Living a Happier, Healthier Life by Exploring Functional Medicine
Channel: Professional Supplement Center
Date: 2015-07-02

Have you ever wondered about Functional Medicine and how it differs from mainstream medicine? Learn about it in this short video with Professional Supplement Center's nurse.

You can also learn more here: http://blog.professionalsupplementcenter.com/is-functional-medicine-a-solution-for-chronic-disease/

Transcript:
Think of functional medicine as the ultimate, personalized, one-to-one, science-based, health focused, (not disease focused), relationship with a patient centric partnership with a doctor.  

Functional medicine digs deeply to explore and recognize the underlying causes of illness or disease.  A functional medicine practitioner works to optimize or enhance health and put you on a path to wellness, generally avoiding the use of prescription drugs.  

How is functional medicine different from mainstream medicine?  
Mainstream medical practitioners generally rely on the use of medications to eliminate symptoms of illness or disease.  Once the medications are stopped, symptoms return.  Functional medicine takes a different approach.  Instead of masking the problem by simply treating the symptoms, functional medicine aims to restore the body's natural functioning.  Although functional medicine practitioners may initially rely on pharmaceuticals, the goal is to gently nudge a patient's physiology in a positive direction so that pharmaceuticals are no longer needed.  

For example:  Conventional practitioners may prescribe Prilosec, Prevacid or Aciphex to treat acid reflux or heartburn.  However, when the patient stops taking the medication, the symptoms return.  Functional medical practitioners may find that the reflux is caused by a bacteria called H. pylori and then choose to eradicate the cause.  They may use powerful phytonutrients to support the immune system or they may use a combination of compounds to support the gastrointestinal terrain.  They may look at factors such as toxins, parasites or a person's stress level to establish an underlying cause of the reflux or heartburn.  

They may also delve further into the underlying causes by looking for:
• Hormonal imbalances
• Inflammatory imbalances
• Digestive or nutrient absorption imbalances
• Toxic chemical exposures
• Detoxification issues
• Toxic emotions such as anger, fear and resentment

To battle chronic health issues, functional medicine practitioners will:
1. Look at what the body is lacking in order to nudge it physiologically back to a state of optimal functioning.
2. Remove anything that impedes the body from moving towards this optimal state of physiological balance.  

With the rising cost of health care related to treating chronic illness, what mode of medicine will you choose?  
Will you choose the conventional "disease mode" that results in 4 billion pharmaceutical prescriptions written annually, many of which have multiple side effects?  
Or will you choose functional medicine that allows us to navigate a path to good health?