I’ve decided to try and figure out what is causing my dilemma. Wondered about others experiences….
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I’ve decided to try and figure out what is causing my dilemma. Wondered about others experiences….
I've never even heard the term before. Hope someone else can help.
I've never heard of it either. Will have to investigate. Either way, hope you can find some help!
I think of my own direct care physician as being a bit in the “functional medicine “realm because she promotes massage therapy, performs acupuncture, uses compounding pharmacies, etc. I think of functional medicine as being a holistic approach to health, which is kind of/sorta what osteopathic medicine was once considered to be.
As I’ve read recent summaries of “functional medicine “it seems that should be every physician’s approach.
here’s what ChatGPT had to say about osteopathic medicine
Osteopathic medicine is fundamentally holistic
, focusing on treating the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—rather than just symptoms or diseases. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) are fully licensed physicians who emphasize preventive care, the interconnection of body systems, and the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
https://www.simplelivingforum.net/im...AASUVORK5CYII=Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine | PCOM +4
My own physician is an NOT an osteopath, but I remember decades ago my parents who were in healthcare talked about osteopathic training, and they determined that at that point in time, the osteopaths had merged enough with traditional western medicine training that they thought an osteopath as a physician was perfectly fine.
I've never heard of a function. doctor, but have considered some version of a naturopath, osteopath, or other holistic doctor. I would probably need a recommendation and more information from a friend or a trusted acquaintance before further consideration. My doctor tends to focus on lifestyle and diet changes for various conditions before recommending medications, but his good knowledge as a nutritionist is lacking and pretty much mainstream.
I went to a DO (osteopathic doctor) once. I asked him about his designation and he said he was a western style doc that promoted drugs (in effect). He did not impress me. I have an appointment with a functional doc early next month. A functional doctor is one that looks at the person as a whole (not having a particular specialty) and tries to locate the root cause of their illness. I do not have recommendations for this doc but have heard about results from other practitioners not in my area. We shall see.
Is that the same thing as integrative medicine, ie docs like Andrew Weil? Conventional docs seem to order tests and meds for specific symptoms most likely because their patients want instant relief. My experience with docs (and now mostly PAs) has been very mixed.
I think if I could find someone who was DO or nurse practitioner I would be interested in pursuing this. I looked at a couple around here and chiropractors are doing it, which would not be something I would think i would do. I did go to Dr. Mercola as a patient of his and thought he was kind of a nut, and stopped going. So I am definitely a believer in functional medicine as I understand it. But it gets really expensive really fast, from my husband's experience of going to somebody in Traverse City.
My concierge-doc is in many ways a "functional medicine" doctor. For her practice to survive, she has to keep us all healthy, so there is a lot of attention paid to diet, nutrition, exercise, genetics, baseline testing for various things and tracking, yada yada yada. She's also an extremely competent "regular" doctor, and has saved my life in one emergency, and is very good at "directing traffic" when I need specialists.
I do not think the two concepts are necessarily opposed.
well in your ( generic your) 12 minute appointment, they have to address the thing or things specifically you came in for.Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkytoe
I think the concierge docs or the direct care docs like mine (not as fancy as concierge, although I don’t know what the practical difference is, and it probably varies from practice to practice) are already thinking out-of -the-box because they don’t want to be driven by insurance protocols.
Therefore, they spend more time with you in a typical appointment.
The two are very different. I believe I need to find the cause of illness in my case. Functional should do testing for deficiencies which I know has been a problem with a mineral deficiency in the past. YLMVQuote:
Originally Posted by pinkytoe
https://www.healthline.com/health/fu...ative-medicine
I was having several unusual for me symtpoms recently - the most troubling was frequent heart palpitations. Turns out I was very deficient in B12 but I had to ask for that test since I had a hunch it was related. After taking B12 for several months now, things are back to normal. Sometimes and hopefully in your case, it is something simple like that.
I like the idea of a functional doctor. Seems like it should be a "norm" for any doctor to look at the whole person they are treating instead of just symptoms, etc.
Years ago magnesium and more recently potassium showed very low. Crazy how vitamins and minerals are not checked since nearly any drug (even aspirin) depletes your body of something.Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkytoe
okay----something you kids might be interested to know is that i am under the direct care of a DO. Yup. Actually, the DO has NP's under her supervision, i guess you'd say. The reason i only occasionally see an MD, is i think the re-allocation of (human) resources in the medical community/profession/industry. As a primary care provider, the DO (or the NP) can evaluate the patient/client/customer, and decide whether to give them medical advice and a preescription and/or to pass them further up the line, to a specialist---usually an MD, or to non-MD's with training in testing or therapy. See? It's the new way o' doing things---more efficient, more effective, and maybe more profitable. Yes, there are still some MD's practicing on their own, and if that is what you'd prefer, see if one of them is taking new patients. But yeah---several years ago, i went to an "Urgent care", operated by an MD, for one issue, and he said he could see me if i had $150 cash, which was definitely worth it, to me. For an out-of-pocket pay, it was far less costly than an ER visit. His clinic specializes in workplace injuries, where insurance usually pays the bill. Yup. Hope that helps you some.