What is Functional Medicine?
I’m super excited to share with you our next series on “What is Functional Medicine?”. As many of you know, I started out serving the public as a chiropractic doctor, and through my own trials and health tribulations, have today expanded my practice to offer an all encompassing Functional Medicine approach of healing.
In no way am I saying that chiropractic care isn’t necessary for your overall health, but it’s one mode of many that helps us get better and stay healthy. Are you ready to learn? If so, let’s dive in!
So what is Functional Medicine, really? Over the next few weeks, I’ll explain in bite-sized bits, in layman’s terms, the basic principles of Functional Medicine and how you can take advantage of this knowledge and practices in your own lives.
We will explore the basics of shifting from the “what” the disease is that is contracted, to “why” certain symptoms are presenting themselves. And, how medicinal drugs as an adjunct treatment can be used, to the new science of “why” Alzheimers disease is so prolific and how to control such outcomes in your life.
One of the top questions I am asked daily is: “Why?” Why does my knee hurt? Why do I get these headaches? Why do I feel dizzy and nauseous? Why am I so tired all of the time? Why does my stomach hurt? Why can’t I remember things? Patients are often curious to find out “why” they are experiencing different symptoms in their body, and they want to know if Functional Medicine can really help. You may be surprised to find out that the root causes of all illness and disease can be summarized in a list less than ten items long. You may also be surprised to find out that the root causes of illness and disease are the same for every form of health care.
Now before I let you in on the secret of what those root causes are, I want to take a moment to talk about how different forms of medicine approach health care. If the causes of illness and disease are the same for every type of health care, then why are the treatments they employ so different? All medicine is based on a fundamental world view that shapes how the human body is perceived and this perception drives the decisions of how the body will be cared for. The philosophical world view behind most Western Medicine is rooted in mechanistic dualism (made popular by Rene Descartes) and Darwinian Evolution. What this means is that the body is viewed as a machine that is separate from the whole. Functional Medicine views the body like a garden or a forest where everything is interconnected. This one fundamental philosophical difference (the body and mind are connected and each part is connected to each other part VERSUS the body and mind are separate and each part of the body is separate) determine all the other choices one makes regarding health care. If the body is whole being, and it is formed perfectly with the intelligence to heal itself, then it makes sense to stimulate that innate healing ability and allow the brilliance of the body to bring itself back to a place of balance and wellness.
So, now comes the list that you have all been waiting for, do you know what the root causes of illness and disease are?
#1 External invasion by bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are stronger than your personal Immune System
#2 Trauma (injuries, accidents, repetitive motion, abuse (physical, sexual, mental/emotional)
#3 Emotions (thoughts and feelings that haven’t been processed tend to get “stuck” in the system and effect our decision processes)
#4 Constitution (genetics combined with family environment)
#5 Diet (type, quality, and quantity of food being eaten)
#6 Movement (type, quality and quantity of exercise)
#7 Toxicity (exposure to poisonous substances and/or poor elimination processes in the body that cause toxic build up)
#8 Mindset and Energetic Toxins (who we model and interact with on a daily basis, to electromagnetic radiation from power lines, computers, and cell phones).
From a Functional Medicine perspective these root or core causes of illness and disease cause imbalances in the vital health of the body. Chiropractic and Functional Medicine are two natural ways of bringing the body system and vital substances back into balance and thereby reducing and eliminating illness and disease. The two main therapeutic principles for healing and long term wellness revolve around nourishing the vital substances of the body and keeping them alive with a healthy lifestyle. When everything is well nourished and functioning well, we come to that place of wellness and bliss. If you’re hungry to know more, stay tuned over the next few weeks for further newsletters where we’ll dive into greater detail on how illness forms in the body and what we can do to get and stay well.
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS: Tracing a Problem to its Origins
In medicine, it’s easy to understand the difference between treating the symptoms and curing the condition. A broken wrist, for example, really hurts! But painkillers will only take away the symptoms (and possibly lead to other complications); you’ll need a different treatment to help your bones heal properly.
But what do you do when you have a problem that wasn’t created from an accident? Do you jump straight in and treat the symptoms, or do you stop to consider whether there’s actually a deeper problem that needs your attention? If you only fix the symptoms - what you see on the surface - the problem will almost certainly return, and need fixing over, and over again.
However, if you look deeper to figure out what's causing the problem, you can fix the underlying systems and processes so that it goes away for good.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a popular and often-used technique that helps practitioners answer the question of “why” the problem is occurring in the first place. It seeks to identify the origin of a problem using a specific set of steps to find the primary cause of the problem, so that you can:
Determine what is happening.
Determine why it is happening.
Figure out what to do to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) looks at all the causes. It involves investigating the patterns of negative effects, finding hidden flaws in the system, and discovering specific actions that contributed to the problem. This often means the RCA reveals more than one root cause.
THE ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS PROCESS used at FLHC
Here in our offices we use five identifiable steps in finding The Root Cause of every health challenge.
Step One: Define the Problem - what do we see happening and what are the specific symptoms?
Step Two: Collect Data - what proof do we have that the problem exists, how long has the problem existed, and what is the impact of the problem?
Step Three: Identify Possible Factors (deep dive) - what sequence of events leads to the problem, what conditions allow the problem to occur, and what other problems surround the occurrence of the central problem?
Step Four: Identify the Root Cause(s) - what biometric challenges is your body experiencing, how well are your organs working, and how well are your cells performing?
Step Five: Recommend and Implement Solutions - what can you do to prevent the problem from happening again, how will the solution be implemented, who will be responsible for it, and what are the risks of implementing the solution?
THE BOTTOM LINE
Over the next few weeks, we will explore the challenging questions of why cancers develop, how chronic diseases are caused, how allergies start, why our beliefs about bacteria and viruses are flawed, and how the mainstream medical profession way of treating disease is in desperate need of updating. The Functional Medicine approach to your health allows us to treat your overall health by not merely treating the symptoms, but solving the underlying problems!
If you have a health issue, think you may have an illness, or have someone in your family that is struggling with their health, please reach out to us! It’s important to work with a Functional Medicine healthcare doctor to create and start a treatment plan that will solve the problem, once and for all.
I hope today’s newsletter has given you a greater insight into what Functional Medicine is, and the (RCA) steps we use here in our office to get to the Root Cause of health issues. Your body truly depends on you to treat it with respect and love, and we look forward to helping you accomplish your health goals.
Helping you find your personal, natural health and wellness plan for a Long Healthy Life is my priority. IT IS possible to live in harmony with your in-born wealth of health. Your built-in power is not only reassuring, but also worth preserving for years to come.