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Where conventional medicine falls down in my opinion, is dealing with sub-acute and chronic health problems. People regularly see their doctor for help with fatigue, aches and pains, depression etc., and usually they leave with a prescription that treats the symptoms complained about, (pain killers, anti-inflammatories,
anti-depressants etc.), which is a band-aid solution, but rarely addresses the actual
cause of the problem (what is
causing the inflammation?). People are given a diagnosis of heart disease
or arthritis which then dictates a particular treatment protocol, but looking
for the underlying causes of why the person developed heart disease or arthritis
in the first place does not always happen. I don't think that allopathic
medicine asks the question "why" enough. You go to the doctor for heartburn, you
are given an antacid. But why did you develop heartburn? Is an
antacid going to cure the cause of the problem? No. You have toe
fungus, you are usually given a topical fungus treatment. But clearly toe
fungus is a manifestation of an internal fungal infection that needs to be
treated also. The band-aid does not fix the problem, but merely controls
the outer manifestations. And pretty much all drugs have side effects that
disrupt other physiological pathways in the body not related to the area being
treated, leading to the body further away from homeostasis and to further
potential problems. Treating symptoms rather than causes is not always the
fault of the doctors - many patients want quick symptom relief and are looking for a drug to solve their problems
rather than exploring further for underlying causes.
There are some physicians however, that are becoming disillusioned with the "treat the symptom/disease rather than the cause" allopathic approach, and they are now practicing Functional Medicine, which is a whole new paradigm for medicine.
Functional Medicine is not considered "alternative" or "complementary", but is a
different approach based on sound science to addressing sub-acute and chronic
health conditions. Functional medicine tests for and treats the imbalances in the autonomic control
systems of the individual, so the treatment is personalized for the
individual rather than based on a treatment protocol for a particular symptom or disease.
Functional Medicine believes that the root cause of all disease can be traced to
problems in the digestive, hormone, immune and/or detoxification systems,
which causes chronic stress to our bodies. Once there is an imbalance or problem
in one of the physiological pathways,
compensations occur in other physiological pathways in order to try and resolve
the problem. These compensations cause further adjustments in other
pathways creating a cascading effect, and eventually over many years if balance
is not restored, small aggravating symptoms turn into full blown diseases.
Catching the imbalances in homeostasis early enough would therefore likely
prevent disease. For example, if
an individual is highly stressed, adrenal fatigue and problems with cortisol may
result. Cortisol affects the function of insulin, estrogen, progesterone,
testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid among others, so if there is a problem with cortisol,
widespread seemingly unrelated symptoms due to dysfunctions in all those other hormone
pathways may result. A simple example of how this
can lead to disease is: high cortisol increases blood sugar, which increases
insulin levels, which clogs arteries. So a root cause of atherosclerosis may be
due to a problem with cortisol. Another example would be someone that
continues to eat a food that he/she is allergic to would cause a destruction of
the microvilli in the gut, leading to an inability to absorb nutrition, which
would weaken the individual. Over time due to gut irritation, gaps would
open up in the walls of the intestine allowing food particles and pretty much
anything else full access to the blood supply and the entire body. This
could cause a full-blown immune response and inflammation in the body, and also
make the already weakened person very susceptible to illness.
Depending on the symptom presentation of the individual, circadian rhythm
hormone tests, mucosal barrier or other GI tests, food-sensitivity tests, immune
tests, metabolic tests, heavy metal,
chemical toxicity, fungus or parasite tests are ordered, and treatment is based on the results of those tests
with the aim of finding homeostasis in the basic physiological pathways that
underlie the body's autonomic control systems. I am certain that over time once this style of medicine becomes known, more and more doctors will make the switch.
Functional Medicine is great at coaxing the body back to homeostasis, but it
requires active participation of the patient in improving lifestyle factors so
that homeostasis can be maintained.
Related Tipsps
How hormones, neurotransmitters and steroids work
Food sensitivities, digestive problems and joint pain
Adrenal Fatigue
Dealing with health issues
Adrenal and Metabolic Interpretive Guide, Biohealth Diagnositcs Inc. 2006
Online at The Institute for Functional Medicine e What is Functional Medicine?
Online at The Institute for Functional Medicine How does Functional Medicine approach today's health care problems?
Textbook of Functional Medicine
Chronic Stress - The Number 1 Source of Illness
Chronic Stress Response Chart
Steroidal Hormone Pathway Chart
Copyright 2007 Vreni Gurd
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