Does Functional Medicine Only Offer Preventive Benefits?

Gone are the days when preventive care and alternative forms of medicine were a niche segment of medicine. In fact, The Cleveland Clinic, which is consistently ranked as one of the top three hospitals in the United States, has set up a functional medicine clinic that’s been so successful, it’s had to double its staff and size.

That’s because functional medicine shifts the focus to you the patient, with customized treatment plans that take into consideration all of your holistic health needs. This is done by carefully considering each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors.

With functional medicine, we’re not looking at each patient’s illness as though it’s a textbook case. But, rather, there’s an understanding that each person experiences illnesses and health problems differently.

Instead of looking at symptoms, we look at the root causes of your illness, so that we can treat them more effectively. Here are some of the practices of functional medicine that help us do this.

Not only does functional medicine prescribe running more tests, but it also provides a better scale for test results. With traditional medicine, there’s a range or reference of what’s considered normal. However, falling within a few numbers out of a range can mean that you’re still at risk for developing a disease. Functional medicine takes this into account, whereas traditional medicine doesn’t.

While traditional medicine has a tendency to throw medication at medical problems, functional medicine instead examines the root causes of a disease. It looks at the factors that lead to a disease that causes it in the first place, so that your health problems can be addressed at the root.

In mainstream medical care, you’re basically given the same treatment, usually medications, that is given to every other person who has the disease. Functional medicine, instead, understands that everyone’s body is different. Instead, treatment is customized to your biological, genetic, and lifestyle factors, to treat the person and not just the disease.

At WellCentric Health & Aesthetics, we take the time to really listen to how your health impacts you. We take a complete look at all the factors of your health that may be causing you illness. Thus, functional medicine, while it does place an emphasis on preventative care, is an effective method for treating illnesses. Call us to set up an appointment and start receiving more personalized care today.