Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is a process used to evaluate and treat the body. The evaluation takes place with a consultation, physical assessment, and lab work. Laboratory testing is especially important and reveals the specific physiological (functioning) processes that are both normal and abnormal and not just the end point of pathology. An example of a normal physiological process: Kidney function lab values with the BUN, creatinine, and glomerular filtration rate are all within the normal range. An example of an abnormal physiological process: Liver function lab values with the AST and ALT enzymes are elevated outside of the normal range. An example of an end point pathology: Cancer. Sometimes other diagnostic tests like MRI and CT scans are recommended.
Lifestyle factors do contribute to a patient’s ill health and become known during the evaluation. Some of these contributing factors include stress, eating a poor diet, and taking prescription and non-prescription drugs. These factors can have a negative functioning impact on the body’s organ systems such as the heart and kidneys. In this example, there is a strong likelihood that the impaired heart and kidney function may be due to multiple nutrient imbalances and deficiencies.
Functional medicine works to restore the body to an ideal physiological state. The patient’s prognosis and length of time it takes to restore the body to an ideal physiological state will vary from person to person. Achieving the best possible outcome from the treatment requires a strong commitment and perseverance on the part of the patient.
The body naturally wants to be healthy. Health problems will cause compensations with the body’s physiology. The degree to which the body’s physiology compensates will determine the patient’s overall health status and quality of life. If the body is no longer able to compensate while dealing with its problems and quality of life is poor, then death is probably a foregone conclusion.
The hallmark of functional medicine is the periodic laboratory testing. The periodic laboratory testing reveals the degree of improvement that has taken place with the patient’s health problems. Changes will always be made to the nutritional supplementation program based on the laboratory findings. Most important is the patient feeling better while being treated by Dr. Nate.