Functional Medicine is a different approach to health care. The old medical model is based on disease management (largely guided by insurance reimbursement). It can be somewhat limited to fitting symptoms to diagnosis to prescription- relying primarily on pharmaceuticals and surgery for treatment. Functional Medicine is a way to describe an approach to optimizing wellness, understanding the underlying cause, and looking at the individual as a whole. At its core is a fundamental respect for the intelligence of the human body- as Dr. Rostenberg says- your body is genius.
Diagnosis
A functional doctor will gather information about your history, habits, and environment with a goal of improving overall health and wellness. Objective, scientific tools are used to gather data points- including, but not limited to, laboratory testing. In our opinion, the best functional care will allow a provider to practice the art of medicine and balance objective laboratory testing with other tools. Laboratory tests are extremely valuable but they are also expensive and you can wait weeks for results. At Red Mountain we make an effort to be selective in the tests we recommend. We use Applied Kinesiology, muscle testing, and other evaluation methods to define a precise scope for laboratory tests. While the laboratory testing often confirms what we have already found– we find tremendous value in the objective measure. At Red Mountain you will not be pressured to spend thousands of dollars on testing.
Treatment
Pharmaceuticals and surgery are not the most effective tools for every problem. At times, they can be used to make symptoms disappear when the symptoms are our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong and we need to make a change. When possible, we believe that working with the body is inherently better. Changing lifestyle, detoxing, exercising, and supplementing or changing the diet can be hard but it ultimately provides great benefits. Pharmaceuticals have side effects, are expensive, and can do little to improve overall health. Improving lifestyle choices can not only reduce unwanted symptoms but also increase overall wellness, mood, and energy. We ask a lot of our patients but we see great results.