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Peak Health Partners

Denver, Colorado | Chiropractor | Alternative Health

A Brief History of Functional Medicine

By Peak Health Partners

Functional medicine aims to find the root cause of sickness so that medical professionals can treat it with the goal of permanent relief from symptoms and illness. It’s focus on the root cause is different from traditional medicine that spends considerable time and energy treating symptoms without working to alleviate the true source of those symptoms. Functional medicine achieves this by incorporating a wide variety of treatment methods and modalities, and could be the right choice for you if traditional medicine is failing you. 

Precursor for functional medicine

The father of functional medicine is widely considered to be Dr. Jeffery Bland who in the 1990s floated the concept of marrying the practices of accepted regular medical practices with progressive treatment modalities to address chronic health issues. The concept promoted the utilization of tools to address emotional, nutritional, physical, environmental, and lifestyle needs in order to achieve greater health and well being. The idea spread and developed into the many practitioners of functional medicine that exist today. 

So what kind of treatments are utilized?

A functional medicine doctor will examine a patient much like a regular medical doctor will, checking vital signs and such. They will also ask lots of questions to find out everything they can about chronic medical conditions that their patients are facing. Depending on their diagnosis and treatment plan, care by a chiropractor, massage, yoga, meditation, and even acupuncture might be considered to treat the root cause of the problem. 

The purported benefits of functional medicine 

Functional medicine delivers several benefits including having a health care plan that is specifically customized for your physical experience right now. Patients feel heard and as if their medical provider is really listening and genuinely cares about their suffering and path to good health. Patients also receive treatment for root cause issues that might be causing overall poor health which leads to less pain and many more better days ahead. 

Finding a doctor of functional medicine

If this sounds like the kind of care you’re looking for, you might wonder how to go about finding a functional medicine doctor. You can try a quick Google search that will return results based on your geographic location. If you already practice yoga or incorporate massage into your self care routine, you might ask your teacher or massage therapist if they know anyone in town with a solid reputation. 

What is Functional Medicine?

By Peak Health Partners

Everyone wants to be healthy, and it’s easy to see how much better your quality of life is when you’re feeling good. You can do things that you love, play with your kids and grandkids, and enjoy life to the fullest. Functional medicine is one way to achieve optimal health and well being. But what’s it all about?

The cornerstone of Functional Medicine

Functional medicine relates to the practice of medicine that helps a patient prevent disease not just treat disease that might have already started. It looks at the patient as a whole and considers all the elements of their body including spiritual, mental, and emotional health. When all elements are in balance, a patient could realistically expect to be healthy and disease free.   

Caring for spiritual health with functional medicine

Studies have shown that people benefit from connection with others and from having a purpose. If they no longer feel either of those things, then their physical health will quickly begin to deteriorate. Functional medicine doctors can help patients in this area by talking to them about the importance of connection and purpose and offering suggestions on how they can improve both in their lives. 

Caring for mental health

Mental health is another important aspect of overall health and wellbeing. When we’re feeling off, we’re not as likely to seek out connection with others, eat well, take medication, and even get exercise. It’s important to nurture one’s mental health and a functional medicine doctor can help patients do just that. 

Optimal physical health

The main goal for a functional medicine doctor is to help their patients achieve optimal physical health. They do this by looking at the patient as a whole—their habits, behaviors, relationships, professional life, connections with others, and so much more. They believe that by addressing deficiencies in any of these areas, they can help their patients avoid disease. 

Finding an Alternative Medicine Doctor

By Peak Health Partners

More and more people are searching for a different kind of medical care—alternative medicine. This large body of medical practice consists of many types of modalities to treat the body as a whole in order to achieve optimum health and well being. Some modalities commonly used in treatment by an alternative medicine practitioner include massage, acupuncture, a focus on diet and the inclusion of herbs, vitamins and supplements, meditation, yoga, and many more. If this sounds like an appealing path, here’s a guide to finding an alternative medicine doctor near you.  

