Functional Medicine
Finding Dr. Brown has changed my life! I tell people that she actually treats the CAUSE of the symptoms.
Addressing the root cause, rather than the symptoms, can achieve the transformation in your health that you seek. One cause may result in many different symptoms and likewise, one symptom can have more than one cause.
Naturopathic Medicine is much older than Functional Medicine.
The first Naturopathic Doctors graduated in 1902 in New York City. One of the principle tenets of Naturopathic Medicine is Tolle Causam: identify and treat the cause. Functional Medicine has its roots in Naturopathic Medicine, but today Naturopathic Medicine is an eclectic practice and Naturopathic Doctors practice in a variety of ways.
At San Jose Integrative Medicine, we offer a Functional Medicine approach. Our services are individualized and patient centered. We seek to find the underlying cause to any and all illnesses and discomfort.
This requires a detailed understanding of each individual’s constitution including lifestyle, biochemical, and genetic. Knowing you and what makes you unique allows us to formulate personalized treatment plans so that you can achieve your health goals.
Functional Medicine is Centered Around You
No two people are alike so why should your medicine be?
When you see us, we:
Hear your story. It tells us the predisposing factors and the history of the ongoing issues you face. It guides our direction and choice of tests and treatment.
Acknowledge that you are unique. Your genetic and biochemical makeup is unique to you, and so is your path back to wellness.
Find the cause. Along with your history and symptoms, we use physical exams and laboratory testing to guide our choice in treatment for you.
Prioritize assessment and prevention.
Empower you to feel good again. Attaining your health goals requires your commitment to make lifestyle changes. Restoring health and wellness requires following recommendations that may include: changing your diet, implementing an exercise program, making time for sleep, eliminating stress, and taking supplements and herbal protocols.
Support your body’s natural ability to heal itself.
The Functional Medicine Approach
“Functional Medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.” – Institute for Functional Medicine
What is a Systems Biology-Based Approach
A systems biology approach diverges from the more traditional disease centered approach of mainstream medicine. It takes into account your body’s unique interaction with the surrounding environment.
Each person’s body is a complex interrelated system of hormones, elements, microbiome, and organs. This complex system then interacts with the environment creating a unique presentation of disease. Simply put, functional medicine focuses more on the human being than the disease.
The disease is not something separate from the human being. The old naturopathic motto sums it well: “Treat the person, not the disease”. It is a principle of Naturopathic Medicine: “Treat the Whole Person”.
Functional Medicine Empowers the Individual
Another principle of Naturopathic Medicine is Docere: doctor as teacher. Naturopathic Doctors and Functional Medicine practitioners educate and encourage the patient’s participation in their healthcare. Vis Medicatrix Naturae: the Healing Power of Nature, is the naturopathic principle that your body has an inherent power to heal. It is the Functional and Naturopathic Medicine’s approach to identify and remove obstacles to healing and recovery.
Functional Medicine Allows You to Take Back Your Health
By identifying and removing the obstacles to your body’s healing and recovery, Functional Medicine can help you achieve the best health possible. True and long lasting health is only achieved through finding the underlying causes of illness, rather than simply eliminating or suppressing symptoms.
Functional Medicine Testing
When you work with us, we ask you to bring any recent lab and imaging results. We assess basic lab work like lipids (cholesterol), thyroid, complete blood counts (anemia), liver and kidney function, blood sugar, and nutrients (vitamin D, iron, B12, and others). We use optimal rather than standard ranges and always take into account your symptoms.
Beyond routine testing, we may advise more detailed specialty labs.
Common labs employed at San Jose Integrative Medicine are:
Complete Digestive and Stool Analysis.
You are what you eat! Good gut health is essential for good health. We can learn so much from stool testing that can be applied to your overall health. It is useful if you have any gastrointestinal symptoms. But besides gastrointestinal symptoms, poor gut health can increase inflammation anywhere in your body.
Any condition involving inflammation like autoimmune conditions, skin conditions, pain, and mood disorders may have their origin in the gut or at the very least, worsened by poor gastrointestinal function.
Food Intolerance Testing.
Different from food allergies, intolerances cause downstream systemic health problems. A food intolerance is an improper immune response to certain foods. Oftentimes, they arise from a diet that is non varied.
A surprisingly common food intolerance these days is almonds. It is simply from overindulging in them. Almonds are very healthy, too many almonds are not.
Hormone Testing.
Together, hormones are the collective director of our lives. They regulate almost every biochemical and physiological process in our body. Their balance is key to good health.
We use detailed blood testing for sex hormones (estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, DHEA, pregnenolone), thyroid hormones (free T3, free T4, reverse T3), adrenal cortisol, and pancreatic insulin and in some cases, advise salivary cortisol testing and urine analysis (DUTCH test) for sex hormones.
Nutritional Testing.
Even the best diets can be missing certain nutrients. There are many reasons for this; poor soils, reduced access to freshly picked produce, poorly fed livestock, lack of minerals in water, decreased sun exposure, and/or genetic defects. Without nutritional testing, we cannot know if your body is missing essential nutrients.
Amino Acid Testing.
Amino acids play an important role in metabolism and building proteins. They can be compromised due to lifestyle and dietary factors. Testing amino acids has proven helpful in mood disorders, assessing nutritional status, and gastrointestinal health.
If you’d like to discuss your symptoms and how we can help, give us a call at 408-357-3422 or request a complimentary phone consultation.