What is Functional Medicine?
"Functional Medicine asks 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." - The Institute for Functional Medicine
At Bright Path Wellness, each patient's in-depth intake process provides valuable insight into the interferences that are blocking the body's innate healing mechanisms. Diana's lifelong quest to advance her knowledge of natural healing solutions and to share them with her patients, led her to pursue her Candidacy for Certification with The Institute for Functional Medicine. Diana has completed all the required course work for certification, which includes the following advanced practice modules:
Pillars of Functional Medicine:
- GI: Restoring Gastrointestinal Equilibrium: Practical Applications for Understanding, Assessing, and Treating Gut Dysfunction
- Detox: Understanding Biotransformation and Recognizing Toxicity: Evaluation and Treatment in the Functional Medicine Model
- Immune: The Many Faces of Immune Dysregulation and Chronic Inflammation: Chronic Infections, Atopy, and Autoimmune Disorders
- Hormone: Re-establishing Hormonal Balance in the Hypothalamic, Pituitary, Adrenal, Thyroid, and Gonadal Axis
- Cardiometabolic: Transforming the Assessment, Prevention, and Management of Chronic Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disorders
- Energy: Illuminating the Energy Spectrum: Evidence and Emerging Clinical Solutions for Managing Pain, Fatigue, and Cognitive Dysfunction
IFM's Functional Medicine Tree provides a great graphic to show all the factors considered when analyzing a patient's health issues -
"The Functional Medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It relies on a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes." -The Institute for Functional Medicine