Are functional medicine practitioners doctors?

Functional medicine physicians have received traditional training in medical school. They can then choose to earn additional certification from an organization such as The Institute for Functional Medicine. Physicians then apply functional medicine teachings to their original field of practice. Functional medicine is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses a series of unproven and refuted methods and treatments.

Advocates say it focuses on the root causes of diseases based on interactions between the environment and the gastrointestinal, endocrine and immune systems to develop individualized treatment plans. It has been described as pseudoscience, quackery and, in essence, a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.

The functional medicine doctor

in New York performs advanced tests that give us much more information about your body than traditional tests. Advocates of functional medicine oppose established medical knowledge and reject its models, but instead adopt a model of disease based on the notion of antecedents, triggers and mediators.

By identifying and treating the root cause (s) of a disease, functional medicine has a much greater chance of properly treating the patient. Instead of determining which medication will cure a disease, functional medicine clinics have doctors who figure out why you have an ailment in the first place and restore what no longer works. The Find A Practitioner referral network is designed to locate functional medicine professionals who meet your needs. Rather than addressing the disease directly, functional medicine professionals find ways for the body's normal healing mechanisms to resolve the problem.

Functional medicine clinics take a holistic approach to understanding who you are, knowing that each person is unique and should have a medical plan that fits your needs. A functional medicine approach is able to establish connections between all symptoms, which may initially seem unrelated. The opening of functional medicine centers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and George Washington University has been described by Gorski as an unfortunate example of pseudoscientific quackery infiltrating the medical academy. Treating them with blanket solutions isn't the most accurate way to get someone working optimally again.

Functional medicine redefines the treatment of disease by focusing on the mechanism and cause and not simply on the label of the disease. By understanding those relationships, functional medicine professionals can have a deeper understanding of the body. In this case, the symptoms function as clues to establish the underlying problems that are generating the symptoms. This is where functional medicine comes as a savior because it can help you manage your chronic illness more holistically.