(NBC) It’s definitely not one size fits all. “It’s often used as diet specific, condition-specific, individual-specific,” said Julie Hill, an outpatient dietitian with Lee Health. Functional medicine helps patients achieve a better qualily.
It’s definitely not one size fits all. “It’s often used as diet specific, condition-specific, individual-specific,” said Julie Hill, an outpatient dietitian with Lee Health.
Functional medicine helps patients achieve a better quality of life. “Functional medicine helps clinicians identify dysfunctions of the psychology and the biochemistry of the human body as a primary method of improving patient health,” said Hill.
Health experts take a thorough evaluation of the patient, dating all the way back to birth. “It’s taking and going back through someone’s history and really identifying where, if there were any triggers or any antecedents which are pre or inborn things that occur during the pregnancy phase,” she said.
Getting a close a look at the patient’s medical history and lifestyle can help determine what’s causing the symptoms that are disrupting a patient’s health. “Were they a C-section, were they a vaginal birth, where they fed breast milk verse formula? There’s a big period where everybody was on formula, there’s a lot of GI concerns in that population because it does set the immune system which resides in the gut,” said Hill.
Functional medicine focuses on the patient’s entire body and lifestyle to get a better understanding of things like gastrointestinal problems, chronic pain, and problems with the immune system. “If it’s a symptom and not a diagnosis we can absolutely expect complete remission,” said Hill.
Focusing on a patient’s sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress, and relationships can guide health experts to the problem and help determine a plan of action. “We’re looking to improve health overall, so we don’t need medicine earlier in life,” she said.
Using functional medicine to improve a patient’s quality of life.
