Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine is the approach Sue, and other practitioners use within their methodology. What exactly does that mean?
The Basics
Functional Medicine is personalised medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for ill-health. It is a science-based field of health care that recognises our biochemical individuality and focuses on the person and not on the disease. The approach takes into account the web-like interconnections of physiological factors, supporting the view that the human body functions as a co-ordinated network of interconnected systems.
​
The Functional Medicine approach seeks to examine the underlying imbalances that express as disease. These imbalances arise as environmental inputs such as diet, nutrients (including air and water), exercise and trauma are processed by one’s body, mind and spirit, through a unique set of genetic predispositions, attitudes and beliefs.
​
The core clinical imbalances include:
-
Communication (e.g. hormones, neurotransmitters and immune messengers
-
Biotransformation and elimination (e.g. addressing toxic load through detoxificaiton processes)
-
Assimilation (e.g. digestion and absorption)
-
Defence and Repair (e.g. immunity and addressing causes of inflammation)
-
Transportation (e.g. lymphatic and cardiovascular function)
-
Energy (e.g. mitochondrial function and energy regulation)
-
Structural imbalances (e.g. from cellular membrane structure to the musculoskeletal system)
Functional Medicine addresses the whole person, rather than focusing on specific signs and symptoms, aiming to address the underlying imbalances so that the symptoms may then resolve accordingly.
Functional Testing
​
Functional nutritional testing can help to confirm underlying imbalances or suboptimal function allowing your program to be further targeted.
​
A range of functional tests are available to explore processes of digestion, adrenal function, metabolism, detoxification, allergies or intolerances and nutrient deficiencies.
Functional tests from leading laboratories including Biolab, Genova, Diagnostics, Functioa and Invivo Clinical are used in the practice.
Your program
​
Working through your daily diet and tracking any digestive symptoms that you may be experiencing is the first step. Functional testing allows us to explore digestive function more accurately giving us scientific evidence of possible bacterial dysbiosis, presence of parasites or pathogenic bacteria, inflammation, and other imbalances.
​
We then tailor your personal program according to your symptoms and test results, providing a comprehensive nutritional strategy, which may include food plans and a supplement protocol to support optimal gastrointestinal function.