Integrative and Functional Medicine


Post by Sharon 

*Although I am not a medical professional, I am very well informed after decades of typing medical reports and studying nutrition and lifestyle and health. I hope to give you an overview and resources to learn more.* 

Most patients who have felt their doctor is mechanically going through a sequence of not listening, rushing to get them out of the office, and fast to write prescriptions as a solution, know that there must be an easier way to get their body to have optimal conditions to heal. After all, if we can heal a cut, recover from the flu, we can certainly manage to have a great deal of influence on other systems. Integrative and functional medicine step in with answers - 


This biology-based approach focuses on addressing the CAUSE of disease. It searches for the series of causes that lead to the disease and how to treat those issues or prevent them to interrupt the disease formation. 

One of the most impressive individuals I've found on this subject is Dr. Mark Hyman. You can also find him on the Cleveland Clinic channel. 






This is a method of medicine that takes into consideration the entire person including their lifestyle. It allows for a relationship between practitioner and patient that realizes the bigger picture.

It is my hope that more health insurance plans sink the $ into these kinds of physicians for patients to help them take control of factors that they don't realize are affecting the disease process. In the long run, it can not only help the disease they are suffering from, but also keep them from developing a myriad of other disease processes. 

When I worked in the medical field, patients came in all the time who had the four H's - hypothyroidism, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. They seem to be the problems of our living which is sedentary, stressful, and involves fast food eating. Pretty straightforward, but many people don't realize the cumulative effect over time. 

As long as you still get up every morning and reenact another day, you figure you're okay. It's like a car, drive it and believe it will make it from A to B and don't get concerned until it breaks down.

Eating well and exercising, meditating and saying "no," are all free options, and yet many of us by our actions show we'd rather pay pharmaceuticals tons of money to keep us "functioning" (but not cured) for as long as possible.

Hopefully, our medical industry can start to incorporate more options for patients to learn to do something that used to be second nature - move the body, eat from the earth.





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