What Is Functional Medicine?

There is a movement within allopathic medicine to adopt a holistic model within its paradigm. This has given rise to the success of functional medicine, practiced by a new generation of integrative physicians, at esteemed medical centers such as the Cleveland Clinic

Similar to traditional medicine modalities such as naturopathy and Chinese medicine, functional medicine seeks to address the root cause of illness. In turn, a thorough evaluation by an integrative physician includes a detailed case history, comprehensive lab testing, and extensive deliberation on how seemingly unrelated symptoms form a pattern. It is an exercise in interconnectedness.

CC0 Pixabay

This stands in stark contrast to the compartmentalization of allopathic medicine, where there is a specialist for every organ yet lack of an appreciation for the functional relationship between different but interconnected systems of the body. Synergy suffers as an endemic and emergent phenomenon of excessive organization.

Picture a home where items are grouped together into individual rooms. All chairs are in one room and every table in another; books are in one room and bookcases in a another. Everything is highly organized, but nothing is functional. This is the potential consequence of increasing specialization.

As a practitioner of traditional medicine, I stand in support of physicians who choose to opt out of corporate medicine and bravely wade into the waters of functional medicine. We stand, arms interlocked, under the umbrella of holistic medicine. The modalities are different, but the commitment to total wellness of the patient—to seek balance within relationships and harmony with nature—is our common ground.

Other Related Blogs

Image by DALL-E, OpenAI

The Power of Showing Up: Building Healthy Habits Step by Step

If you’re attempting to establish a new habit, like getting in shape, I recently heard some simple yet profound advice: don’t focus on the specifics of exercise; focus on being the person who shows up at the gym. This may sound odd at first, but there’s a subtle wisdom in that statement. New habits need…

Image by DALL-E, OpenAI

When Health Declines, Let Life Flourish

If you look beyond the fear of death and the uncertainty of an unknown future, you will find something even more concerning. At the core of a cancer diagnosis lies a deeper existential anxiety: the dread of not having lived up to one’s potential and purpose.

Image by DALL-E, OpenAI

Uncovering the Cancer-Trauma Connection (Part 2)

There are many explanations for and descriptions of the origin of cancer, but perhaps the most revealing, is that of a wound that isn’t healing. Implicit in that definition is the understanding that malignancy has a root cause that develops into a chronic imbalance.