / hair, urine, blood
Orthomolecular Nutrition and Wellness Center
9225 Ulmerton Rd. Suite 312
Largo, Fl.33771
727-518-9808
Fax: 727-587-0398