To fully grasp what functional medicine is, we must understand that conventional medicine is not healthcare in the true sense of the word; rather, the discipline is essentially disease management.
Rather than relying on a preventive and restorative lifestyle to optimize wellness, conventional medicine aims to manage illness, often only once the patient is already in the throes of a chronic disease. Treatment involves primarily suppressing symptoms with prescription drugs.
Our team of specialists at the Happy Hormone Cottage offers comprehensive hormone therapy and overall health and well-being services. Our goal is to help our patients achieve optimal health and a more balanced hormone profile through necessary lifestyle adjustments and a uniquely designed hormone therapy plan.
This article discusses the functional medicine model’s role in treating or preventing chronic disease.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine differs from conventional medicine because it focuses on restoring health using a systems-oriented, patient-centered approach. Functional medicine takes advantage of traditional and holistic tools to eliminate the root causes of ill health. Moreover, it is not considered quackery where medications or surgery are ruled out if these are seen to be necessary.
In functional medicine, patients are not passive recipients but participate in treatment since their behavior often contributes to chronic disease.
The functional medicine practitioner aims to prevent the disease from happening in the first place. When it does, they seek to arrest and reverse it in the whole body by delving into the underlying causes of disease, including genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors such as nutrition, exercise, rest, clean air and water, relationships, and stress.
This viewpoint sees the patient and practitioner collaborating to promote holistic long-term health and eliminate the causes of complex chronic diseases rather than simply treating isolated symptoms and ignoring those that may arise in the future due to poor health. In fact, patients with the same problems may be given entirely different treatments based on their condition’s distinct origins and development.
The multi-disciplinary perspective of functional medicine means some doctors may prescribe prescription medication. Still, the person may be given supplements and alternative treatments like hormone balancing therapy (HBT), acupuncture, meditation, or herbal remedies. They may also be advised on how to change their lifestyle.
What is the Importance of this Approach?
There is a place for prescription medication, but with more than half of Americans taking at least one prescription drug and many regularly taking more than one, it is alarming that the American healthcare system is not based on preventative healthcare.
Not only are prescription drugs costly, but they often cause debilitating side effects. In addition, they can mask symptoms and suppress bodily functions, which may lead to imbalances that create more problems than they were originally intended to fix.
Pharmaceutical drugs rarely get to the root of the underlying causes of disease but rather tend to create patients for life. In contrast, many of the diseases that affect us, including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia (abnormally elevated cholesterol or lipids – fats – in the blood), and chronic stress, can be avoided with the right nutrition, physical activity, nutritional supplements, and by partnering with the functional medicine practitioner to restore the body to its ideal balance.
Conditions to Treat with Functional Medicine
Most people suffering from chronic conditions can benefit from functional medicine, and symptoms of other underlying problems can even be stopped in their tracks before they develop.
Functional medicine deals with common chronic conditions, such as:
- Allergies to both food and environmental conditions
- Adrenal disorders
- Auto-immune diseases
- Arthritis, asthma
- Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
- Cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Digestive complaints
- Fibromyalgia
- Women’s health disorders
- Thyroid problems
Happy Hormone Cottage Helps Treat Patients Holistically
Taking a functional medicine approach, Happy Hormone Cottage focuses specifically on clients needing to balance the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone (we also consider the thyroid and cortisol because this forms part of an overall fix rather than treating these issues in isolation, as is often the case with conventional medicine!)
We also help patients needing liver detoxification or experiencing poor gut health. Our goal is to meet, consult with and get the patient tested to formulate a simple, effective treatment plan that facilitates a general sense of well-being.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Available In Centerville, Ohio
If you’re looking for a functional medicine approach to natural hormone balance, consider Happy Hormone Cottage. Our goal is to improve patient outcomes and make positive changes in all of our patients’ lives.
We want to share your success and will be with you on every step of your hormone-balancing journey!
Call our office to speak with a member of our team, or schedule a consultation online today!
