Functional medicine has been a long time coming! While conventional medicine certainly has a place, functional medicine is better suited for chronic conditions and getting to the root of the cause, not just masking it.
The National Institutes of Health defines conventional medicine as “A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery.” The key point is symptom treatment.
Functional medicine approaches healthcare more holistically by examining every factor involved including, symptoms, genes, environment, and lifestyle to treat the causes of disease, not just the symptoms.
According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, functional medicine was developed based on the understanding of “the importance of an individualized approach to disease causes based on the evolving research in nutritional science, genomics, and epigenetics.”
Acute Vs. Chronic
Examples of acute conditions include:
- Asthma attack
- Broken bone
- Bronchitis
- Burn
- Common cold
- Flu
- Pneumonia
- Respiratory infection
- Strep throat
Functional medicine, on the other hand, is better suited for chronic conditions that persist over a long period of time. The symptoms of chronic disease are sometimes less severe than those of the acute phase of the same disease. Examples of chronic disease include diabetes mellitus, emphysema, and arthritis.
Functional Medicine
Our goal is to share with you an in-depth look into functional medicine, why it’s our preferred treatment method, and how it helps, which is why we invite you to attend our next event, Why Functional Medicine?, on Sunday, September 15th at 1:00 pm AKDT at Mendenhall Valley Public Library.
During this experience, we will discuss the difference between conventional vs. functional medicine and which conditions we effectively support.
We can’t wait to share the future of healthcare with you!