FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE AT CURRY CHIROPRACTIC
WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE?
Functional Medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. By addressing root cause, rather than symptoms, practitioners become oriented to identifying the complexity of disease. They may find one condition has many different causes and, likewise, one cause may result in many different conditions. As a result, Functional Medicine treatment targets the specific manifestations of disease in each individual.
Functional medicine employs a systems-oriented approach that works to understand the underlying causes of a disease and this discipline considers the personalization of healthcare, as each patient care plan is unique. The relationship between patient and practitioner effectively becomes a partnership; every aspect of a patient’s medical history is reviewed in detail.
Much like integrative medicine, functional medicine treats the individual rather than the disease. Often, individual genetic and environmental research is conducted to obtain a deeper knowledge of the patient’s health status. Understanding the biochemical individuality of a patient can lead to the underlying causes of disease and furthermore, the prevention of additional health risks in the future. Functional Medicine has gained much popularity, even spurring the creation of the Institute for Functional Medicine.
The medical management model that traditional practices use is often too quick to resort to drugs, surgery, and other acute care treatments. Chronic health conditions often require a two-step solution:
- Add what’s lacking in the body to nudge its physiology back to a state of optimal functioning
- Remove anything that impedes the body from moving toward this optimate state of physiology
Functional medicine practitioners try to first determine why the body is not functioning properly. They do this by using the patient’s unique history as a guide, using advanced lab testing, and a deep dive into a patient’s overall lifestyle. Treatment often involves nutritional and lifestyle alterations, counseling (emotional and/or nutritional, if necessary), a combination of natural agents such as herbs, homeopathics, and supplements, and medication, if needed.
Functional Blood Chemistry
Blood tests are used every day to determine health status and pathology in medicine. Blood analysis are very useful in determining health status, but they can also be very helpful in prevention. Functional blood chemistry is a newer approach that looks at underlying nutritional imbalances and biochemical imbalances. A comprehensive metabolic and complete blood count can show a healthcare professional information about the condition and health status of the patient. In addition to functional blood testing, we utilize hormone saliva testing, hair mineral testing, genetic testing, and stool testing. A functional blood chemistry analysis is a great first step that is low cost and gives great results.
Click here to learn more about functional blood chemistry at Curry Chiropractic!
Dr. Nguyen is a Functional Medicine Practitioner and after moving to Springfield in 2015, he dove deeper into his interest in FM. Functional Medicine can aid with type 2 diabetes, reverse cognitive decline, put autoimmune conditions in remission, restore chronic GI complaints, and help clear up allergies and skin rashes! Functional Medicine can also dampen heart disease, the #1 cause of death in America, and so much more. Dr. Nguyen's own daughter’s food sensitivity, skin rashes, and asthma led him to seek out functional medicine and he has since become extremely passionate about such a wholistic method of wellness.
Click the links below to view Dr. Nguyen's forms and send them to [email protected] to jumpstart
your treatment plan!
Metabolic Assessment Form
1-metabolic-assessment-form-1.pdf
Brain Health & Nutrition Assessment Form
Male Intake Questionnaire
male-intake-questionnaire-1.pdf
Female Intake Questionnaire
female-intake-questionnaire-3.pdf
Dr. Curry also specializes in nutritional counseling and support for a functional medicine approach to
health. Once a thorough health history of your symptoms has been recorded, blood work will usually
be requested if drawn previously, or we can draw new labs right in the office! Depending on the needs
of each individual, blood work may or may not be necessary right away. Sometimes diet and lifestyle
changes alone can make drastic, lasting changes for the patient. Click the links below to fill out Dr.
Curry's forms and send them to [email protected] to jumpstart your treatment plan!
Nutrition Intake Form
System Survey Form
Sources
1. The Functional Medicine Approach,
https://www.ifm.org/functional...
2. The Difference Between Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine,
https://www.patronusmedical.co....
3. HOW DOES FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE WORK? THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLISTIC MEDICINE,
https://bostondirecthealth.com....