What is Functional Medicine?

Although Functional Medicine is still generally unknown to the public, people are quickly discovering why Functional Medicine is making big waves within the field of healthcare. The reason I love practicing Functional Medicine is because it’s all about you! Basically, you can think of it as the ultimate therapeutic relationship, where the focus is on YOU and YOUR health. We work together to dig deep and find out the root cause of your symptoms.

When you come in for an appointment at either our Scottsdale or Mesa Arizona locations, the exam is thorough and patient-centered. We take you, the whole person, into account and look at your unique history, environment, lifestyle and any other underlying factors. The best news is we do our best to get you on your life-long path to wellness without prescription drugs.

So how is Functional Medicine different from today’s conventional Western medical system?
Conventional Medicine is disease oriented and effectively separates patient care into specialized fields of medicine, whereas Functional Medicine looks at the whole picture including lifestyle and unique biochemical factors to identify the underlying causes of disease and find treatments that promote health and vitality.

Traditionally, a medical doctor prescribes drugs as therapeutic tools to deal with dysfunction or disease and uses a standard model of care for various conditions including low thyroid, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Patients often get referred to a specialist and medical bills begin to add up because care is geared toward expensive medical treatments or medications that suppress the symptoms and do not address the underlying cause of the problem.

A Functional Medicine Provider uses a holistic view of the body’s biochemistry, focusing on prevention and health along with promoting lifestyle changes and treatments that address the root cause of the dysfunction. It’s a highly cost effective option for patients, as it offers sustainable solutions from a vibrant field of scientific information, which challenges providers to think with an integrative approach, act consciously and prescribe less.

Why exactly is Functional Medicine so effective in treating the millions of Americans dealing with chronic disease?
Functional Medicine asks key questions such as “What is the root cause of the problem?”, “Why is the function impaired?” and “What can we do to restore function back to balance?” Millions of Americans suffer from chronic conditions including allergy, digestion, hormonal, metabolic, auto-immune, psychological, and neurological problems and thankfully many are finding effective solutions within the field of Functional Medicine.

It’s true and effective healthcare and I have personally witnessed thousands of patients return to good health and vitality by putting its philosophies to use. By incorporating lifestyle changes, nutrition, supplements, stress reduction tools & other medicinal strategies, we go beyond the current crisis care model by truly preventing and healing chronic diseases.

We believe that the body is intelligent, can heal and can prevent nearly all the “age” related diseases. It’s important for our patients to know that health is not just absence of disease but a state of great vitality.

Geralene Jones, NP, is the founder of Health and Wellness Care of Arizona, an ever-evolving practice conceived solely from patient referrals and grounded in the most current research in health care, particularly functional and anti-aging medicine.