What is Functional Medicine?

“Frustrated with impersonal, ineffective, symptom-centric medical approaches, a growing number of patients are searching for better solutions. And they are finding them in the field of Functional Medicine, a radical new model for how to practice medicine and treat chronic disease.”¹

THE INSTITUTE FOR FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE INVITES YOU TO DISCOVER A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT HEALTH CARE.

If you live with a chronic condition, you already know that our current system of medical care isn’t working very well. 

• Obesity and diabetes rates are at an all-time high, with no end in sight.
• Heart disease is still our country’s #1 killer after more than 50 years of modern medical treatments.
• Diseases related to excess weight, poor diet, and inactivity now account for more than 70% of health care spending.

The rising cost of care for these “lifestyle-related” diseases is quickly becoming unsustainable. Many families, no matter their incomes, find the health care costs related to living with chronic disease devastating.

WHY HASN’T MODERN MEDICINE ADDRESSED THESE PROBLEMS?

The current health care system is designed to treat urgent medical problems, also known as "acute” conditions. But chronic, lifestyle-related diseases can’t be treated successfully using that same approach. 

“Magic bullets” don’t work to treat chronic conditions. What does work is an individualized approach to patients—with an emphasis on the ways our environment and lifestyle choices interact with our genes.

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

Functional Medicine is an innovative approach to medical care. It uses the latest medical research to develop personalized care for each patient based on his or her unique environment, lifestyle, and genes. The result is a dynamic, effective way to address chronic disease. And it really works.

- See more at: https://www.functionalmedicine.org/Patients/WhatisFM/#sthash.vQmv55C5.dpuf