Functional Medicine

   Overview »
   Digestion and Absorption »
   Inflammation and Immune Surveillance »
   Oxidative Stress »
   Detoxification and Biotransformation »
   Neuroendocrine »
   Mind-Body and Spiritual Equilibrium »
   Structural »

   Schedule A Functional Medicine Evaluation »

 

Overview

A functional medicine approach to health and medical treatment is a different way of thinking. Instead of just treating symptoms, we look upstream as far as we can to find the cause of health problems and not just ways to treat the symptoms or complaints. It is this approach that may discover a dairy or wheat allergy as a trigger for recurrent ear infections which had been treated many times previously by just giving an antibiotic. It is this approach that treats eczema, not by just giving a hydrocortisone cream for the rash, but by looking deeper for the cause. We may look at intestinal permeability and an unregulated immune system reaction. By addressing vitamin D and essential fatty acid undernutrition, we can improve intestinal friendly bacteria which actually treat the triggers for the eczema.

The functional medicine approach not only uses normal western medicine as a bridge to help or treat conditions, but also uses food as medicine, natural products as healing agents and nutrients and vitamins as components to encourage health of the client. It is this functional medicine approach that also acknowledges that what we wash our genes in everyday, affects our health. It appreciates the epigenetics of our lifestyle, how our lifestyle affects our genes. It appreciates the fact that over 90% of people who geographically live above the 35th parallel are vitamin D deficient, and that 50% of Caucasians have problems activating folate. By looking at an individual’s cellular function we can change and improve health.

Everyone is unique. We are each as unique as our fingerprint. No one in the history of mankind has the same fingerprint, the same physiology, the same influences while growing up, or the same life experience. We know this is important. Our approach to each patient tries to honor this uniqueness. We try to get to the root causes of chronic medical problems instead of just trying to treat the symptoms. This requires a different way of thinking. For every chronic condition there is usually a malfunction in two or three different major physiologic areas of control. We try to address the seven different areas of what we call the functional medicine matrix.

 

Digestion and Absorption

We know that if we do not address the gut and many of its dynamic processes we often miss the cause of illness. The lining of your gut turns over every 14 to 21 days. The lining of your intestine makes up 70% of your immune system. We know that the mucosal barrier of your intestine is the thin film between everything we eat and the activation of our immune system. This is why we often address patients’ digestion and absorption. Do we have enough digestive enzymes? Do we have too much or too little acid? Is the quality of our food such that it encourages healthful change in our situation? Do we eat enough fiber? Do we have the right types of carbohydrates? Are we taking in the rich orchestra of fruits and vegetables every day that offers the molecules to our metabolism that allow us to be healthy and not trigger illness? Are we washing our genes with molecules, vitamins and nutrients that encourage healthy processes to be turned on and not turned off?

We encourage everyone who comes to our clinic to examine their diet mindfully and inquire of themselves whether there are any issues in the diet and food choices they make that alter their health. We have added to the staff to help our providers with this. Emily Rydbom, Certified Nutrition Consultant and Certified Lifestyle Educator has further training in functional medicine, functional nutrition, first-line therapies, and food as medicine and will work with you to create a nutritional and lifestyle plan that is personalized and sustainable.

 

Inflammation and immune surveillance

There are many different triggers that promote inflammation in the body.  Environmental triggers in our lifestyle can alter how our immune system functions. What turns our immune system up or down? We know many of the things we eat will promote immune system balance. Many of the different herbs that we use in cooking help balance our system. Different infections, allergies, stressors and habits all impact our immune system.

Getting the right balance of nutrients allows us to balance our immune system in such a way to promote the correct response to our environment. We focus on trying to bring a balance into our patients lives so inflammation or an overactive immune system can be quieted and improve symptoms. Many conditions can be exacerbated by inflammation, including asthma, arthritis, irritable bowel, colitis, atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, myalgias, fibromyalgia and heart disease. By addressing the imbalance in the immune system we can help or cure disease.

 

Oxidative stress

All metabolic processes in our body require energy. That energy is made by small organelles called mitochondria within each of our cells. There are thousands of mitochondria in cells.  Think of all the energy that is required for your heart cells to beat your whole life. There are thousands and thousands of mitochondria in our hundred trillion cells. For energy to be made efficiently, our metabolism needs antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc, to name a few. Different things in the environment put stress on our mitochondria so they don’t work well. These stressors include heavy metals like lead, mercury or cadmium, many pesticides and breakdown products of different medications.    

Conditions as common as migraine headaches or as rare as Lou Gehrig's disease are worsened by poorly working mitochondria. Parkinson’s disease, tingling in the hands, ADHD and autism can be improved by improving the function of poorly working, energy-producing mitochondria. We have to balance the nutrient and diet intake of essential vitamins and minerals in our diet with the needs of our body and its trillions of mitochondria. This is one of the areas we address when a patient presents with a chronic condition. Are you getting enough antioxidants? Do you eat enough foods that are rich in the antioxidants that help cells function correctly?

