When it comes to your health, we want to make sure we are approaching it at the appropriate angle. While medical knowledge and technology has advanced over the years, the root causes of disease and chronic illness has been overlooked and instead patients are being prescribed treatments that alleviate the symptoms and sometimes eliminate the illness. While this may help in the short term, it doesn’t make us healthier or prevent the illness from returning.
Functional medicine a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. These causes can be anything from genetic predispositions and environment to diet and deficiencies. Unity Health and Wellness aims at restoring your health, layer by layer instead of merely eliminating illness, thus providing the body what it needs to not only eliminate the reported illness but also to eliminate other underlying illnesses that may not be showing symptoms and to prevent the onset of future illness. As a result, our patients generally feel considerably better overall after receiving treatment and can return to activities they assumed they would never be able to engage in ever again or at the level they once did. For example, you could be suffering from one condition, like depression, that is caused by Vitamin D deficiency, low thyroid and antibiotic use, or you could be experiencing depression, heart disease, arthritis and diabetes that all stem from inflammation.
The Institute of Functional Medicine uses a tree analogy to describe functional medicine and highlight the differences between conventional and functional medicine. While conventional (allopathic) medicine diagnoses and treats what’s above the surface — symptoms and disease — functional medicine also attends to what’s below the surface, at the root of the disease — environmental and lifestyle factors, including sleep and relaxation, physical activity (exercise), nutrition, stress, relationships, clean air and water, and so forth.
On the same hand as functional medicine, integrative medicine functions in a similar, albeit different, way as it seeks to evaluate the patient as a whole and not just as a disease. Integrative medicine views the patient as a combination of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs that are interdependent on each other and affect the entire well-being of the person. Since there are so many different parts to address, integrative medicine physicians often use a combination of multiple therapies such as acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care, behavioral therapy, homeopathy and energy work to provide thorough treatment in all areas. Some of the principles of integrative medicine include:
• The patient and practitioner are equal partners in the healing process
• Natural and less invasive interventions are preferred
• All factors that affect one’s health are considered, including mind, body, spirit and community
• Treatment is tailored to the individual’s unique needs, condition and circumstances
• All healing sciences are implemented to encourage the body’s natural, innate healing responses
A good way to describe integrative medicine is taking the traditional approach to health and combining it with less conventional therapies. Natural therapies are preferred over traditional methods, but traditional treatments are still implemented when natural options have been exhausted/aren’t working. Integrative medicine also encourages healthy behaviors and skills that will be necessary for the patient as they follow through with the self-care techniques needed to remain disease-free for the rest of their lives.
At Unity Health and Wellness our goal is to treat the health of the body so that we can heal the symptoms and eliminate the disease. I will work with you to determine what the best course of action to get you back on the road to healing. I take a personalized and unique approach to every patient. I don’t believe in a one size fits all mentality when it comes to my patients. Like DNA, everyone has their own set of factors that contribute to the overall health of their body. A part of your personalized plan will be various modalities including whole food nutrition, sleep hygiene, exercise, supplements and lifestyle changes.
I wanted to create a practice where western medicine met functional/ integrative medicine. There are so many tools integrative medicine gives us that allows us to heal more naturally. I want to empower you with knowledge and give you the right tools to make the best most informed decisions about your health because there is a better way.
