Functional medicine is not just about treating a patient’s symptoms or ailments, but rather seeks to identify and address the root causes of disease. This medicinal practice views the body as one integrated system, not a collection of independent organs divided up by medical specialties.
At in2GREAT Integrative Health, our Overland Park functional medicine specialists have dedicated their lives to helping their patients not only resolve ailing symptoms, but live a better and more healthy life overall. We understand how interconnected our internal systems are, and want to help you find relief on a long term scale.
How Is Functional Medicine Different?
By shifting away from the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the an entire person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine specialists in Overland Park, KS are focused on spending time and getting to know their patients. By listening to their histories, practitioners of functional medicine are better able to look at the interplay among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence a patient’s overall, long term health. In this way, functional medicine respects and embraces the individuality of each patient and utilizes this understanding to facilitate health and well-being.
It is not to be misunderstood, functional medicine is an integrative, science-based healthcare approach. It not only involves understanding the origins, prevention, and treatment of complex, chronic disease, but also differs from a traditional practice by looking both “up and down stream” to consider how a patient’s history, physiology, psychology, and lifestyle can lead to illness.
In essence, functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.
Why do we need Functional Medicine?
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people who suffer from complex, chronic diseases such as, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, and gut and digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn’s disease. The treatment of these diseases require much greater attention than just the attention to their symptoms or “acute care.” While acute care can help ease discomfort in the short term through physician-prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery, their benefits are often short lived. Unfortunately, this is because the acute-care approach to medicine often lacks the proper methodology for preventing and treating complex, chronic disease. In most cases, it doesn’t take into consideration the unique genetic makeup of each individual patient or factors, such as environmental exposures to toxins and the aspects of the modern lifestyle that, studies show, have direct influence on the rise in chronic disease.
Additionally, there’s a broadening gap between recent research and the way doctors practice, as an Overland Park functional medicine specialist can explain. This gap is especially prevalent in the area of complex, chronic illness. Too many physicians are not sufficiently trained to assess the underlying causes of these diseases and are therefore unable to apply strategies involving nutrition, diet, stress-relief and exercise to both treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients.
Contact a Functional Health Practitioner Today
Too many patients today suffer from the combined strains of genetic, physiological, psychological, and environmental issues that cause debilitating, chronic disease. At in2GREAT Integrative Health, we are dedicating to taking a wholistic approach to help our patients not only treat their illnesses on a long-term scale, but also help them better prevent illness or worsening symptoms. We care deeply for each individual patient and want to help you too get the kind of care you deserve. Contact an Overland Park KS functional medicine specialist on our team today and start your journey toward a better quality of life.