Functional Medicine is a patient-centred, biology-based approach that focuses on treating the existing and/or emerging underlying dysfunctions to promote a patient’s optimal wellness for years to come. We do this by identifying and addressing the root cause of illness and disease within the individual that is influenced by genetic predispositions, environmental susceptibility, and lifestyle factors—with patients and practitioners working together.
There are many examples of where the functional medicine approach has led to outcomes where clients have reduced and eventually resolved an issue that they were told would need lifelong medication for. Take type 2 diabetes for example, many GP’s do not inform their patients that this is in fact reservable.
By working with the patient and treating the root causes for the reason dysfunction is occurring and modifying a person’s lifestyle to suit their situation, we can quickly observe trends heading back into the right direction—being able to start with an initial reduction in medication all while keeping note of how the patient is faring and monitoring bloods, with the aim of eventually resulting in a complete resolution of the issue itself.
See the example below, taken from a blood test conducted on an individual who had concerning blood glucose markers.
This patient reported having numerous symptoms that were of concern to them and after conducting a blood panel test, we were able to identify issues that needed immediate addressing.
Often enough this individual would be placed on medication to suppress the symptoms they were experiencing. The functional medicine approach is different, we treat the root cause of the problem involving implementing a number of lifestyle changes. Placing this individual on a personalised nutritional plan and focusing on cardiometabolic concerns among other things, within months we saw an improvement in their symptoms and the way they felt, with their quantity and quality of sleep improved significantly which increased energy levels enabling this individual to engage in physical activity that they hadn’t been able to do before.
This patient’s most recent blood panel tests are below which after months of work we see significant improvements.
Above you can see their markers are now within the ideal range and with pharmaceutical medication no longer required.
Please be aware that these kinds of results do not happen overnight. It takes time and hard work to reverse years of built-up damage and inflammation. But with ongoing commitment and motivation to make a change we can see how exceedingly effective the functional medicine approach can be.
Conventional medicine works for suppressing symptoms and can absolutely be lifesaving. However, it can take its toll mentally and physically. Relying on pharmaceutical medication for the rest of your life, suppressing symptoms of an ongoing issue with medication, only to then react from that medication, which then requires more medication to assist with, does not sound like a great long term health plan—let alone a cost effective one.
Functional medicine may at first seem expensive, however in the long run turns out to be the most cost-effective and rewarding option. Functional medicine is future focussed, driven towards prevention of illness and disease, creating a lifestyle plan to suit the individual and providing our patients with a set of skills that can be implemented for years to come.
I want to see my patients feeling and functioning the best they have ever felt with life changing, achievable and sustainable results with an improved outlook on their future.
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