what is functIonal medicine

Functional Medicine views the body as one integrated system and treats the entire person.  Time is taken to understand the individual's story and life-long health history to  determine the underlaying mechanisms or imbalances leading to the symptoms/diagnosis/disease. Everyone is unique , therefore each treatment plan is personalized and targeted to specific concerns and what works best for each situation. There is a focus on optimizing of lifestyle factors; sleep/relaxation, movement, nutrition, stress and relationships.  The patient is an active participant in their care! 

​Main Principal of Functional Medicine 

• It works under the assumption that everyone is genetically and biochemically unique. It is a personalized treatment that targets the individual and not the disease and supports the normal healing mechanism of the body.
• It is a highly scientific process involving a complicated network of relationships that inspects the deep functioning of the body.
• This process treats the body as intelligent, self-regulating and something that expresses itself by providing a dynamic balance of all body systems.
• The implements the concept that the body has natural healing properties and an ability to fight back against all diseases.
• The concept of being healthy is not simply being well; this treatment views it as a state of excellent vitality. 

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To learn more about the functional medicine approach, visit The Institute for Functional Medicine website .