Tired of Pills? Integrate Your Healthcare

According to The Center for Functional and Integrative Medicine:

Functional medicine believes the bodies organs, glands, nervous systems, hormones, emotions, nutritional status all intercommunicate, and influence each other. This web of connectedness is dramatically seen in relationships like that seen with the gut-immune systems. Here the responses to different foods, bacteria, stressors, yeasts, and medications have far reaching affects in distant areas such as the joints, skin, brain, and endocrine systems. These alarm messages often carried out by auto antibodies together with other messenger molecules in the body such as hormones, can then create problems like arthritis in the joints, neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain, rashes, weight gain, chronic fatigue, and digestive problems (Mark Holthouse, M.D. 2008).

Traditional medicine, holistic medicine, and lifestyle educators have realized the interrelationship among their disciplines in disease prevention and optimized health benefits. To some, this may be a bit disappointing, as the consensus among integrated functional health professionals is the same - For a vast majority of health complaints in our western society there is no magic pill. Grandma was right about getting fresh air, eating our vegetables, going to bed early, and saying our prayers at bedtime.

This conventional wisdom may seem almost impossible to put into practice amid our busy western lifestyles, the barrage of health fad media and quick fix hype, and the convenience factor. For others this approach is the key to emptying out a closet full of medications, side effects, invasive medical procedures, and chronic discomfort with poor outlook. The key is knowing how to manage current health conditions, while implementing the specific individual changes necessary. Some conditions may always require integration of traditional procedures and medications, but the reliance on these methods may be greatly reduced, by using an integrative approach that surrounds the patient with a team from each area of health discipline.

Of course, this route also requires a solid commitment to change from the patient. To assess your readiness, answer 'yes' or 'no' to the following five questions:

1. I am willing to change my eating habits, regardless of the support of friends or family
2. I am willing to change my current activity levels and be held accountable
3. I am willing to consider alternatives to traditional prescription medications and tests
4. I am willing to address the stress, emotional, and spiritual aspects of my day to day life
5. I am willing to invest out of pocket for services not covered by my health care insurance plan

If you answered 'yes' to all of the previous five questions, then it's time you look for a functional health practitioner. It may be the one thing you invest in today that will have a positive return in your health portfolio - the one that matters the most. For more information about functional medicine and to find a provider in your area, visit The Institute for Functional Medicine.