Looking after your health should be more than labeling diseases and treating symptoms. It should be about looking at the whole picture and how it is all connected – mind, body and environment. This is a core tenet of functional and holistic medicine.
Your body was designed to be self-repairing, self-regenerating system – if it is given the right environment. When we are overloaded with toxins, poor diet, high stress levels and lack of exercise, the body starts to show signs and symptoms.
Symptoms are the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong, whether it is a digestive issues, weight gain, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, allergies, heart disease or cancer.
Very often we find that many of these symptoms stem from the same root issue.
Functional medicine views all of this in a holistic, unified way. Instead of running tests to diagnose what you have, we run tests and evaluations to figure out why you have what you have.
Once we understand the root causes driving your health issues, we can use diet, lifestyle and other natural therapies to restore function to your body.
Functional medicine is a ‘patient-centered’ model rather than a ‘disease-centered’ model of health care. We focus on restoring health, wellness and vitality instead of treating disease.
This is built on the 4-P system of health:
Predictive: cutting-edge lab testing can often detect subtle imbalances long before the diagnosis of a disease. We can also use these tests to assess how well certain body systems are functioning; whether it be hormones, gut health or cellular metabolism
Preventative: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Focusing on diet, lifestyle, mental-emotional well-being and health optimization means that we work to stay healthy instead of treat disease and manage symptoms.
Personalized: We are all different. Your health regime should reflect this; with a focus on supporting your unique weak areas.
Participatory: you must be an active participant in your own health journey. A good practitioner will educate and empower others; working together to restore their health. The days of a pill for an ill are over. You, the patient, must be in the drivers seat along the road to better health
