Functional Medicine Approach to Primary Care

Functional Medicine could be described as a science-based approach to the root cause of illness using an individualized approach. Some media reports have placed Functional and Conventional Medicine at odds with each other, but our success is proof that they can peacefully coexist. Sometimes an example is the best approach: consider a conventional physician, faced with a new patient complaining of fatigue and low mood. S/he might order tests to screen for hypothyroidism, sleep apnea and anemia. If the tests were all in the normal ranges, the next step would probably be to try a prescription antidepressant. That's not bad medicine, but it's also not particularly thorough. A Functional Medicine practitioner might order an expanded thyroid panel to look for borderline abnormalities missed by the screening test; s/he might run a salivary cortisol panel to look for adrenal dysregulation, or order male/female hormone panel to review hormone imbalances, and/or antibody tests to look for evidence of Epstein Barr Virus reactivation. Since anemia isn't the only cause of fatigue that can be caused by nutrient deficiency, s/he might order specialty lab tests to look at the patient's nutrient status across a whole range of possible deficiencies. Abnormal findings among any of these tests can be managed with safe, non-addictive, non-prescription nutritional supplements. This approach may or may not cost more or take longer, but effective treatment of the underlying problems could eventually make pharmaceutical symptom management unnecessary. A Functional Approach to Primary Care is offered in Denver, Louisville and Telemedicine by Dr. Lyndsay, Alison Caffrey, PA-C, Shauntae Murphy, PA-C, Sarah Tyler, NP and Jaime Thwaytes, NP.