Understanding Functional Medicine

Allopathic medicine teaches us to examine the body according to the anatomical systems:

• Circulatory (Heart, Blood Vessels)
• Respiratory (Lungs)
• Gastrointestinal (Stomach, Intestines, Colon)
• Nervous (Brain and Spinal Cord).
• Hematologic (Blood and Immune System)
• Renal (Kidney)
• Reproductive
• Integumentary (Bones, Muscles, Joints)

As a complement to the classic approach, Functional Medicine teaches us to group the body’s systems according to how they serve the overall metabolism and basic physiologic functions of the body. The key body systems that we examine using the functional medicine approach include:

• Intercellular Communication Systems (Hormonal and Neurotransmitter)
• Detoxification System
• Antioxidant System
• Inflammation System
• Energy Production System (Mitochondrial)
• Microbiological Ecology System

Through the assessment of the function of these key physiologic systems, and understanding how they work together, we can greatly expand on our understanding of health and disease.