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What is Functional Medicine and Why Do I practice it?
What is Functional Medicine and
Why do I practice it?
In the middle of my medical career, I found myself burned out, fatigued, obese, depressed and really run down. As I looked for answers to help my condition I found Functional Medicine. The Functional Medicine approach helped me to heal! At this point, I knew I had to give this to my patients, so I spent a lot of time and a lot of money retraining my thinking and how I care for patients.
I also fell in love with the science that is at the foundation of Functional Medicine. It really helped me take the science that I learned in medical school and apply it to my patients’ situations.
Later, I was able to use the Functional Medicine approach to research Essential Tremor (a condition I have had for over 40 years) in a different way. This allowed me to find a way to naturally improve my tremor! From this experience, I was able to form a framework that we use at Living Health Functional Medicine to help patients heal and live their best lives.
I am very grateful for this approach and what it has done for me and for the change it has brought to our patients.
Some of the things that set Functional Medicine apart as an approach are that it:
- Helps you get to the root cause of illness or disease. Usually when you go to the doctor, your physician will work to find out what diagnosis you have and then what treatment fits the diagnosis. At Living Health Functional Medicine, after you have a diagnosis, we ask the question: “Why do you have this diagnosis?” and “What is it about your story, your life, your food, your exposures that have brought you to this point in your health?” Functional Medicine is the medicine of WHY!
- Is preventative - This approach helps us to find your body’s blind spots. Those things that can sneak up on you in the future and bite you. Ouch!! Let's find those things now so you can extend your healthy years.
- Is Personalized - You are unique in every way; your experiences, your relationships, your stresses, your food, your exposures. Because you're unique, your root causes are unique. So it makes sense that your treatment should be personalized to you and not come from a cookie cutter protocol.
- Is holistic. We want to look at your emotional, spiritual, relationship, physical health along with your lifestyle, environmental exposures and your stresses.
- Dives deep. In this way of practicing medicine we dive deeper into your biochemistry and nutrition with lab studies. We dive deeper into your story to get to know you well. This deeper dive allows us to figure out what your blind spots are and what may be triggering your body to misbehave.
Your body is an ecosystem. When part of an ecosystem is out of balance, it affects the other parts of that system. We see this in nature/the environment all the time. This is true for your body as well. Functional Medicine works to find the imbalances or dysfunctions in your body’s ecosystem. Then we work together to help bring that ecosystem back into balance.
As a functional medicine provider, I have found that I do not need to use medicine as often as I did early in my career. By fixing the ecosystem, the body heals itself. Through this process, we can also avoid surgery in some instances.
This kind of healing requires you to do some important work with changing your lifestyle and correcting any imbalances that we may find. You will play an active role in learning and will be involved in your own healthcare.
Functional medicine is an increasingly popular approach to healthcare, and many practitioners are claiming to practice functional medicine. I think it is important to look for a well trained/certified provider that has gone through the effort and investment to get properly certified as a provider. The Institute of Functional Medicine has become the premiere training program in the country. Go to their website https://www.ifm.org/ and look for a certified practitioner (IFMCP - IFM Certified Practitioner). Look for a provider that also has good experience in conventional medicine so that you can get the best of both worlds as you may need.
Functional Medicine is not for everyone (although I think everyone could benefit 😀). You have to be ready and willing to invest time, effort, and resources into your health. You need to have an open mind about your health and be ready to make some changes. It is an investment that gives you long-term rewards!
If you are ready to dive deep into your health and invest in your health and your greatness, then we invite you to come to our office in Midway, Utah to start your journey to improved health so you can give your gifts to the people you love!
Book your free consultation today
Dr. Drew Christensen, MD
Founder of Living Health Functional Medicine
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What is Functional Medicine and Why Do I practice it?
What is Functional Medicine and
Why do I practice it?
