Functional Medicine is an approach to healthcare that focuses on underlying causes rather than control of symptoms.  This approach requires a very personalized evaluation of a patient’s status including past life history, lifestyle history, toxic exposures, medications past and present, etc., etc.

As a practitioner of conventional medicine for several decades, I am aware that modern healthcare has produced many amazing advances.  Many of the “modern medical miracles” have been in the realm of acute care – amazing surgical procedures, diagnostic procedures and some marvelous medications.

In today’s world, much of the medical burden is in the realm of chronic conditions  – in which modern medicine has been less successful with “cure”.  In too many circumstances, our best effort has been to prescribe something to minimize symptoms, to delay inevitable consequences, to feel better without correcting underlying cause.

The overall burden of chronic disease on society is staggering – and getting worse – diabetes, COPD, obesity, hypertension, vascular and cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, various addictions, and many others.

For example, hypertension is an easy diagnosis – determine persistent elevated blood pressure, rule out some known causes.  Then, in conventional therapy, prescribe antihypertensive medication, adjust and/or add meds, getting “control” within a few months.  

One of the important questions is “Why does this person have hypertension?”, and also “Is there something(s) that can be changed in this person’s life to reduce or, possibly, eliminate underlying causes?”  The evidenced-based Functional Medicine approach uses detailed history, physical exam, judicious lab testing to discover Antecedent, Triggering, and Modifying factors to develop a personalized plan – a cooperative plan between doctor and patient.  We treat the root causes of illness, not just symptoms, to help our patients reverse chronic diseases and reduce reliance on prescription drugs.