The Functional Medicine Approach
Interested In Functional Medicine?
If so, read this message from Dr. Houser:
“I started Live Well 365 to provide my patients the guidance and support needed to address their health using functional medicine principles. The education and teaching required to make you successful takes time and cannot be achieved in a rushed 15-minute office appointment once or twice a year. It takes continued support and ongoing education to be successful! More studies are now showing the value of a team approach to health — incorporating dietitians and health coaches, along with other health professionals (such as chiropractors, acupuncturists, mental health counselors, etc).
The first step in any functional medicine intervention is to assess diet and lifestyle. This is best done by a practitioner trained in this area. This is where Olivia and Caitlin come in — they will work together to guide you in making the foundational changes necessary to be successful on your health journey. It is always the best place to start before getting into advanced functional medicine testing.
If you live in the central ohio area, then taking a functional medicine approach to your health is possible with Live Well 365! Our health coach can work with you through telehealth in the convenience of your home or office. My coach, Caitlin, will guide you through some initial diet and lifestyle changes, which often result in a significant improvement in symptons. Then, once your diet and lifestyle have been optimized, we can see you in my office for further assessment.”
—Laura Houser, MD
Functional medicine is an approach to health challenges or imbalances that seeks to identify and address the root cause of disease.
The functional medicine approach is based on a deep understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the body and focuses on the root causes of illness. Conventional medicine is a disease-centered focus to chronic illness. It focuses on a set of symptoms or a diagnosis, and then tries to suppress these symptoms with medication or surgery. But functional medicine is a more patient-centered, individual approach to identifying the root causes of imbalances and working to correct. We will work to understand the drivers of your illness, looking at such interactions as lifestyle, environmental and genetic influences to long-term health and how these contribute to the development of complex, chronic disease.
Comprehensive lab evaluation will be done, including markers that are much more in-depth than in traditional medicine.
Specialized functional medicine tests are often very helpful to look at the state of your digestion, hormones, adrenal glands and nutrition to gain a deeper understanding of the imbalances within these systems to target our approach.
Treatment plans focus heavily on adapting lifestyle measures in order to optimize digestive health, nutrition, hormones and adrenal/nervous system balance.
Recommendations and treatment strategies are highly individualized and are meant to meet each person’s needs, no matter where they are in their health journey. Your care plan will include recommendations such as referral to a health coach or dietitian, tailored nutraceutical recommendations, specific lifestyle modification and nutrition recommendations and specific food plans tailored to your needs.
Image from The Institution of Functional Medicine
“What Is Functional Medicine?: IFM.” The Institute for Functional Medicine, 3 Oct. 2022, www.ifm.org/functional-medicine/what-is-functional-medicine/.