Functional Medicine
What Is Functional Medicine?
The Functional Medicine model is an individualized, integrative, patient-centered, systems and science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes. Functional medicine is the combination of both holistic and traditional medicine and emphasizes the importance of diet and lifestyle in helping you achieve your wellness goals.
By addressing root cause, rather than symptoms, practitioners and patients become oriented to identifying the complexity of disease. They may find one condition has many different causes and, likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions. As a result, Functional Medicine targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual. We make use of cutting edge, evaluation tools and laboratory testing to identify subtle dysfunctions or imbalances. While conventional medicine is focused on detecting overt symptoms and disease, functional medicine looks beyond the surface level to get to the root cause.
Personalized Health Plans
Health plans are customized according to individual patient needs, and patients are actively involved in the healing process.
Personalized nutritional therapy, herbal medicine, customized nutritional supplements, stress management techniques, assistance with detoxification, lifestyle modification and—only in isolated cases when necessary—prescription medications, are all used to help restore proper bodily function and balance. These processes are related to larger, systemic functions in your body, including:
- Hormone production and balancing
- Detoxification Pathways
- How cells interact with nutrients
- Neurotransmitter balance
- Immune system function
- Inflammatory responses
- How micro and macro environment impacts cellular function
- The role of genetic makeup, and how it impacts biochemistry
Elemental Functional Medicine Testing
One of the essential steps to battling “I-don’t-feel-good-itis” is to find the underlying reason behind the symptoms. More often than not, traditional medicine focuses on treating the symptoms in the hopes that by reducing the symptoms the source issue will fix itself. Sadly, this approach does not always work, and medication often causes its own side effects. We at Elemental Natural Health recognize the benefits and support the use of medication in many cases, especially as a stepping stone to helping the body get back to a stable foundation. However, we also believe that by looking deeper than the symptoms to the root cause itself we can help the reduce the symptoms, and allow the body to focus on healing.
We run tests to help our patients understand what is going on with their bodies. We believe that there is always a reason behind why someone’s body does not feel good. By running comprehensive tests we can help our patients more accurately understand what is going on within their body, so that they can make a more informed decision about their health.
Evaluations we utilize can include, but aren’t limited to: Comprehensive bloodwork, stool samples, and salivary and immunological testing.
For more information on our testing process, please click the button below.
How Does Functional Medicine Differ From Conventional Medicine?
Conventional medicine focuses on the symptoms of a disease and uses pharmaceutical drugs, surgery and/or other medical procedure to suppress symptoms.
Functional medicine, works to optimize your cells on the micro and macros levels so they function at their best and most efficient. The focus is on root cause(s) resolution, rather than strictly treating symptoms.
What Medical Conditions Can Benefit from Functional Medicine?
We’ve had great success in addressing and working with the following conditions :
- Aging
- Adrenal Fatigue
- Allergies
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Digestive Disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Infertility
- Menopause
- Testosterone Deficiency
- Weight Gain
Autoimmune Disease
Auto-immune diseases can have a profound effect on a person’s quality of life. These conditions are often highly complex, impacting multiple organ systems. We offer cutting edge, complimentary approaches for several autoimmune conditions.
Immune system disorders cause abnormally low activity or over activity of the immune system. In cases of immune system over activity, the body attacks and damages its own tissues.
Immune deficiency diseases decrease the body’s ability to fight invaders, causing vulnerability to infections.
Examples of autoimmune disease include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus)
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease)
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- Psoroasis
- Graves’ disease
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Vasculitis
There’s a misconception that some people are genetically predisposed to encounter certain conditions. Functional Medicine believes that your genes are by no means your destiny. The majority of autoimmune conditions can be managed with targeted diet and lifestyle therapies. It is sometimes necessary for pharmaceutical intervention, but we believe that must be coupled with diet and lifestyle adjustments for sufficient and effective results to occur. At Elemental Natural Medicine we are passionate about helping improve the quality of life for people suffering with autoimmune conditions.
Thyroid and Adrenal Function
Your adrenal glands have the very important job of secreting hormones (or chemical messengers) into your bloodstream. When functioning properly, these hormones travel to different parts of the body to supply energy and help maintain proper health. But sometimes the adrenal gland function can get thrown off course. When this happens, there is either an overproduction or an underproduction of the stress hormone cortisol. The latter often results in Adrenal Fatigue, a condition in which your adrenal system just can’t keep up the needs of your body.
Symptoms of low cortisol are wide ranging and can often include low energy, struggling to wake up in the morning, insomnia, headaches, salt and sugar cravings, anxiety, mood swings, weight gain, hair loss, and brain fog. Like the Adrenal Glands, the thyroid is also responsible for producing important hormones that play a large role in regulating your metabolic rate, controlling heart, muscle and digestive function, cognitive abilities and development, and bone strength. When the thyroid gland isn’t functioning well, you can experience many of the same symptoms as adrenal fatigue. And the problems can be compounding. If your adrenal glands aren’t producing enough cortisol and your thyroid isn’t functioning properly, you can experience a number of debilitating health challenges that can be difficult to remedy. It’s no exaggeration that when it comes to reaching many health and wellness goals, optimal thyroid and adrenal gland function is imperative.
To learn more or get your questions answered, contact us today!
Weight-Loss
First things first: food is the essence of health. Long gone are the days of calorie in, calorie out approach. To be healthy, it’s much more important to focus on the type of calories you’re eating, and the nutrient density of your food. Learning how to avoid things like pesticides can reduce the impact of chemicals on your hormonal systems, which in turn play a major role in promoting optimal health and weight management. At Elemental Natural Medicine our weight-loss plans are customized and created to your specific health goals. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, reboot a healthy lifestyle, clear brain fog, or reverse chronic disease, we can help improve your performance and most importantly, your quality of life. When you work with Dr. Lane and his team, you’ll get the support you need to be successful. We are proud to provide you with quality information and effective plans that can fit the particulars of your busy life, and help you reach your wellness goals.