Functional medicine was coined in 1993 by the leaders of the anti-aging movement. Today, many anti-aging doctors, including myself, believe that functional medicine encompasses:

Patient uniqueness – each individual is unique; an ailment may have different remedies depending on the individual’s needs or beliefs or physiology.

Patient centered approach – given our individuality, the given treatment is specific to the patient. There is no “cookie-cutter pattern” to the healthcare delivery. The treatment may involve nutritional therapies, manual medicine (chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation), nutritional IV’s, bio-identical hormone replacement, exercise therapy, pharmaceuticals (drugs), or surgery.

Preventive care – wellness is not the same as palliative care. In palliative care, the doctor prescribes a remedy for a specific symptom that may or may not address the underlying cause. Wellness care is proactive, and encourages steps to be taken on a semi-regular basis to prevent illness. This could mean getting manipulation and massage to prevent headaches and stress, or taking vitamin C every day to prevent colds & flu’s, or optimizing your hormones to prevent fatigue, obesity, menopause, andropause, and illness.