The healing and treatment approach to patients in hospitals are usually disease-oriented. The patient will be under the care of the disease-expert doctor and undergo a diagnostic test to identify the cause of the disease. The doctor will then prescribe tablets or syrup-based medicine for the patient afterward. Unlike this method, there is a healing process today known to be more patient-focused. This treatment approach is about the patient as an individual.
The doctor is more concerned about the healthy diet and lifestyle of the patient. Unlike the other approach, the symptoms are divided into several interrelated categories. The patient-focused healing approach is known as Integrative Functional Medicine. Some people today prefer consulting and entrust their health to functional doctors from a center for mind–body medicine.
Table of Contents
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine has a holistic approach to caring for the patient’s health. It shifts from the traditional prescribed drugs and is focused on healing with a mindful patient-centered approach to healthcare. It is both individualized for the needs of the patient and preventative to potential diseases that might occur to the patient.
Moreover, medicine has its foundation on a system-based practice. It is observed and recognized that the human body is composed of different functioning systems. Dysfunction of one area in the body may cause illness to another close body part. What influences the performance of the body system highly depends on the lifestyle and balanced diet of a person. For instance, the habit of drinking soft drinks may cause poor eyesight in the future.
In a center for mind-body medicine, they give importance to understanding the functions and connection of each body part. At the same time, they focus on improving the diet of a patient to become pro-health by eating more wholesome foods regularly. The change in eating habits will give the patient a promising result, such as good moods and energized feelings, that indicates a healthier body. Functional medicine incorporates genetics, exercise routine, and social lifestyle too in the process of healing.
How is the Process of Diagnostics in Functional Medicine?
Conventional doctors usually prescribe laboratory testing to the patient, depending on what symptoms he/she exhibits. On the other hand, a functional medicine doctor examines the patient’s overall wellness through the following: hormone levels, food sensitivities, genetic testing, gut bacteria, and metabolic testing. It will give the doctor an overview of the patient’s current health status.
After the overview of the holistic health status of the patient, the functional medicine doctor will then order laboratory testing needed accordingly. Aside from the physical body concerns, the functional medicine doctor will also include the social environment where the patient is living as it may influence their health condition, like the source of stress, for instance. The process might take longer than the conventional method of diagnosis; however, a functional medicine diagnosis can make more difference.
Conclusion
Health is not only about the absence of disease; it also refers to the overall wellness of a living individual. As more people become aware of the holistic approach of healing themselves, they are more interested and trusting in the science of functional medicine.
