JULIANE GOICOECHEA, MS, RDN, LDN

Functional medicine is a field of healthcare grounded in science-based systems biology.  It is an approach that aims to better understand the deep web-like interconnections of bodily systems - the web-like relationship between all aspects of health.  It seeks to identify and address the root cause of disease and views the body as an integrated whole system.  The emphasis is on treating the whole system, not just symptoms - treating the person who has the disease, not the disease the person has.  

 

Functional Medicine is grounded in the following principles:

• Biochemical individuality - based on the concepts of genetic and environmental uniqueness

• A patient-centered approach, rather than a disease-centered approach to treatment

• The dynamic balance of internal and external factors in a person's body, mind and spirit

• Web-like interconnections of inernal physiological factors

• Identification of health as a positive vitality - not merely the absence of disease

• Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance the health span of each person

 

Disease occurs because of the body's attempt to correct underlying imbalances. Functional medicine understands the inner workings and function of our cells and biological systems within the context of our entire organism and aims to restore these systems to restore health and vitality.