Alternative medicine doctor near you

A great way to start your search for an alternative medicine doctor is to head online and conduct a search that will be filtered geographically. You can pinpoint a few providers in your area, look through their website, and maybe even find patient reviews that can help with your choice. You might also check in with your insurance company. Not all alternative medicine treatments are covered, but that is changing every day, and your insurance company might be able to point you in the direction of a quality provider whose services are covered by your policy.  

Asking for recommendations

Asking your current medical provider, friends, and family members for recommendations is also another great way to find a reputable alternative medicine doctor. Acquaintances will be able to offer first-hand experiences with the provider which you can use to make an educated decision about who you seek treatment from. They can also give you insight into the kinds of treatment modalities the provider commonly uses so that their patients can achieve overall health and well being.  

Researching area providers

When you’re looking for a new provider, it’s wise to exhaustively research your options before you settle on a new doctor. Read any information you can find about them online. Read patient reviews and learn more about their specialties. Finding a provider that offers treatment options that resonate with your beliefs and goals for your health is worth a pound of cure.  

Consultation with a new alternative medicine doctor

Once you find a provider that you think will be a good fit, schedule a consultation appointment to meet them in person. Discuss your health challenges and goals and listen to the provider’s treatment philosophies. If it feels like a great fit; proceed and hopefully enjoy the fruits of a long and healthy relationship with your new alternative medicine doctor.

What is Functional Medicine?

By Peak Health Partners

Entering the 21st century has brought on a new and holistic approach to medicine as a whole. While many conventional medicinal practices focus solely on treating a disease, the new age of medical treatment has shifted to treating the whole patient as opposed to just treating the disease.

So, what exactly is functional medicine?

Peak Health, a functional medicine practice in Denver, defines functional medicine as a form of health care, which works and particularly focuses on curing the whole immune system of the patient. The most deciding difference between functional medicine and traditional medicine techniques is in the root cause analysis of a disease. While a traditional medical approach to a disease or illness revolves around matching the proper drug or treatment with a disease or its symptoms, functional medicine focuses more on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the disease rather than the ‘what’. Functional medicine aims to answer the questions of: ‘why is this happening to you and how can we restore function?’

Functional medicine recognizes the differences between each person’s body on a biological level, and uses that knowledge to provide patient customizable care. Instead of the cookie cutter approach to traditional medicine, functional medicine aims to scientifically investigate the underlying cause of a person’s discomfort or illness. This systems-oriented medical approach seeks to integrate a person’s mind, body and soul into their diagnosis. Typically there is a certain level of lifestyle, environmental and genetic research done to identify the root cause of a patient’s disease; once a root cause is identified treatment options are discussed and executed.

Some of the principles that functional medicine is based on are:

  1. Incorporate lifestyle medicine (i.e. nutrition, supplements, stress reduction and exercise) to aid in curing or preventing disease
  2. Your body has the ability to heal itself if properly taken care of and treated
  3. The patient’s disease isn’t treated, the patient is
  4. A Scientific analysis between the internal and external factors of a person’s lifestyle and how that impacts their health
  5. Health is not the absence of disease

When you are seeing a functional medical professional, it is more like a partnership than anything else. Due to the deep level of research into a patient’s biological makeup and environmental influences, a functional practitioner and his or her patient usually have a much closer relationship than a conventional doctor and his or her patient. Visiting a functional medicine practice opens your healthcare options up to a wider range of treatment methods. Because of the in-depth analysis of a person’s health functional medicine provides, doctors are able to identify if a patient’s disease stems from just one cause or multiple causes. Again, each human being is different on many levels, and so functional medicine accounts for these biological variances to provide the most personalized and effective healthcare. Therapies and treatments vary depending on each practice. If you want to learn more about functional medicine in the Denver area, check out Peak Health Partners and the many conditions and treatment methods they specialize in.