Are you familiar with functional medicine? If not, you’ve probably heard of integrative medicine or a holistic approach to human health. Functional medicine is a subset of integrative medicine.
How does this work?
Imagine an approach to health and wellness that’s based on each person’s unique characteristics, their generational history encoded in their genome, their lifestyle, and the challenges they face every day. An approach that takes into account the foods they eat, the area they live in, their past injuries, and other factors often overlooked by mainstream medicine. Imagine a doctor who listens attentively to you during your appointment, asking questions about your energy level, the quality of your sleep, how you manage stress, and your motivation. A functional physician will care about all your symptoms; they won’t refer you to another doctor because it’s not their area of expertise, nor will they simply give you a pill to relieve a symptom. They will seek to find the root cause of your problem and address it.
This is all about functional medicine — a holistic approach that is based on modern scientific advances in genetics and molecular biology and identifies the problem at the cellular and genomic level and recognizes that our health, active longevity and quality of life begins in the cell, and that our underlying biochemical and metabolic processes are individual and are determined by genetic differences and differences in lifestyle.
Determining these differences and possible disruptions in biochemical processes is impossible without a strictly individual and attentive approach to each individual, which, of course, is difficult to imagine in a public health setting.
The history of functional medicine
The origins of integrative and holistic medicine (1960s–1980s)
It’s interesting that before medicine shifted to medical centers and the development of pharmaceutical poisoning, doctors treated individuals and their families over many years using a holistic approach. Doctors knew the family’s history and lifestyle and used a comprehensive approach. There was no division into medical specialties, and doctors treated the individual, not the disease.
The development of modern medicine, in addition to obvious advances in diagnostics, pharmacology, and the emergence of highly complex surgeries and interventions, has also brought a number of problems. Specifically, a strictly standardized approach to patients, identical treatment protocols for everyone, and a primary focus on individual symptoms rather than the whole person. Doctors are strictly divided into specialties, and it’s unlikely that an ophthalmologist will ask you if you’ve noticed any memory problems. Add to this the limited time doctors have with each patient, long waiting lists, and the inevitable adverse effects of medications.
All these issues have prompted a number of physicians to use an integrative approach to treating patients. It views the patient as a whole system, not a combination of symptoms and organs, taking into account emotional state, cognitive abilities, and stress tolerance. This approach involves collaboration between the patient and physician, as well as a mindful approach to lifestyle and nutrition.
Functional medicine originates from the broader integrative and holistic medical movements that emerged in the mid-20th century.
Functional medicine as a distinct approach was first proposed in the early 1990s by Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a biochemist and nutritionist. Given the existing public health problems, Jeffrey Bland proposed a science-based, personalized approach to health that emphasized identifying and addressing the root causes of disease. Drawing on advances in molecular biology and genetics, he proposed an approach to health that focused primarily on maintaining health and well-being. In 1991, he and Susan Bland founded the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), which conducts educational and research activities. One of the main goals of functional medicine is active longevity, and Jeffrey Bland is an excellent example. At 80, he continues to direct the center, conduct educational activities, and travel.
Functional medicine today
Functional medicine continues to develop as a field, its principles increasingly being integrated into mainstream medical practice. Modern healthcare faces many challenges. Despite advances in diagnostics and high-tech surgeries, success in treating chronic diseases remains modest, and the prevalence of chronic diseases is increasing. In the United States, an estimated 40.1 million people (12.0% of the population) have diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes, according to recent CDC National Diabetes statistics. T2DM showed a twenty-fold increase in incidence from 1990–1994.
Looking ahead
With the increasing burden of chronic diseases, the number of medical errors, the deterioration of environmental conditions and the depletion of natural sources of vitamins and minerals from food, the role of functional medicine will increase.
Advances in genetics, microbiome research, and human molecular biology will allow personalized medicine to further validate the effectiveness of the functional medicine approach, which has a strong scientific basis, positioning it as a bridge between traditional medicine and new innovations in healthcare.
Given increasing life expectancy, it is important to take an approach that focuses on maintaining quality of life and active longevity, rather than long-term drug use with the inevitable development of adverse effects.
The basic principles of functional medicine
The concept of functional medicine is based on the following principles:
Patient-centered approach: a science-based approach that focuses on understanding the patient’s unique genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors.
Systems approach: considering the body as a single interconnected system, rather than as individual organs or a set of symptoms.
Focus on root causes: identifying and addressing the underlying causes of a disease, rather than relying on long-term, sometimes lifelong, medication to relieve symptoms.
Functional medicine views the functioning of our body at the cellular and genomic levels, which determines signal transmission and regulation of biochemical processes, as a coordinated, complex process dependent on many factors. The main clinical disorders resulting from dysfunctions of this complex, integrative system include:
Energy exchange (metabolism, cellular energetics): mitochondrial dysfunctions, energy deficiency, metabolic disorders.
DNA replication and repair: oncological processes, genetic syndromes with genome instability.
Maintenance of the structural integrity of the cell: damage to cellular structures, cytoskeletal abnormalities.
Detoxification and waste removal: liver and kidney dysfunction, intoxication, toxicosis.
Protection and immune defense: immunodeficiencies, autoimmune diseases, recurrent or severe infections, chronic inflammation.
Transport and circulation: cardiovascular diseases, vascular disorders, anemia, edema and microcirculation disorders.
Nervous system and mental health: autism, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease.
Issues that functional medicine addresses
Focusing on the entire body, functional medicine seeks to address and eliminate the underlying processes that cause many diseases. Taking into account the individual characteristics of each patient, examining the patient’s body as a whole, and relying on an integrative approach, functional medicine aims to help rebalance your biochemical pathways according to your genetics and help your body to heal, maintaining and preserving physical and psychological health.
The ultimate goal of functional medicine is to improve quality of life, well-being, cognitive abilities and stress resilience, prevent disease and promote active longevity.
