By Daniel Clark
Discovering the term, you might be kind of wondering what functional medicine means and how does it differ from conventional medicine.
Functional medicine involves a whole new way of assessing, understanding, preventing and treating chronic disease. Integrating diverse science-based approaches to find as well as treat the underlying imbalances in the functioning of the body. Every patient has a different case when it comes to the treatment, hence has to be handled differently. Genetics, environment and the patient’s lifestyle, all blend to create dysfunction in the body. The healing process thus gets shaped as per the body’s systems function.
How is Functional Medicine different from Conventional Medicine?
Linking the body functions together and understanding the influence of both the environment and genetics, is the denotation of functional medicine. Contrary, compartmentalization into specialities is the base of conventional medicine.
Conventional treatment is focused mainly on the different organs of the body such as cardiology, endocrinology and neurology.
Recognizes the interconnectedness of the body
Breaking the artificial divisions apart, the functional medicine bases its views on health and disease on the reality that the body is an integrated, whole system. Research are still identifying and studying common problems such as inflammation, toxicity, oxidative stress or energy problems in mitochondria.
Though well-recognized by researchers and a few conventional physicians, it has not been included in the traditional model of medication. As a bridge connecting with the fundamental imbalances, functional medicine deals with chronic symptoms and other body diseases.
The conventional method treats to suppress the symptoms of the disease, such as blocking the inflammatory response of the body with anti-inflammatory drugs when arthritis gets triggered.
The working of the Functional Medicine
Functional medicine perceives the root cause of the disease by understanding the symptoms. Identifying and addressing the underlying triggers before treating is what makes functional medicine, a unique model.
The same diseases get dealt with differently based on the cause of it. Adding the missing materials to create health while getting off with the impediments to health is included in functional medicine.
Practising Functioning Medicine
Functional Medicine can be studied and performed by any of the licensed healthcare providers. They can be nurse practitioners, NDs, acupuncturists, chiropractors or nutritionists. To practice functional medicine, one needs to have a certification course post-graduation in the following fields:
? medical
? osteopathic
? chiropractic
? naturopathic
? homeopathic
? nursing
? dietetics
? acupuncture
? pharmacy
? physiotherapy
? nutritional therapy program
Conditions treated by Functional Medicine Practitioners
Functional Medicine in Chicago is useful to treat patients of all ages. Be it an already diagnosed disease or you still need to figure out, the practitioner will help you with both the cases. Depending on their training and focus, the functional medical practitioner treats the following conditions:
? Chronic symptoms such as fatigue, pain, headaches, sleep problems, weight issues, nasal congestion and allergies, poor memory and concentration, skin rashes, constipation, frequent colds
? Health issues of women like infertility, PMS, menopausal symptoms, endometriosis, PCOS, pelvic pain and fibroids
? Health issues of men such as low testosterone, prostate enlargement, and erectile dysfunction
? Depression and anxiety
? Disorders related to neurology such as autism, migraines, dementia and Parkinson’s
? Autoimmune dysfunctions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis
? High cholesterol, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and hypertension
? Metabolic diseases such as prediabetes, diabetes and metabolic syndrome
? Disorders related to hormones such as hypothyroidism and Grave’s disease
? Gastrointestinal disorders – GERD, IBS, Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis
Take home message
Taking the medication from the specialist of holistic medicine in Chicago, you can be sure of the treatment getting done in the right way. So, next time you suffer any of the said problems, do visit the specialists at Green Circle Wellness for the treatment.