In the middle of my medical career, I found myself burned out, fatigued, obese, depressed and really run down. As I looked for answers to help my condition I found Functional Medicine. The Functional Medicine approach helped me to heal! At this point, I knew I had to give this to my patients, so I spent a lot of time and a lot of money retraining my thinking and how I care for patients.
I also fell in love with the science that is at the foundation of Functional Medicine. It really helped me take the science that I learned in medical school and apply it to my patients’ situations.
Later, I was able to use the Functional Medicine approach to research Essential Tremor (a condition I have had for over 40 years) in a different way. This allowed me to find a way to naturally improve my tremor! From this experience, I was able to form a framework that we use at Living Health Functional Medicine to help patients heal and live their best lives.
I am very grateful for this approach and what it has done for me and for the change it has brought to our patients.
Some of the things that set Functional Medicine apart as an approach are that it:
- Helps you get to the root cause of illness or disease. Usually when you go to the doctor, your physician will work to find out what diagnosis you have and then what treatment fits the diagnosis. At Living Health Functional Medicine, after you have a diagnosis, we ask the question: “Why do you have this diagnosis?” and “What is it about your story, your life, your food, your exposures that have brought you to this point in your health?” Functional Medicine is the medicine of WHY!
- Is preventative - This approach helps us to find your body’s blind spots. Those things that can sneak up on you in the future and bite you. Ouch!! Let's find those things now so you can extend your healthy years.
- Is Personalized - You are unique in every way; your experiences, your relationships, your stresses, your food, your exposures. Because you're unique, your root causes are unique. So it makes sense that your treatment should be personalized to you and not come from a cookie cutter protocol.
- Is holistic. We want to look at your emotional, spiritual, relationship, physical health along with your lifestyle, environmental exposures and your stresses.
- Dives deep. In this way of practicing medicine we dive deeper into your biochemistry and nutrition with lab studies. We dive deeper into your story to get to know you well. This deeper dive allows us to figure out what your blind spots are and what may be triggering your body to misbehave.
Your body is an ecosystem. When part of an ecosystem is out of balance, it affects the other parts of that system. We see this in nature/the environment all the time. This is true for your body as well. Functional Medicine works to find the imbalances or dysfunctions in your body’s ecosystem. Then we work together to help bring that ecosystem back into balance.
As a functional medicine provider, I have found that I do not need to use medicine as often as I did early in my career. By fixing the ecosystem, the body heals itself. Through this process, we can also avoid surgery in some instances.
This kind of healing requires you to do some important work with changing your lifestyle and correcting any imbalances that we may find. You will play an active role in learning and will be involved in your own healthcare.
Functional medicine is an increasingly popular approach to healthcare, and many practitioners are claiming to practice functional medicine. I think it is important to look for a well trained/certified provider that has gone through the effort and investment to get properly certified as a provider. The Institute of Functional Medicine has become the premiere training program in the country. Go to their website https://www.ifm.org/ and look for a certified practitioner (IFMCP - IFM Certified Practitioner). Look for a provider that also has good experience in conventional medicine so that you can get the best of both worlds as you may need.
Functional Medicine is not for everyone (although I think everyone could benefit 😀). You have to be ready and willing to invest time, effort, and resources into your health. You need to have an open mind about your health and be ready to make some changes. It is an investment that gives you long-term rewards!
If you are ready to dive deep into your health and invest in your health and your greatness, then we invite you to come to our office in Midway, Utah to start your journey to improved health so you can give your gifts to the people you love!
Book your free consultation today
Dr. Drew Christensen, MD
Founder of Living Health Functional Medicine
Recent Posts
Post Categories
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Office Address:
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Phone: 435-214-7282
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2023 © Copyright Living Health, MD, PLLC | All Rights Reserved.
Our Services
Office Address:
380 E Main Street
Building B, Suite 120
Midway, UT 84049
Phone: 435-214-7282
Email: Info@LivingHealthmd.com
2023 © Copyright Living Health, MD, PLLC | All Rights Reserved.