Why Choose Integrative Functional Medicine?

 

Integrative Functional Medicine (FM) should be considered Primary Care (PC), since it allows us to manage people in ways that result in fewer prescriptions, less testing over time, and improved physical and mental health. Prevention, aside from typical suggestions on food, exercise, smoking, and alcohol, is frequently disregarded in primary care. Many therapies are focused on a single diagnosis or are one-dimensional. For example, one of the most common problems presented to either a Primary Care Provider or a Gastroenterologist is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which is generally addressed by instructing the patient to consume more fiber-rich foods. If it doesn't work, a FODMAP diet may be tried, followed by prescription medicine. Many patients do not react to these medicines, and months pass while each stage of "therapy" is prescribed one by one. In Integrative Functional Medicine, doctors recognize that there are frequently numerous imbalances, with IBS serving as the presenting symptom at the most, with the reasons beneath being treated as the curative treatment. Did you realize that the gut houses 70% of your health system? These modifications benefit not just the gut, but also the gut/brain axis and other bodily feedback loops. This frequently improves both physical and mental health while also preventing the development of additional chronic disorders.

What makes an IFM Provider evaluation different from a PC evaluation? With Integrative Functional Medicine patients, the Provider may examine the linkages in a matrix of the patient's personal chronology from birth by taking a history. Once we've established those links, we may delve further using customized testing/biomarkers that aren't available in a traditional PC environment. Correcting gut imbalance, vitamin deficiencies, adrenal exhaustion, hormonal balance, detecting food allergies, or pushing/inhibiting bio-chem pathways based on genetic testing toward health, than disease, might be part of the treatment strategy. Nutritional suggestions are tailored to your certain test findings, nutraceuticals are frequently employed, and lifestyle recommendations are tailored to your certain self-restoring needs. In primary care, your medical history prior to your first appointment is described in your Past Medical History (PMH), and linkages between your health now and before are seldom drawn. Individual prior life experiences, such as trauma, bereavement, injury, travel, environment, genetics, hazardous exposures, or even toxic stress, all contribute and are linked to your current and future health status in Integrative Functional Medicine.

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If you are looking to achieve health goals with a personalized medicine approach, then you may consider using integrative functional medicine. Visit your nearest clinic such as the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre located at the heart of the Yorkville area. Contact the clinic at (416) 968-6961.