The Future of Medicine is Now

Every day at the Anti-Aging & Longevity Center of Philadelphia, we address the question, “What is functional medicine?” This term is certainly on the uptrend, and has became mainstream in many parts of the country.

That being said, given the traditional nature of the part of the country we live in, and the big business of health care evident all around us, we really haven’t embraced the kind of medicine that will help prevent us from becoming sick. It seems like a novel concept, but shouldn’t that be the goal of health care? I’m going to bring some much-needed awareness to this game-changing kind of medicine that is already out there. The future of conventional medicine is actually available right NOW.

Functional medicine focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of a symptom or condition. It views the body as one integrated system, not just a collection of independent organs divided by medical specialties. Functional medicine treats the whole system, not just the symptoms, with a holistic approach as opposed to covering up symptoms with pharmacologic drugs. There is a time and place for medications, but we can likely agree that as a society, we depend too heavily on these, and are too quick to prescribe and take them.

Functional medicine is an evolution of medicine that better addresses the health-care needs of who we are and how we live today. We have shifted the traditional disease-centered focus of medicine, to a more patient-centered approach, focusing on the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.

This takes time. At our practice, we spend hours with patients, listening carefully to their histories, and looking at all the potential interactions among environmental, genetic and lifestyle factors that influence long-term health and chronic, complex disease. This is how functional medicine supports the inborn potential in every person – we know that wellness, vitality, and a high quality of life are within reach of every patient.

So, what does this mean exactly? It means that maybe you’re on the golf course or tennis court at 50 and need to know what you need to do so that you’re in the same shape 20-30 years from now. Patients come in all the time with this question, saying “There must be something I need to be doing to stay healthy, right?”

This also means that patients come in with symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, hair loss, low libido, or anxiety/depression, it’s our goal to find the root cause of these symptoms. And unlike conventional medicine, which often involves checking some basic tests and telling people that they are “fine,” we don’t stop until we figure out what is the cause, and then address these root causes. We also have a focus on evaluating very carefully symptoms of menopause or low testosterone, and addressing these hormonal imbalances.

Unfortunately, the current convention for traditional medicine is that you get sick first, and then the system does what it can to fix you. I think we can agree that it’s better not to get sick and broken in the first place. We think of mammograms and colonoscopies as prevention – I ask all of my patients to be up to date on these, given my traditional background – but these are still detecting disease, not actually preventing the disease process itself.

So, we’re given one machine to work with for the duration of our life, and what do we do to keep it in tip-top running shape? There is SO much we can do – and the key is optimizing the diet, lifestyle factors, and addressing insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, gut dysbiosis, and much more. Medicine is best applied to you in a personalized fashion. This is where it becomes important to consult with a physician who has specialized training in functional medicine.

Simply put, the system of medicine practice by most physicians today is oriented toward acute care – which is necessary in the setting of Emergency Medicine and Surgery. We’re great at diagnosing and treating trauma or illness that happens suddenly and needs urgent care – such as taking care of a broken bone or appendicitis. We generally use pharmaceutical drugs or surgery to quickly and efficiently treat the condition.

What I noticed over the years as a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician is that patients would come in repeatedly with chronic complaints, stating that they had seen their doctors, and their symptoms were not improved. Sometimes they would come in after being put on a medication for the symptoms, and have side effects from that medication. Unfortunately, with the time constraints put on physicians by insurance and hospital systems, trying to have physicians see more and more patients in shorter periods of time, it is challenging to find the root causes of symptoms and disease as there’s just not enough time to do a thorough investigation.

And it’s not just the time constraint issue. There’s a lack of focus on prevention and lack of information during our conventional training. If you hear your physician say it doesn’t matter what you eat, and that vitamins are unnecessary, you really need to reevaluate who you are seeing for medical advice. Having done hundreds and hundreds of micronutrient tests, I have yet to see a patient without any deficiencies and no supplementation.

These are the questions that must be addressed: What exactly is the patient eating? Are we looking at food diaries? Are we looking at gut health? That’s important, because if the gut is challenged and has dysbiosis, then it won’t absorb the nutrients in the food. Also, what biochemical needs does the patient have where they might be using up more or less of certain vitamins and micronutrients – this can depend on genetic and environmental factors. Physical and mental stress eat up your B vitamins, for example. A vegetarian diet will give you low B12. CoQ10 is an antioxidant that your body produces naturally, and helps to generate energy in your cells. Did you know that if your B6 is low, your coenzyme Q10 levels will be low? Did you know amounts of K2 and glutamine are concerning for gut dysfunction?

Are we doing micronutrient tests on patients to see if they have the basic biochemical compounds to perform the reactions necessary in the body? Having a micronutrient test would truly constitute a preventative measure, and ideally should be done yearly at a physical. This is exactly why we spent half a year of medical school on biochemistry – to understand what vitamins and micronutrients we need in our bodies, what they do, and what happens when they’re not there.

We’ve also become complacent in our conventional medical system to tell people that labs look fine, so they’re fine. If the patient is saying they are not feeling well, that means we need to dig deeper. I have also noticed that patients go to one specialist after another being told nothing looks off from that specialty’s standpoint, as opposed to having a physician who focuses not on saying “not me” but on digging until the answer is found.

I had some extremely unexpected health challenges in my mid-30s that really threw me for a loop , challenges that were a clear wake-up call that the way I was living life – with circadian rhythm disruption, without adequate sleep, and in the high cortisol state I was constantly in -- would no longer be compatible with my medical well-being. My conventional doctor told me it was “bad luck” – but I knew it was far more complex that that, as I had seen several doctors over the last few years with vague symptoms and told I was fine.

I’m grateful for that wake-up call, as I am so much healthier now than I was 10 years ago. As my inherent nature is to look at the glass as half full, I started researching, and realized that this amazing field of keeping people from getting sick existed, and aspired to do for others what wasn’t done for myself. Over the next several years, I immersed myself in training with the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, fellowship course work, eventually earning board certification through written and oral board exams. This is not “alternative” medicine – as a functional medicine physician, I do everything that a traditional physician does, but taking a much deeper look inside, with the goal to optimize health. The best of both worlds has to include both kinds of medicine.

Our focus is to help patients achieve optimal health, and be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. We use state-of-the-art technology and evidence-based medicine to prevent disease, improve vitality and extend life. This goal is absolutely achievable. It involves a therapeutic partnership between the patient and their doctor, working closely to achieve balance and reduce inflammation in every aspect of the diet, lifestyle, and biochemistry.