Conditions Treated
"Why Did This Symptom Start?"
"Why Is It Progressing?"
The beauty of functional medicine is that it applies to a wide range of conditions and diseases. It is safe, effective, and beneficial to those who want to achieve an improved state of health and those who are suffering from a chronic condition and taking multiple medications.
The clinical approach of functional medicine is to search for the root cause of the disease or condition. The clinician always asks, “Why did this symptom start?” and “Why is it progressing?”. Causes of any disease could be nutrient imbalances, hormonal imbalances, poor gut health, excess environmental toxins, poor sleep, poor stress response, poor diet and exercise, and poor stress management – to name a few. Two people may be diagnosed with the same disease, but the causes may differ completely. Therefore, each of their treatment plans would be different as well. Searching for the person’s individual root cause and creating a holistic treatment plan makes the functional medicine approach so effective for various chronic conditions.
Below is a basic list to give you some idea of the conditions routinely seen and how they are viewed within a systems biology-based model within functional medicine. This list is not exhaustive, and the summaries are brief. It is intended to provide an overview of some conditions treated by a Functional Medicine provider.
Health is a spectrum; you don’t need to be diagnosed with a disease to enlist the help of a physician. Often, someone may think they’re healthy and do not need a doctor because they have not been diagnosed with a disease. But this is an old way of thinking. Ideally, people should start seeing doctors because they wish to become more competent and live their best lives. People often find that they’re not feeling their best and are surprised by how good they can feel.
- Improved sleep
- Improved focus
- Improved ability to handle stress
- Increased physical performance
- Increased mental clarity
- Weight Loss
- Increased energy
Today, 1 in 12 suffer from an autoimmune disease in the United States. It represents one of the fastest-growing groups of chronic diseases in modern times. The immune system is closely linked to mental health, endocrine function, cardiovascular health, and growth and repair. Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks their own body. The body loses the ability to differentiate self from non-self. Some potential factors that have been shown to increase the body’s susceptibility to autoimmunity include dysbiosis, heavy metals, chronic infections, environmental toxins, mineral and vitamin deficiencies, and neuroendocrine disruptors, among others.
The approach to any autoimmune disease is individualized due to the multiple causes for immune system dysregulation. The overall goal is to identify and remove the factor that is causing the immune system to become upregulated. Oftentimes, there are multiple factors, which is why a systems biology-based approach is necessary.
- Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism
- Lupus
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Psoriasis
- Sjogren’s Syndrome
- Mast cell Activation
Hippocrates once said, “All disease begins in the gut.” We now see how true this statement is. Many foundational systems depend on good gut health to function well. For instance, 80% of an individual’s immune system is found in the GI tract, and up to 90% of serotonin is produced there. Therefore, we often see that poor gut health complicates and worsens other conditions, including mental health disorders, immune dysregulation, and hormone dysregulation. We absorb nutrients in our gut. If our gut is inflamed or not functioning properly, key minerals and vitamins will not be absorbed and utilized. We need these key cofactors for basic biochemical processes in our bodies.
For this reason, just about all Functional Health Institute patients undergo a thorough GI evaluation. The tests that are commonly used to workup and treat gut health may include a stool analysis, breath test, and organic acid profile. Due to the interactions of the GI tract with multiple other systems in the body, most functional evaluations and treatments are foundationally anchored with the health of the gut. If the gut is not functioning properly, it is more difficult to achieve wellness within other bodily systems.
- GERD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Food Allergies / Intolerances
- Yeast Overgrowth
- Eosinophilic Esophagitis
- Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth
Skin is the largest organ in the body. As physicians we look for clues in the skin when evaluating internal disease. So it’s no surprise that oftentimes treating the skin means uncovering and treating root causes of inflammation, imbalance and nutrient deficiencies.
Therefore, evaluating hydration, gut health, hormone health, and nutrition, as well as stress and
sleep habits are foundational to the treatment plan.
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Dermatitis
- Allergies
The key components of cardiovascular risk reduction include inflammation reduction and improving metabolic health. Key biomarkers are analyzed to stratify risk and assess for lipoprotein status as well as arterial wall inflammation (eg Lp(a)-P, hs CRP, Lp-PLA2, homocysteine and myeloperoxidase).
Treatment and risk reduction is centered around lifestyle changes to incorporate inflammation reducing eating plans, stress reduction, and resolution of root causes of inflammation. This may include evaluation of gut health, toxin exposure.