In a nutshell, functional medicine is an approach to health promotion by strengthening weakened body systems using diet, dietary supplements and/or lifestyle changes. Instead of solely treating signs and symptoms, functional medicine attempts to identify the root causes of these symptoms. This is accomplished first by identifying weakened body systems and understanding the pathophysiology as well as the nutrient deficiencies, type of diet and lifestyle that resulted in these weakened body systems. Based on this knowledge, specific nutrients, diet and lifestyle recommendations can then be made to strengthen these weakened body systems. In line with this approach to health promotion, functional medicine results in a more personalized form of medicine instead of a one size fits all approach as often seen in western medicine.
To illustrate the personalization of functional medicine and identifying the root cause of chronic diseases, we can examine the functional medicine approach to asthma. Person A is an 18-year-old college male student who has been recently diagnosed with exercise -induced asthma. His diet is high in animal products and sodium and deficient in fruits and vegetables. Person B is also an 18-year old-college male student, but his asthma is worse due to stress and IBS-diarrhea. From a western medicine perspective, the cause of asthma is bronchoconstriction and the treatment of choice would be a bronchodilator. However, a functional medicine approach would yield a different assessment and treatment recommendations.
For person A, his diet suggests that it is high in omega 6 fatty acids, and sodium and low in antioxidants, all of which can impair proper lung function, and contribute to exercise -induced asthma. Consequently, a functional medicine recommendation for person A would be to increase his omega 3 fatty acid and antioxidant supplementation while decreasing consumption of sodium rich foods.
In contrast, for person B, stress is impacting the autonomic nervous system which may manifest in asthma and diarrhea. In addition, a person’s B diarrhea contributes to magnesium deficiency which can compound the asthma as magnesium has a natural bronchodilator effect. Consequently, a functional medicine recommendation for Person B would be to engage in mind-body exercises to strengthen the autonomic nervous system and take a magnesium supplement to address the possible magnesium deficiency.
In summary, by taking a holistic approach to identify the root cause of a chronic diseases, functional medicine results in a patient centered and health promoting form of health care.