 

Detoxification and biotransformation

When we talk about detoxification, we are talking about how each of us takes things that we are exposed to in our environment and transforms them to use or expel them. The liver is the main organ that deals with transforming and detoxifying molecules, although every tissue in our body has some role in detoxifying or transforming molecules to be used or expelled. Organs such as the brain, lungs, kidneys and intestine all play a catalyst role in detoxification and biotransformation.

There are at least four different ways our bodies get rid of waste products and toxins. Phase 1 detoxification requires mainly minerals and vitamins. Phase 2 detoxification requires good-quality proteins. Proteins are made up of essential and non-essential amino acids.  We have to have the right balance of good proteins in our diet for our pathways to work, because toxic molecules are excreted through these many pathways. Phase 3 detoxification occurs in the intestinal lining. Our intestinal health is important to keeping our bodies detoxification system balanced. Phase 4 detoxification and biotransformation is influenced mainly by an acid/base balance. We know that with an increased alkaline diet, there is greater detoxification of molecules via the kidneys. The correct diet for our individual detoxification program is important for your improved health.

Medications and their byproducts can alter how well we detoxify. Prescription and over-the-counter medications have increased in use and availability over the last 100 years. We know that for every additional medication taken, there is a 10% increase in the frequency of medication-to-medication interactions. This means that if you're taking 10 prescription or over-the-counter medications, you have a 100% chance of having some type of drug-drug interactions. These interactions and their side effects can range from subtle to severe. By looking at a comprehensive list of medications and your individual detox systems’ functioning, we can decrease the chance of adverse reactions to medications. Part of our job is to help people go through those lists of medications, nutrients and herbs to figure out how to simplify, thus decreasing the chance of any interaction.

 

Neuroendocrine

Hormones and neurotransmitters help us function normally. All of us are very familiar with hormones that help us grow taller. Hormones help us transition from infancy to childhood, from childhood to adolescence, and from adolescence to adulthood. It is the hormones and neurotransmitters that allow us to react to stress, to joy and love, to anger and fear. The balancing of these hormones and of neurotransmitters allows us to live more healthfully.

In our society there is increased use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. There is increased recreational drug use, a doubling of the use over-the-counter sleep aids, and natural supplemental combinations in an attempt to bring balance and rest.  Serotonin, GABA, dopamine and adrenaline all balance each other out in ways that can promote anxiety, relaxation, sleep or wakefulness. There are many different things that affect the formation and use of neurotransmitters. Do you have enough B6 or is it activated fully? Do you have enough vitamin D or magnesium, riboflavin, thiamine or SAMe to allow your neurotransmitters to be balanced? Are you sleeping normally or enough? Is light hitting your eyes between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.? All these things can affect neurotransmitter and hormone balance. These are all questions to ask if any of us have a chronic condition. What about menopause, irregular periods, male andropause or osteoporosis and osteopenia? These conditions are affected by our stress level, our ability to sleep, our diet and the neuroendocrine balance.

 

Mind-Body and spiritual equilibrium

Thoughts, stress, faith, spiritualism, belief, hope, joy, contentment and life perspective affect our health and our ability to heal. It is by practicing and developing habits of faith, meditation, prayer, quiet time, and visualization that our health and life are balanced. Often the current medical model does not address this; it is not discussed or its’ role in chronic health problems is not considered. By acknowledging and addressing this aspect of our life we can impact health. How ready am I for change? How ready am I to develop new habits? How ready am I to seek help? Can I find peace with my condition and move forward? Do I have a faith that I practice? Do I have practices that allow me to relax?  Have I ever used biofeedback to improve my health or condition? Am I ready to change for the health of it? These are critical questions in our healing and health.

 

Structural

When our structure changes, the function changes. This is obvious when you think of someone with a broken leg. With the leg in a cast, it is more difficult to walk, and the person’s gait is changed. The structure of our membranes affects our health also. Every cell is surrounded by a very thin and pliable membrane. It takes 10 cell membranes to equal the thickness of a single piece of paper. If you took all of our cells’ membranes and put them side to side and end to end, the resulting tissue would cover a 100 mi.².  

The health of the cell membrane allows our organs to communicate with each other, and allows us to communicate with other people. The membranes allow neurotransmitters to be released to the surface and in between nerves. Those connections trigger our thoughts, our concerns, our stress or our relaxation. The health of our cell membranes affects the health of our body.

These very thin membranes are made up of cholesterol, essential fats, proteins and carbohydrates; and can be changed by what we eat. We are interested in the membranes’ health and the things we can do to make them healthier. We encourage healthy diets that have a good balance levels of essential fats. We often test the health of the membranes with bioimpedance to see how well they are working. Sometimes we check red blood cell fatty acid profiles to see if our red cell membranes have  fat ratios that promote health.

Viruses, pesticides, heavy metals or saturated fats affect how our membranes communicate with each other and how well our cells can repair or reproduce. Omega-3 fat acids and polyunsaturated fats, fish oil and flaxseed oil actually change how much inflammation occurs in our bodies. These fats can affect how frequently we have irregular heart rhythm, and which genes are turned on and off that affect our health. It is through this appreciation for cell membrane structure that we've gained a greater appreciation for structure at the cellular level and how it affects our health.

Stone Medical, P.C., P. Michael Stone, MD, MS, 2010