Traditional Western medicine is usually focused on evaluating a patient’s symptoms and forming a diagnosis. The treatment plan usually involves a medication or procedure to treat that symptom. Functional medicine takes a look at the root cause and intervenes as far up the chain as possible. It emphasizes disease prevention and health optimization. It assumes a whole-body, individualized approach and longer-lasting treatments for chronic conditions and common ailments. Everything in the body is connected, and functional medicine embraces that.