What is Functional Medicine & How it Differs from Conventional Medicine
Posted on March 16, 2018
Functional medicine is the attainment of optimal physical well-being through the adoption of a holistic and healthy lifestyle. The backbone of functional medicine is taking care of yourself – in every way. This includes good dietary practices, regular exercise, and frequent testing to ensure your body is functioning as it should. Many diseases and disorders can be treated, if not reversed, through functional medicine. It is an approach to medicine that makes you the healthiest you can be.
How Functional Medicine differs from Conventional Medicine?
Both conventional and functional medicine are science-based, but the approach to medicine is different from one another. Conventional medicine is what is taught in medical school and what most doctors in the U.S. practice. Conventional medicine focuses on diagnosing a disease and then treating the symptoms of that disease, typically with medication. If that medicine has side effects, doctors may prescribe another medication to treat the side effects from the first medication.
Functional medicine, on the other hand, focuses on identifying the root cause of a disease, particularly chronic diseases like autoimmune disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, and treating the cause through a combination of lifestyle changes, supplements, and hormones.
What Does a Functional Medicine Doctor Do?
Functional medicine rejects the myth that our bodies are meant to break down and that vibrant health is unreachable as we age. When it comes to functional medicine, age isn’t the issue – function is. Functional medicine practitioners perform comprehensive testing to get a total picture of your health. Conventional medical tests usually only focus on disease detection. Functional medicine practitioners obtain detailed health information from the patient and perform comprehensive testing unique to the field of functional medicine to ensure accurate diagnosis. Lipid levels, celiac and gluten sensitivity, inflammation, metabolic levels, kidney and liver function, blood counts, hormonal imbalances, and thyroid functioning are just some of the things that are tested.
A functional medicine practitioner will interpret the lab results and work to restore and balance your bodily functions by creating an individualized health plan that may include lifestyle changes, supplements, and hormones. Functional medicine doctors interpret the data in a much different way than a conventional doctor would and as a result, they can often identify hidden causes of symptoms that have plagued patients for years.
Benefits of Functional Medicine
Functional medicine provides true health. Because functional medicine doctors view the body as a whole, they can often reverse and prevent the imbalances that are causing chronic conditions from occurring in the first place. There has been a sharp increase in the number of people suffering from chronic diseases and functional medicine can actually help prevent them. By restoring and optimizing bodily functions, functional medicine can help increase quality of life in every way.
Contact One of Denver, CO’s Premier Functional Medicine Doctors
Dr. Gruber at J. Gruber Health Solutions is a functional medicine practitioner in Denver, Colorado. He offers a patient-centered approach to functional medicine and offers a wide range of holistic treatments to improve your lifestyle. He goes beyond simply treating a symptom and focuses on the root cause to achieve results with a focus on healing. Contact us today at 303-746-1964 to see how Dr. Gruber can help.
“Dr. Gruber is off the chart responsive! Dr. Gruber is 100% invested in your health and has impressive medical detective skills.”
Woman Patient, 60's
“Sheri and Dr. Gruber are so relatable and proactive. You develop a professional friendship with them. Dr. Gruber respects that everyone is an individual and is very scientific and focused in his approach.”
“One thing they do at Dr. Gruber’s office is not acquiesce to what the insurance companies mandate that his office do. Dr. Gruber steps back and analyzes what is really going on. In fact, he was willing to run an extra cardiac CRP test on me which validated some concerns I had—and, all while other doctors had ignored my requests.”
“I value the fact that Dr. Gruber really personalizes everything that he does juxtaposed against my labs. He is open to things you might want to try but only as it relates to your lab work.”
“Dr. Gruber was the first doctor that actually listened to me and took proactive moves based on what I told him. If I drop the ball on my end regarding following his directions, Dr. Gruber treats me like an adult and just helps me get back to where I should be without a lecture.”
“When Dr. Gruber is on your team he is all in, and he is even available to answer any medical questions that might arise with other family members.”
“I have only seen Dr. Gruber for six months but the results far exceeded my expectations. Dr. Gruber is laser-focused on problem solving, as that is exactly what he does.”
